At its best, Bloodlines 2 can be a good time, especially when you just focus on the compelling story and writing. It can even be a fun vampire power fantasy from time to time. It has its charm in places, sure, but it almost never earns its name or identity as the sequel to the 2004 cult-hit Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Turns out, its developer agrees: It never should’ve been named Bloodlines 2.
Read More: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Was So Close To Being Something Special
Dan Pinchbeck, co-founder of The Chinese Room and writer of Bloodlines 2’s story, recently spoke about the early days of taking over Bloodlines 2 with Cat Burton on The Goth Boss Podcast (h/t PCGamesN), saying that while he was eager to create a game set in Vampire: The Masquerade, he didn’t just want to drag previous developer Hardsuit Lab’s work across the finish line. And he most certainly didn’t want to call it Bloodlines 2. He told Burton:
We would sit there and go and have these planning sessions on ‘how do we get [Paradox] to not call it Bloodlines 2?’ That feels like the most important thing that we can do here, is come at this and say ‘this isn’t Bloodlines 2, you can’t make it Bloodlines 2. There’s not enough time and there’s not enough money.’
Pinchbeck would leave The Chinese Room in 2023, shortly after the team took on the Bloodlines 2 project.
Would a name change have made that much of a difference?
“No one would be happy,” Pinchbeck said about trying to deliver a more direct sequel, something truer to the original Bloodlines’ RPG spirit. “We sort of approached it from [the] point of view of ‘what can we do with the time and the money that’s available?’” he said, “we can’t make Bloodlines 2, we can’t make Skyrim, but we can make Dishonored.”
It’s hard not to play Bloodlines 2 and feel the Dishonored inspiration. Though you do explore an open world, it’s tiny; and while scripted dialogue scenes in the final product are often excellent, Bloodlines 2 hardly has the kinds of character interactions and sidequests that made the original notable. That leaves behind a first-person game where you wield supernatural powers, often steathily, against your opponents. Sound familiar?
I’m not sure if a different name would’ve made for a significantly better reception for Bloodlines 2. In fact, it might not’ve been talked about nearly as much if it wasn’t called Bloodlines 2. Games like Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong and Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest are far better games set in the World of Darkness, the broader mythos of VtM which it shares with other games like Werewolf. Though at least those games weren’t burdened with the expectation that led up to Bloodlines 2’s eventual release.
Much like Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood, a differently-named Bloodlines 2 would’ve otherwise been just a mediocre action game that at best appeals to a niche audience of TTRPG fanatics. That’s presently what it is anyway, regardless of the name it bears.
