Legacy of Kain

The Legacy of Kain series primarily comprises five action-adventure video games released between 1996 and 2003, the majority of which were developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. Each entry incorporates elements of action and puzzle-solving in its gameplay, and all are set in the fictional land of Nosgoth, united by the character of Kain, the series' vampire anti-hero. Although technically a pentalogy, the series is effectively made up of two duologies telling the separate stories of Kain (Blood Omen) and Raziel (Soul Reaver), with both culminating in Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Though chiefly marketed under the genre of dark fantasy or Gothic fiction, their developers have emphasized the games' core tenets as including their original storyline, complex characters, strong writing and voice acting, and its fresh approach to vampire mythology. Recurring themes include destiny versus free will, tragedy, the questioning of morality, propaganda, manipulation and redemption. The games have enjoyed critical success, and - despite their present dormancy - continue to be widely praised and highlighted for their voice acting, storytelling, and visuals.

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain


Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the first entry in the series, was developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics. It is a action-adventuregame, with role-playing game elements. First released in 1996 for the PlayStation, it was later ported to Microsoft Windows in 1997.

In the game, the player assumes the role of Kain, a human nobleman, who is murdered and given the chance to exact revenge by becoming a vampire. He travels Nosgoth, slaughtering the corrupt sorcerers of the Circle of Nine in hopes of discovering a cure for his vampirism, but gradually begins to view his transformation as a blessing over the course of the story.

Though praised for its scope, high-quality voice acting, moody atmosphere and rich, compelling storyline, the game was criticized for lengthy loading times. During development, Crystal Dynamics contributed several staff members to aid production. After the release, a dispute arose between Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics concerning ownership of the game's intellectual property rights, with Crystal Dynamics ultimately retaining permission to continue the series.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver


Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is the first third-person game in the series, and was developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. Also originally released for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999, it was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000.

The story opens 1500 years after the events of the first game, and chronicles the journey of the vampire-turned-wraith Raziel, lieutenant to Kain. Raziel is executed by Kain, but is revived by the Elder God to become his "soul reaver" and to exact revenge. Raziel shares this title with Kain's sword, the Soul Reaver, which he acquires during the game.

Crystal Dynamics began development of the game in 1997, creating a revolutionary data-streaming engine to support its mechanics, but delays forced material originally planned for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver to be excised or reworked into later entries in the series. The game was well-received by critics, attaining a score of 91 on Metacritic, and being praised for its Gothic story and high-quality graphics. However, it was criticized for simple and repetitive gameplay and an unsatisfying climax.

Soul Reaver 2


Soul Reaver 2 was developed by the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver team, and was published by Eidos Interactive. It was the first Legacy of Kain game to debut on the PlayStation 2, being released in 2001, and was ported to Microsoft Windows in the same year.

A direct sequel to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 continues Raziel's pursuit of Kain, but expands the mythology of the series. Raziel's lust for vengeance gradually gives way to a quest for knowledge and freedom as he treks across Nosgoth's history, and explores the truth behind the vampire-hunting Sarafan brotherhood he once served.

Initially developed for the PlayStation and Dreamcast, Soul Reaver 2 was reworked into a PlayStation 2 exclusive during early production. Although its graphics, involved storyline, atmosphere and voice acting were highly praised, Soul Reaver 2 was criticized for simplistic gameplay, linearity and a lack of side-quests. A second Crystal Dynamics team had been working on Blood Omen 2 during its development, impelling director Amy Hennig to accommodate their plans when writing the plot.

Blood Omen 2


Blood Omen 2 as released in 2002 and was a sequel to Blood Omen. The Crystal Dynamic team that worked on this title was different than the Soul Reaver series team. The game was criticized for its plethora of technical issues, bad collision detection, mediocre graphics and special effects, and repetitive gameplay. However, the defensive capabilities of the combat system, the dark gifts, hard bosses and storytelling were praised. Again, the 15-20 gameplay time was a positive too.

Although it is a sequel to Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2 can't exist without Soul Reaver 2's ending. It is only then does all of Nosgoth's past, present and future change. The game's premise is that after Blood Omen, Kain raised an army, resurrected Vorador, and tried to take over Nosgoth. However, since the pillars were weakened, a Hylden named Hash'ak'gik slipped though from the Demon Dimension and has managed to resurrect the Sarafan and start a new genocidal war. At the climax of the war, Kain is defeated and thrown of the cliff, presumably to his death. Hash'ak'gik, disguised as the Sarafan Lord, keeps the Soul Reaver for himself. 200 years later, Kain wakes up and allies reluctantly with the Cabal in order to exact his revenge.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance


Legacy of Kain: Defiance was released in 2003 and consolidated the Soul Reaver and Blood Omen series into one by making both Kain and Raziel playable. Crystal Dynamics reacted to the negative reviews of Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain by bringing back the puzzles of the Soul Reaver series, tying together the two stories coherently, improving graphics significantly and improving the combat system. Comparisons were made between the presentation of Defiance and Devil May Cry 2. The hybrid set/revolving camera technique was greatly critisized as well as the confusing look of the Spectral Realm. However, the combat system was praised, although there were collision detection problems again. Critics and fans alike responded excellently to the dual character scheme. The storytelling, as usual, was highly praised.

