Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Retrospective

gizmo

This is an utterly awesome look at the 1999 action-adventure game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The post focuses on the myriad of content that was cut from the final version of the game in order to get it shipped on time but also features some concept art of some final designs thrown in for good measure.

If anyone hasn't played it then I most definitely recommend doing so. It can be picked up for peanuts from GoG here and, in my slightly biased opinion, still holds up quite well. I also suggest giving the entire series a try, the characters and story which feature throughout are some of the best you'll come across in video games.

marshbaboon

I remember I had this on the ps1 and loved it, I just kept getting stuck & eventually gave up.

Overheal

I played SR2 only, but **** me that post was seriously in depth.

saiint

remember playing this on ps1
had no idea what i was doing
where i was going
what the story line was
took me about 2 months to find out that i could actually pick up spears and kill the monster things with it haha
still loved it though
scared the **** outta me :P was only a lil boy at the time ha

deathrider

I've been banging on about how the Sould Reaver and Blood Omen (and Defiance, of course) games need a HD re-release for the last few months on the H-S-N podcasts. I absolutely love these games. The storylines are incredibly deep and lush, filled with fantastic characters, and set in a cool but admittedly cheesy world. The voice acting was, without a doubt, some of the greatest in it's day too.

I'll get stuck into the links in the OP later when I have a little time on my hands.

marshbaboon

is the GOG version playable with a mouse & keyboard, or would you need a gamepad?

ride-the-spiral

I played it back in the day on with a keyboard and mouse and I'm pretty sure it was fine.

marshbaboon

Sound I'll grab it today. I'll be experiencing it pretty much as a brand new game, it's been so long since I've played it.

Zero-Cool

That is some thread! Can't believe they cut the last battle with Kain! Speaking of, this thread brings back great memories of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. What an epic game that was.

deathrider

The first Blood Omen is the only LoK game I never got the chance to play through. Played a wee bit of it in a mate's gaff back when it was available, but unfortunately I never owned a copy to play through myself.

gizmo

sheehy83 wrote: »

That is some thread! Can't believe they cut the last battle with Kain! Speaking of, this thread brings back great memories of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. What an epic game that was.

Ah, but do you not think the way the story eventually played out was better? Personally I think it would have been tragic to have ended the series there, knowing what we got in SR2 and Defiance in terms of character and plot development.

Zero-Cool

TBH I never played SR 2 or Defiance. Looking them up there, I have no bloody idead why I haven't played them Great series.

deathrider

sheehy83 wrote: »

TBH I never played SR 2 or Defiance. Looking them up there, I have no bloody idead why I haven't played them Great series.

Do youself a favour and get on that quick! Fantastic games. There was also a Blood Omen 2, but that one wasn't really great.

Shiminay

I had Soul Reaver on my DreamCast, great game, would love to see it revamped and all the content that had to be left out put back in.

quad_red

My favourite game on the Dreamcast, bar none.

I do remember being in certain areas and there being ledges and hints that certain areas were to be opened/revisited later on but never were. Makes sense reading this stuff.

As Shiminay says - HD remake with all the content restored!

gizmo

Shiminay wrote: »

I had Soul Reaver on my DreamCast, great game, would love to see it revamped and all the content that had to be left out put back in.

I doubt it's that simple unfortunately, most of the content which was cut appears to in an unfinished state if it even managed to get get into production in the first place.

Shiminay

Yea, it'd be a monumental project tbh, but if they had the original plans and assets, I reckon if they had enough of the original designers and artists on board and got a few Unreal Engine 3 people, they could get it out the door in 12-18 months.

gizmo

Shiminay wrote: »

Yea, it'd be a monumental project tbh, but if they had the original plans and assets, I reckon if they had enough of the original designers and artists on board and got a few Unreal Engine 3 people, they could get it out the door in 12-18 months.

Not a chance in bloody hell could you recreate that game, including the cut content, to a current/next gen standard in 12-18 months. Well, not a chance unless you had an abnormally large development team and/or development budget.

marshbaboon

Played a little bit of it today. Controls grand with a keyboard actually. The restricted camera and low fov is giving me a bit of a headache though

The music certainly brings back memories!

ride-the-spiral

Reading that thread makes me want to play them all again, although I've never played Blood Omen so I should probably get on that.

All that content looks so cool, especially all the different reavers. Would've loved if that all had've been in the actual game but I think they resurrected it well, and continued the unsatisfying end to SR with SR2 and defiance.

deathrider

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

Reading that thread makes me want to play them all again, although I've never played Blood Omen so I should probably get on that.

All that content looks so cool, especially all the different reavers. Would've loved if that all had've been in the actual game but I think they resurrected it well, and continued the unsatisfying end to SR with SR2 and defiance.

Did they do that whole craic with the different reavers in SR2, or am I mixing things up. I'm pretty sure I remember using different elements on the sword for different tasks.

noodler

Is it necessary or desirable story wise to play LOK first?

o1s1n

Apparently a lot of the deleted content was included in Defiance. Haven't played it myself though.

deathrider

noodler wrote: »

Is it necessary or desirable story wise to play LOK first?

As in the Blood Omen game? Nope, not really. I jumped on at Soul Reaver with very little knowlege about Blood Omen back in the day, but it didn't hinder the story at all for me.

Kur4mA

So many memories of the hours and hours I got stuck into these games. Some of the best ever imo.

brianregan09

How amazing would it be if they remade the 1st Blood Omen using something like the Skyrim engine , Imagine replaying that epic fight you have when Kain is human and you get murdered at the start , That would be amazing

Mr. K

I remember reading a preview in EGM a few months before the game came out. They outlined most of the game, including the content that would ultimately get cut. They had loads of concept art, so I spent hours looking for the Priestess and Turel in the finished game. I also thought I'd gotten a bad ending of some sort. What was even more perplexing was the lack of any conversation about this stuff online!

Eventually I gave up and forgot about it. It put me off the series for years, then I picked Soul Reaver 2 and Blood Omen 2 about a year before Defiance came out. I was disappointed by SR2's linearity and BO2's general crappiness, but was reminded how much I loved these characters and Nosgoth.

o1s1n wrote: »

Apparently a lot of the deleted content was included in Defiance. Haven't played it myself though.

Yeah, they pretty much tie up the whole series in Defiance.

Anyway, if anyone wants to find out more about the cut content in SR or the LoK series generally, check out this site:

http://www.thelostworlds.net/index.html

Chairman Meow

deathrider wrote: »

As in the Blood Omen game? Nope, not really. I jumped on at Soul Reaver with very little knowlege about Blood Omen back in the day, but it didn't hinder the story at all for me.

Seriously?? Id say its definitely worth playing LOK first. It introduces you to Kain, how he becomes a vampire, Nosgoth and the pillars of Balance, Möbius and how he first manipulates Kain into doing his bidding, Vorador..etc. If you dont play it, at least watch it on youtube or read a synopsis!!

I loved the LOK series. I bought the original blood omen in 98, solely because the screenshots ont he box made it look like zelda! But the story and world totally sucked me in. Simon Templeman as Kain is defintely one of gamings best anti-heroes. I was pumped as hell for Soul Reaver, and loved it. SR2 was great, even tho it was pretty much the exact same gameplay wise as SR (and in sr2 was whent he plot started to lose me a bit with the Hylden).

Defiance, well its okay. Sadly they tried to turn LOK into a DMC clone and the story is probably the weakest of the games but it has a good ending.

Blood omen 2...never even finished it. pure ****e.

Potential-Monke

Finally got round to going through everything there, and it simply shows how great this game really was. Between this, SR2 and Defiance, I have not played another series which I have grown to love as much (albeit God of War and Darksiders are very close).

Everything about this game was brilliant, and being unable to access certain areas and knowing there was more abilities and reavers intended was something that really got me excited about the future of the series.

It still has, imo, one of the best stories and top class voice acting in any game, ever. Simon Templeman is, as stated above, is the best anti-hero to ever have been created. By the end of Defiance I wanted so much more to happen. I wanted more of this beautifully imagined world, more of the fantastic interactions between Kain, Raziel, Moebius, the Elder God, Mortanius, Vorador and more. I don't think there was one character in the series that I didn't like.

God I could go on and on, and some of ye know my absolute and unconditional love for this game, and thesseries in general. I would be like a giggling school girl if they were to do a hd re-release of the series, but I wouldn't want them to change a thing. Everything was perfect. Some people didn't like certain aspects of the series, mad I will admit Blood Omen 2 is the weak link, but (rose tinted glasses aside) it's still the best series I've ever played.

Couldn't recommend this series more to everyone. If you've never experienced it before, you're in for a treat,even if the article spoiled a few extremely big twists. And I still think they stand up today. Think I'll replay them all in anticipation for Borderlands 2.

gizmo

Potential-Monke wrote: »

It still has, imo, one of the best stories and top class voice acting in any game, ever. Simon Templeman is, as stated above, is the best anti-hero to ever have been created. By the end of Defiance I wanted so much more to happen. I wanted more of this beautifully imagined world, more of the fantastic interactions between Kain, Raziel, Moebius, the Elder God, Mortanius, Vorador and more. I don't think there was one character in the series that I didn't like.

It's such a pity Tony Jay is dead. While I loved his work in general, his VO work as the Elder God and Mortanius was absolutely fantastic.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

God I could go on and on, and some of ye know my absolute and unconditional love for this game, and thesseries in general. I would be like a giggling school girl if they were to do a hd re-release of the series, but I wouldn't want them to change a thing. Everything was perfect. Some people didn't like certain aspects of the series, mad I will admit Blood Omen 2 is the weak link, but (rose tinted glasses aside) it's still the best series I've ever played.

