Do you remember where you were when the two-minute trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens first dropped back in 2015? I sat in my office and watched it online before I completely lost my mind. Star Wars is back and it looks great.
That's when that glimmer of hope burst into a blazing fire of optimism that never let up. Now, what you think about The Force Awakens doesn't matter. These movies were what they were, and your reactions to each one won't change them. But it felt good to live in a place where fandom had hope again, if only for a short time.
As a long-time player of the tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade, I had a similar feeling years ago when it was revealed that a sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was in the works. It was 2015, the same year as the aforementioned Star Wars trailer, when Paradox Interactive bought the company that owned Vampire: The Masquerade along with the rights to Bloodlines. At the time, the company's CEO said a sequel was possible over time.
You could say I've been waiting with bated breath ever since. I love TTRPGs and really enjoyed the original Bloodlines so this was my time to shine. Now, 10 years after that acquisition and on the other side of developer hell that saw original developers Hardsuit Labs pull the title before The Chinese Room (Still Wakes The Deep) took over, I've played the finished version and finally got a taste of what I've wanted for so long.
The taste is not great. It actually tastes pretty bad. I can't think of another time I've been so disappointed with the outcome of a game I was excited about, including Cyberpunk 2077. Sure, Cyberpunk was incredibly broken, but my heart wasn't. Almost nothing about Bloodlines 2, aside from the verbiage it likes to throw around, misses the whole point of Vampire: The Masquerade.
Ripping an undead heart from a mighty vampire's chest
The beauty of any TTRPG is the ability to build your own character and have a unique experience unlike any other. This is something that the original Bloodlines understood well. While the 2004 title didn't go as deep as the tabletop source material, it was pretty remarkable for its time. Sure, the original Bloodlines weren't perfect – their combat was repetitive, while many of the builds available were incredibly unbalanced.
Still, it was as close as I could imagine at the time to a TTRPG come to life. Before I go, I have to choose a clan and build my character accordingly.
Now imagine that game, but you get rid of almost all the roles. You have minimal control over your player character's appearance – gender, hair and eye color, clothing, etc. Your experience itself doesn't change based on the options you choose here, which is confusing.
I chose the male version of the main character Phyre because he seemed to have the less annoying voice of the two. I was wrong. More on that later.
There is also a skill tree. Based on the clan you choose – for some reason, only six of the existing 14 are available here – you get an initial set of abilities and some unique interactions. Unfortunately, my favorite clan, the Gangrel, were nowhere to be seen
I'm not sure how much my choices really mattered though. While I chose a clan to ally with (Banu Haqim), I found myself unlocking powers belonging to other clans fairly quickly, making my initial decision seem like a free frame more than anything else.
At the start of the campaign, Phyre – who goes by The Nomad – awakens from the Unrest (a deep sleep that can last for centuries), only to find the consciousness of a vampire detective named Fabien inside their mind. Neither of them know how Phyre got to Seattle or why Fabien took up residence in his mind, adding to the surrounding mystery for you to unravel.
Despite my gripes, this setting is incredibly interesting in many different ways. Since Phyre is a vampire, she can only be out at night. So when he sleeps during the day, we experience the events of Fabien's life leading up to his death. This gives us context for a number of things that we can hopefully build on as Phyre in the future.
Unfortunately, these sequences are very similar to the ones we play as Phyre; rather boring.
As the story unfolds, Phyre discovers a mysterious mark on his hand that has caused him to forget how to use certain abilities—hence the need to unlock them—and that a potential group of Sabbats is taking over the city.
The Sabbat are essentially vampires who have given up on keeping their existence a secret. They simply kill and eat, fully embracing their inner animal.
As Phyre, you have a lot to do. Learn abilities, solve the mystery of the Sabbat, help Fabien find out what happened to him, and track down whoever is off your mark. All of this could be fun in a game with some satisfying depth, which this one unfortunately lacks.
Let's talk about Bloodlines 2, alone
I don't know what to say here except that The Chinese Room misses the mark in almost every way. Bloodlines 2 is a tedious bore to get through. Missions are little more than running around Seattle in the middle of the night to either speed up character dialogue or beat up a bunch of generic anarchs.
I didn't measure it, but I'd estimate that I spent at least 50 percent of my time running back and forth across the map.
You have vampiric powers, but you can only use each one once before you have to suck blood to replenish them. Fortunately, you can drain your enemy's blood if you time it right. Unfortunately, combat is such a pointless ordeal of chaotic button mashing that it's far more difficult than it should be.
