Erst Verschiebung um Verschiebung, Entwicklerwechsel, Neuausrichtung und jetzt auf einmal scheint es mit dem Release nicht schnell genug zu gehen für den Publisher.
Neo-Noir is a revival movement of Film Noir from the mid 20th century. Artists focus on modern day cities, painting them in bright neon lights and deep shadows. It’s very moody and evokes places that harbour sinister characters. Think Blade Runner or John Wick. Subversive, Dark, and Threatening, are all Neo-Noir conventions we’re focusing on for our game. VtM is all of these tones and so naturally it worked hand in hand when it came to creating the seedy underbelly of our Seattle. From Locations to Characters our vision is about showing a side of Seattle at night that goes deeper than what you see on the surface. Whether it’s dark-cornered alleyways to roam or interiors that host Machiavellian politics behind closed doors. Neo-Noir puts atmosphere and contrast at the centre of its palette and that’s something that works perfectly with our Vampire fantasy and ultimately Bloodlines 2.
Was ich irgendwie gar nicht sehe bis jetzt sind weitläufige Außenareale oder Hubwelten, Abschnitte in denen mal sowas wie Leben stattfindet. Bloodlines damals war verglichen mit heutigen Rollenspielen stark limitiert was die Außenleven anbelangt, aber es war trotzdem beeindruckend immersiv und fühlte sich riesig und lebendig an. Alles was ich bis jetzt von Bloodlines 2 sehe sind lineare Level, von einem Story-Trigger oder Encounter zum nächsten. Kein Nachtleben, keine verruchten Ecken und Clubs, kein Gefühl von Vampiergesellschaft, die sich lasziv mit dem Nachtleben der Menschen vermischt. Bloß diese austauschbaren Dialogsequenzen und Kämpfe.
In a video update, Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Matias Lilia said, “Jointly with The Chinese Room, we have decided to extend development. This decision gives The Chinese Room extra time to spend on the game to deliver the best Bloodlines 2 they can. The game is in a good place right now, and Paradox and The Chinese Room have decided to prioritize polish over release date.”
Creative director Alexander Skidmore added, “Our team at The Chinese Room will make the most of the time to polish and ensure quality, while several of the team members will be ready earlier, allowing them to work on things we might not have had time for but are really passionate about. For example, we can now add more endings to the game, allowing it to be a more personal story. The additional time also allows us to address feedback from our playtests in our user research lab and also to address the feedback we’ve been getting from all of you in response to our Dev Diaries and videos.”
"It is not in our strategic direction to make this kind of game," Lilja told PC Gamer. "So if Bloodlines 2, God willing, is successful, Bloodlines 3 [will be] done by someone else, on the license from us. I would say it's the sort of strategic way this would work. So it's still an outlier from what we're supposed to do, we don't know that stuff, so we should probably let other people do it."
In short, Lilja considers Bloodlines a "dead end" for the company regardless of how well it does, which is made more awkward by the fact that Paradox Interactive owns Vampire: The Masquerade creator White Wolf Publishing. Lilja didn't talk about Paradox's plans for White Wolf, but it seems as if any future Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines RPGs will be licensed out to other developers.