What are your thoughts on VTM Night Road?

[Newb95]

Fun the first time but I wouldn't replay it, the disciplines and backgrounds are mostly cosmetic and don't really impact the story, the bestial successes or whatever they are called are annoying as hell since they happen at random without much justification beside your character having too many dots in a given skill or attribute, basically if you are too good at something then you are going to flip out and murder a bunch of bystanders, hunger has little to do with it from what I understand.

[Random Goblin]

I died kinda early and starting over wasn't much fun.

[SetiteFriend]

I loved the game personally, great re-playability, between all the love interests, choices and ways to complete each mission.

[Mr Sharp]

Loved it to death. It blew my mind that I could play a Gangrel with a wolf famulus and a ghoul who actually remained consistently present and relevant throughout the game's story despite being completely optional. Pretty good writing and dialogue, lots of varied and logical options at almost every turn. Closest thing to the pen-and-paper experience I've ever seen in a game, and if it wasn't text-based it'd beat Bloodlines out by a mile in my estimation.

Could really have done with some more lively formatting though, maybe some background music or sound effects to heighten the atmosphere and immersion. I think part of the reason replayability seems so low is that the presentation is so bare-bones, so it feels pointless to keep coming back for more. Another part is that it's just long. The game could have been half the length and still felt like a satisfying Vampire experience.

Was fairly pleased with the ending. Julian's whole "They're going to find out about us soon. It's inevitable. We should be thinking about getting the ball rolling on our terms instead of theirs." was a refreshing angle on the Masquerade, and I like it especially because the writing really is on the wall, and there would be a lot of Kindred in the Camarilla demanding to know that the elders had a plan beyond just punishing breaches. My favorite Gehenna scenarios in that Time of Judgement book back in the day were the ones where the Masquerade was breached by the players and the Camarilla had to scramble to present themselves to the world and put the best possible face on everything before it ultimately all blew up in their faces.

Generally in old-school VTM, I think the Anarchs are insane, that the Camarilla is probably the right thing for the Kindred's interests and that independents are inherently dangerous to the majority of vampires. But after the early 00's, in the age of omnipresent high-def cellphone cameras the whole situation just changes, and I have a hard time believing that the Second Inquisition are anywhere near the only or biggest problem vampires would be facing from humans, let alone for much longer. In the same sense that I'd never respect a potential Harry Potter sequel set in 2022 that doesn't address that muggles would obviously have found out about the Wizarding World by then.

[Spencer from The Hills]

Thanks! Was the followers of Set option good?

It was okay. Their Protean is snake flavoured and they lose willpower in scene where they're exposed to bright light as I recall. The sire's this guy. I don't know how his scenes differ, because I killed him before the auction and the Dallas delivery.

[Hello]

I liked how the Lasombra, Ravnos and Nosferatu player options were written. The Lasombra PC is a former shovel-head, which doesn't come up that much, but it's radically distinct from other clans (although the Gangrel is weird too). The Ravnos PC was a ghoul for their sire for a while, with a lot of what they saw disguised until the night of their embrace; at least one of the background concept is as an occult bullshit merchant, which is a trope that I've enjoyed since VtR. Also, the courier career is very Ravnos anyway. The Nosferatu PC's sire is Dove, who appears much more frequently in the story than most sire characters and treats the PC differently depending on their actions anyway; in the beginning, instead of saying "Money first, Sewer Rat", the Nosferatu PC can say "Money first, mom", which I enjoyed.

If any DLC clans were disappointing, it's Hecata. They get the Oblivion discipline, but it's usually just ghost flavoured Obtenebration. There's nothing wrong with the Tremere option, but it doesn't stand out as much as it might, if the PC were part of a Tremere community or if Blood Sorcery were more exclusive. I haven't tried playing as Caitiff.

Thanks! Was the followers of Set option good?

[Spencer from The Hills]

On that note, are the DLC's any good?

I liked how the Lasombra, Ravnos and Nosferatu player options were written. The Lasombra PC is a former shovel-head, which doesn't come up that much, but it's radically distinct from other clans (although the Gangrel is weird too). The Ravnos PC was a ghoul for their sire for a while, with a lot of what they saw disguised until the night of their embrace; at least one of the background concept is as an occult bullshit merchant, which is a trope that I've enjoyed since VtR. Also, the courier career is very Ravnos anyway. The Nosferatu PC's sire is Dove, who appears much more frequently in the story than most sire characters and treats the PC differently depending on their actions anyway; in the beginning, instead of saying "Money first, Sewer Rat", the Nosferatu PC can say "Money first, mom", which I enjoyed.

If any DLC clans were disappointing, it's Hecata. They get the Oblivion discipline, but it's usually just ghost flavoured Obtenebration. There's nothing wrong with the Tremere option, but it doesn't stand out as much as it might, if the PC were part of a Tremere community or if Blood Sorcery were more exclusive. I haven't tried playing as Caitiff.

[Hello]

I like to think you have enough blackmail material and evidence that Dove sucks that she basically has to do what you want, so you're sort of the Prince in the Shadows.

I really wish the game allowed you to do that. But sadly that's not possible, you're stuck taking order from one who is lesser than you.

[Hello]

I enjoyed it, but I found it had surprisingly little replayability. I played it twice, once as a physical character, then as a social character, and then I was done. I've started playing a few times since, but got bored almost immediately.

Honestly, I found playing a physical character is a lot less fun than being a playing social one. But thats only me. The most you get out of replayability is trying out all the disciplines in the game, but other than that, yeah theres nothing much else to do.

On that note, are the DLC's any good?

[AnubisXy]

I like to think you have enough blackmail material and evidence that Dove sucks that she basically has to do what you want, so you're sort of the Prince in the Shadows.

[CajunKhan]

I enjoyed it, but I found it had surprisingly little replayability. I played it twice, once as a physical character, then as a social character, and then I was done. I've started playing a few times since, but got bored almost immediately.

[Hello]

You all probably know what it is, if you don't, a quick google search will suffice.

I enjoyed the game, and the price was pretty great. I did have a couple issues with it however. Mostly with how weak the Camarilla ending felt. If your character reached this ending, it means that they are perhaps the biggest reason Tucson is still standing, which would lead one to believe that you would gain some kind of important position within the Camarilla, *Cough* Prince *Cough*, after the former prince, Lettow, is beckoned away. But noooooooo, you're still stuck as a Courier, but with the right to create progeny. And thats it. Yep, the hero of Tucson who was a big factor in in the destruction of a 7th generation elder, who practically recruited the Primogens in the end, was told to continue being a lapdog.

And who was chosen to be prince in the end? Dove the nosferatu. The same nosferatu who was so terrible at her job, she pretty much had to beg you to do it for her. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the vampire that was chosen to be Prince. That title should have been mine! I met with the future primogens, who were so impressed by me that they decided to stay in Tucson! I solved issue after issue going far beyond the call of duty! I rooted out spies in the night club, something that was her job! And what do I get? Practically nothing!

But other than that, I had a pretty good time. If you are having a hard time getting through the game, just spend most of your xp on your social stats, and spend the rest on your disciplines. Don't bother trying to learn new disciplines, it's not worth it. If you are going by this advice, don't bother playing a clan with social disciplines, just pick literally anything else.

So what were your thoughts on the game?