Why Legacy of Kain Keeps Hanging Around

As a seasoned gamer who’s seen more than a few sunsets in this digital realm, I can confidently say that Legacy of Kain has left an indelible mark on my gaming journey. This series, with its dark and brooding atmosphere, struck a chord deep within me when I was just a fledgling gamer, exploring the vast expanse of games with a thirst for something more mature.

It’s no surprise that the weather has turned chilly; as soon as Sony announces remasters of Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2, everything seems to cool down. The scent of autumn leaves filled the air last night, signaling the end of summer. Now, it’s time for cable-knit sweaters, soup, coats, and thermostats set to cozy warmth. With the arrival of the colder months, a game or series that takes you into the gloomier parts of the year is needed. Could there be a more fitting choice than Soul Reaver, an action-adventure featuring a protagonist who embodies the essence of the common cold – hunched, oily, aching, blue, and incurable? He even has the same role: draining your leaky spirit. His adversaries try to cut, stab, and beat him. Alas, their efforts are futile. A more effective strategy would be to pour hot Lemsip over him and wipe him away with a tissue.

Similar to how games can synchronize or contrast with the passage of time, Super Mario Sunshine might leave you feeling disoriented if played in November, as if you’ve stepped into a different hemisphere, with cold interiors and a scorched exterior. On the other hand, Soul Reaver and its series are best savored now, before their new releases in December. They aren’t holiday-themed games; instead, they fit the gloomy weather, the shortening days, the orange glow from neighboring homes. However, they don’t bring cheer. These games are meant for solitary play – for contemplating them like Batman in his hideout, as your thoughts gather like stalactites. Make some coffee, get comfortable in bed.

I began by playing the best version of Soul Reaver available on Dreamcast, known for its vivid colors and smooth gameplay. Following two hours, I moved onto Blood Omen 2, which is the fourth installment in the series but second in the fictional timeline. Then, I played Blood Omen, the first game released and set in the storyline. Next, I tried Soul Reaver 2, despite it being released before Blood Omen 2; however, it takes place centuries after some parts of it, which occur a few centuries before the main events. To be honest, understanding the chronology of these games was more confusing than a plate of spaghetti carbonara, so I decided to play them in any order that appealed to me. This approach allowed me to enjoy each game without trying to understand their specific sequence, instead letting them all blend together like layers in a rich sauce. I highly recommend this method for you as it’s an engaging way to experience the series. However, be prepared – just like Kain awakening from a centuries-long coma, you may feel disoriented and find yourself saying, “From fragments of shattered dreams, I rose, unwilling.

Essentially, Legacy of Kain is a game where the story unfolds like this: Initially, Kain, a proud nobleman in a medieval realm, is murdered by thugs near a tavern and subsequently resurrected as a vampire to exact revenge on his murderers. However, he finishes his vengeance swiftly, grows restless, and embarks on an extensive journey. Along the way, he curses the land and aims to govern the resulting ruins, creating offspring of vampires to serve as his lieutenants. One of these progeny, Raziel, who is akin to a personification of the common cold, gains wings; Kain becomes envious and casts him into a lake, where water poses no more comfort for Raziel than it would for us in a volcanic bath. He manages to escape the underwater world and pursues Kain through a time-traveling device called The Chronoplast, which carries an air of sophistication as if altering the past were comparable to cosmetic surgery. In essence, Raziel chases Kain through different eras of history, traversing various caverns and coves tinted by a sickly green hue, before they both come across a common adversary. The events that follow become increasingly complex.

Instead of playing it for a clear narrative, you’re more focused on creating an atmosphere with elements like mood, violence, and sound. The main cast members, such as Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, René Auberjonois, Tony Jay, are all veterans from Star Trek, known for their distinctive voices and roles that often required them to wear prosthetics like foreheads and ears. They recognize the potential of pulp genres to reach incredible heights, and they deliver their lines with grandiosity, adding extra doses of venom and saliva. When Kain defeats an enemy, he occasionally yells “vae victis,” translating to “woe to the conquered” for us in a voice-over, explaining the Latin phrase’s meaning.

Just because the setting is a far-flung fantasy realm doesn’t mean that the script isn’t happy to pinch bits of Earthly Latin if it sounds good; and the sights on offer, as you flit from game to game, radically differ. Early on, we get Teutonic forests and villages in tobacco-and-sap colours, with a liberal ladling of fog; then we get steampunk towns, and dusty plains straight from a weird Western; later, Raziel bounds through cathedrals and beige colosseums. The reason for this restive variation is that some of these adventures were aching to be other things. Blood Omen was made by Silicon Knights, but Soul Reaver began life, at Crystal Dynamics, as Shifter – a work about a winged fellow, more insectoid than Raziel, who could zap between dimensions at will. Blood Omen 2 was an amalgam of two cancelled projects, Chakan and Sirens, fused together and frosted to a gothic chill.

Essentially, the nature of Legacy of Kain remains as mysterious to those who created it as to those who play it. Amy Hennig, a significant contributor (serving as design manager on the first installment, and director and writer for subsequent entries), seems to have instilled a certain maturity that can also be found in her work on Uncharted. If you look closely, you might find this hunger for a slightly mature theme running through both series. When you’re young, Legacy of Kain initially appeals with its heavy industrial soundtrack and violent scenes, but it eventually convinces you that it’s not just about peasants being brutalized; it’s about growing up. The dialogue is too intricate, the storyline too tragically romantic, to be aimed at children. In a sense, playing Legacy of Kain was like putting on black lipstick and spiked boots, or reading Byron in the rain – it was edgy and mature for its time.

Despite growing older, Legacy of Kain continues to hold a profound impact that feels more like a deep-seated emotion rather than a casual interest. Appreciating it authentically can seem contrived, as those who yearn for these games often do so with a sense of longing and nostalgia. It’s a love akin to a chronic wound. With Uncharted, Hennig managed a brighter interpretation of the same elements – the significance of dialogue and character development, the knack for cinematic flair, all skillfully integrated through platform mechanics that were absent in Lara Croft. Perhaps this is the true legacy of Kain. However, at present, I find the brightness and warmth of Nathan Drake and his companions unbearable. Instead, I crave the melancholy, the characters who consume life essence and ponder the chains of destiny. It’s a time for sorrow, for embracing the familiar and acknowledging that it leaves me utterly overwhelmed. Woe to the conquered!

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2024-09-30 15:42