World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 - VTMB sequel from The Chinese Room - coming early 2025

[Vulpes]

Well for starters these kinds of character designs wouldn't exist in today's western gaming market:

Spoiler

They'd be heavily covered up, censored, and overall toned down for "western" sensibilities. I mean, Stellar Blade had a whole witch hunt campaign from these radicals because it dared to feature a sexy women that threw some fun fan service. Let's also not forget that whole debacle with Dragon Quest too where the developers censored their female designs in order to appease the west.

You might be right about the skimpiness, but while hot characters might be a rarity in the West, they're not exactly verboten YET. The newest Overwatch character, for instance, looks pretty good. An Asian chick with thick thighs and a nice ass. What's not to like?

That's before we even begin to talk about Fat Larry, the Chinese Hitmen questline, Ji Wen Ja, Tseng, and a few other characters that will be considered "offensive" in today's world. This kind of character would cause an outrage by the twitter mob (guess who currently has a stranglehold over the western gaming industry right now, the very same twitter mob):

Those were not "offensive" stereotypes, this is:

Source? I can't find this image anywhere other than Reddit. This could just be somebody's AI bullshit.

I doubt it's fake. The appearance of male Phyre matches the one seen in a previous blogposts

Spoiler

 

[Skinwalker]

The "male" has the lower face of a female, and the "female" has the upper face of a male.

 

[Storyfag]

Chad vs the virgin

I had to check to see which one is the guy.
It's not the one you think it is.

"he's not who he says she is"

 

[Pink Eye]

they're not exactly verboten YET.

I mean, when you have real life attractive models that are purposefully made ugly, well, it's not too far fetched to think they're taboo, just see:

Spoiler

There have been several examples where females characters are made ugly on purpose to subvert the evil "male gaze". The neo-puritanism from these radicals won't allow fun fan service.

Those were not "offensive" stereotypes

To you, no, but if a character spoke in slang and such they'd absolutely be called out for being racist.

 

[Roguey]

Those were not "offensive" stereotypes,

Bloodlines's East Asian characters were definitely offensive. The probably-a-female-dev they got to do the Japanese schoolgirl even says her Japanese language lines wrong.

Oldie but a goodie so you don't think I'm pulling this out of nothing.

Additionally the Kuei-jin have been entirely removed from VtM canon because the new progs believe having a separate group of Chinese not-vampires is racist. https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum...77725-the-wan-kuei-retcon-be-extra-respectful

 

[Fargus]

Those were not "offensive" stereotype

Fucking based Bloodlines. Dumb whores like her are the reason why every game is a boring pos now.

I love Chinatown in Bloodlines

 

[Storyfag]

Strauss > Anarchs.

Your preference for the aristocratic order over the revolution of the proletariat has been noted.

 

[True Ukrainian]

Really now ?

Like what? The original game already was leaning towards the left side of the political spectrum, which to be fair would be considered the centre nowadays. It painted the Anarchs as the most morally righteous faction and pushed you towards joining them. The only thing I remember from the original Bloodlines that could be construed as "problematic" today would be one of the radio commercials that makes fun of sex change.

Therese / Jeanette could be seen as being insensitive to mental illness. The quest where the supermodel Nosferatu wants your help and ends with her target committing suicide is also "problematic".

 

[True Ukrainian]

Additionally the Kuei-jin have been entirely removed from VtM canon because the new progs believe having a separate group of Chinese not-vampires is racist.

Isn't that wrong? I vaguely remember from Ravnos lore that one of the kuei jin courts is based in Sri Lanka, making them Indian. Not all kuei jin are Chinese.

 

[Grauken]

Additionally the Kuei-jin have been entirely removed from VtM canon because the new progs believe having a separate group of Chinese not-vampires is racist. https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum...77725-the-wan-kuei-retcon-be-extra-respectful

Chinese people likely would be "Vampire the what?? Who cares"

 

[Irxy]

"Bloodlines 2 isn't a sequel, it's a spiritual successor."

Raises the question why you're calling it Bloodlines 2, doesn't it?

That's kind of common though. Many series only retain general gameplay (FF & most JRPGs, Far Cry etc.), many more retain the setting, but do not continue a story - the majority of rpgs are like this, now that I think of it.

 

[Wesp5]

Bloodlines's East Asian characters were definitely offensive. The probably-a-female-dev they got to do the Japanese schoolgirl even says her Japanese language lines wrong.

Offensive? Yukie's skirt flys up when she is fighting and you can even say something about tentacles to her. That is what I would call a parodistic approach, similar Tseng.

 

[Storyfag]

Bloodlines's East Asian characters were definitely offensive. The probably-a-female-dev they got to do the Japanese schoolgirl even says her Japanese language lines wrong.

Offensive? Yukie's skirt flys up when she is fighting and you can even say something about tentacles to her. That is what I would call a parodistic approach, similar Tseng.

Obviosuly you are correct. Unfortunately, in CURRENT YEAR, such nuance is lost on all too many people.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Strauss > Anarchs.

Your preference for the aristocratic order

Sorry, comrade. No support for lumpens (in bed with a libertarian oligarch no less) from me)) Good guy Strauss is just a reasonable bureaucrat.

 

[Semiurge]

Explaining to animators that I want an animation of someone cowering like a shocked actor from a 1950s horror movie then watching those animations come to life… Chef’s Kiss!

-looks around blog for said animations-
-sees only more concept art-

This is the most absurd overuse of concept art I've seen for game marketing, especially for a title that should've been released already.

The joke is getting old and it's making me seriously wonder how gonked this is behind the curtain.

