Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer The Chinese Room have published new dev diary for upcoming game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Written by senior narrative designer and writer Sarah Longthorne, the post focuses on the game’s narrative atmosphere and themes.
In Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, players will take on the role of an Elder vampire that wakes up trapped in Seattle and the full extent of their power being artificially suppressed. According to Longthorne, the game’s story will focus quite a bit on the concept of control, including the amount of control players have over others, and the control others can exert over players.
The game will be a take on the neo-noir genre, blurring the lines of morality and exploring themes like paranoia, revenge and alienation. According to Longthorne, all of the side characters in the game, like Lou, Ryong and Tolly, will have their own agenda that players will be able to affect with their involvement.
Longthorne also touches on the decision to make the protagonist of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 an Elder Kindred in terms of narrative, since it allows the studio to play with what the player character knows about the world, while still leaving gaps in knowledge for the player to discover on their own.
The concept of alienation is also touched on, with ideas like the fact that vampires in the setting don’t typically have ‘friends’, since their society revolves around power and possession. “It’s a challenge to try and disconnect from how we might view a thing and step into that mindset in order to properly represent it,” says Longthorne.
“You have to lean first on making that character interesting to learn about and spend time with – you cannot expect players to initially identify with them, or maybe even like them,” the post continues. “It takes finesse to balance that, to zoom out and find the broader, more universal entry points that might encourage players to feel like they can identify with that character.”
The dev post ends things by revealing that the next post will focus on the neo-noir aspects of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The last dev post focused on the studio talking about its game design priorities, and how the non-combat segments of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will feel and play.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is due out on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S some time in 2024.