Legacy of Kain Megathread - "Locked. What a love of doors these pathetic humans have..." - Games

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/LegacyOfKain_Logo.png[/img] "Thirty years hence, I am presented with a dilemma - let's call it a two-sided coin. If the coin falls one way, I sacrifice myself and thus restore the Pillars. But as the last surviving vampire in Nosgoth, this would mean the annihilation of our species. If the coin lands on the reverse, I refuse the sacrifice and thus doom the Pillars to an eternity of collapse. Either way, the game is rigged. But suppose you throw a coin enough times...suppose one day, it lands on its edge." — Kain, summing up most of the major themes of the series. "What game is this, where every player on the board claims the same pawn?" — Raziel, summing up the rest of the major themes. Let me just quote TVTropes here... [release]An action video game series depicting the dark, gothic world of Nosgoth and its rather unique vampires. The series follows Badass AntiHeroes Kain and Raziel. Kain is a Magnificent Heroic Sociopath interested in conquering Nosgoth with a vampire army. Raziel is Kain's right-hand vampire who he has killed and turned into a wraith, and sets about trying to kill Kain to avenge himself. It turns out Raziel has the power to Screw Destiny, and from there we get into time travel. Thus, from Soul Reaver on all the main characters including Kain take turns playing Xanatos Roulette with Raziel as the ball, hoping to trick him into changing history to make things better for them. Along the way there's a Prophecy Twist or two, loads of Magnificent Bastards, faux-Shakespearan dialogue and many chances for video game cruelty as you decide how to dispatch Mooks in the most fun and gruesome ways you can think of. The series has an amazingly complex story, and you need to play all the games or at least have knowledge of their workings to understand it. In fact, replaying the series a second time is probably the only way you'll begin to put it all together without someone helping you. It also runs on Black And Gray Morality like a car runs on gasoline—Kain is a Villain Protagonist who just happens to be fighting people that are more evil, though he ultimately has heroic goals behind his villainous nature. Counterpart Raziel meanwhile is a Noble Demon who has a nasty habit of breaking things despite trying to do good. The series has solid gameplay, though it gets a bit repetitive sometimes, great scripting, and is commonly cited as having some of the best voice acting of any video game series, including Simon Templeman, Michael Bell, Richard Doyle, and of course, Tony Jay. [/release] Blood Omen is available on PC and PlayStation, Soul Reaver is available on PC, PlayStation and Dreamcast, Soul Reaver 2 is available on PlayStation 2 and PC, Blood Omen 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube, and so far the last one on the series, Defiance, is available on PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. The music in Blood Omen was composed by Steve Henifin, Soul Reaver's was composed by Kurt Harland, and for the rest, Kurt Harland and Jim Hedges composed together. Here's something I just searched [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJj1Go6kl-s[/media] [highlight]Plot Synopsises[/highlight] [release] [img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_myCEW8nNM34/TGBGK_ZXTxI/AAAAAAAAAZI/uQ6OyS-eZhE/s400/256px-Blood_omen_legacyKain%5B1%5D.jpg[/img] [b]Blood Omen[/b] The first game in the series, created by Silicon Knights of Eternal Darkness and Too Human fame and the only one to play as a top-down action RPG in the style of The Legend of Zelda: The story begins with Kain, a then-unknown nobleman, being assassinated by a group of thugs on the way home from a pub. Mortanius the Necromancer offers him a chance for vengeance by resurrecting him as a vampire, and as soon as Kain avenges his own death, he begins to seek a cure to his own vampirism. The ghost of Ariel, the former Balance Guardian, points him to the direction of the Circle of Nine, the Guardians of the Pillars of Nosgoth and her former colleagues, whom Kain must murder if he wants to be freed of his vampirism. In his quest, Kain also finds himself in the middle of a war between the noble King Otmar and the cruel Nemesis (formerly known as King William the Just), and with the Soul Reaver blade in tow, travels back in time with the use of Moebius the Timestreamer's witchcraft, and defeats the young King William. However, upon his return, he discovers that his round-trip in time triggered a genocidal hate-campaign against vampires, helmed by Moebius himself, and returns just in time to watch as Vorador, the oldest living vampire, is decapitated in front of a bloodthirsty crowd. At the end of his quest, Kain discovers that Ariel wasn't being exactly truthful with him: Kain himself is the last surviving member of the Circle of Nine, born to replace Ariel as the Balance Guardian, and he must decide for himself wether he wants to sacrifice himself to purify the world, or damn it for eternity.