Getting a bit of a draft buffer worked up for my upcoming independent site. I think my whole gimmick is going to lean into my inability to stick to one topic. Instead, I'll focus on one game and then use it as a jumping off point for broader musings: 'Lorn's Lure and the rise of the megastructure'

There’s a few, and more due in the full game!

There’s a funny Easter egg in the Nighthawks demo if you give yourself the name “Dave Gilbert” in the character creator. 😁

And that's Bloodlines 2 finished! Capsule summary - enjoyed it, especially the writing and set design. Its biggest strength is the noir thriller side, and by far its biggest weakness is the stuff unceremoniously clamped onto it to make it feel like the AAA game it isn't, vs the AA it is in its soul.

If you need any proof that Bloodlines 2 was made by a British company, just look at the fact that it's set in a city on the edge of chaos and everyone's reaction is, pretty much without exception, "Welp, time to go to the pub!"

On the plus side, I do have Nighthawks to look forward to. I was playing the demo over the last few days, and I'm enjoying it. It's very wordy though, just in case that's not your thing. If you liked Disco Elysium or Torment : Tides of Numenera though, you may enjoy this too.

Hey @adelphauk.bsky.social - I played the Nighthawks demo on stream tonight and one of the folks watching wants to meet you "because I gotta know where this kind of supply comes from". You recommended *well*.

Written review for the demo of Nighthawks! It got a lot of horrified glee-yelling in the chat, so that's nice. ko-fi.com/post/Demo-Di...

Heh. Anyone doing the Seattle underground tour after playing Bloodlines 2 is going to be preeeeeeetty disappointed.

Bloodlines 2 could use a standard option for whenever someone gives you crapwork unbefitting of your status: “Yes. Or I could rip your eyes out through your anus and challenge your corpse to a game of ping pong.”

"WE HAVE OTHER INTERESTS TOO OF COURSE." "ON FRIDAYS WE PLAY FORTNITE"

Well worth checking out this one.

Figured I'd cut the Nighthawks demo as its own vid for the Wadjacent playlist as well, since I think the Old Skies demos are in there already. www.youtube.com/watch?v=viGD...

It’s called Nighthawks. Some have been calling it ’Bloodlines meets Disco Elysium.’ I’ve been calling it Vampire McVampire Face. But whatever you call it, I’m loving it so far and can heartily recommend it. ☺️👍

I need someone to make a mod for Bloodlines 2, right now. At the start of the game, your character sees a poster for a band named Phyre, and chooses it as their name. This is a poster that they could have seen instead. You know what I want...

Surprise is a virtue that most gamee lack after the first hour.

IT IS TIME.

Nighthawks (store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...) is a vampire roleplaying game that hits like playing a Vampire the Masquerade game. Stats that matter, likeable characters, and an interesting world made this probably my favorite demo this year. This is an easy day one pick up at almost any price

Lend me your ears! I have been terrible about promoting @podsthething.bsky.social- a Shakespeare Podcast made by actors- on here, but it is coming soon! Next month in fact! And I just launched a Patreon where you can get a sneak peek of what the show will be! Patreon.com/PodstheThing

Someone please give me $25MM and I promise we’ll make a pitch perfect open world Adventure Time game. You have nothing to lose except $25MM and worst case you still get to play an awesome open world Adventure Time game.

I think I might be willing to say, after playing the demo this evening, that @wadjeteyegames.bsky.social #Nighthawks may be the Bloodlines 2 game that I actually wanted 👀 Will hold back on saying more until it's released...but it's looking sooooo promising

Nighthawks is a great example of why you should just let devs slow cook sometimes. Been eyeing this project since 2018 and having played the (generously sizeable) demo, you feel that time was put to good use everywhere. If you fancy a deep text-based RPG in a novel vampire world, look no further!

Look, we all know the problem with Steam Next Fest is that there just aren’t *enough* demos competing for your time. So why not relax with the one they’re calling “Bloodlines meets Disco Elysium”, or sometimes just “Nighthawks”, because that’s its name… store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

Nighthawks words fail me to properly describe the joy I felt playing this. a world that lives and breathes through excellent writing, proving nobody really needs fancy graphics to make an rpg pop off the screen (take that, Cyberpunk 2077!) easily BEST OF NEXT FEST 2025 🏆

New box blurb: “Nighthawks will give you word horn.”

