The original game had you occasionally recover photos and VHS tapes to cover up potential violations. The Masquerade works differently in an age of social media, too. But the game is still, at its core, about вЂњpower struggles and how people keep in power.вЂќ Viewing a humanвЂ™s resonance

вЂњWeвЂ™ve built up Seattle as more of a separate location with its own separate factions that work differently from LA,вЂќ says Ellison.

In the World of Darkness, 2010s Seattle shares the basic grittiness of 2000s LA, but itвЂ™s supposed to be a less volatile city with distinct vampire politics. ThereвЂ™s also a new system called вЂњresonance,вЂќ which essentially lets you read human charactersвЂ™ emotional state and gain different ability buffs by feeding on them. The demo showed off new climbing abilities, and it downplayed the first gameвЂ™s use of traditional guns and clumsy melee weapons. The game still seems to play a lot like the original, but it emphasizes your supernatural powers while youвЂ™re in combat or navigating the city. вЂBloodlines 2вЂ™ will reference the original game but establish a very different setting The Nosferatu leader is a goofily dressed weirdo who was turned during SeattleвЂ™s вЂ80s tech boom, and his clan lives in the cityвЂ™s very real underground tunnel network. Characters speak with theatrical flair, but theyвЂ™re recognizably grounded in the Pacific Northwest. By the end of the demo, the club owner was distinctly displeased.Д«loodlines 2вЂ™s demo is a deft mix of familiarity and strangeness. But then I voted to switch allegiances and help the target take refuge with the Nosferatu, a clan of hideously transformed but highly resourceful vampires. The protagonist obligingly infiltrated a seedy area called the Jungle with telekinesis and smooth talking, convincing some drug dealers that they were a pharmaceutical salesman looking to make a deal. In the demo, the protagonist got a mission from a local leader and nightclub owner, who needed information from a recently turned vampire. Meanwhile, characters can give you contradictory goals that might ingratiate you with one faction or another. As in Bloodlines, youвЂ™ll use your powers and stats (things like charisma or вЂњhumanity,вЂќ essentially a measure of your gameplay cruelty level) to accomplish tasks in different ways. My hands-off E3 demo was drawn from early in the game and showcased a small set of special powers - I chose a form of telekinesis called Mentalism and the Tremere clanвЂ™s weaponized blood magic. (You can play either a male or female character, and the developers say theyвЂ™re exploring other options as well.) The player is a fledgling vampire going through what Hardsuit refers to as a kind of вЂњvampire puberty,вЂќ but theyвЂ™ve had the good luck to get in touch with the cityвЂ™s feuding vampiric clans. Bloodlines 2 takes place in a Seattle where vampires and other supernatural creatures secretly hold sway over the city, maintaining a deception known as the Masquerade.

Vampire the masquerade feeding