[/release] [release] [img]http://www.multi-jap.com/Cin%C3%A9matiques/Psone/Legacy%20Of%20Kain%20Soul%20Reaver.jpg[/img] [b]Soul Reaver[/b] The first game to be developed by Crystal Dynamics, who went on to handle the rest of the series. The game starts roughly a millenium after Blood Omen, after Kain refused the sacrifice and instead chose to rule Nosgoth as its vampire king, wiping out the human race with the help of his six vampire lieutenants. Over time, Kain and his fellow vampires began to change, with Kain evolving first and the other vampires following suit, until Raziel, Kain's first-born lieutenant, surpassed his master by sprouting a pair of wings on his back. For his efforts, Kain rewarded Raziel by having him thrown into the Lake of the Dead, where he was burnt to death and laid for centuries, before being unexpectedly resurrected as a wraith. The Elder God then makes his presence known to him, suggesting that he may take his vengeance on Kain in his name, and let the Wheel of Fate turn again by allowing souls to live and die, instead of being stuck in vampyric unlife. Raziel travels through the land of Nosgoth, facing his former vampire brothers, and eventually Kain, who shatters the Soul Reaver blade on Raziel's head in the heat of battle, and disappears, with the apostate soul previously trapped in the Reaver joining itself with Raziel's, granting him the Soul Reaver "wraith blade". Quickly afterward, Raziel discovers the Tomb of the Sarafan, where he finds a series of empty coffins etched with the names of his vampire brethren and his own, realizing that he himself was a Sarafan vampire hunter in life. Fuelled by this revelation, Raziel chases Kain to Moebius' grand time-streaming chamber, where Kain vanishes into a portal back in time, with Raziel following suit...[/release] [release] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d0/PS2SoulReaver2.JPG/256px-PS2SoulReaver2.JPG[/img] [b]Soul Reaver II[/b] Raziel chases Kain through a portal into the past, travelling through the different eras of Nosgoth's history, trying to find Kain. Over time, Raziel discovers evidence of other creatures not entirely unlike himself, and begins to doubt if the Elder God, or anyone for that matter, is telling him the whole truth. His only lead is Janos Audron, the only surviving member of an ancient race of vampires, and the only person who can shed some light on the truth. As Raziel tracks down Janos, he finds that his own past self, as a Sarafan vampire hunter, has followed him, and arrives just in time to watch his past self tear Janos' heart out of his chest. Enraged, Raziel follows the vampire hunters into their fortress, and massacres their leaders in cold blood, including his own past self. However, the Soul Reaver turns on him and attempts to devour him, as Raziel understands that the wraith blade is his own soul, stuck in an endless time loop. Kain shows up just in time to keep the Soul Reaver from devouring Raziel, only to find that he's triggered a massive time paradox, changing the fate of Nosgoth for good. [/release] [release] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Bloodomen2ps2pal.jpg/256px-Bloodomen2ps2pal.jpg[/img] [b]Blood Omen II[/b] A midquel, taking place a few centuries after the end of Blood Omen, and showing the results of the newly altered timeline from the end of Soul Reaver 2: In the process of conquering Nosgoth, Kain's army is destroyed by the newly formed Sarafan Order, and their leader, the Sarafan Lord, defeats Kain personally. Two centuries later, Kain re-awakens to find that Nosgoth has become vastly different, and he himself has little recollection of his past self. In spite of this, Kain resolves to take out the Sarafan Order and lead the vampire race into victory once again. [/release] [release] [img]http://ekiyo.webs.com/Legacy_of_Kain_Defiance_pc.jpg[/img] [b]Defiance[/b] A direct sequel to Soul Reaver 2, and so far the last game in the series: Kain's story continues immediately from the end of Soul Reaver 2, where Kain is desperately seeking to find Raziel, having seen the disasterous consequences of the time paradox he engineered. At the same time, he seeks to fulfill his destiny as the self-assumed Scion of Balance, a figure destined to return Nosgoth to vampire rule. Meanwhile In The Future, Raziel has been held trapped in the Elder God's realm for five centuries, simultaneously trying to avert his own destiny of being forced to live out a Stable Time Loop within the Reaver blade. Raziel finally escapes the Elder God's clutches, and begins to seek an answer to his fate. Janos Audron remains his only lead, but his secrets died with him...but there's still hope, because Janos can be resurrected if his heart, the Heart of Darkness claimed by the Sarafan, is restored to him. Raziel heads to Avernus Cathedral to find answers, finding them in the form of Turel, the last of his vampire brothers, and Mortanius the Necromancer, who are both posessed by the Hylden. Mortanius reveals that he himself use the Heart of Darkness to resurrect Kain, and the heart itself is inside him. Stepping through a time portal, Kain arrives in Avernus just in time to face Raziel, who defeats him in a climactic battle and takes his heart. However, soon after Raziel resurrects Janos again, the original Kain makes his fatal decision at the Pillars of Nosgoth, and the Hylden Lord takes over Janos' body, thanking Raziel for not only providing him with an uncorruptible, immortal host, but murdering the Scion of Balance as he did it. However, Kain isn't quite dead yet, as he makes his way back to the vampire citadel, and Raziel understands what must be done: By posessing Moebius' body, he cheats Kain into using his unposessed Reaver to absorb himself, creating the Reaver's ultimate form and providing Kain with the tools he needs to defeat the Elder God, hacking him to bits and burying him under a mountain of rubble as the citadel caves in on the Elder God, as Kain ponders that there might yet be a chance to redeem Nosgoth... [/release] About the timelines [release]There's the first game, which involved time travel. Then, Soul Reaver takes place thousands of years in the future. Soul Reaver 2 has the main character traveling in time, so it's a partial prequel to the whole series and also happens between the first and second games. Then there's Blood Omen 2, which takes place after the original, but before Soul Reaver in an alternate time line created in both Soul Reaver 2 and the (so far) last game, Defiance which takes place both concurrently with the original Blood Omen and five hundred years before that.[/release] Suggestions for enhancing OP taken.

