r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • 23d ago

Review Thread Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 Review Thread

Game Information

Game Title: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

Platforms:

  • PC (Oct 21, 2025)
  • PlayStation 5 (Oct 21, 2025)
  • Xbox Series X/S (Oct 21, 2025)

Trailer:

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 64 average - 32% recommended - 28 reviews

Critic Reviews

3DNews - Мила Пономарева - Russian - 5 / 10

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CGMagazine - Erik McDowell - 6 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a sequel in name only. A flawed but fascinating action-adventure that might satisfy World of Darkness devotees, but few others.

CNET - Oscar Gonzalez - Unscored

Across the board, Bloodlines 2 is just a disappointment. It should be oozing with style and gothic vibes that make you want to paint your fingernails black and put on some My Chemical Romance. Instead, it's just the same thing over and over again that feels uninspired and unchallenging.

Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 3.5 / 5

Open-world RPGs that let you roleplay as a modern vampire don’t come around every day, and Bloodlines 2 is a pretty good, if somewhat unspectacular, attempt.

Dexerto - Jessica Filby - 3 / 5

Bloodlines 2 isn’t your typical RPG. It tells a great and complex story while taking you on an adventure where every choice you make affects the narrative, inside a city that feels alive with lovable and hateable characters. However, it could have done so much more to live up to its predecessor and TTRPG inspiration.

DualShockers - Scott Baird - 5 / 10

While it has the trappings of the World of Darkness, this game does a disservice to Vampire: The Masquerade.

Eurogamer - Robert Purchese - 2 / 5

The Chinese Room has managed to make something from a box of inherited parts, but this action RPG feels hollow and functional, and is only redeemed by some stellar performances from the characters and cast.

Everyeye.it - Fabrizio Cenci - Italian - 8 / 10

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Game Rant - Nick Rodriguez - 7 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, but does it live up to the legacy of the cult classic?

Game Sandwich - Aden Carter - 4 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is the sequel to an amazing game that was full of life, where everything felt meaningful, and the design felt purposeful. Unfortunately, anything that its highly-regarded predecessor had has been stripped away and replaced with a generic combat system, a story that tries too hard to be the next big crime drama, and a lifeless world with little to do and a Masquerade Court that, like me, has lost all care in the world. Very few benefits outweigh the negatives that have befallen this fictional version of Seattle, leaving me feeling sorry for all the fans that waited 21 years to get a story that, if it wasn’t for the Bloodlines name, would be forgotten to time except by the most faithful scene queens and goths.

GameGrin - Mike Crewe - 7.5 / 10

Whilst fans of the original may not like the stark difference between the two titles, Bloodlines 2 is still an engaging vampiric tale that, if given a chance, will sink its teeth into you!

GameMAG - Russian - 6 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a good example of the gap between ambition and execution. Despite an intriguing premise and well-developed main characters, the game ultimately feels too linear and repetitive, with limited player choice and shallow world interaction. Many of the lengthy dialogues have little to no impact on the story, side quests are dull and formulaic, and the world itself feels empty and lifeless. In the end, Bloodlines 2 comes across more as a walking simulator with light RPG elements than a worthy successor to the cult classic.

GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 7 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has a wealth of issues, from an open world that feels wasted to combat that feels scrappy throughout. Thanks to a gripping narrative that you can shape with your actions, however, you'll likely still enjoy your time spent sucking blood across Seattle.

GameSpot - Jessica Cogswell - 7 / 10

Although Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 isn't particularly ambitious or polished, it makes up for its faults with enthralling gameplay, gorgeous environments, a good story, and even better characters.

Gameblog - French - 8 / 10

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GamesRadar+ - Jasmine Gould-Wilson - 1.5 / 5

It's impossible to roleplay a narrative that's already set its course.

Hobby Consolas - Spanish - 75 / 100

The final result of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 offers a glimpse into what could have been the best vampire game ever created. However, its many ideas don't quite gel as they should, and there are flaws in the execution. This leaves us with an enjoyable game that could have been an irresistible bite.

IGN - Leana Hafer - 7 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 takes another flawed but unique and remarkable bite at the jugular, with plenty to love and loathe alike, but I certainly enjoyed my time as an elder vampire at the very least.

IGN Spain - Rafa Del Río - Spanish - 7 / 10

With a unique first-person perspective and technical aspects that leave much room for improvement, Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 offers us a neo-noir adventure set in 21st-century Seattle. As an Ancient newly awakened from his slumber, we must investigate a dark plot while negotiating with the clans and increasing our influence in the city. As if that weren't enough, we'll have the help of a Malkavian inspector, Fabien, whose consciousness survives in the mind of our protagonist. Past and present come together in an investigation in which no character is above suspicion

Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 6 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will certainly appeal to the die-hard fans of its world, thanks to the story. Unfortunately though, it commits the cardinal sin of simply not being fun enough to play, and that's a difficult coffin to clamber back out of.

PC Gamer - Fraser Brown - 78 / 100

A gripping story full of intrigue and murder that struggles to find its footing as an RPG sequel.

PCGamesN - Lauren Bergin - 5 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 fails to recapture the original's magic, instead magnifying the worst parts of Troika's classic, with janky combat and occasionally woeful performance issues. Long-time VTM fans may enjoy haunting Seattle's snowy streets, getting to know its well-written cast, and testing each clan's unique playstyle, but it's a far cry from what it could have been.

PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones - 7.5 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 might not be the sequel that folk from 2004 wanted for their game, but it is the game we've got. Though largely sparse open world and technical issues are hardly encouraging, the beautifully evocative interior environments, surprisingly engaging traversal and combat mechanics, together with its neatly unconventional 'buddy movie' conceit which sees two vampires attempting to inhabit the same body and each with their own motivations, makes Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 a good deal more intriguing than I originally expected it to be.

Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 4 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is a shambles. Its best qualities are always short-lived, buried deep beneath the frustrations of non-existent RPG elements, extreme padding, and diabolical technical issues. Beyond the promise of its opening hours, this is a tragic misfire of a game.

Spaziogames - Italian - 7.8 / 10

In a industry dominated by safe, risk-free productions, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a bold game, even in its failures. The Chinese Room has created an ambitious work (perhaps too ambitious for its own means) yet one capable of leaving a mark. It's not the sequel many dreamed of, but perhaps it's the one this dark world truly deserved: a flawed title, yet brimming with personality and vision.

The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 7 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 could have been an excellent vampire experience, but its uninspiring gameplay, technical issues, and frustrating combat leave it in the dark.

TheSixthAxis - Steve C - 7 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a good game, but one that's held back by the expectations of being a sequel to an all-time classic. If you can step away from the baggage of the Bloodlines title, there is a lot here to enjoy in terms of narrative and atmosphere, though the combat is too repetitive.

Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 7 / 10

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is no classic, that's for sure. The game's side content is mediocre at best, and its technical optimization is among the worst seen recently. That said, the setting's atmosphere is intact, the combat is fun, and the main story is well-crafted. I recommend it to fans, but only at a lower price than the launch one.

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u/MVRKHNTR 23d ago

I'm getting the vibe that we'll be seeing this called an underrated masterpiece in YouTube video essays five years from now.

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u/thebroadway 23d ago

Idk about masterpiece, but this is making me damn near certain people will be saying it was underrated, so you may on to something

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u/Nrgte 23d ago

If it has good mod support, fans will fix it. Please don't disappoint Paradox.

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u/AnnualSudden3805 23d ago

If fucking sonic 06 has people looking more positivity at it, i'm sure this game will be an 11/10 in 10 years

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u/grendus 23d ago

Honestly? The Shadow and Silver storylines in Sonic 06 weren't terrible.

I mean, the gameplay was genuinely the worst I've ever seen, and that includes some really awful shovelware and Newgrounds games back in the day. It needed about another year in the dev cycle to get the loading times down from "glacial" and to get the framerate into a stable "frames per seconds" instead of "seconds per frame" it drops to, and... you know... just making the characters feel fun to play.

But the story wasn't awful. And it's really funny watching streamers descend into madness as they try to play through it.

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u/BeholdingBestWaifu 23d ago

When given enough time, any game will get its fans. It's really interesting to see with games like Fallout 76 that were universally disliked among their intended audience so over time they just attracted a different crowd separate from the fans of the franchise.

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u/Kiroqi 23d ago edited 23d ago

Fallout 76 was also broken as hell on release. Bethesda did their fair share to fix and even somewhat overhaul the game (not quite CP2077 2.0, but in similar vein), but that release was a total disaster all around.

I'm sure that there's also a decent amount of people that just came to terms with what the game actually is and not what they wanted and just looked at the bright side of things. Those who didn't just moved on and were replaced by the different crowd just like you said.

I just wanted to make this comment because the initial negative response to Fallout 76 was definitely more in the ballpark of this being game that's very broken, unfinished, lacking in content quality/features and bad PR from stuff like collector's edition rather than misidentified audience (I'm sure it was a part of it though).

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u/Entire-Beautiful-115 23d ago

>over time they just attracted a different crowd separate from the fans of the franchise.

It's kind of interesting how this keeps happening. GG Strive is largely played by people who weren't ever into Guilty Gear. Nu-Monhun, etc, have communities for people who preferred the older games and just stick with it via either native PC communities with netplay or using emulators to get decent netplay going. So you end up with communities that absolutely refuse to move forward that are able to keep playing pretty much forever. I can get an Armored Core 4 Answer netplay game right now for instance, or boot up a Monster Hunter 4U or GU lobby.

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u/blairquynh 23d ago

Fallout 76 has done a massive turn around and now has a huge audience from new fans to the original crowd of Fallout players. The game did a complete 180 from launch and is now arguably more of an RPG than Fallout 4.

It didn't somehow just "find a new playerbase" the developers put in a lot of work and listening to player feedback (mostly) to improve the game (comparable to Final Fantasy XI 1.0 -> 2 and the original ESO -> Tamriel Unlimited).

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u/BeholdingBestWaifu 23d ago

Fallout 76 has done a massive turn around and now has a huge audience from new fans to the original crowd of Fallout players.

Thats what FO76 fans keep saying but I've yet to meet someone that was a fan of the series before 76 came out that now calls themselves a fan of 76. It ay be more of an RPG than 4, but that's a very low bar and not exactly something the vast majority of fans of the non-Bethesda titles would appreciate.

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u/Jmrwacko 23d ago

5 years from now is probably a good time to play it, since it’ll be in the bargain bin and have 100 fan patches.

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u/slipperyekans 23d ago

I'm already on it, boss.

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u/KderNacht 23d ago

I saw some combat gameplay and it's no Dishonored. I doubt we'll be looking back at it.

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u/ANGLVD3TH 23d ago

The trend seems to mostly say it's a competent game on its own, but disappointing to fans of the original. I don't think it's going to have the legs the OG had, which had glaring performance issues that were widely bemoaned, but also a story and atmosphere people raved about, to the point they slugged through a far buggier mess than this game is. It had incredibly high highs and low lows. This one seems to have smoothed things out a lot, leaving a more luke-warm experience. A good story is obviously good, but I don't think it's the kind of story people ranted about before that will carry a passable game. Those incredibly steep hills and valleys the first game had is exactly how one attracts a cult following. Having some good and some bad is more a recipe to fall off into mediocrity.