Branching dialogue trees are nothing new in gaming. Titles from Telltale Games to RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 have utilized them for years. However, The Chinese Room–the developers behind Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2–is taking a different path in the upcoming sequel. The words you choose can do more than hurt or help your relationships with other characters, but you won’t always be able to count on getting the same reaction twice.
TCR Senior Narrative Designer and writer Sarah Longthorne has posted a developer’s diary for Bloodlines 2 that explores the way that dialogue will work in the game. “Conversations are not an exception to gameplay, but an expression of it,” explains Longthorne. “And if gameplay is a test of skill, conversations are a test of emotional intelligence.”
Essentially, characters will respond to your dialogue choices based on their personal preferences as well as their interactions with your playable character, Phyre. Longthrone noted that players will have to figure out the dispositions of the NPCs to learn what they respond to. As an example, she included a sample interaction between Phyre and a character named Lou Graham. The same response from Phyre was interpreted differently by Lou based on how the player had interacted with her in the past.
A sample dialogue interaction from Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2
“What worked once won’t necessarily work every time,” added Longthrone. “We don’t want you getting complacent, picking options transactionally to fill up some bar or progress some metric; we want you thinking, and engaging from moment to moment. As a Kindred would.”
Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 will hit Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC later this year.
