Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Delivers One of 2025’s Best Stories [Review]

by

Few games embody the spirit of a ‘cult classic’ quite like 2004’s *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines*. This story-focused action-RPG offers a darkly captivating look at modern vampires. Over the past two decades, *Bloodlines* has gained a devoted online fanbase, celebrated as a uniquely charming product of early 2000s PC gaming. As the franchise has become more popular, we’ve seen related projects emerge, including visual novels, the *Bloodhunt* battle royale, and the highly anticipated *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2*.

It’s interesting how cult classic games often become beloved *despite* their flaws. The original *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines* is far from perfect – some would argue it’s even quite rough around the edges. While its story and world are exceptional, the gameplay – including combat and the open-world RPG aspects – feels unfinished, even for a game released in 2004. But fans don’t focus on these problems. They appreciate the game’s strengths so much that they see *Bloodlines* as something special – a truly unique experience that transcends its imperfections.

Think of *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2* as a flawed but ultimately enjoyable experience, much like the original *Bloodlines*. While its open world feels uninspired, its RPG elements aren’t fully developed, and the quests are fairly basic, I thoroughly enjoyed playing it. In fact, I found the story to be excellent and believe it’s one of the best-written games of 2025.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Has a Bloody Great Narrative

Fans of the original *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines* often praise its exceptional writing, and the new game prioritizes storytelling just as much. The world of *Vampire: The Masquerade*, inspired by the tabletop role-playing game from the early 90s, is known for being dark, gritty, creative, and well-developed. It’s one of the few urban fantasy series that avoids feeling childish or aimed at young adults. The franchise doesn’t shy away from mature themes and doesn’t try to make its monsters sympathetic or align them with modern moral standards. *Vampire: The Masquerade* embraces its monstrous nature, and that confidence is a welcome change from many big-budget stories today.

Though the original *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines* was created by the now-closed Troika Games, the upcoming sequel is being developed by The Chinese Room, known for story-driven games like *Still Wakes the Deep* and *Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture*.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 retains the rich vampire mythology of the original game, but boasts a more captivating storyline and a more compelling main character. Players become Phyre, a centuries-old vampire known throughout the vampire world, who arrives in Seattle following a significant change in vampire leadership. Phyre is similar to the protagonist in Cyberpunk 2077: you can shape their personality through dialogue choices, make important decisions, and even influence their past, though their fundamental motivations remain fixed. While fans of the first Bloodlines’ greater freedom might find this limiting, others will appreciate how Phyre’s defined story creates a more streamlined and focused experience.

What sets *Vampire: The Masquerade* apart from many recent, large-scale stories is its remarkable self-assurance, which feels truly unique and revitalizing.

In *Phyre*, players gradually uncover the complex relationships within Seattle’s vampire society, the Camarilla, revealing hidden truths and the city’s dark past. The game thrives on its characters and rich backstory, offering just enough to pique your interest and encourage further exploration. While many modern games try too hard to be captivating, *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2* makes it seem easy. Every character feels important, the lore is consistent, and the story is expertly crafted, even as it builds towards a dramatic and unforgettable ending.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’s Gameplay Is a Mixed Bag

The gameplay in *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2* is disappointing, not because it’s bad—it’s actually an improvement over the original—but because it doesn’t fully live up to what it could be. Like the first game, *Bloodlines 2* features a relatively small open world, but the snowy streets of Seattle aren’t nearly as interesting or detailed as those in the original. The Los Angeles of the first *Bloodlines* felt like a living, breathing city full of secrets, optional conversations, and hidden surprises. While not perfect, it was a unique and immersive environment. In contrast, the Seattle in *Bloodlines 2* feels empty and uninspired.

The game’s side content is where its weaknesses are most apparent. It feels like a box-checking exercise to include open-world features, and doesn’t fit with the game’s unique style. Side quests are repetitive – simply go somewhere and complete a task – and they don’t connect to create a larger story. What’s worse, many quests offer no reward, or only give experience points that are easily earned in other ways. Even finding collectibles around Seattle feels tedious, as there are so many scattered randomly across the map.

The game struggles with basic RPG elements, never fully developing them. You can’t improve your character through stats, items, or equipment, and progress relies almost entirely on unlocking new abilities. While many of these abilities are interesting and enjoyable, you can only have four equipped at a time. This makes unlocking more feel less about becoming stronger and more about simply having more choices. It’s a good concept initially, but it becomes repetitive once you find a few powers that work well. There are also passive abilities, but they’re too weak to justify the effort needed to unlock them. Though *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2*’s abilities are inventive, they aren’t integrated well enough into the overall gameplay to truly shine.

When *Bloodlines 2* plays at its best, it’s truly impressive. The main character, Phyre, is incredibly agile, able to run, jump, glide, and climb with ease. This makes moving around and fighting feel fast-paced and exciting. This agility works well with the game’s focus on special abilities, giving you plenty of ways to control battles and play to your strengths. Phyre can even use telekinesis to grab and throw objects, or even fire weapons, which is always fun. The combat and exploration are particularly strong in the second half of the game, when there’s more variety in enemies and environments. However, the game sometimes feels held back by a strict progression system and quests that don’t always encourage you to use Phyre’s unique powers in creative ways.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 isn’t designed to compete with huge, content-rich RPGs. If you expect that level of detail and breadth, you might find the game’s take on Seattle a bit limited. However, if you’re looking for a compelling story and gameplay that, while sometimes constrained, generally delivers, you’ll probably enjoy this more laid-back action-adventure. Like the original Bloodlines, the sequel is imperfect, but boasts exceptional writing.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S starting October 21, 2025. This review is based on a PC code provided to Game Rant.

Read More

2025-10-17 16:08