History YMMV / VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines

* AscendedMeme: The goofy dance that the player can do in clubs has been fully recreated and reanimated as is, NarmCharm and all, for the game's upcoming 2020 sequel just because the development team knew it was often joked about within the fandom.

** You can tell E after [[spoiler:rescuing Lilly]] "Vampires in love, [[Literature/{{Twilight}} you two make a great airport paperback]]".

** Bertram Tung credits your aborted execution to [=LaCroix's=] intervention rather than Nines's. A slip of the tongue (he claims to have come by the news via rumor), or a subtle [[{{Gaslighting}} reframing of events]] to encourage a more charitable interpretation of his boss? Pick his brain enough and he will concede a given value of loyalty to the Camarilla and no faith in the Anarchs.

** Bertram Tung credits your aborted execution to [=LaCroix's=] intervention rather than Nines's. A slip of the tongue (he claims to have come by the news via rumor), or a subtle [[Gaslighting reframing of events]] to encourage a more charitable interpretation of his boss? Pick his brain enough and he will concede a given value of loyalty to the Camarilla and no faith in the Anarchs.

** The Malkavian [=PC=]. Are they as loopy as their dialogue suggests, or are they just messing with people? Given that the other Malkavians met in the game are [[spoiler: Therese/Janette (who are generally coherent outside of their final breakdown)]], Rosa (who, when not babbling about her visions, can hold a normal conversation) and Grout (who is ''notably'' very eloquent, even when his madness begins to creep in near the end of his recordings), it seems the strange way of speaking isn't a commonality of the clan. There's more than one moment in a Malkavian playthrough where they can seem pretty lucid, and Gary even manages to get them to drop their purple prose altogether. Or on the third hand, since the player character has been a vampire for about five minutes, are they just overwhelmed by their sudden transformation and new powers--not to mention the vicious onslaught of auditory hallucinations--that they can only wrangle clear communication out of their brain for a few minutes at a time? Jeanette seems to suggest that you have the curse particularly bad, for whatever reason.

** The Malkavian [=PC=]. Are they as loopy as their dialogue suggests, or are they just messing with people? Given that the other Malkavians met in the game are [[spoiler: Therese/Janette (who are generally coherent outside of their final breakdown)]], Rosa (who, when not babbling about her visions, can hold a normal conversation) and Grout (who is ''notably'' very eloquent, even when his madness begins to creep in near the end of his recordings), it seems the strange way of speaking isn't a commonality of the clan. There's more than one moment in a Malkavian playthrough where they can seem pretty lucid, and Gary even manages to get them to drop their purple prose altogether. Or on the third hand, since the player character has been a vampire for about five minutes, are they just overwhelmed by their sudden transformation and new powers--not to mention the vicious onslaught of auditory hallucinations--that they can only wrangle clear communication out of their brain for a few minutes at a time?

** The Malkavian [=PC=]. Are they as loopy as their dialogue suggests, or are they just messing with people? Given that the other Malkavians met in the game are [[spoiler: Therese/Janette (who are generally coherent outside of their final breakdown)]], Rosa (who, when not babbling about her visions, can hold a normal conversation) and Grout (who is ''notably'' very eloquent, even when his madness begins to creep in near the end of his recordings), it seems the strange way of speaking isn't a commonality of the clan. There's more than one moment in a Malkavian playthrough where they can seem pretty lucid, and Gary even manages to get them to drop their purple prose altogether.

*** Fortitude is such a good defensive power that it even allows the ''[[NonActionGuy Ventrue]]'' fledgling to become one of the more formidable late-game combat clans. Despite having no real offensive boosting disciplines like Potence or Auspex and a rather basic combat discipline in Dominate, Fortitude plus heavy armor and a high defense makes them a BlueBlood [[TheJuggernaut Juggernaut]]. It gets even better because Dominate generally isn't worth upgrading past the third level in the unpatched game. Forgoing the last two levels of Dominate guarantees 35 XP that can be used to pump Fortitude [[UpToEleven or add some Presence]] to make fights ''[[CurbStompBattle even more lopsided.]]''
** The Protean Discipline becomes this thanks to some quirks in the Plus Patch. The levels stack with each other when turned on, providing both the level 4 Strength bonus and level 5 Brawl bonus in War Form. Combined with boosting normal stats, this can give the Gangrel War Form an unarmed combat rating of '''''20'''''. The kicker? That rating can be achieved with a Strength rating of merely 3, and '''the game literally cannot stack the stat any higher'''. This frees up 28 XP to put into Fortitude, [[TheJuggernaut making them borderline indestructable on top of that.]] Even better, in the Plus Patch with some conversation choices and through pumping up Disciplines early, Beckett can give you a fourth discipline: '''[[UpToEleven Celerity]]'''

** Also applies for the game's combat if playing as a Nosferatu. Unlike all the other clans, which have at least one or more defensive buff disciplines to improve their survivability, or can dodge most of what would injure them, the Nosferatu have Obfuscate, which typically doesn't work on supernatural enemies. As a result, a solid Combat Defense is all but a given for the boss fights and levels where the player must engage with vampires. Even then, thoseenemies will hit far harder than they would on a Gangrel or a Brujah.