I fear the word "reboot" used in conjunction with the last round of remake rumours is going to result in many a broken hearts.

Potential-Monke

gizmo wrote: »

It's such a pity Tony Jay is dead. While I loved his work in general, his VO work as the Elder God and Mortanius was absolutely fantastic.

I meant to mention that, it was a sad day when he died, I agree with you wholeheartedly, fantastic work by him in SR.

ride-the-spiral

This thread inspired me to play the first Blood Omen as I'd never gotten round to it, having played all the others in the series. Just finished it there and it's damn good, if I had played this first it would've cleared up some stuff for sure, especially in Defiance (had no idea who Mortanius was.) I think I may get the rest of them from GOG, (well maybe not BO2) as I'd love to replay them all.

I had to laugh whenever you can talk to some of the townsfolk and they're so obviously Tony Jay or Simon Templeman putting on an accent.

gizmo

No point in making a new thread for this...

Behind the Classics: Amy Hennig Talks Soul Reaver Secrets

Mr. K

If they reboot the LoK series, they'd better get Hennig back on board! I'm kinda in two minds about a reboot though, the series might be best left alone...

super_furry

Blood Omen 2 was my favourite oddly enough, but it's definitely a series that should be rebooted. Would love to see a LoK launch title on the next gen of consoles.

gizmo

Mr. K wrote: »

If they reboot the LoK series, they'd better get Hennig back on board! I'm kinda in two minds about a reboot though, the series might be best left alone...

Hennig works for Naughty Dog.
Sony own Naughty Dog.
Square Enix own the Legacy of Kain IP.

derfderf

The games were pretty good but the stories behind them were absolutely fantastic. Anybody that hasn't seen it should check out the opening scenes from soul reaver on youtube.

The original blood omen was pretty crap but if you're going to play the games you definitely should check out the movie of all the cut scenes (or for any of the games you don't plan on playing), pointless playing any of them without knowing at least some of the back story.

tupac_healy

This is THE game I've always wanted to play/finish!!!!!


Finished Blood Omen and loved it, played SR for a while on the ps1 but never got near finishing it!!!


Now I have it on my S3, connect up my PS3 controller and it plays flawlessly!!! I have a feeling I'm in for a treat!!!!

gizmo

Another cracking thread from Mama Robotnik has been posted over at NeoGAF detailing the list of cancelled games in the series. I imagine the biggest surprises for many will be info on The Dark Prophecy and the even more recent Dead Sun. The loss of the latter will hurt all the more since it is only the multiplayer aspect of which that has been saved for the recently announced War for Nosgoth.

gizmo

The same NeoGAF poster has now dug up the first game play footage form the cancelled title in the series, Dead Sun. Thought it may be of interest to some folk around here.

Gameplay of cancelled Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun leaks

Vicxas

Well, thats just sad to see


I really miss the series....

super_furry

Anyone else playing Nosgoth? I'm finding it a lot of fun.

Vicxas

I think it would annoy me more, that this great game gets canned and they spew out AC every year

gizmo

Vicxas wrote: »

I think it would annoy me more, that this great game gets canned and they spew out AC every year

Well the reason for that is simple, Assassins Creed, as a series, sells gazillions of copies. Black Flag, for instance, sold over 11m copies and Unity/Rogue, despite their various issues, had sold over 10m copies by last December. Conversely, Dead Sun was cancelled at a time when Square Enix was going through a rather difficult period reconciling sales estimates with actual sales. Given the targets for the likes of Sleeping Dogs, Hitman Absolution and Tomb Raider from around that time combined with the work put into Dead Sun to that point, I'd say they would have been looking at around the 1.5m mark for Dead Sun, something they probably felt they wouldn't hit, hence its cancellation.

As for Nosgoth, I'm not playing it on principle.

.ak

gizmo wrote: »

The same NeoGAF poster has now dug up the first game play footage form the cancelled title in the series, Dead Sun. Thought it may be of interest to some folk around here.

Gameplay of cancelled Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun leaks

So weird... When I was a kid, and SR came out, I always imagined a world you get a glimpse of before Raziel is banished, and that they could make a game of it, and it would be open world, and you would be one of the evolved vampires, with wings. In my minds eye it looked JUST like this, but at the time I obviousl thought it would be years before they could make it.

Very disappointing.

Lone Stone

probably the only game series i was a tad obsessed with played every single one of those legacy of Kane games, even the top down rpg one, i thought the final game they made went to on rails for my liking compared to the older ones but the story was fantastic and you genuinely got invested in the characters and what was happening to them and by the end of it all it was kind of sad and very full filling end Q_Q i need a tissue RAZIELL

.ak

I actually enjoyed Blood Omen 2 the most, even though it was possibly the 'cheapest' of all, very generic in terms of game play and level design, but it was just a good old fashioned arcade slasher and it really fleshed out the world a lot.

shayno90