Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines thread (Possible spoilers inside)

[econ21]

Any pointers or tips ya'll can help a guy out with? I really, really want to like this game, but so far it's not turning out to be nearly as wonderful as it's been made out to be, even post-fan patches.

Umm, I fear all I can say is that it is absolutely wonderful. How you can enjoy the tutorial and not find the game to your taste is beyond me - the dialogue in the tutorial is better than that in the entire game of 90% of other CRPGs - but perhaps it is just not for you? However, bear in mind you have done effectively nothing of the main game - it is quite long and has lots of meat to it.

I am sorry you are having all kinds of technical issues - I don't remember many. It would occasionally crash in combat (answer: save often, of course). And I did have to do something whacky with the console to get through a door towards the end of the game. But otherwise it was unproblematic. It looked absolutely gorgeous - the faces were so expressive and the setting utterly immersive. But we all have different bars for suspension of disbelief, I guess. I would not install any fan patches that change the content. It is worth a couple of play throughs without modding.

In terms of the gameplay, what I would say is role-play it. Act in character - be good, evil, kind, a jerk, whatever. About the best thing about the game, in my opinion, is the dialogue, voice-acting and characters - enjoying interacting with them and don't worry too much about game mechanics. Talk to everybody and try to find out as much information about everything as you can. It is very non-linear with lots of optional sidequests you will miss if you don't talk to people.

Don't read any spoilers or walkthroughs. The quests are really inventive and far from the usual fedex stuff (actually, on reflection a lot are fedex but they are wrapped up in wonderfully creative subplots). Don't worry too much about optimising your capabilities - it is not really a tactical kind of game. There is quite a lot of depth and freedom in the character development, but don't worry about "what's the best weapon/power etc". At least not first time through. Just enjoy the story and act like you are a newly infected vampire.

I was amazed the first time I played it. I really did not want to like the game at all. I am more used to play paladins in the sunny Forgotten Realms than a vampire in a dark modern setting and the idea of feeding revolted me. I was lurking down in the sewers, hunting rats in a fog of self-loathing. But gradually, the game just sucks you in. There is one scene in the mid-game where a friend from your previous life sees you and my reaction was just like my character's was supposed to be: run! No way did I want my new found vampire life disturbed by my old human life. I ended up flinging my legs around foes and sucking them dry with abandon. I don't think any other RPG has immersed me to that extent, except System Shock 2.

A few pointers (contradicting what I have just said):

Having said don't worry about optimising combat, do be aware you will have to fight. The first area is quite combat light, but it rachets up until the end is pretty insane. (The quality of the game also falls as it gets more combat heavy - the first area is my favorite). Don't expect to be able to do a Fallout and talk your way out of most situations. Melee is generally more powerful than shooting, although towards the end the balance swings back. Stealth is extremely potent (with obfuscation) due to the "quick kill" mechanic.

Having said avoid walkthroughs, if you get stuck, gamebanshee has a fantastic one with one page per quest.

Having said don't optimise your character, here's a minor tip on character creation: I think the points you start with are sort of "non-weighted". So if you put three points in a skill, it goes up three pips. But when the game starts, everything is points weighted - so pips get more expensive in XP as you get more of them. Hence, it makes sense to put all your pips into one valuable skill on start up - it will save you XP in the long run. Also, with the patch, you can enable backgrounds for your character that allow you to vary which groups of skills start off with more points in them (so if you like the look of a particular kind of vampire, you don't necessarily have to start off with their initial point distribution). Finally, the one spoiler-ish thing I do find essential is the list of what kinds of books you get in the game. Reading a book can give you a point in a skill, but they often level specific (for example, the starter area has a shop with a couple of books that can two skills up to about one or two pips, but won't help you if you are level 3 in the skill). It would be waste to put points in those two skills before reading the books.

Lastly, don't play a Malkavian first time through. Do play one though the second time through. Malkavians, only, get really unique dialogue throughout the game and it is absolutely fantastic. But it is rather metaphorical, so you will enjoy it more if you know what the equivalent normal speech would be. Also, unlike some of the Bioware games, I don't think there are any romance-plots that require your character to be a certain sex, so since you are going to be staring at your character's butt for hours, feel free to pick a character of the sex you would prefer. Once you have played a female Malk, you may never want to play any other kind of vampire.