Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 uses a Mass Effect-like system in deciding whether NPCs like you or not

At its heart, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is an RPG, and while we experienced a lot of action and stealth in our short time with the game at Gamescom, we wanted to know what systems will let the player know their decisions matter. So, we spoke with Narrative Director Ian Thomas and White Wolf's Brand Marketing Manager Jason Carl about what goes on behind the scenes.

"It's so seamless that you're not even aware at first that it is happening. And I love the moment when the player realizes, oh, that's what's happening. That's how the role-play works," said Carl before stepping away to let Thomas dig in on the deeper details.

"What we've done, if you go back to something like Mass Effect and the Paragon Renegade, the world has an opinion about that main character," Thomas explained. "In our game, every character has an opinion about the main character. So if you treat one vampire, for example, as you're the really tough elder and you should respect my authority, then they might react in a way which is, okay, I'll back down in front of you. Or they might get really pissed off and dislike you."

"You can totally role-play the I'm going to stamp my feet down and beat everybody up version. Or you can be the chameleon and try and butter people up, flatter them, whatever. So these reactions build up and those characters have opinions of you and the things that they talk to you about and that you do and the dialogue choices and how they treat you in the game therefore changes," he added. Thomas also said that things come to a head when you're in a room full of vampires and are asked what your opinion is on a given matter, as that's when real alliances can be forged or broken down.

Check out our full interview for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 below: