After several teases on online, Paradox Interactive and Hardsuit Labs have finally revealed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, the sequel to the original 2004 RPG. With Bloodlines 2, releasing in 2020 for PC and consoles, several key members from the former studio Troika Games, along with some new blood at Hardsuit Labs, are looking to pick up where the bleak yet off-the-wall original left off. Just before its reveal, we had the chance to get an early look at GDC 2019, while also speaking with Bloodlines 2 lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda and senior writer Cara Ellison about the making of the sequel.
As an adaptation of the table-top game series from White Wolf Publishing, the first Bloodlines focused on the shadowy underworld of Vampire society in modern-day Los Angeles. Starting out as a newly converted vampire, you were drawn into centuries-long quarrels amongst elite vampires, all the while coming to grips with your new and unusual circumstances. While much of the first game hasn't aged too well, its in-depth role-playing and social gameplay are enduring achievements. Showing shades of immersive-sims like Deus Ex and System Shock, it possessed an impressive amount of complexity with how you could use your vampiric abilities to navigate the complex web of conspiracies within the secret society.
The game's original developers, Troika Games, drafted up concepts for a follow-up, however, low sales and a lack of projects after Bloodlines' launch forced the closure of the studio. In the years since its release, a dedicated online community has kept the game active, slowly turning the obscure PC RPG into an underground hit.
Echoing the beginning of the original game, the new protagonist of Bloodlines 2 is suddenly thrust into their new life as a vampire. Taking place in the city of Seattle, the new fledgling faces a tribunal held by the Camarilla--the union of different vampire factions. Recalling their final moments alive, and subsequent rebirth at the hands of another vampire, the meeting comes under attack, forcing you to make a quick exit. From here, you'll slowly work your way up the Vampire hierarchy, dealing with returning factions like the Tremere, and embrace your newfound life as a creature of the night.
For the sequel, the developers expressed that they wanted to maintain the same level of agency and detail from the previous game, while also focusing more on the strange and lesser-known aspects of living a new life as a vampire. This on-boarding process, as seen in the opening of the game, also highlights the new abilities that come with being a Vampire. In addition to taking on different disciplines, you'll also have a suite of vampire skills to use, such as levitation, telekinesis, and even a mist-form--allowing you to pass through objects. Eventually, you'll be able to unlock access to higher-end abilities, like conjuring up sharp objects made of blood and slowing down time to easily evade enemies.
During the demo, Mitsoda--who served as the lead writer on the original game--talked about bringing the series back after 15 years, and how they wanted to make it accessible for fans and newcomers.
"There's something exciting about the player discovering this world that is right under our noses," said Mitsoda as he elaborated on the world building of the game. "A big part of what we wanted to do with Bloodlines 2 is to make sure that people who are fans of the first one will immediately feel like, "This is Bloodlines. This feels like Bloodlines." Then the people who are coming into it fresh are going to going to have the same feelings of what is this all about? I'm a vampire. What do I do now? So, we want people to go out there with the expectations of they don't know anything now, but they're going to be discovering everything that's going on in Seattle."
Just like in Bloodlines 1, you'll be able to freely explore various open hubs and far away locations while tackling missions with other key-characters. In addition to exploring locations like Pioneer Square, Pier 55, and other areas of downtown Seattle, you'll follow leads into the city's underground ruins. These sections are said to be inspired by the real-life locations that were paved over after intense fires during 1889, and the ruins house a number secrets pertaining to the lost history of Seattle, and how vampires played a part in it.
According to the developers, Bloodlines 2 will shed light on the various vampire cultures and their power structures. Just like in the original game, the sequel also leans heavy on socializing. You're often pushed into high-pressure situations with humans and vampires alike, where you'll need to make a choice that could compromise relationships. Siding with one faction can put you at odds with another. However, you're totally free to break away from a side at any time. These social situations can also highlight the mundanity of living life as a Vampire. Shortly after making it back to your apartment, you encounter a fellow vampire named Dale, who volunteers to be your information broker and to help with your transition. It was an oddly relaxed conversation--especially considering this came after surviving several attacks from humans and other undead.
While explaining their approach to balancing the absurdity of vampirism with the more grotesque aspects of being undead, senior writer Cara Ellison spoke about what it was like working on the game's tone, and how humor is a bit of a coping mechanism for the vampires in Bloodlines.
"I'm kind of in charge of looking at the game as almost like vampire puberty, like where it's a transition from leaving humanity behind," Ellison said. "I think you might be surprised at how funny it is to be a vampire, in a weird way. It's quite a dark game, but we manage to show it as an absurd existence, and you might encounter some people who were weathering their situation in an interesting or maybe in a slightly dark and humorous way. That really connects to me, because I'm British. Everything bad is funny to us, like Brexit is weirdly funny. [...]There's a lot of complexity in there to explore. It's pretty fun to write."
Since you're a vampire, handling your business and exploring the city--even in the evening--can be a challenge. This is where the series' signature Masquerade gameplay comes in. According to series lore, The Masquerade is a code of conduct that vampires must follow in order to prevent exposing their existence to humanity. Though you are a vampire, you still look normal enough to pass as human while in public. However, when you use your supernatural powers in front of unsuspecting humans, you'll break the Masquerade and draw attention to yourself and to the larger vampire society. Police and common criminals can still pose a threat, however, and causing too much havoc will alert elite vampires that will hunt you down.
Bloodlines 2 carries over the complexity of the original game, allowing you to overcome obstacles and events in different ways by using your vampiric skills or social charms--like seduction, for instance. However, there will come a time where you'll need to defend yourself, which includes several conventional weapons and supernatural abilities. In one section taking place in a back ally in Pioneer Square, there's an opportunity to break up an attempted mugging. While watching this bit of gameplay, we saw the main character use several of these skills one after another. First, they used their heightened senses to highlight the key targets, and took advantage of their heightened physicality to make high-jumps across the roofs to get into position and perform a series of takedowns on the unsuspecting muggers.
Though you'll have plenty of tools to use, melee combat will have a larger focus, which the developers stated is something they wanted to improve from the original. During combat, you'll be able to launch pre-emptive strikes against human enemies, and even counter their attack with instant-kills that will drain their blood. Blood is a resource that you'll constantly need to keep track of, powering your various abilities. While it's not possible to do a no-kill run through the game--you still have to feed after all--the developers stated that you can play as a "humane" vampire to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
How you advance your character can set the tone for what's to come. This even comes into play by the type of human blood you feed on. If targets are angry, especially during a combat encounter, then you'll feed on blood filled with anger resonance. If they're frightened, then they'll be highlighted with the fear resonance. Feeding on a specific type of blood for too long will have you favor a particular type, opening up access to certain skills. But if you choose to forego your humanity, and kill indiscriminately for too long, your character will dip further into the vampiric-side. According to the developers, if this happens, your character's social skills will be affected, making certain situations--like socializing or going out in public--more difficult, but inversely, you can acquire more vampiric abilities as a result.
Some of my favorite moments from the previous game where seeing just how far you could push social or combat situations in your favor. Though often times they didn't work out in ways that I intended, I ended appreciating the events that occurred, most of which was very odd. From this early look, Bloodlines 2 looks to be a faithful restart for the series, keeping up the adaptive, and incredibly bizarre storytelling. It'll be interesting to see what passes for strange in the eyes of the developers, fifteen years after the original game's release.
Following the special episode of Persona 5: The Animation titled "Stars and Ours," developer Atlus revealed just a tiny bit more of the mysterious game Persona 5R. A trailer, which you can watch below, confirmed that the PS4 game is actually called Persona 5 The Royal.
While further details on what the game is weren't provided, Atlus has teased that more will be revealed on April 24 during the live concert event Persona Super Live 2019. Based on previous Persona releases, and the trailer, we suspect Persona 5 The Royal will be a kind of Game of the Year edition that features some additional content.
The trailer for Persona 5 The Royale is focused on a new female character who is a student at Shujin Academy, the school where most of the main cast are also enrolled. At the start of the trailer she's asked by what she thinks about the Phantom Thieves, the vigilante group the player controls in the game. She indicates that she doesn't entirely approve of them.
It is likely that this new character will be the focus of the new content. Atlus likes to throw in something new for its re-releases and, as previously seen with Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 Golden, it's usually quite substantial. We've got our fingers crossed for a new Palace as well the character and accompanying storyline.
In GameSpot's Persona 5 review, Lucy James awarded it a 9/10. "Within Persona 5 is a complex set of interconnected gameplay mechanics, and in almost every aspect Atlus has executed on its vision exceptionally, barring the pacing issues towards the end," she said.
"At every turn, it presents something to marvel at, whether it's the fluid combat, vibrant world, or the many memorable characters. It's a game I could talk about for hours; I haven't mentioned the ability to connect to the Thieves Guild, which lets you see how other players spent their day or ask them for help answering questions at school. Or the thumping acid-jazz-infused soundtrack that I've not been able to get out of my head. Or even just the joy of seeing how it stylishly transitions between menus.
But that encapsulates why Persona 5 is a game that shouldn't be missed. It's stuffed to bursting point with gameplay ideas and presentation flourishes--there's an overwhelming level of artistry in every part of Persona 5, making it a truly standout entry in the series. It's a refined, effortlessly stylish RPG that will be talked about for years to come."
The 2019 Final Fantasy Fan Fest in Tokyo began today with a keynote address from game director Naoki Yoshida, and the 90-minute briefing was packed with news and insight on the new Shadowbringers expansion for Final Fantasy XIV coming out later this year. Perhaps the biggest news was the announcement of a new Job. The new Job is Dancer.
As the name suggests, Dancer uses dance moves, in a way, to combat their enemies. Performing dances executes certain abilities, while some specific dances buff nearby party members.
Dancer is a ranged DPS Job, and its main arm is used for throwing weapons. It has no associated class, according to Square Enix, and you'll be able to start using Dancer at level 60.
Another huge announcement was the next playable race for Final Fantasy XIV--the Hrothgar. Cat-like humanoids, the Hrothgar will be available in male and female variants, and each will have unique heads and customisable features. They also each have two clans.
Also during the presentation, Square Enix showed off two new cities, the Crystarium and Eulmore. The Crystarium is a beautiful, expansive place with blue-hued environments. Eulore is also a sight to behold, as it sits atop a massive, ornate, and steampunk-looking structure.
Square Enix also used the news-packed keynote to reveal Final Fantasy XIV's latest Beast Tribe--the Dwarves. Not a whole lot of information was shared, but the company confirmed these dwarves always have beards and they always wear helmets--even at the dinner table. They're experts in mining and metallurgy.
The new Dancer
Another big piece of news was the announcement of the game's next eight-player raid series. It's called Eden, and while little is known about the specifics, Square Enix confirmed that none other than legendary designer Tetsuya Nomura is working as a character and boss designer for it.
Shadowbringers launches on July 2, but an Early Access period will start on June 28, Square Enix announced. However, that was only a tentative date, so it is subject to change.
An epic new, six-minute trailer for Shadowbringers was shown during the keynote. You can see this trailer above, while a number of brand-new screenshots can be seen embedded in this post.
The Hrothgar
While fans have to wait a while longer for Shadowbringers, the next big update for Final Fantasy XIV, update 4.56, launches on March 26. Everything announced today is on top of all the previous Shadowbringers announcements, which include a level cap jump from 70 to 80, as well as the introduction of a new system called the Trust System. There is also more end-game content and more.
Here are some further facts and details about today's Shadowbringers news that Square Enix shared after the panel wrapped up (text written by Square Enix):
New Job – Dancer: Dancer joins gunbreaker as one of the new jobs in Shadowbringers. This ranged attacker not only unleashes powerful attacks using throwing weapons, but also performs dances to execute abilities and provide beneficial effects to their party
New Player Race – Hrothgar: The Hrothgar player race compliments the recently announced Viera as the second new playable race in Shadowbringers. The Hrothgar and Viera will both have unique, customizable features specific to their races.
New Player Cities – The Crystarium and Eulmore: Located in Norvrandt, the former will serve as a player hub, while the latter—an affluent city ruled by the elite will play a key role in the Shadowbringers main storyline.
New Raid – Eden: This new high-end raid content will feature multiple challenging bosses, as well as a new character--both designed specifically for this raid series by Kingdom Hearts Director and Final Fantasy series veteran, Tetsuya Nomura.
New Beast Tribe and Primal: The bearded dwarves and the "sin eater," Innocence.
New Field Area – Lakeland
Good luck sleeping tonight
As for the Final Fantasy Fan Fest, it runs all weekend long, so keep checking back with GameSpot for more. Disclosure: Square Enix paid for GameSpot's flight to Tokyo and accomodations.
Next week is shaping up to be a busy one for Pokemon Go players. In addition to Giratina's return to Raid Battles, Niantic has announced a new Limited Research event, which will give players their first opportunity to catch two new Shiny Pokemon.
The event takes place on Saturday, March 30, and runs from 11 AM to 8 PM local time. During those hours, Pokemon that are affected by weather conditions, such as Castform, will appear more frequently in the wild. You'll also receive special Field Research tasks from Poke Stops, which will culminate in encounters with Lotad.
On top of that, the Shiny forms of Lotad and Castform will appear during the event, marking the first time either has been available in Pokemon Go. Niantic is also adding the move Weather Ball for Castform permanently to the game. You can read more details about the new Limited Research event on the official Pokemon Go website.
In the meantime, a few more days still remain in Pokemon Go's ongoing spring equinox celebration. Until March 26, Grass Pokemon will appear more frequently in the wild. On top of that, the rare Rock/Psychic Pokemon Lunatone and Solrock have swapped regions, and their Shiny forms have likewise started appearing for the first time.
Pokemon Go's next Community Day takes place on March 23. Not long after that, the Legendary Pokemon Giratina will make an encore appearance in Raid Battles. You'll be able to catch it again in its Altered Forme from March 28 to April 2, after which point it'll assume its Origin Forme--the appearance it takes in Pokemon Platinum--for the first time in Pokemon Go until April 29.
Respawn has released the patch notes for a PC update for Apex Legends. The update is already live and is specifically aimed at fixing game crashes on PC.
"The game should now write an apex_crash.txt file to your My Documents folder when it crashes," Respawn community manager Jay Frechette wrote in a Reddit blog post. "The apex_crash.txt files we got from players had a lot of information that we needed… We had never seen the crash in any of our internal testing before, but now we could finally reproduce the bug and that meant we could find it and fix it."
More updates for Apex Legends are planned for next week. Frechette didn't provide specifics, but did list several issues that Respawn is working towards fixing. Those broad problems are outlined below.
FPS capped to 144: It was the intent to cap to 300 but a bug is keeping it at 144. We're aware and looking into it and I'll provide an update when I can.
Hit reg issues: we are aware and testing a fix locally.
Audio issues - we've heard the feedback on numerous issues you folks have been reporting. Working with audio guys to address the stuff we can answer next week.
The Apex Legends Season 1: Wild Frontier battle pass is now available for purchase, as is the game's first post-launch add-on playable character, Octane. The battle pass costs 950 Apex Coins--about $9.50 USD--and offers a variety of rewards, such as cosmetic skins, stat trackers, new Legend voice lines, and Apex Coin and XP drops. Each reward is unlocked by earning XP and climbing up the battle pass's 100 levels. It's unfortunate there aren't any challenges, like the Fortnite battle passes, but thankfully, Apex Legend's pass allows you to earn enough Apex Coins to buy next season's.