Maybe they're trying to keep expectations so low that the finished product will seem surprisingly ok?

They'd be heavily covered up, censored, and overall toned down for "western" sensibilities. I mean, Stellar Blade had a whole witch hunt campaign from these radicals because it dared to feature a sexy women that threw some fun fan service. Let's also not forget that whole debacle with Dragon Quest too where the developers censored their female designs in order to appease the west.

Stellar Blade might be an extreme example of sexy in games. Not only does it (and many oriental games like it) show you attractive and curvy females, but it also positions their "assets" front and centre, right in your face depending on the camera angles. This kind of fanservice can become a distracting factor that affects your suspension of disbelief. It can make you feel like the devs are disrespecting you with their tacky shit.

Sexy can be done better than it is in those typical K/chink coomer games. More tastefully, without compromising the impact with political androgynisation or prudishness.

Well for starters these kinds of character designs wouldn't exist in today's western gaming market:

Spoiler

They'd be heavily covered up, censored, and overall toned down for "western" sensibilities. I mean, Stellar Blade had a whole witch hunt campaign from these radicals because it dared to feature a sexy women that threw some fun fan service. Let's also not forget that whole debacle with Dragon Quest too where the developers censored their female designs in order to appease the west.

You might be right about the skimpiness, but while hot characters might be a rarity in the West, they're not exactly verboten YET. The newest Overwatch character, for instance, looks pretty good. An Asian chick with thick thighs and a nice ass. What's not to like?

That kawai face.

The "male" has the lower face of a female, and the "female" has the upper face of a male.

The "male" definitely has a man's chin and jaw, but the mouth looks fairly feminine. The overall look seems more pleasing because he looks like he's smiling. A generic vampire pretty boy. The "female" has a resting bitch face, and those cheekbones are intimidating. They're possibly the feature that makes the "female" look andro.

Still, the comparison demonstrated perfectly the double-standard in the western industry. Males can be made pleasing, but doing the same with females is sexist and disallowed.

The quest where the supermodel Nosferatu wants your help and ends with her target committing suicide is also "problematic".

Nah, the modern audience probably sympathises with the Nos more than her target - the thot celebrity.

 

[Roguey]

Additionally the Kuei-jin have been entirely removed from VtM canon because the new progs believe having a separate group of Chinese not-vampires is racist.

Isn't that wrong? I vaguely remember from Ravnos lore that one of the kuei jin courts is based in Sri Lanka, making them Indian. Not all kuei jin are Chinese.

That doesn't make it any better if it's all-Asian, if anything it makes it worse.

The term "Kuei-jin" is a neologistic portmanteau consisting of the Mandarin word for ghost (鬼, kuei in Wade–Giles, guǐ in Pinyin) and the Japanese word for person (人, jin).

"All same."

Chinese people likely would be "Vampire the what?? Who cares"

It's Asian-Americans who get mad at this stuff.

Bloodlines's East Asian characters were definitely offensive. The probably-a-female-dev they got to do the Japanese schoolgirl even says her Japanese language lines wrong.

Offensive? Yukie's skirt flys up when she is fighting and you can even say something about tentacles to her. That is what I would call a parodistic approach, similar Tseng.

Obviosuly you are correct. Unfortunately, in CURRENT YEAR, such nuance is lost on all too many people.

That's not nuanced. It's juvenile.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Chinese people likely would be "Vampire the what?? Who cares"

It's Asian-Americans who get mad at this stuff.

Some, but yes. Basically moral busybodies who have to sour things for everyone else.

 

[Storyfag]

Chinese people likely would be "Vampire the what?? Who cares"

It's Asian-Americans who get mad at this stuff.

Some, but yes. Basically moral busybodies who have to sour things for everyone else.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

 

[Harthwain]

Additionally the Kuei-jin have been entirely removed from VtM canon because the new progs believe having a separate group of Chinese not-vampires is racist. https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum...77725-the-wan-kuei-retcon-be-extra-respectful

Chinese people likely would be "Vampire the what?? Who cares"

Paranormal stuff is banned/censored/heavily restricted in China on account of the government not wanting to spread superstitions, if I remember correctly.

 

[Caim]

Additionally the Kuei-jin have been entirely removed from VtM canon because the new progs believe having a separate group of Chinese not-vampires is racist. https://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum...77725-the-wan-kuei-retcon-be-extra-respectful

Chinese people likely would be "Vampire the what?? Who cares"

Paranormal stuff is banned/censored/heavily restricted in China on account of the government not wanting to spread superstitions, if I remember correctly.

To be fair, the Chinese still hunt rhinoceri en masse so that they can turn their horns into dick pills. I'd want to cut down on superstition as well.

 

[Skinwalker]

Kuei Jin were great, fuck this PC bullshit.

I would change the lore to imply that there used to be Kuei Jin-like vampires all over the world, but as the Cainites expanded, most of the non-Cainite vampires got eradicated, and East Asia is the one place where they are still dominant.

 

[Zombra]

It's pronounced "meatball sandwich"

 

[Wesp5]

I recently played "Ghostwire Tokyo" and while it is located in Japan, it showed how many supernatural creatures there are in the folklore of Asian countries, so why mustn't there be any Kuei-Jin anymore?

 

[The President]

The dev diary still didn’t explain why you would need to hunt or feed in non combat situations or what resonance has to do with it. Probably an important thing to mention in a dev diary about said thing.

 

[Storyfag]

The dev diary still didn’t explain why you would need to hunt or feed in non combat situations or what resonance has to do with it. Probably an important thing to mention in a dev diary about said thing.

Or how the hunting works, for that matter.