Outside of vampiric forces, all combat consists of attacking with the right bumper and dodging with the left. This is shown to be quite seamless in the opening hours, as the enemies wield little more than sticks. Later on, however, it becomes deeply frustrating. There will be five or more people jumping at you, most of them with guns, and you'll have to find ways to dispatch them all by jumping around, punching, and using telepathy to throw objects at people.
The best part of the fight is when you kill the Anarch with the weapon; you can use telepathy to pick it up and shoot someone else. It's the only time the fight is truly bearable.
The heavy focus on melee – despite being played in first person – also works against Bloodlines 2. The first game allowed players to switch back and forth between first and third person, giving players a better handle on each situation. No longer…
The characters aren't great
As I mentioned before, Phyre's voices – male and female – are comically bad. They sound like a 1970s vampire movie fully embracing the exaggerated Eastern European accent. Unfortunately, most of the other characters you meet aren't much stronger. ,
I understand that Phyre has been asleep for a century and isn't a Seattle local, but that doesn't make their presence any less ridiculous.
In fact, during my review playthrough there were only four characters that really caught my eye. The first is Fabien, the voice in your head. While his sequences take too long to play, he has the personality of a PI in the 40's and it's gorgeous. In addition to him, there were two of the Prince of Seattle's closest charges: Tolly and Safia.
Tolly is the Nosferatu, a clan that sees its vampires horribly disfigured. Tolly has an elongated face, a humped back and a sparkling personality. It's very clear that he's weird and talking about issues from his past in San Francisco. He is a very friendly vampire and also offers incredibly useful information that you will need during the campaign. Walking out of the building and finding him waiting for me was always a rare joy.
Then there's Safia, the prince's chief scientist. He has a brilliant intellect but naive when it comes to relationships. And he immediately falls in love with Phyre, becoming the closest thing Bloodlines 2 has to a love interest. Like Tolly, Safia offers a wealth of information and sends you on quests to help her find answers.
Katsumi is finally here. She is the leader of the Skinny Vampires, a group of less pure vampires that purebloods look down upon. She is older, scarred from years of fighting, and the beating heart of this otherwise thin story. While almost everyone around Phyreo asks for things to further their own interests, Katsumi acts almost exclusively on behalf of his people. Like Safia, Katsumi is a vampire with a heart.
The remaining characters do not stand out. Whether it's the new prince in town, the various clan connections you meet, or even the enemies you cross paths with, none of them leave a lasting impression.
Does anything save this game?
Unfortunately, I don't think it exists. But Bloodlines 2 has its moments. The biggest of them is the Masquerade itself. In VTM, it is the job of each relative (vampire) to keep their existence a secret. They pretend to be the living world. Breaking the masquerade, revealing the existence of vampires to the living, is no greater shame.
In TTRPG, diablerie – consuming the blood and soul of another vampire – is punishable by ultimate death.
Keeping the Masquerade alive is a mini-game within Bloodlines 2, and the only thing that's been running around Seattle all the time is remotely interesting. You cannot manifest any of your abilities if you are in the line of sight of a living person. If they notice you, it will escalate to the point where you will be chased by the police who will open fire. You are a monster after all.
Don't get me wrong, but the way this map is built, with so few points of interest on the streets and large distances to cover during missions, I would much prefer a fast travel system. I am a supposedly all-powerful elder vampire with a name that many fear. Why am I running down the street again to get to one bar only to be told I have to go to another bar?
Likewise, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as Batman is fun and a good way to get around town if you want to avoid the Mayor with the Masquerade altogether. However, so much of it is without consequence. Too many times I've jumped off the top of a skyscraper and landed in front of people on the street with a loud thud, only for them to not notice.
The biggest frustration I have with Bloodlines 2 is that I see a much better game lurking here. The story is complex with many moving parts to guide the player through so much VTM lore. Even a Seattle setting can be excellent under the right circumstances.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is the epitome of wasted potential. It's one of the most popular TTRPG franchises of all time, and the original game has become a cult classic over the years. This is not the sequel we hoped for, wanted, or even expected. It's Vampire: The Masquerade in name only.
- Released
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October 21, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense violence, Blood and gore, Sexual themes, Nudity, Drug references, Strong language
- Developers
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Chinese room
- His storytelling and characters have potential but are wasted
- The Masquerade minigame is a short burst of fun
- Most of the RPG elements have been removed
- Character building is limited
- The map looks big and barren to me
- The voice acting is forgettable or bad
- Missions mostly involve running around aimlessly
- The combat is repetitive and just not fun
