Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York is a visual novel-style adventure video game developed and published by Polish studio Draw Distance. It is set in the World of Darkness, and is based on White Wolf Publishing's tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. It was released in 2019 for Microsoft Windows, and in 2020 for Linux, MacOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A stand-alone expansion, Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York, is planned to be released in 2020.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York
Key art, featuring the vampire Sophie Langley[1]
Developer(s)Draw Distance
Publisher(s)Draw Distance
Designer(s)Krzysztof Zięba
Writer(s)Krzysztof Zięba
SeriesVampire: The Masquerade
Platform(s)
Release
  • Microsoft Windows
  • December 11, 2019
  • Linux, MacOS
  • January 23, 2020
  • Nintendo Switch
  • March 24, 2020
  • PlayStation 4
  • March 25, 2020
  • Xbox One
  • April 15, 2020
Genre(s)Adventure, visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

The player takes the role of one of three fledgling vampires from different vampire clans, who each can use different vampiric abilities, and interacts with the members of their coteries in different ways. The story depicts the struggle between two vampiric factions, and diverges depending on the choices the player makes.

The game was designed by Krzysztof Zięba, who also was one of the writers, and used the tabletop game's sourcebook New York by Night as its main inspiration and reference for the characters and setting, while also taking influence from Telltale Games' works and their use of moral dilemmas. In adapting the tabletop game to a video game, the developers chose not to incorporate several tabletop game mechanics, and focused on what they considered essential to telling the story.

Gameplay
The player interacts with characters and makes dialogue choices through text-based gameplay, causing the story to branch.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York is a single-player, visual novel-style adventure game[2][3][4] with mainly text-based gameplay, and involves the player making dialogue and story choices.[5][6] As a vampire, the player character needs to balance their blood thirst with their humanity, while also ensuring that they do not reveal themselves as vampiric, breaking the Masquerade.[5] Based on the choices the player makes, the narrative branches.[7] In addition to the game's main quest, the player has access to side quests and loyalty quests; the latter involves creating bonds to the characters in their party ("coterie").[8]

The player character can belong to one of three vampire clans, which affects their character's ethics and dialogue,[7] and how the members of the player's coterie react to them.[9] The choice of clan also determines what vampiric abilities ("disciplines") the player can use:[7] a Brujah character can use Celerity (increased speed) and Potence (increased strength); a Toreador can also use Celerity, and Auspex (supernatural senses); and a Ventrue can use Fortitude (increased resilience) and Dominate (mind control); and all three can use Presence (attracting or scaring humans). These abilities can be used for problem solving,[10] as well as in combat situations and when interacting with characters.[6]

Synopsis

Coteries of New York is set in New York City, in the World of Darkness.[3] The story focuses on the struggles between two vampire factions – the traditionalist Camarilla and the rebellious Anarchs[7][9] – and lets the player take the role of one of three fledgling vampires belonging to Camarilla clans:[9] a passionate man of clan Brujah, an artistic person of clan Toreador, and a controlling businesswoman of clan Ventrue.[10]

Development
The game was developed and published by Draw Distance.

Coteries of New York was developed and published by the Polish studio Draw Distance,[2][9] and was designed by Krzysztof Zięba, who also was one of the game's writers.[1][11] The game was based on the fifth edition of the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade,[2] and was produced in cooperation with Modiphius Entertainment, who are handling content creation for the tabletop game, to ensure that it adhered to the Vampire: The Masquerade canon and lore; the story from Coteries of New York is in turn incorporated as part of the series' lore.[3] It was however also designed with players who are new to the series in mind,[12] and was written to work as an introduction to the series and setting,[13] with a focus on introducing basic concepts and different vampire clans.[14] Negotiating the licensing agreement for Vampire: The Masquerade, and the structure and content of the game, was a long process, starting at the Nordic Game conference in 2018.[15]

