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Paradox says Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is more of 'a spiritual successor' than a sequel, and it 'maybe shouldn't be compared to' the original RPG

Paradox Interactive's deputy CEO clarifies that 'Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2' is not a direct sequel to the 2004 original but a spiritual successor, aiming to avoid unrealistic expectations from fans and ensure a clear understanding of what the game offers.

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Longtime fans shouldn't expect Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 to be a direct sequel to the 2004 original, according to publisher Paradox Interactive's deputy chief executive officer Mattias Lilja.

Speaking in a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Lilja explains that the developers didn't look to the first action RPG for too much inspiration but drew from it rather cautiously as, despite it being "a good game," it's also "an old game" with an air of nostalgia surrounding it. "It's about setting the right expectations," he says. "The first Bloodlines game […] it's a game from 2004, that is now patched so that it works."

Due to its age, Lilja states "there's also a lot of ideas about what that game was, that are more, not to offend anyone, mythical." Paradox wants to "clarify" what Bloodlines 2 is "so people have a clear understanding of what they're buying" and so they "don't come in with weird expectations." The new game, with its differences, "maybe shouldn't be compared to" the original, as fans need to "understand what they're getting into."

Lilja stresses this point once more: "Mainly we want to clarify that we're making a spiritual successor, not an actual same blueprint type of game, so people don't get disappointed and feel cheated. We really don't want that." As a dedicated fan of the tabletop RPG and original Bloodlines game myself, I'm just hopeful that we'll get anything at all at this point - and that the second entry's recent delay actually proves to be its final one.

Need even more to look forward to while you wait for Bloodlines 2? Here are some other new games coming this year and beyond.