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* MemeticMutation: Discussion on ''Bloodlines'' online will eventually lead to someone saying "[[JustOneMoreLevel Time to re-install]]", with a demotivational poster explaining it perfectly: "Bloodlines: Every time you mention it, someone WILL install it".

* UncannyValley:
** The way Lily twists her neck after killing Scrubs looks ''very'' unnatural.
** Done deliberately with the Sabbat Gangrels CreepilyLongArms that reach down to their knees, which makes them very creepy to look at

** Even the male PC Nosferatu can have a weird, monsterous kind of charm to him after a while. Especially compared with the female PC, who could compete with Bertram in the Ugly Olympics.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the game was considered to be [[ObviousBeta a buggy and unstable mess]] at release and was such a massive commercial bomb that it sunk Troika Games, it has gone on to become a CultClassic, with many praising its story and replay value. It helps that fan-made patches have done much to fix its many problems. The game has actually become so popular [[VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines2 a sequel is now in the work]].

** A realistic looking Raptor Statue in a hallway? Scary. Having a in-game explaination of why it's there in the first place (basically, someone put it there as a prank)? Funny.

** Related above, Bertram tells a Tremere PC that he's heard that the Tremere is a dying breed. Clan Tremere was later hit hard by the Second Inquisition when they raided their headquarter and took out most of their leadership.

*** The 3rd level of Dominate added by the Plus Patch, Sleep, more than makes up for Trance being nerfed. For two blood points, Sleep can disable any human enemy on the spot, for at least twenty seconds, usually for a minute or longer. Not only does this work just as well as the power it replaces, Suicide, but serves as the second most effective stealth power besides Obfuscate. A quick player can knock out every guard in a secure room and be in and out before they ever wake up.

** Is VV a gentle vampire too kindhearted to resort to the occasional violence she knows is vital to preserving the Masquerade? Or is she, in true Toreador fashion, a {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch who emotionally manipulates young kindred into performing her dirty work for her? On the one hand, she does send you off to kill a hunter for her and later pushes you to both take a man's script and kill the vampire who was leaking him information, becoming cold to you if you try to make her do any of it. On the other, Toreador usually aren't great at fighting and they have a very deep love of art.
** How trustworthy is Nines? While he always seems honest and polite to the Fledgeling, even if they're outright rude to him, he's ''not'' mentioned by Rosa as someone they can trust. Whether or not this is simply because he has his own agenda seperate from the Fedgeling or not is uncertain.

* SignatureScene: The quest where the player needs to go to the [[HellHotel Ocean House Hotel]] is one of, if not the most, well remembered quests in the game.

** The Tzimisce's horrifying spider-like creation can be this the first time you meet her. And when you meet her [[DegradedBoss again, and again, and again]] just a little further into [[ThatOneLevel the much-maligned sewer mission]].

** The zombies. These enemies are not really difficult to defeat compared to humans or Ghoul, but if they manage to bite the playable character, they will take a lot of life from him and keep him paralyzed.

*** Does Isaac truly belong with the Anarchs with his dislike of the Camarilla? Or is he really NotSoDifferent from the Camarilla or a Prince? Do note that his first quest is him demanding tribute for entering his territory before he gives any information, sending the Fledgling on a goose chase into several dangerous territories, including into the haven of a Tzimisce (a Clan well known for inflicting FateWorseThanDeath at worst), and all the while not even lifting a finger to help...which sounds almost exactly like what Lacroix has done to the Fledgling in the game and how a Camarilla Prince would normally behave. He also all but cites the Tradition of Domain by name, one of the Camarilla's more annoying rules (anyone who arrives in a new city must introduce themselves to the Prince, and the Prince is well within their rights to tell them to get out, though it's usually just a formality), and one that doesn't really have the excuse of "keeping us hidden from humans" to prop it up.

* MagnificentBastard: "Smiling" Jack, the Brujah former pirate and proud Anarch is manipulating the PlayerCharacter more than almost any other Kindred in the entire game. Having arranged for the transport of the mysterious Ankaran Sarcophagus, Jack cheerfully shows the main character the ropes of vampirism before [[spoiler:clandestinely boarding the ship transporting the sarcophagus, simulating a vampire attack while secretly stealing the mummified king within and replacing it with C4. Jack proceeds to lend his aid from the shadows, manipulating the main character into fighting and dispatching all of the threats to the Anarch faction in the city, especially the smug, vile Ventrue [[TheEvilPrince Prince Sebastian Lacroix]]. Just for kicks, Jack even makes sure to leave a note for when Lacroix opens the sarcophagus reading "boom! -- love Jack" as a [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor final touch of black humor]]]].