Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines | Full Game 4K Walkthrough | No Commentary

Today we rearchive one of my favorite games of all time. Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines is a game that is listed in my top 10 best games ever made. I have probably beaten it 5 or 6 times already and I am always in the mood to play it again. I remember actually buying the game when it came out as there was quite a bit of hype since it utilized the same engine as Half Life 2. But because it came out in the same time as that juggernaut Half Life 2 (which is actually also in my top 10 favorite games of all time) it became a huge financial flop. It also had a very rushed production and therefore had a lot of bugs and glitches.
But one of the most amazing things is that for over a decade the community took it upon themselves to create patch after patch to make this game playable as best as they could. They added lost audio files, quests that were removed and more. Playing with the unofficial patch is a must and many years later this is still one of the best RPG games ever made in the west.
You play as a vampire that has just been turned and thrown into Los Angeles as you learn about all the different clans, politics and rules you have to adhere by. Slowly you work your way up the ranks by doing quests for various characters. What makes the game so great are its excellent characters and superb writing. So many characters are memorable. From poster girl Jeanette to sleazy Lacroix, badass Jack or the mysterious Strauss. The quests are also amazingly designed with often 3 or 4 different ways to solve them depending on your skill checks. For many years we did not have RPG games where you had this much choice. The closest thing we had were the Deus Ex games and more recently Baldur's Gate 3. There are some awesome setpieces like the haunted hotel or the creepy scene at Gimble's. The music is also super chill and every time I play this game I just get into a vibe I love. Now because it had a rushed development cycle there are some sections later on in the game that are actually not that great. They are pretty bad in fact. I would say the last 2 hours are very repetitive, sometimes boring and have little to no RPG mechanics. But even despite that it still has more than 10 hours of superb role playing goodness that is rare nowadays in video games.
For this playthrough I actually found out that a certain quest has been added in the unofficial patch that I had never played. This quest will even let you travel to some new locations like a tobacco shop and the library. From what I understand there is also the excellent Clan Quest mod that adds even more content and a whole new hub area so if I ever revisit this game again (and I will) then I will definitely play it with that mod. Writing this has already made me excited again for another playthrough, so I cannot wait to see all those quirky characters in Los Angeles again.

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