I nostalgia'd so hard

Please, help me kind sir!

I couldn't get a proper quote for the subtitle, all were too long. Dammed faux-Shakespearian dialogue! [del]Which remind me, better and shorter plot synopsis will be added right now.[/del] Wasn't plot synopsis, just was summaries of major themes.

Ah, this was indeed a rather story-driven game series. I loved the temples in Soul Reaver 2, the puzzles and music were great. It was a cool story, with vampires which were actually awesome. But even though a new game would be cool, they'd never be able to recapture the epic voice of the Elder God, since Tony Jay's been dead since '04. "History Abhors A Paradox".

The End of the World as We Know It - Kain does this. At least three times. And he is still one of the good guys. Magnificent. Richard Doyle: "Well done, faithful servant. And now, I have an execution to see to." Michael Bell: *flips Doyle the finger* "'Faithful servant' this. Spin on this, Moebius." Simon Templeman: "I still think Tony [Jay] should be doing this in costume..." Michael Bell: "The enemy race had a champion of their own, with flaming eyes and a fiery sword... yes, and a tiara, and full-length sequined gloves with 'f***-me' heels... It was Drag Reaver, a whole new series!" Outtakes are awesome. [editline]14th April 2011[/editline] Added the timeline thing

Soul Reaver had such a badass intro

[QUOTE=imadaman;29165363]The End of the World as We Know It - Kain does this. At least three times. And he is still one of the good guys. Magnificent. Richard Doyle: "Well done, faithful servant. And now, I have an execution to see to." Michael Bell: *flips Doyle the finger* "'Faithful servant' this. Spin on this, Moebius." Simon Templeman: "I still think Tony [Jay] should be doing this in costume..." Michael Bell: "The enemy race had a champion of their own, with flaming eyes and a fiery sword... yes, and a tiara, and full-length sequined gloves with 'f***-me' heels... It was Drag Reaver, a whole new series!" Outtakes are awesome.[/QUOTE] Outtakes?! Where?!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bTT39cTZVI[/media] [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS0Ks_ph5go[/media] [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1p033rLKew[/media] [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] That's Defiance's [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] Soul Reaver 2 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2up8h1tMmck[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWlqjve_JTg[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ0fIA_bpks[/media] [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] So much win

Fucking loved this series. I have a playstation and the first game, but not a goddamn scart lead to play it...

Never played it, but it sounds amazing.

Raziel is one bad mother fucker, also that game sacred the shit out of me back then

Soul Reaver 1 is perhaps my favourite videogame of all time. Soul Reaver 2 was a great followup. I despised Defiance for changing the gameplay to generic hack and slash bullshit with terrible camera angles.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qSIT_nUNoo[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIR9wrc6H3c[/media] [editline]18th April 2011[/editline] What I originally intended was to put "Oh, no. Every time you show up, something monumental and terrible happens. I don't think I've the stomach for it." on the title, but as I said before, it wouldn't fit :frown:

Ah, now this was a magnificent game series. It's a shame that so many thing happened that pretty much killed any chances of a sequel being made (Head writer left, Tony Jay died, and I think something else happened, too).

Oh man I loves these games so much! I only have two of them but they are truly remarkably amazing! I have LoK: Defiance, and LoK: Soul Reaver. I know Defiance is basically Soul Reaver but with an improved story. But they are both still excellent games.

Writer left to go write Uncharted. Why Amy why :smith: