Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 left a gaping, $28 million hole in Paradox's year-end financial report (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 2 days ago by alessandro@lemmy.ca to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca

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[-] stinkytofuisgood@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Part of what ruins games for me are the massive publishers behind them. EA, Ubisoft, Rockstar.

The games may be great. The developers may be great. The studios (by and large) interfere in the process of development, the monetization, the end-of-life plan…

For me, when I have the chance to play games, I’ve found myself opting for smaller studios or indie games.

Also I want to shout out Ross Scott of Accursed Farms. He covers so many cool and obscure games. He has worked incredibly hard towards enacting pro-consumer business practices in the gaming world. He’s a very smart and pragmatic guy. I would highly recommend anyone who’s into gaming to check out his site and content.

To me, he’s been an inspiration in his uphill battle of the Stop Killing Games initiative. He’s been working through the apathy, the negativity, the doubt. It’s actually incredible what he’s achieved. A man with passion and a plan, who happens to also make some damn good game related videos.

Ok I realize this just turned into a love letter for Ross Scott. I’m okay with that.

[-] VivianRixia@piefed.social 76 points 2 days ago

Maybe don't call it a sequel to a beloved RPG if you remove all the RPG elements from it. It just sours the fans you are trying to grab.

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 34 points 2 days ago

The studio that made it pushed so hard to not call it VM 2 for that very reason...

If they were honest about what it was, and it priced accordingly, it would have been received much better

[-] srasmus@slrpnk.net 16 points 2 days ago

But it WAS supposed to be Bloodlines 2. It was GOING to be Bloodlines 2. It suffered a development hell for the ages, and changing the name near release would do nothing but hurt sales. (But perhaps garner some good will for Paradox. Although they don't seem to be in that business these days)

[-] Godric@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

If you crack out a game of checkers after spending all night inviting people to play chess, expect angry people.

[-] Screen_Shatter@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

So.... Entertaining to someone like me who never played the original and has no expectations beyond playing as a vampire?

[-] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 6 points 2 days ago

I mean, probably? Don't expect a masterpiece but probably is alright if you don't have too high expectations and would enjoy a vampire power fantasy.

[-] Screen_Shatter@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

I figure itll be in the bargain bin soon, so if whats there plays well enough I will give it a go. A shame it doesnt live up to expectations but it might still be fun to me.

[-] Agent_Karyo@piefed.world 1 points 2 days ago

The studio that made it pushed so hard to not call it VM 2 for that very reason…

That's not the impression I got from following the new on VTMB. That's what they claim, but their actions speak otherwise.

Don't get me wrong, I think TCR make some solid games (although often with subpar gameplay), but that doesn't mean I am going to uncritically accept their PR narratives.

[-] karashta@piefed.social 25 points 2 days ago

This was basically Dishonored, the vampire game. Everything fans loved from the original is gone. It just has the name.

They stripped all of the interesting RPG mechanics from it from what I've seen.

[-] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

Why are you likening this to the dishonoured series? Can you elaborate?

[-] Dagnet@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I'm also confused considering dishonored 2 was a sublime sequel, literally could not have asked for more.

[-] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Gameplay-wise, I agree. Don't know why, but the story didn't grip me just like it did in the first one. Dishonoured was killed off for the shit that was Redfall, which will make me sad forever. :(

[-] Dagnet@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I would kill for a dishonored 3, made by the same devs as the previous games tho.

[-] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Me too. Sadly, I don't think Microsoft/Bethesda care enough. Remember, they killed prey because it was profitable, but it didn't make all of the money in the world like FIFA.

[-] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 8 points 2 days ago

I don’t know what is going on at paradox but it's been misstep after misstep for a while. I'm not up to date on their leadership, but it can be good.

[+] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world -19 points 2 days ago

Ok, I know it's a sequel of a beloved game, but I just need to say it because I know I can't be the only one:

VAMPIRES ARE LAME AND BORING!! They have been overdone to hell and back just like zombies were. They aren't interesting. I see a form of media with vampires and I instantly do not give a shit. They are always so fucking lame too, immortals who have lived hundreds of years but somehow all of them seem to pick Victorian England as the time period to base their language, dress, architecture, and mannerisms off of. And no, modernizing them does not help, they are still fucking lame.

Use. A different. Monster. Holy shit there are so many to choose from. Reptillians, malicious fae, skinwalkers, changelings, witches, warlocks, three gnomes in a trenchcoat, ANYTHING! Or just make your own up! Stop using vampires!

[-] alphabethunter@lemmy.world 24 points 2 days ago

Vampire: The Masquerade is the OG vampire game though, a tabletop RPG written in the 90s that actually does and considers who and what a vampire is. The problem it's all the knockoffs that spawned because of it. You get it all with VTM: politics, intrigue, personal horror, millennia old monsters farming humans, vampires so old that they saw the fall of Babel, biblical myths and Occult lore intertwined, modern world fiction where the darkness runs deeper than you'd think, government agencies that hunt down vampires and other monsters, their very own world-ending myth, and many different kinds of Vampires, from ones so ugly they have to live in the sewers and learn invisibility, from ones so rich and powerful they control mega corporations from behind the scenes. So it's not just a sequel, it's a sequel to THE Vampire game. But they butchered it.

[-] ThunderComplex@lemmy.today 9 points 2 days ago

I know that that’s just your opinion but you’re wrong.
See Legacy of Kain for vampires done right.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

But Legacy of Kain did have unique shit. The best games in the series feature Raziel; a Soul Reaver. An entirely new and unique kind of monster. (except not really; he's basically a vampire that eats souls instead of blood now 🤷‍♂️)

[-] axus@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 days ago

Gnome: The Trenchcoat

this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026

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