This Demo is 100% worth your time if you love the Vampire Genera, CYOA, Visual Novels, or Old Gamebooks like Fabled Lands. I am beyond excited for the full release of this! #Vampire #Vtuber #VisualNovel #Demos #Gamebooks

Nighthawks: A story-based adventure game about being a vampire in the modern world. Great art, looking forward to this one! store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

Look, we all know the problem with Steam Next Fest is that there just aren’t *enough* demos competing for your time. So why not relax with the one they’re calling “Bloodlines meets Disco Elysium”, or sometimes just “Nighthawks”, because that’s its name… store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

Ooh! I missed this announcement! Will download and have a play. ☺️ #Nighthawks

Nighthawks is Bloodlines 2 meets Disco Elysium and you can play the whole of this vampire visual novel's first night. buff.ly/IzWhfsk

If you’ve been disappointed in everything you’ve seen, heard or read regarding VtM: Bloodlines 2, may I suggest Nighthawks instead? Published by Wadjet Eye Games, with a refined demo, it’s everything I could want from a game about vampires and morality. store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

extremely excited to see my little brother's special coming in the next season of Dropout Presents alongside some other fantastic comics youtu.be/mQwHPAi5_f0

Poring over Bloodlines 2 reviews for obvious reasons. I'm looking forward to playing it next week, and hoping that both fans who enjoy it and the ones who wanted something different will be into what we're cooking. V:TM players seem to be enjoying it, at least! store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

Tired: Bloodlines 2 embargo is up Wired: PHYRE AT WILL

Happy that Dave likes my project but also it’s gotten even weirder in the past week, and I haven’t even put in the real weird stuff yet.

I thought it was time to make a Twitch trailer, a selection of the kind of crap that I take on stream, random singing / laughter / bad jokes / banging the keyboard / dying inside. Plus the song everyone loves. All this and very much less on www.twitch.tv/thegenesiste...

This went live last night - a big PDF bundle of the books I've written at Image. Includes The Wicked + the Divine, DIE, Phonogram, Ludocrats, the first Power Fantasy, We called them giants, etc. Basically, this is the stuff I got into comics to do, and a great chance to grab it.

Of course Nighthawks by @wadjeteyegames.bsky.social and @richardcobbett.bsky.social. Guess it is a pretty good sign that I was sad the demo ended so soon. Feels like it is a game I could get lost in. That writing is just so tasty that I'd like to take a bite out of it.

Pretend you didn't notice the word "Hopper's" and read this as an admission that Bloodlines 2 is a Nighthawks tribute game. Why not play the demo at store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/... and see why even the AAA world bows to the power of no-budget indie text-RPG gaming. Kinda. Cough :-P

Plagiarists :-P

It turns out I wasn't done writing about @meredithgran.com's demo for Perfect Tides sequel, Station to Station: kotaku.com/perfect-tide...

🔴WEDNESDAY🔴 🔴LIVE🔴 🧛‍♀️🦇🧛‍♀️ The #Nighthawks Demo is So Good that we are giving it an Entire Stream to explore it! @wadjeteyegames.bsky.social has knocked it out of the park again, this is the REAL #VTM:Bloodlines2 ▶️ www.twitch.tv/pankraru ◀️ #Vtuber #RPG #Wadjeteye

Every time I check what’s happening on Twitter:

Watching as many Nighthawks videos and streams as I can, mostly with relief that people seem to be liking it, but also to note glitches and pain points. Already pushed a few small updates to address a few glitches or confusing elements and making notes on any larger ones for the final build.

Some nice and definitely not corrupt praise from @botherer.bsky.social for the Nighthawks demo! And also some other games you might want to check out. Afterwards, obviously. buried-treasure.org/2025/10/some...

For Buried Treasure I've dug up more wonderful Next Fest demos: buried-treasure.org/2025/10/some... @sparrowland.bsky.social @deathbychicken.bsky.social @ostsergey.bsky.social @ckgame.bsky.social @arumastudios.bsky.social @wadjeteyegames.bsky.social @richardcobbett.bsky.social @meredithgran.com

Thank you to @thefluffydino.bsky.social My guest today! We played #CuttingEdge and #NightHawks, NightHawks was SO good, its going to be our Game for tomorrow, gona play the whole demo! Nighthawks is the REAL #Bloodlines 2 We Raided @aoguma.bsky.social who was jorking it to #Demos #Vtuber

Nighthawks, a pretty lengthy and involved demo which is always nice. A blend of an RPG and visual novel, with vampires being all vampy. Seems like it has potential to be good if the writing holds up. I'm really unsure about some of the musical choices but it has a decent atmosphere #SteamNextFest

Tonight, I am going to try reverse psychology to convince you to try the Nighthawks demo. DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT. YOU ARE NOT WORTHY. IT MAY CONTAIN WORMS. ONLY A SMARTER PERSON WOULD KNOW TO WISHLIST IT AT ONCE. store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...