some bonus dialogue options by way
of their ‘dominate’ special ability,
but the real draw is thaumaturgy.
Thaumaturgy is the in-game
representation of that signature
Tremere blood magic, and it rips.
The skill’s progression begins with a
blood-based magic missile that,
when timed right, has effectively
infinite ammo. Later thaumaturgy
skills include an AoE stun and a
highly damaging blood explosion.
These fun Tremere abilities
completely changed the game for me.
My problem when I booted up
Bloodlines for my first playthrough
was that I’d heard all these
comparisons to immersive sims,
especially Deus Ex. I approached
VtMB as I typically approach those
sorts of games: opting for perfect,
non-lethal stealth. The issue is that
while Bloodlines shares a first person
perspective and similar commitment
to player agency as immersive sims,
it’s coming at these ideas from a
completely different lineage of game
design: CRPGs like Fallout or Troika’s
previous effort, Arcanum. Bloodlines’
levels are too cramped, its enemy AI
simultaneously too dumb and too
unpredictable, for it to be played like
a stealth game. When I abandoned
stealth and subtlety and went in loud,
slinging blood missiles around and
letting my only concession to
pacifism be dialogue checks, I found
myself really enjoying its combat
despite Bloodlines’ sluggish,
early 2000s action RPG mechanics.
I’m still kicking myself for how
much I got in the way of my own fun
that first playthrough, but I’d argue
it’s a huge point in Bloodlines’ favourthat even such sub-optimal and
unsupported styles of play can still
see you through right to the very end
of the game.CRYPT KEEPERS
VtMB’s early game had me excited
and invested right away, just like the
first time, a rare thing in a genre that
loves beating around the bush in
starting villages. The first hub you
get to explore, Santa Monica, is a
fantastic introduction to Bloodlines’
whole aesthetic, melding classic noir
with an early 2000s punk raver vibe
(think the dorks Neo hangs out with
at the beginning of the Matrix).
I progressed through Bloodlines’
critical path opting for mostly the
same resolutions of quests and moral
choices (I’m a big softy and I don’t
know how to be mean, even in
games), but experienced something
new in the form of some Tremere-
exclusive content and a cut questline
added back in by Wesp5.
Tremere players get access to a
bonus player home and some
thaumaturgy power ups by chatting
up resident vampire archwizard,
Maximillian Strauss, and completing
sidequests in his favour. Forming a
working relationship with Strauss in
the early game does not lock you intoBLOOD>WATER The most interesting clans to play
TREMERE
These mysterious vampire
wizards have some of the
most fun and powerful
combat abilities in the game, as well
as unique content that doesn’t upend
the whole experience like the other
two listed here.MALKAVIAN
They’re kooky, they’re
spooky, they can see the
future, they just can’t
communicate it to anyone else.
Every dialogue option in the game
gets rewritten to reflect Malkavian
mad prophet-speak.NOSFERATU
A fun option for an NG+
challenge run, Nosferatu
are so dang ugly that
many sidequests are closed off for
them, and they have to traverse the
world by sewer to avoid getting
attacked on sight.OLD GAMES, NEW PERSPECTIVES
REINSTALL
Your chauffeur through
the LA nights is just a
normal cabbie... right?ABOVE: Help a bunch
of dorks with a club in
a church, just like in
Disco Elysium.LEFT: (^) Big trouble,
little China.