You don't need to put the Apex Coins towards the next pass, though. Instead, you can use them to purchase the new character, Octane (although he can be unlocked using Legend Tokens too). The ninth Legend in Respawn's battle royale game, Octane is all about being the fastest. His tactical gives him a boost of speed at the cost of his health, while his ultimate throws out a launch pad that can propel Legends and items through the air. In order to keep on running, Octane's passive heals him over time, provided he's not in combat.
Apex Legends is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
It was bound to happen one day, but that doesn't make it any easier of a pill to swallow. The CW's Supernatural--which recently celebrated its 300th episode--will officially come to an end after the previously-announced 15th season, which will premiere in the fall of 2019.
The news was announced by stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins in a social media video, where they revealed the crew of the show has just been informed of the decision. "Though we're very, very excited about moving into our 15th season, it will be out last," Ackles said. "Fifteen years of a show that has changed my life, I know it's certainly changed these two guys' life. We wanted you to hear it from us that, though we're excited about next year, it will be the finale. The big grand finale of an institution."
The final season will consist of 20 episodes, bringing Supernatural's run to an incredibly impressive 327 episodes. For some perspective, Supernatural is the only CW TV show that's older than the network itself. The series originally premiered on The WB.
"Firstly, we would like to thank all the people who have been involved with the show both in front of and behind the camera. For us, it has been an experience of a lifetime. The support we have had from both Warner Bros Television and The CW has been incredible," executive producers Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb said in a statement. "We'd like to give special thanks to Jensen, Jared, and Misha for making this journey so special. It is now most important to us to give these characters that we love the send off they deserve."
With Supernatural and Arrow coming to an end next season, that leaves The CW without their two longest-running shows as the network looks to the future. Whatever the case is with the future of the network, chances of a Supernatural spin-off aren't likely. The CW has tried more than once to expand the show's universe with no luck. Recently, The CW president Mark Pedowitz said at the TCA press tour, "If there was a spin-off to be had, I'd love to have it. That said, I've come to somewhat of a conclusion that the show is the two brothers."
Week 4 of Fortnite Season 8 has arrived, and with it a new batch of challenges to complete across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. Clear this week's challenges and you'll earn more Battle Stars, leveling your Battle Pass up and bringing you another step closer to unlocking Season 8's new skins and rewards. But there's another good reason to complete all of the tasks; doing so will also clear one of this season's Discovery challenges, earning you a special loading screen that points to a free Battle Star or Banner hiding somewhere around the island.
Which of those two items you'll be able to find depends on which loading screen you've unlocked, which in turn is determined by how many weekly sets of challenges you've completed this season. If you've finished four weeks' worth of them, you'll receive the loading screen pictured below. This one features a regal Peely being carried up the volcano while a procession of lowlier bananas trails behind. Look closely at the background, however, and you'll be able to spot a Banner hanging from one of the torches lining the path.
That torch marks the spot where this week's free Banner will appear, and it's fortunately very easy to get to. The quickest way to find it is to glide toward the volcano at the beginning of a match. As you can see on the map below, the torch is along the patch leading to the mouth of the volcano. Make your way to it and the Banner will pop up as you approach. Collect it just as you would any other item then finish the match and the Banner will be yours to use as a new profile icon.
If you need another look at where the Banner is hiding, you can watch us collect it in the video at the top of this guide. However, like other secret Banners and Battle Stars, the item will only appear if you've completed enough challenges and unlocked the Peely loading screen; you won't be able to simply go to the right location and expect to find the Banner unless you've fulfilled all the necessary steps.
