...is it worth going back and trying to play these games? I'm a big fan of action-adventure games, so I was curious about this series, but I want to hear from people who have played them.
Legacy of Kain series...
- Thread starter OrpheusTelos
- Start date
Can't speak to the earliest ones, but Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, and Defiance are certainly worth playing. Though they are less action-adventure games and more story-driven, action-puzzle games. The combat is kinda clunky in the Soul Reaver games and often unnecessary as you can just run past some enemies until you reach the area boss. The focus is much more on the environmental puzzles; pushing blocks, rearranging light beams, etc. But they are great games, you should try them.
Yes! Keep in mind there strong point is in Atmosphere as opposed to combat though!
I'm surprised the series has lay dormant for so long to be honest.
I'm surprised the series has lay dormant for so long to be honest.
It is absolutely worth a look, but remember that these are old third person games and the camera will be iffy at the best of times.
And if you haven't got Darksiders 1&2 check that out as well, essentially Zelda games made in this decade.
And if you haven't got Darksiders 1&2 check that out as well, essentially Zelda games made in this decade.
Yes, totally. One of the best stories out there. If you can get your hands on it, Blood Omen is rather cool, too, albeit dated. You can find it on PSN for sure, however on the PC side you'd have to go with abandonware sites - currently it's not sold anywhere else (that I know of). I know GOG are trying to put it in their catalogue, though but I've got no other information. The other games, I'd suggest getting from GOG - Steam doesn't have Blood Omen 2. Here is my suggested playing order with short comments:
1. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - I said what I had above. But you can also skip it - you could read about the plot, if you wish. But it has lots of exploration and side things to do.
2. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - you'll probably like that, I guess - it is 3D and some exploration (less than in BO, also the last game that featured it) with puzzles, jumping, boss battles that are objective based rather than "reduce life bar to 0 by repeatedly mashing attack" (actually, you to a lesser extent the same can be said about all enemies)
3. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - no exploration and no bosses, unfortunately, but I like the story there the most, and I like the puzzles.
4. Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 - I'd say you can safely skip it, however if you do like action adventures, then probably not - it's in fact better (to an extent) in the gameplay department than SR2.
5. Legacy of Kain: Defiance - the puzzles were more meh, bossfights but there was an epic finish, at least. Not a complete finish but at least it was really intriguing.
You can also swap 4. and 5. - I just prefer them in this order.
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention - if you want an excellent plot overview, I know no better place to look at than here [http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/914777-legacy-of-kain-defiance/faqs/25247] - it's essentially the entire story told as you would play through it (more or less) and an excellent read.
And one other thing - if you do get the games from GOG, I think they have the wrong intro for SR1 (although it might be fixed) - just replace it with this one [https://hotfile.com/dl/154420373/88b5c69/Intro.bik.html]. Basically, they had the intro from the beta version, for some reason, so it sounded slightly different than the final one.
1. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - I said what I had above. But you can also skip it - you could read about the plot, if you wish. But it has lots of exploration and side things to do.
2. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - you'll probably like that, I guess - it is 3D and some exploration (less than in BO, also the last game that featured it) with puzzles, jumping, boss battles that are objective based rather than "reduce life bar to 0 by repeatedly mashing attack" (actually, you to a lesser extent the same can be said about all enemies)
3. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - no exploration and no bosses, unfortunately, but I like the story there the most, and I like the puzzles.
4. Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 - I'd say you can safely skip it, however if you do like action adventures, then probably not - it's in fact better (to an extent) in the gameplay department than SR2.
5. Legacy of Kain: Defiance - the puzzles were more meh, bossfights but there was an epic finish, at least. Not a complete finish but at least it was really intriguing.
You can also swap 4. and 5. - I just prefer them in this order.
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention - if you want an excellent plot overview, I know no better place to look at than here [http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/914777-legacy-of-kain-defiance/faqs/25247] - it's essentially the entire story told as you would play through it (more or less) and an excellent read.
And one other thing - if you do get the games from GOG, I think they have the wrong intro for SR1 (although it might be fixed) - just replace it with this one [https://hotfile.com/dl/154420373/88b5c69/Intro.bik.html]. Basically, they had the intro from the beta version, for some reason, so it sounded slightly different than the final one.
Yeah, I've played both Darksiders.Mr.K. said:
They were pretty awesome, it's a shame about Vigil... I thought they had something really good there.EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, if they ever made a new Legacy of Kain game, they should try and get some of the people who made Darksiders to help...
Well, they sound pretty promising. I will have to check them out!DoPo said:
I'll probably get Soul Reaver from PSN, and the PS2 versions of the other games, though.
Well, with Crystal Dynamics and square Enix pumping out new entries/reboots of so many of their franchises, I'm sure it won't be long until we see a new game.Soxafloppin said:
I just got Soul Reaver of the PSN on my PSP and damn is it good, can't believe i missed out on any of these games before. They are right up my alley. I havn't had all that much time to play it. But hopefully I'll get a chance in the next few weeks when im stuck in bed recovering from back surgery. Then I will either to be amazed at how good the game it or i might realise how good it isn't... not likely though.
That's actually a viable possibility, too. I've only played the PC versions myself but I doubt there are any differences. At least with BO, I know that it has better loading times on PC but that's it.SmarterThanYou said:
Most recently, SE registered the WarForNosgoth domain name but I'm not really sure what that means. There were rumours for a reboot last year but E3 came and went with nothing at all about them so I'm on the disbelieving side of things right now.SmarterThanYou said:Well, with Crystal Dynamics and square Enix pumping out new entries/reboots of so many of their franchises, I'm sure it won't be long until we see a new game.Soxafloppin said:
You jump on the LoK threads real quick! You summed up what I was going to say, but way better.DoPo said:
This guy is on the money as I am concerned, go by that advice, you won't be disappointed.
Yes, and if you are not afraid of a little more challenge than what modern games offer, definitely start with the first one - Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It has the best plot, plenty of exploration, great atmosphere and it shows what difference good voice acting can do for a game.
I adore the Legacy of Kain series. It actually took me about 10 years to play the first one though, since I started with Soul Reaver (SR1, Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2, Defiance). However, when I did eventually get to play it, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was very good. Addictive even. For a game that old, that's a very hard thing to do. So if you can find it, I'd still give it a try, since the graphics are old but the writing and the gameplay is still good.
The rest, I'd have to agree with the guy who first replied. Soul Reaver 1 is probably a little better then Soul Reaver 2, since you feel more compelled to engage in the combat. Soul Reaver 2 you literally can just run past everything if they don't specifically block you off with barriers. Blood Omen 2 had some very interesting gameplay mechanics, and was much longer then the others, but also butchered the storyline and lore a little bit and fans are still out on whether to consider it true canon. Lastly Defiance, which storyline was probably the best since it brings both playable characters together in an awesome battle, and sort of wraps up all the remaining story threads. They really only needed one more game to make the series perfect. Shame. I could go for a reboot I guess.
The rest, I'd have to agree with the guy who first replied. Soul Reaver 1 is probably a little better then Soul Reaver 2, since you feel more compelled to engage in the combat. Soul Reaver 2 you literally can just run past everything if they don't specifically block you off with barriers. Blood Omen 2 had some very interesting gameplay mechanics, and was much longer then the others, but also butchered the storyline and lore a little bit and fans are still out on whether to consider it true canon. Lastly Defiance, which storyline was probably the best since it brings both playable characters together in an awesome battle, and sort of wraps up all the remaining story threads. They really only needed one more game to make the series perfect. Shame. I could go for a reboot I guess.
I dunno man, the guy that played the Elder God died a while back so unless they replace him (hard to do) I'm not sure where they're going to take the series.SmarterThanYou said:Well, with Crystal Dynamics and square Enix pumping out new entries/reboots of so many of their franchises, I'm sure it won't be long until we see a new game.Soxafloppin said:
They are definitely worth playing, the story , atmosphere and voice acting are all incredible. Its a shame that one of the major characters voice actors passed away because if they ever continue the game or do a reboot or whatever it will be very different.
Also don't overlook the soul reaver games, they are very very good to and tie in to LOK.
Also don't overlook the soul reaver games, they are very very good to and tie in to LOK.
Definitely. Brilliant series.
Best start with the first one. You can get it on PSN now actually.
The series has probably my favourite game story of all time. I just love it. Nice and complex and intertwining with a lot of plot twists, revelations and cross-references.
I couldn't necessarily say the gameplay of any of them particularly moved me... well, Soul Reaver was good, it was quite creative with the 2 different realms and all. That was nice and the combat was pretty fun. SR2 was definitely a bit lacking in comparison.
You could skip Blood Omen 2, it's kind of an irrelevant cluster**** that appears to retcon rather important elements of the plot that some people say is explainable due to alternate universes caused by time travel and... blah blah, it's a ****ing mess.
Best start with the first one. You can get it on PSN now actually.
The series has probably my favourite game story of all time. I just love it. Nice and complex and intertwining with a lot of plot twists, revelations and cross-references.
Indeed, it's all about the story and atmosphere.Soxafloppin said:
I couldn't necessarily say the gameplay of any of them particularly moved me... well, Soul Reaver was good, it was quite creative with the 2 different realms and all. That was nice and the combat was pretty fun. SR2 was definitely a bit lacking in comparison.
You could skip Blood Omen 2, it's kind of an irrelevant cluster**** that appears to retcon rather important elements of the plot that some people say is explainable due to alternate universes caused by time travel and... blah blah, it's a ****ing mess.
But didn'tBeffudled Sheep said:
the Elder God pretty much get defeated presumably for good at the end of Defiance?