The developers used the sourcebook New York by Night as their main source of inspiration and reference for the cast and setting. As New York by Night was published in 2001 for the tabletop game's Revised Edition, it was considered a jump-off point, with characters originating from it being developed to account for the passage of time in the setting since the book's publication,[1] certain conflicts and events being resolved or progressing,[16] and new characters being added. In rare cases where the sourcebook indicates how a certain character speaks, this was taken into consideration in the scriptwriting.[1] In addition to New York by Night, the developers made use of information from Camarilla and Anarch, the sourcebooks that were available for the fifth edition of the tabletop game at the time.[6] Another big influence on the game was the works of the game studio Telltale Games, and their use of moral dilemmas.[3][9] Early on in the development, Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks were also an influence.[17]

In adapting the tabletop game to a narrative-driven video game format, the developers focused on what they considered what the tabletop game values – personal stories, and characters and their conflicting motivations – rather than gameplay mechanics. In doing so, they removed tabletop game mechanics such as leveling up and weapon stats, that were not crucial to telling the story, resulting in what they described as essentially a role-playing game without the things commonly associated with role-playing in video games.[18] Although Coteries of New York was not initially designed as a visual novel-like game, it ended up moving towards that as the best format for a dialogue-driven game given the available development time.[19]

Release

The game was announced in June 2019 with a teaser trailer,[20] and was released on December 11, 2019 for Microsoft Windows,[21] following a one-week delay to allow for bug-fixing.[21] Ports followed for Linux and MacOS on January 23, 2020,[22] Nintendo Switch on March 24, 2020,[23] PlayStation 4 on March 25,[24] and Xbox One on April 15, 2020.[25] The console versions launched with additional character and environment art and improved audio design, which was added to the Windows version through an update.[23] An artbook and a soundtrack album were released digitally on March 24, 2020.[23]

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports were announced in November 2019 following talks between Draw Distance and Paradox Interactive, the owner of the World of Darkness intellectual property.[26][27] Although Linux and MacOS versions were part of the original announcement,[26] the initial release for personal computers only included Windows support, with the developers saying that support for those platforms could be added later.[28]

A stand-alone expansion with an independent story, Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York, is planned for release in 2020, and has the player take the role of a vampire from clan Lasombra while investigating the death of the local Anarch movement leader.[29]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic70/100 (PC)[30]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer7/10[31]
IGN6.9/10[32]
PC Gamer (US)77/100[33]
Shacknews5/10[34]
Gamereactor7/10[35]
Multiplayer.it6.3/10[36]
RPGFan63%[37]

The game was met by "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[30] The PC version was among the best-selling new releases of the month on Steam,[38][lower-alpha 1] and recouped development and marketing costs within a week.[15]

Notes
  1. Based on total revenue for the first two weeks on sale.[39]

References
  1. Zięba, Krzysztof (2019-09-10). "Crafting the characters for Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York". Draw Distance. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  2. Purchese, Robert (2019-06-04). "A separate Vampire: The Masquerade single-player narrative experience announced". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  3. Hall, Charlie (2019-06-04). "Telltale-like Vampire: The Masquerade game on the way". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  4. Caicoya, Bea (2020-07-22). "Every New World of Darkness Project, From Video Games to Comics". Comic Book Resources. Valnet, Inc. Archived from the original on 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  5. Macgregor, Jody (2019-08-13). "Vampire: The Masquerade—Coteries of New York detailed". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  6. Chandler, Sam (2019-10-22). "Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York focuses on the narrative". Shacknews. Gamerhub. Archived from the original on 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  7. Stevens, Colin (2019-06-04). "Another Vampire: The Masquerade Game Is in Development, and It's Releasing This Year". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  8. Dedmon, Tanner (2019-06-04). "Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York Revealed". ComicBook.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  9. Brown, Fraser (2019-06-04). "Vampire: The Masquerade—Coteries of New York announced". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  10. Baird, Scott (2019-10-30). "Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York Demo Impressions". Screen Rant. Valnet, Inc. Archived from the original on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  11. "Draw Distance". Draw Distance. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
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  19. Zięba, Krzysztof (2019-12-11). "AMA - Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York release". Draw Distance. Archived from the original on 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2020-01-11 – via Reddit.
  20. Tarason, Dominic (2019-06-04). "Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries Of New York swoops into view". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  21. Gera, Emily (2019-11-29). "Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York release gets delayed by one week". VG247. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2019-11-29. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
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  25. "Ustalenie daty premiery gry „Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York" na platformie Xbox One". Bankier.pl (in Polish). Bonnier Group. 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
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