What Makes a Bloodlines Game?

Even the screenshots are perfect

Ever since Bloodlines 2 came out, this has been the criticism I've heard the most: It's a fine game, it's just not a Bloodlines game; If they'd just used a different name, there wouldn't be this much uproar.

It seems like such an arbitrary thing. The final word at the end of an already too long name. But it makes all the difference: If it's not a Bloodlines game, I'm not interested in playing it. Sure, I might pick it up in a sale and give it a shot like I did with Swansong, but it was the promise of its Bloodliness-ness that had me interested in the first place.

But why?

Ever since my first experience of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines I have been confused. When people ask me what my favourite game is, it's easy: Bloodlines. (Bloodlines? Sorry, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. *Blank stares*).

But when they ask me what kinds of games I like playing, my instinct is to also reply: Bloodlines. I like Bloodlines-like games. Do you know of any? Please? Please?! But I don't say that because how can I say that? It makes no sense. Instead I come up with something like story-driven RPGs. Except that's a lie. I don't like other games that are branded as RPGs because following around a pre-defined character isn't interesting, and I don't actually like story-driven games because most are too linear and too heavy on the text and there's nothing I like less than reading in games.

Is it vampire games that I like then? World of Darkness games that I like? Again, no. I've tried other vampire games - they're fine but nothing special. There's been a flurry of World of Darkness games recently and even though the cancelled MMO seemed interesting, nothing else has, mainly because again, I don't like reading in games.

So what was so special about Bloodlines? I think I get it now and in a way that makes it perfectly ok to say: I like Bloodlines games. Because Bloodlines isn't a game, it's a genre.

There's a bunch of different theories for what defines a genre, in games and elsewhere. In games specifically, there's the idea that a genre is defined by its mechanics. So you have first person shooters, match-3 games, life sims, platformers, etc, etc. They might all have themes and narratives that are commonly associated with them, but ultimately, it's the mechanic that defines the genre.

Another idea is that genre is defined by the first stand-out original piece of work and all of its copies or successors. In games, for example, you have Metroid, which gave rise to the Metroidvania genre, and Dark Souls, which led to the Soulslike genre. It's a simplistic view that doesn't take into account other inspirations or developments, but the essence of extrapolating genre from a game is there: instead of genre being defined by a single mechanic, it's defined by a cluster of mechanics and other elements that come together to create an experience that is both unique and, very importantly, transferable (more on that later).

It's in this latter definition where I think Bloodlines makes sense. Bloodlines was the name of a game that was so unique in its combination of elements that it became a genre-defining game. The genre it defined was the Bloodlines genre. Unfortunately, however, it is a genre of one since there are no other Bloodlines-like (Bloodlike?) games, yet.

So what are these elements? I've done my best to identify the pieces of the original Bloodlines that made it stand alone against an industry that has tried to simplify or disregard it. This is largely subjective and I'm bound to have missed some things or to have over-emphasised others, but I've tried to focus on the elements that, if stripped away, would have made it a lesser game. Since there are quite a few elements, I've also tried to group them into broader categories that I believe make up the core pillars of a Bloodlines game:

High Player Agency

A choice of characters. Not a predefined role, nor a named or voiced character, but a selection of vessels with different core starting features you can choose to build on.

Character customisation, with limits. This isn't about physical customisation (desirable but not essential), but more to do with skills and abilities that are limited by the starting vessel. The character you start with should matter in both opportunities and limitations to make this selection a meaningful first decision.

Different routes to success. Whether you want to blast your way through enemies or avoid them stealthily, use seduction to get what you want out of an interaction or intimidate everyone you encounter, the game accommodates your choices. It doesn't force you into any specific play style or to fill any arbitrary achievement quotas before you can progress. There might be optimal paths, more efficient routes, and definitely wrong moves too, but any player mistakes are only punishing, not terminal: You're allowed to fuck around and find out.

Exploration is rewarded, not mandated nor neglected. The world doesn't have to be large, but it should be rich, filled with collectables and interactables that deepen a player's immersion within and understanding of it. Non-lore collectables and other miscellaneous items should have a purpose within the game, e.g to be sold for in-game currency that can be used for useful items or upgrades, instead of fuelling some external achievement system. Their discovery should feel like a treat, not a chore.

Atmosphere, Tone & Narrative

Urban, modern environment. Not high fantasy nor historical contexts. Not the wilderness nor any barren lands. The game is a bittersweet love letter to the city, our concrete jungle, the new hunting ground.

On the ground immersion. No isometric top-down views, just straight, 3D, on-the-ground immersive interaction where you can navigate the world with your character in either 3rd or 1st person perspectives (ideally interchangeable).

Supernatural. It doesn't have to be vampires, but it has to be something supernatural - close to human, but a human transformed.

Sexy. In an elegant, teasing way, not a barely-armoured tits kind of way.

Funny. It's like Twin Peaks - people tend to fixate on how weird the show was, but it was also hilarious, with sharp wit, dark humour and a deep sense of human absurdity to balance the heavier elements.

Memorable. No two characters, locations, missions or side quests are alike. The quality of audio, dialogue and world building is above average.

Secrecy. Entering this world should feel like you might be uncovering a hidden layer to your own. The division between these known and unknown layers should be made salient and there should be the feeling that there are always more layers waiting to be uncovered.

Gameplay zones. Different locations have different limitations or allowances which signal to the player what they can expect, i.e. whether they can relax or whether they need to keep their wits about them.

Audience

Mature. From its themes to the writing, this isn't a game for "typical gamers". It's for players who want to interact with a world unlike other game worlds in a way that is unlike other games. It demands depth, internal consistency and strong ludonarrative coherence. You can't just take traditional mechanics and systems from other games and wrap a narrative layer around them - they need to emerge from the narrative in a way that makes sense to that world.

Political. It's not a game of physical abilities but of social wits and how you navigate the new society you find yourself in. Visceral physicality is part of the gameplay, but only a part of it, not the focus. Who you are and how you communicate with this new world has consequences. NPCs remember and respond. Alliances redefine your possibilities.

If Soulslike games are hard to play, Bloodlines games are hard to make. All the systems, all the different routes and divergent play styles make it a massive undertaking. But not an impossible one.

By finding a way to separate the elements of a Bloodlines game from the World of Darkness/Vampire the Masquerade IP, new opportunities emerge. People waited over 20 years for another Bloodlines game only to be disappointed that Bloodlines 2 was a Bloodlines game in name alone. Maybe if we had realised that Bloodlines was a genre independent of its IP, we wouldn't have had to rely solely on publishers and their whims.

This isn't to say that the world of the game and its IP don't matter. They do. But what matters more is how players can interact with the world. No matter how many Vampire the Masquerade games there are, if none of them use the Bloodlines interface, they'll never recreate the immersive experience of the first Bloodlines game.

This revelation can only be a positive one. If we can isolate the elements that make a Bloodlines game, elements that can be transferred to other IPs or narratives or worlds, then maybe we won't have to wait another 20 years for an actual Bloodlines game. Developers won't have to be bound to a specific IP held captive by one neglectful publisher after another; they can develop their own.

Maybe the next Bloodlines game doesn't have to be a Vampire The Masquerade game or even a World of Darkness game at all. As far as I know, you can't copyright game mechanics. Developers everywhere are free to create their own Bloodlines games, as long as they have the right level of ambition (with admittedly copious amounts of delusion).

Who knows what the next Bloodlines game will be. Who knows when it'll be. But now that we've separated the game from the IP, there's a chance we won't have to wait forever.