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[neotemplar]

Vampire:
Buy it.
I still have my disc copy on my desk from when I got it as a kid.

Play ghost house, prepare to piss yourself.

I may install it tonight as I have yet to try it on my new pc and now LA won't take eternity to load.

[Gunner-Chan]

One thing I have to ask though.

Why is everyone so enamored by the ghost house? I actually found that the low part of the early game. And that's because I consider myself kind of a baby when it comes to scares and things like that. It just... Didn't hit me like everyone else I guess.

[Levi]

One thing I have to ask though.

Why is everyone so enamored by the ghost house? I actually found that the low part of the early game. And that's because I consider myself kind of a baby when it comes to scares and things like that. It just... Didn't hit me like everyone else I guess.

Something just felt awesome about exploring an old haunted house.  I didn't really find it scary, but I loved the atmosphere.

Also, for me(who wasn't really familiar with the White Wolf lore) I think it was one of the earlier bits of the game where you learn that there is more going on in the world than just vampires.  It really made the whole game feel a bit more real to me.

[nenjin]

I'm pretty hard to scare by conventional means. Yet Ghost House did it to me too. Got the hairs on the back of my neck and arms standing up. I think it's a combination of:

a) good audio
b)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Shit constantly flying at you at high speed and making loud shattering noises.

c)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The suspense of thinking a ghost is going to rush your ass at any time.

I've played it several times and asked myself the same question, "Why did I find this so scary the first time through?"

When I get down to the basement and the laundry room......I remember why. Being scared requires a healthy suspension of disbelief, and VtM: Bloodlines was a world and a genre where I was happy to suspend my disbelief. Whereas in other titles, I'm incapable of doing it.

[neotemplar]

One thing I have to ask though.

Why is everyone so enamored by the ghost house? I actually found that the low part of the early game. And that's because I consider myself kind of a baby when it comes to scares and things like that. It just... Didn't hit me like everyone else I guess.

It's cause it's unpleasantly scary.  Which is legitimately rare in games.  Only Penumbra and Amnesia strike me as bad and those are total horror games.

I mean I sprint the entire ghost house with the sound muted after the first play cause it is that bad


The exploding lightbulbs. Arrrrg they always get me.  Especially the one on the front of the house.

[Aqizzar]

One thing I have to ask though.

Why is everyone so enamored by the ghost house? I actually found that the low part of the early game. And that's because I consider myself kind of a baby when it comes to scares and things like that. It just... Didn't hit me like everyone else I guess.

Something just felt awesome about exploring an old haunted house.  I didn't really find it scary, but I loved the atmosphere.

Also, for me(who wasn't really familiar with the White Wolf lore) I think it was one of the earlier bits of the game where you learn that there is more going on in the world than just vampires.  It really made the whole game feel a bit more real to me.

Personally, I didn't like it just because I don't respect jump scares.  I know they're coming, I know they're supposed to be scary, and I know they can't actually do anything, because an instant-death trap house that early in the game would be stupid.  I do get a little impressed at clever jump scares, but as soon as it was obvious the house was haunted with no actual enemies or puzzles, it was just a question of how much special effects do I need to sit through before I wander into the next scene?

I'm overselling it, it wasn't that bad.  I'm just pointing out how one could not like it.

But yeah, I recommend Masquerade: Bloodlines to anyone who like action-RPGs.  It's a lot like Deus Ex really, but with more RPG elements, a conversation engine, and vampire powers instead of nanomachines.

[Gunner-Chan]

"Deus ex: Vampire edition" would be a good way to describe the game honestly.

[nenjin]

Yeah. I just recently got Deus Ex and constantly find myself making comparisons between it and VtM:Bloodlines.

And yes, the Ghost House is only good for one run if you're the kind of person who deconstructs your games. I admit I was kind of disappointed at the end of it....yet I had to give them props, in that I felt like I got a complete experience without combat or puzzles. Which is pretty rare, tbh.

I think what also makes it effective is that the story is delivered almost entirely without NPCs babbling at you or lots of cut scenes. Sure they're holding your hand to guarantee you'll be exposed to the story...but the effects and the isolation play on the mind, and many of the cues are subtle. Replaying it with the sound turned up higher or taking my time or exploring a different route, I'd hear or see things I hadn't seen in the my first play through. It's just a very non-standard approach to a quest level and that left its mark on people playing.

[Pandarsenic]

If you enjoy RPGs, NOT getting VtMB is a disservice to y'self.

[Sirus]

See, here's my problem: for the last page, people have been going on about how horrible the last parts of the game are, even worse without a fan patch. Then people start talking about how other parts aren't all that great either. Having memorable characters is nice, but I can get those in a similarly-priced novel and not worry about whether it will work on my laptop.

[Gunner-Chan]

It should run, if it ran on my 64mb video card peice of shit it should run on whatever you have. And really, even with the questionable endgame I still thought it was awesome.

In my case it might of just been hype backlash in the hotel portion. Since my god you would swear that was 80% of the game.

Personally, I think it's far more likable a game than Deus ex is past it's prime, it's aged far better and is every bit as good.

[nenjin]

There's too much good to list it all

[Sirus]

It should run, if it ran on my 64mb video card peice of shit it should run on whatever you have. And really, even with the questionable endgame I still thought it was awesome.

In my case it might of just been hype backlash in the hotel portion. Since my god you would swear that was 80% of the game.

Personally, I think it's far more likable a game than Deus ex is past it's prime, it's aged far better and is every bit as good.

You'd be surprised what does and doesn't run on this thing
Morrowind? Sure thing! Condemned: Criminal Origins? Turn down the graphics a smidge, runs perfect. Minecraft? A little slow, but workable.
Half-Life 2? Bare minimum settings. Jamestown? Stuttering sounds. Space sims? Don't even bother.

Still, I guess y'all convinced me. Even if I hate it, it's only like three bucks.

[Sergius]

V:tM actually has trouble running if you have too much RAM. There's a fix tho, but kinda hacky.

[Lectorog]

VTMB is a pretty good game. I've gotten a short way in, but decided to start a new game. I tried to play it earlier; I got it working, but it crashes too frequently to keep my attention, considering that it takes almost five minutes to start up.