Defiance picks up not too long after Soul Reaver 2 and Kain has traveled into the past to clear up some issues with Moebius. Raziel is initially trapped in the Spectral Realm by Elder God but eventually escapes. The two cross each others paths often and attempt to restore Nosgoth. Raziel, in his search for the truth about Nosgoth's past, is constantly being manipulated since he is the only one who has freewill. The story does come to a conclusion of sorts but the series itself doesn't seem to have concluded properly.

Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy
Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy was a canceled game that was to be the sequel to Defiance. It was produced by by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos. Work had started in 2004 but six months into development, the game was canceled and remained unannounced. Although there were no official announcements made, rumors had spread about a canceled game. In 2008, a post by user DivineShadow on the Official Eidos Forums revealed that the websites of artists Aaron Hausmann and Jason Muck and animator Ranjeet Singhal had posted screenshots of the cancelled game, which was called The Dark Prophecy. These screenshots showed new environments depicting both Ancients and Hylden structures and Kain fighting demon enemies. Although the game is most definitely canceled, neither Eidos, nor Crystal Dynamics made any official comments on it.

Sixth game
A sequel to the game has been anticipated since Defiance's release in 2003. However, several issues have since made it less and less likely for a sequel to appear. Several key members of the series have either left Eidos or passed away. Amy Hennig, former Legacy of Kain series writer and director, left Eidos Interactive soon after the release of Defiance. Richard Lemarchand, a game designed who also worked on the series, left. Tony Jay, who voiced Elder God, and Kyle Mannerberg, a Crystal Dynamics employee, both passed away. Subsequently, there have also been two waves of layoffs at Crystal Dynamics, further stripping the series of key members. The canceling of The Dark Prophecy along with the increasing priority of Tomb Raider were clear signs that Eidos was shelving the Legacy of Kain series temporarily, if not permanently.

Since Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos Interactive (and Crystal Dynamics too since its parent company was Eidos Interactive) and the disappointing sales of Tomb Raider: Underworld, there has been renewed interest in the Legacy of Kain series. In March 2008 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was re-rated by ESRB and confirmed for a PlayStation Network and PSP release. In early October 2009, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was also rerated by the ESRB and a release on the PlayStation Network and PSP was confirmed. Finally in the 2010 festive period Crystal Dynamics released Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light which featured a DLC character pack enabling Raziel and Kain to be used as playable characters for the first time since Defiance (as well as featuring a large amount of humorously editied previous Legacy of Kain dialogue). These events clearly signalled a revived interest in the series and with comments by Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada that his company planned to revive certain game franchises by rebooting them expectation was high for the 2011 E3 event.

In the run-up to E3 2011, several gaming sources reported on rumours of an E3 return and possible reboot of the series, including unconfirmed reports of a survey website testing the favourability of various titles for the series. However at E3, there was no news regarding the series and Crystal Dynamics have subsequently confirmed that they are currently committed to other projects including the Tomb Raider reboot and will not be developing a new Legacy of Kain for the forseeable future. There is currently dispute amongst fans as to whether the wording of Crystal's confirmation implies that Square-Enix have moved the franchise to another developer.

Story
The basic background of the story, though introduced fairly late, reaches far into the past, before any of the games' stories. Initially in Nosgoth, there were two major races: the Ancient Vampires and the Hylden. Both had a humanoid appearance. The Vampires were powerful magicians and the Hylden were very technologically advanced. At some point, the Hylden refused to worship the Elder God and his Wheel of Fate. To the Vampires, who worshiped the Elder God and his Wheel fanatically, this was blasphemy. The Elder God then played upon the Vampires' anger and urged them to start a war with the Hylden. Thus started the thousand years war.

Using powerful magic, the Ancients were able to erect the Pillars of Nosgoth and banish the Hylden into the Demon Realm. However, just before their banishment, the Hylden were able to curse the Vampires, making them immortal and giving them the blood thirst. Cut off to the Wheel of Fate by their immortality the Vampires could no longer feed the Elder God. Despite their pleas, the Elder God turned his back upon vampires. And though the Pillars had banished the Hylden, they needed to be maintained and since new Vampires were not born, the Pillars chose humans to be their guardians. Eventually, under Moebius and Mortanius, the humans overthrew the Vampires and the Pillars belonged now to humans. A Vampire prophecy here foretold that the Scion of Balance would return the Pillars to vampires. Another prophecy foretold of a final battle between the Vampires and the Hylden. Each would have a savior. To this end, the Vampires had made the Soul Reaver, a powerful weapon to be used by the vampire guardian to defeat the Hylden.

Many years after these events does the series start. Blood Omen follows the story of Kain, who is not only the Scion of Balance, but also the person who will lead to the demise of Nosgoth. A large part of the series focuses on Kain's efforts to prevent this. Soul Reaver introduced Raziel, a lieutenant of Kain that was killed and turned into a wraith serving the Elder God. Raziel's search for his true destiny and attempts to assert his freewill are also a large part of the series. Each game of the series features either Raziel and/or Kain as they struggle with these dilemmas and are manipulated by a myriad of characters with vastly different motives.