If you need help completing any of this season's previous challenges, you can find more tips and guides in our full Season 8 challenges roundup. In other Fortnite news, Epic has recently rolled out the game's 8.11 update, which introduced a new weapon--the Flint-Knock Pistol--and unvaulted the Impulse Grenade. The patch also adjusted the spawn rater for the Baller--this season's new vehicle. You can read the full patch notes here.
In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, From Software takes a step away from the stamina-focused action RPG gameplay it popularized with Demon's Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, and Bloodborne. If you think your experience with the Soulsborne games is going to make your journey in Sekiro an easy one, think again.
There are plenty of similar themes to be sure. Even though Sekiro takes place in a more realistic setting in comparison to the likes of Lodran or Yharnam, Ashina is still a society on the edge of complete collapse and home to a host of nightmarish monsters and god-like figures. The playable protagonist, Wolf, is also a stoic, undying figure, whose ability to return from the dead is the only reason he's able to overcome the powerful enemies he encounters.
The similarities pretty much end there, though. Combat in Sekiro is focused on posture instead of stamina, for example, so now deflecting enemy strikes is the ideal path to success. New attacks are unlocked via experience as opposed to weapons found as well. There are plenty of other differences--you can even swim in Sekiro. From Software has crafted a completely different game, and it can all be a little overwhelming to get a grasp on it all. Especially since, without any co-op multiplayer, you'll have to take on most of the game alone.
If you're struggling in your journey across Ashina and need a little help, read through our collection of guides. We've got most of the early game covered, from the prosthetic upgrades you want to find first to the cure for Dragonrot. We'll update this hub of information with additional guides as we create them, so be sure to check back on GameSpot whenever you run into a seemingly insurmountable hurdle in Sekiro.
In our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice review-in-progress, Tamoor Hussain gave the game a 9/10, complementing the game's "exhilarating combat," intricate environments that "reward exploration," and satisfying stealth mechanics "that encourage you to observe and strategize."
Capcom has released a number of updates for Monster Hunter World since it launched last year. Most notably, Dante, Geralt of Rivia, and even Street Fighter's Ryu have found their way into the game's expansive world. Ahead of the major Iceborne expansion's launch this fall, Capcom is planning to release an update that introduces graphical changes to the PC version of the game.
The news comes via a message on Steam. The update, scheduled to go live on April 4, will include a new high-resolution texture pack, and will be available as free DLC through the Steam store. Hunters must make room for 40GB of data on their hard drive and have at least 8GB of VRAM installed to accommodate. Further system requirements will be outlined after the update.
Also in the update is a new "TAA+FXAA" (temporal anti-aliasing and fast approximate anti-aliasing, respectively) option, which will be added to the Advanced Graphics Settings menu. Additionally, when selecting the "Take All" option, all items will display at the rewards screen upon quest completion. Hunters using the "Focus Camera" option should notice smoother, more precise mouse controls. "Friends Can Join" will be included in the Private Session Settings, and, finally, the update will include bug fixes related to localization and more, though Capcom hasn't specified what other bugs will be ironed out.
Check the full list of updates coming to Monster Hunter World below.
Major New Features/Design Changes:
Added support for High-Resolution Texture Pack DLC.
You can change to high-resolution in-game textures by downloading this pack as free DLC from the Steam store.
Note: The High-Resolution Texture Pack requires at least 40GB of free space and 8GB of graphics memory (VRAM). We will provide more detailed information on the system requirements after the update.
Added a "TAA+FXAA" option to Anti-Aliasing in the Advanced Graphics Settings.
When selecting "Take All" at the rewards screen after completing a quest, a list of all items received will now be displayed.
Added a new mouse control type that is less sensitive to unintentional movement when controlling the Focus Camera with the mouse.
Added a "Friends Can Join" option to the Private Session Settings.
Various bug fixes, including localization-related issues.
In our Monster Hunter World review, Ginny Woo said that the "Monster Hunter formula has definitely honed its claws, [making] Monster Hunter World a meaningful evolution for the series at large."
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