The Chinese language Room has revealed Phyre, the Elder Kindred who will function the primary playable character in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. To study extra, we had the prospect to talk to narrative designer Arone Le Bray all about this vampire who was Embraced within the early seventeenth century.
Phyre is a personality with an extended historical past, however it is possible for you to to customise them and select their gender, clan, outfits, habits, and a lot extra. You will have to consider carefully, nonetheless, as your actions, that means your conversations, what you put on, the way you feed and/or deal with Seattle’s populace, and extra could have huge penalties on the world round you and the way the story progresses.
As to what that world is, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes place in Seattle in 2024 and sees Phyre waking up from a roughly 100-year slumber. They’re an Elder Kindred, which implies they have been undead for no less than 300 years however now have an enormous hole of their information.
Phyre could have an extended and storied historical past that you’ll study all through the sport, however they’re now in a world that has very a lot modified since they final remembered it. Whereas that looks like a significant drawback, she shouldn’t be alone on this journey as there’s a mysterious companion that can be a part of her.
For causes which might be at the moment unclear, Phyre is inhabited by a thinblood vampire from modern-day Seattle named Fabien, and he is aware of issues Phyre does not and is a voice they’ll take heed to, ignore, anger, and so on. Very similar to Phyre can change the world round them with their choices, so can also they form their relationship with Fabien. Oh, and Phyre is the one one who can hear Fabien or is aware of that he’s there.
This, in line with Le Bray, may also be useful to gamers, particularly those that do not know any of Vampire: The Masquerade’s expansive lore, as Fabien will assist educate them in regards to the world as he’s educating Phyre.
“Even in the event you do not perceive a lot of what’s going on at the start, Fabien is right here to assist be that cipher for you slightly bit, despite the fact that it isn’t your character,” Le Bray mentioned. “You, because the participant, are nonetheless getting that info alongside Phyre.”
Phyre and Fabien’s journey can be an unpredictable one, however the decisions you make will not be so mild aspect or darkish aspect or, like within the universe of Mass Impact, paragon or renegade. It is possible for you to to circulation by means of the sport in a method you need your Phyre to behave, and will not be shoehorned right into a binary good or evil playthrough.
“We did not need it to really feel like you possibly can solely be a pleasant particular person or a jerk,” Le Brey mentioned. “So, one of many issues that we checked out very early on is how can we make it really feel like Phyre is an individual in management from second to second? And we checked out what totally different responses you’d have at a specific second to nonetheless get the result that you really want? How are you going to go about getting that end result? And simply because I’d need one end result, one other participant who’s taking part in Phyre won’t need that very same end result, or they won’t care about performing the identical method that mine does.”
There can be decisions you make on the earth, but in addition about Phyre’s historical past. As we talked about, they have been alive for a whole lot of years and most of the inhabitants of Seattle know the “legend of Phyre.” Nevertheless, you possibly can assist form that legend by confirming, denying, or not commenting on the so-called deeds of your previous, particularly if it helps get what you need.
One of the attention-grabbing facets of Bloodlines 2 is that it does happen within the “actual world,” albeit one with vampire and all that good things. Within the movies introducting Phyre, we see her speaking to a lady named Lou. In case you are aware of Seattle historical past, you’ll acknowledge her as Lou Graham from the 1800s.
In our historical past, Lou was the madame of a brothel within the metropolis and was one of many wealthiest and influential citiizens of Seattle till she handed away in 1905. So, why is she displaying up in 2024 in Bloodlines 2? Effectively, discovering that out can be a few of the enjoyable the sport, which is mixing actual life with fiction.
“That is among the enjoyable issues about Vampire: The Masquerade – the actual world parts and form of , nicely, what was responsible for that actual world factor?” Le Bray mentioned. “Did that factor occur due to historical past saying that it occurred because of this? Or was there an alternate cause why such a factor occurred, particularly in Seattle. I imply, Lou confirmed up at a really turbulent time within the historical past, so was there something there that perhaps was Kindred-related or was this all mortal? How a lot did these two worlds influence and meld and what does that imply for Phyre now? That is the place quite a lot of that enjoyable is.”
And that’s solely the tip of the iceberg that’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and the following merchandise on the listing for The Chinese language Room to dive deep into would be the clans. Till then, make sure you take a look at the information that we’ll be getting a gameplay reveal of Bloodlines 2 in January 2024 and a launch date in Fall 2024.
Bloodlines 2 is the sequel to the unique sport for 2004 and the official description will give followers only a bit extra as to what to anticipate from this bloody journey.
“Bloodlines 2 takes gamers to the darkish underbelly of Seattle, the place vampires battle for survival and supremacy,” the official description reads. “As an Elder vampire, gamers meet compelling characters, maneuver complicated political relationships, stalk the town streets for prey, and have interaction in intense fight whereas balancing the necessity for blood.
“All through the sport, gamers should all the time be conscious of their environment or threat breaking the Masquerade – absolutely the regulation of secrecy that retains vampire society hidden from humanity.”
Adam Bankhurst is a information author for IGN. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.