Biltong & Bytes: Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 Review

After years of delays and studio hand‑offs, Bloodlines 2 has finally crawled out of its coffin. It’s a miracle it launched at all — and a tragedy in the state it arrived. We played a few hours over multiple days here in Pretoria, and while the core fantasy absolutely slaps, the performance keeps taking the wind out of the cape.

Welcome to the Night

From the first scuffle, Bloodlines 2 nails the elder vampire fantasy. You’re not a fledgling; you’re a predator. A casual backhand sends a human flying across the room, a blink-dash closes gaps in an instant, and feeding mid‑fight powers up your next smash. It’s deliciously powerful and properly fun.

Genre wise, let’s call the masquerade: the game that tries to pass as an RPG, but moment‑to‑moment it’s closer to Dishonored with fangs — compact spaces, stealth and mobility toys, a focused upgrade track, and cosmetics. Role‑play exists, sure, but the spotlight is infiltration, takedowns, and creative power plays.

Our Build: Brujah Brawler

We rolled Brujah — the punch-first philosophers — and it’s pure dopamine:

• Potence + Celerity let you blitz the arena and bully anything warm-blooded.

• Charge, Earthshock, Lightning Strike turn rooms into debris.

• Brutality (damage spike after feeding) rewards nonstop aggression.

If you want that “I’m the apex predator” rush, Brujah delivers in spades.

Clans & Playstyles (Quick Bites)

Pick a clan for a permanent passive and key affinities that shape your early build. You can learn other clans’ active abilities later via Blood Resonance, but off‑affinity picks cost more — so your first bite matters.

Progression Notes: Clan passives are permanent and unique. Active abilities from other clans can be learned later with Blood Resonance, but cost more if they don’t align with your clan’s affinities — so your starting choice has a lasting impact on your route through Seattle.

TL;DR: Your clan defines your early playstyle — from raw Brujah aggression to Banu Haqim deception or Tremere dominance.

Seattle After Dark (Setting)

Rain-slick streets, neon signage, and that Pacific Northwest hush set the tone. Bloodlines 2 leans hard into urban nocturne: tight alleys, waterfront warehouses, velvet-lit clubs, and plush Elysium suites where politics simmer. Districts are built like compact hubs stitched together by fast travel, which suits the game’s Dishonored-style loop — stalk rooftops, slip through service corridors, then crash the front door if your clan kit says you can. Mortals mill as prey, witnesses, and quest-givers; the masquerade pressure is constant, with patrols, cameras, and bouncers shaping your routes. Level verticality gives melee builds clean dive-bomb lines and offers casters/stealth classes multiple ingress points. It’s not a sprawling open world, but the vibes are thick and the spaces are tuned for repeat runs and different power fantasies.

Performance & Optimization

Here’s where the masquerade slips.

Our rig: 

• Ryzen 9 6900HX

• 64GB DDR5

• RTX 3070 Ti

• Settings: 

  • Medium

  • DLSS: Balanced

  • NVIDIA Reflex: On

We struggled to hold ~50 FPS with frequent dips and micro-stutter. For a game that thrives on speed and precision, that’s rough — and it undercuts the otherwise excellent power fantasy.

What helped (a little):

• Cap to 60 FPS to smooth frametimes.

• Try DLSS Performance instead of Balanced.

• Kill any ray-traced bells & whistles; stick to SSAO/SSR.

• Prefer true Fullscreen over Borderless.

• Latest GPU drivers — or roll back one if performance tanks.

It’s still not where it should be on this hardware. And to top it all off there is no way to disable motion blur.

Minor Gripes

• “RPG” in name, immersive-sim in spirit. Expectations from the Bloodlines brand set many up for a deeper stat/choice web than what’s here.

• Progression feels narrow. Cross-clan skills exist, but costs tug you back to your lane.

• Polish pass needed. Stutters and hitches pop immersion at the worst times.

The Good Stuff

• You feel ancient and terrifying. The power curve is immediate and satisfying.

• Stealth-action sings. Mobility, takedowns, and moment-to-moment decisions create great vampire stories.

• Clans change the vibe. Early identity is strong, and each clan’s toolkit pushes a distinct approach.

The Biltong Pairing

Chilli biltong + craft cola. Heat for the Brujah swagger; fizz to cut through the frame pacing.

Verdict

Bloodlines 2 is a stylish stealth-action night out with properly tasty vampire powers — but optimization bites hard, and the Bloodlines badge sets RPG expectations it doesn’t quite meet.

Our score: 6/10