Being the Monster | Vampire Games, from Skyrim to Bloodlines

This video is about exploring the idea of “Vampire Gameplay” by looking at games ranging from Blood Omen and Castlevania to Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines. “Being a Vampire” is a sort of play that goes beyond aesthetics into expected and, indeed, typified conventions. That, to me, is more or less a genre.

Thanks goes to Len for script help, her stuff can be found here:
Twitter: @TilFolkvang
Three Moves Ahead: www.idlethumbs.net/3ma/
Bluesky: @len.bsky.social

​⁠‪@FreddaYT‬ is A Norwegian and was in this video.

Kiki of ​⁠‪@Transparencyboo‬ did the art for Kain and Alucard, which gave me the strength to carry on with the massive task that was editing near two hours of video together.

Also, not mentioned in the end, but sincerely, thank you to UESP– The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, an independent wiki that has helped me stay sane for at this point about a decade of Elder Scrolls game playing and lore-reading.
Please, please, check them out instead of using the disparate, poorly kept, and sometimes duplicate fandom wikis for Elder Scrolls games. en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page
I regret that I couldn’t find a non-Fandom wiki for Bloodlines, and so as penance, I’m giving UESP an endorsement here.
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My links:
Twitter: twitter.com/KRosencreutz
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/rosencreutz.bsky.social
Patreon:www.patreon.com/Rosencreutz
Discord: discord.gg/cZNHhHAMzJ
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Creator Videos mentioned:

What is a Man in Japanese:
   • "Miserable Pile of Secrets" in Japanese an...  
​⁠‪@MandaloreGaming‬ Kain:
   • Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen Review  
​⁠‪@RedQueenEffect‬ video:
   • VTMB: Ocean House Hotel Walkthrough (How N...  
​⁠‪@ErrantSignal‬ and Player Character:
   • What Does It Mean To Player Character?  


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For tabletop source books I used Chicago By Night 2023 and VtM Corebook 2022

For articles and Bloodlines 2 things:

B1 designer diary on social aspects etc
www.gamespot.com/articles/vampire-the-masquerade-b…
B1 diary on source engine:
www.gamespot.com/articles/vampire-the-masquerade-b…
–B1 combat interview:
www.ign.com/articles/2004/08/09/vampire-the-masque…

Boyarsky interview:
www.pcgamesn.com/leonard-boyarsky-new-obsidian-gam…
B2 dev diaries:
-Diary 1, Welcome to The Chinese Room
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/vampire-the-masqu…
-Diary 2, Narrative and Theme
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/vampire-the-masqu…
-Diary 3, on Combat
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/vampire-the-masqu…
-Diary 8, on Setting
www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/vampire-the-masqu…

Gameplay Reveal video:
   • Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - E...  

Podcast with Brian Mitsoda and Cara Ellison interview:
podtail.com/en/podcast/the-re-bind-io-podcast/the-…
( 57 minutes in lgbt rep stuff mentioned)

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
03:49 Explaining Vampire Play
14:52 The Elder Scrolls for some reason
35:02 Vampire Themes
40:34 Vampyr the Masquerade
47:58 Vampire the Masquerade Bloodsquerade
1:03:40 Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
1:22:50 Looking to the Future
1:32:59 A Paradoxical Position
1:44:48 Outro
1:46:25 secret