GuitarAtomik
Member
My history with the franchise: The only game I had ever played in the series was the original Soul Reaver which I had never beat though I enjoyed a lot at the time. When I played it, I had zero knowledge it was technically a sequel so a lot of story beats flew over my head even though I was pretty intrigued by the lore (That intro is probably one of my favorite intros of all time and it's still amazing). For whatever reason, I was completely oblivious to the sequels at the time of their respective releases and only became aware of them years later.
Which brings me to today. I've been playing the Nosgoth game a lot lately (fun btw) and it's managed to get me re-interested in the LoK mythos enough to really get caught up on it. I didn't really feel like replaying them though (Especially since I wanted to start from the beginning) and managed to find an extensively long video series on Youtube chronicling the entire story from Blood One to Defiance. I definitely recommend it for anyone interested in the story, doesn't feel like playing all the games, and has 6 hours to kill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faO5nlYJr8Y).
So yeah, this shit is amazing. One of the best written and intricately told video game series I've witnessed. The dialogue is amazing and there are so many good quotes. Both Kain and Raziel are pretty amazing characters and it's nice to get see video game heros that are actual characters, and have actual arcs over multiple games. The twists and turns were pretty amazing
even if the bonkers amount of time travel got a little confusing at times. The whole idea of the Pillars and Guardians. The way the vampires evolve. It's great stuff.
The only misstep, asmost peopleanyone will agree, is Blood Omen 2. Having read through Mama Robotnik's awesome thread about the 10 cancelled LoK games lays out why (It's made and written by a team that had nothing to do with the previous games and apparently didn't pay that much attention to the previous lore
). It is a testament to Amy Hennig that she was able to steer the series right back on course after that lol.
Researching a bit about where the cancelled Dead Sun was going to go story wise, I'm not sure how I feel about the direction it would have gone, but I really hope we do get another single player LoK story/game some time. It's going to take some amazing writers to live up to the previous games though and hearing about some of the plans for the other cancelled sequels, I'm kind of scared of anyone but Hennig even trying. I don't know if continuing Kain's story or going Dead Sun's route which took place far in the future with new characters would be the better route. Until then, I'll be enjoying some Nosgoth.
Which brings me to today. I've been playing the Nosgoth game a lot lately (fun btw) and it's managed to get me re-interested in the LoK mythos enough to really get caught up on it. I didn't really feel like replaying them though (Especially since I wanted to start from the beginning) and managed to find an extensively long video series on Youtube chronicling the entire story from Blood One to Defiance. I definitely recommend it for anyone interested in the story, doesn't feel like playing all the games, and has 6 hours to kill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faO5nlYJr8Y).
So yeah, this shit is amazing. One of the best written and intricately told video game series I've witnessed. The dialogue is amazing and there are so many good quotes. Both Kain and Raziel are pretty amazing characters and it's nice to get see video game heros that are actual characters, and have actual arcs over multiple games. The twists and turns were pretty amazing
(Raziel and his brothers all being Sarafan. Human Raziel being the one who killed Janos. Soul Reaver Raziel being the one who killed all of his human brothers as well as his human self! The circle actually being meant for the previous vampire race. Kain actually being well intentioned instead of the jealous evil dude the beginning of SR makes you think. I could go on and on)
The only misstep, as
Why the fuck is Vorador alive!? This confused the shit out of me while watching it trying to place it on the timeline. It's too bad the explanation was cut out of SR: Defiance but it shouldn't have been a thing they needed to explain in first place. I'm also not sure how I feel about the Hylden especially after reading Mama Robtnik's theory of how SR was originally going to play out
Researching a bit about where the cancelled Dead Sun was going to go story wise, I'm not sure how I feel about the direction it would have gone, but I really hope we do get another single player LoK story/game some time. It's going to take some amazing writers to live up to the previous games though and hearing about some of the plans for the other cancelled sequels, I'm kind of scared of anyone but Hennig even trying. I don't know if continuing Kain's story or going Dead Sun's route which took place far in the future with new characters would be the better route. Until then, I'll be enjoying some Nosgoth.