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Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption

by gatz

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Original Thread: Fools Rush In - Let's Play Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption

 

Introduction



Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption is a 2000 hack-and-slash RPG developed by Nihilistic Software (now nStigate Games), and published by Activision. It's based on the Vampire: the Masquerade tabletop RPG by White Wolf – first released in 1991 – and as a result, the game has a lot of lore behind it. If you guys aren't familiar with the lore and want to get a better understanding of it, I encourage you to read chapter 6 of the game manual. Key terms and the like are explained in-game, but it's nowhere near as thorough as the manual. Don't worry if you can't find a copy of the manual, because I'll be quoting, and showing pictures from it as lore gets referenced.

The first half of the game is set in medieval Prague and Vienna, but the second half is set in modern England and New York. Wikipedia says that the two parts play differently, but I find that they play exactly the fucking same. That's actually the weak-suit of the game; the combat is way too monotonous. To combat the repetitive nature of the gameplay, this is gonna be a hybrid LP, with the cutscenes and conversations coming to you in video -- as well as text and screenshots -- but the combat and exploration will be shown in screenshots, with maybe the additional video for a boss fight. Hopefully this'll hide the tedius nature of the combat and you'll stick around. Hopefully. I can't say that for sure. The main character tends to drive people away because of how boring he is. Who's the main character, you ask?



Yeah, unfortunately that's him, doing his best derp-face. Christof Romuald is an extremely god-fearing Christian crusader. Seriously, he never shuts the fuck up about it. The manual says he grew up in France, but he has an American accent, so someone dropped the ball on that one. It isn't like they couldn't find a voice-actor with an accent either; one of your companions later in the game has a pretty convincing british accent. The manual says he grew up “(i)n the little French village of St. Claire,” which I'm pretty sure isn't even an acceptable spelling of St. Clair, and could refer to multiple places in France. Christof later appears in White Wolf's Brujah and Nosferatu Clan Novels, but his name is misspelled as Christoph every time it comes up. No joke. Even years-later, when the 13 novels were repackaged into 4 volumes, as the Clan Novel Saga I-IV, his name was still spelled wrong. Basically, I think it's a conspiracy against him because everyone secretly hates him. That'll be true for us, too, as we'll be following Christof on his multiple generation-spanning adventure, and even get to make moral decisions for him.

That's where the interaction comes in. The game has multiple endings, and which one you get is influenced by what decisions are made and what Christoff's Humanity rating is. It goes from 0 to 100, and it we choose to make what the game considers to be morally corrupt choices, the rating goes down. It's up to you guys which path Christof takes, but its worth noting that the choices that lower your humanity sometimes give you bonuses, like more spells to use, or let you avoid hazards, and are generally the less uptight, more fun options to choose. The choices that raise Christof's humanity lead to the "good" ending, however. Either way, I'm gonna show all the endings, so tell me which path we should go down. What we decide on will guide my general conversation choices, but I'm gonna let you guys vote on every major decision.

So yeah, I give Christof a lot of shit, but that's just because of how static and uptight his character is. The strong suit of the game is the story, and how they incorporate VTM lore into the game, and I do enjoy this game on a whole. This is gonna be a somewhat satirical look at the game, so prepare for that. It should be obvious, but spoilers that aren't tagged are an absolute no-no. I absolutely encourage genuine speculation, though. Let's get on with it.

Act I - Down and Out in Prague and Vienna

Act II - Keep the Kindred Flying

Afterword

Related Links

-Game Introduction
-In-game Music *minor spoilers relating to locations in-game*
-VtMR Concept Art
-Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines currently being lp'd by Hampooj
-Playlist of this LP's videos
-Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption on GOG.com
-VTM20: Everyone took the Enemy Flaw, Supplementary LP

Interviews, Videos, etc.

-Why Vampires? -In-game Storytelling
-Emotional Tinkering -Save-Game Controversy
-Lessons Learned -The 24-Month Game
-A United Front -The Final Stretch
-Development Timeline
-Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption Design Log: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
-Video interview with Nihilistic Software
-IGN Interview with Ray Gresco
-IGN Q&A with Ray Gresco on the VtM Tabletop Game: Part 1, Part 2
-Q&A with Kevin Manthei -Q&A with Rob Huebner
-Vampire Team interview
-Vampire Launch Party
-Game Facts
-Discogs VtMR Soundtrack Page -VtMR Soundtrack Playlist

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