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The 10 Cancelled Legacy of Kains (Mama Robotnik Research Thread)

C

Cetra

Member
This was one the most engrossing and interesting threads I've ever seen on GAF... and also the most depressing. Legacy of Kain was my first RPG, and still one of my all time favorites. The Legacy of Kain series is right there with the other greats of gaming IMO.

I still think about the ending of Defiance and want a sequel. Thank you for exhaustive research and work in chronicling these lost gems, Mama. I hope someday resurrects the series and gives it the treatment it deserves.
 
S

Servizio

I don't really need a tag, but I figured I'd get one to make people jealous. Is it working?
Thought I'd give this thread a bump with a relevant sale

Almost the entire Legacy of Kain/Blood Omen series, sans the first Blood Omen is up for sale on gog.com for less than six bucks.

Kain and Raziel Saga - $5.96

Four games for a buck fifty each.

Soul Reaver
Soul Reaver 2
Blood Omen 2
Defiance

This is DRM free, no Steam keys though.
 
N

Necrovex

Member
Servizio said:
Thought I'd give this thread a bump with a relevant sale

Almost the entire Legacy of Kain/Blood Omen series, sans the first Blood Omen is up for sale on gog.com for less than six bucks.

Kain and Raziel Saga - $5.96

Four games for a buck fifty each.

Soul Reaver
Soul Reaver 2
Blood Omen 2
Defiance

This is DRM free, no Steam keys though.
Click to expand...

It feels weird that GoG has not added Blood Omen to their catalog. I would not be able to play a story-heavy series like this without the first title.
 
J

John Caboose

Member
Necrovex said:
It feels weird that GoG has not added Blood Omen to their catalog. I would not be able to play a story-heavy series like this without the first title.
Click to expand...

You should be able to get the gist of it by reading Wikipedia or some other synopsis. It's a completely different kind of game than the others.
 
F

Frank the Great

Banned
you should definitely try and play blood omen first. it is outdated graphically and has crappy load times, but IMO it is the best game in the series by far, both in terms of story and definitely in terms of gameplay. there's also a fan-made remake, i'm not sure how it is but maybe it's worth your while.

man, i would love a proper official remake of BO1, keeping the old school top-down perspective, but with some updated HD graphics and no load times.
 
N

Necrovex

Member
Frank the Great said:
you should definitely try and play blood omen first. it is outdated graphically and has crappy load times, but IMO it is the best game in the series by far, both in terms of story and definitely in terms of gameplay. there's also a fan-made remake, i'm not sure how it is but maybe it's worth your while.

man, i would love a proper official remake of BO1, keeping the old school top-down perspective, but with some updated HD graphics and no load times.
Click to expand...

I did a quick search on the remake, and it looks like the project is dead. Pity too. And I would adore a proper HD port. I would buy that in a heartbeat
 
F

Frank the Great

Banned
Necrovex said:
I did a quick search on the remake, and it looks like the project is dead. Pity too. And I would adore a proper HD port. I would buy that in a heartbeat
Click to expand...

i don't think the project is dead . . . i'm not sure how legit this is, but i found some instructions on how to install the remake on gamefaqs. it is essentially a mod of the PC version, so you need the base game.
 
M

Mideon

Member
Just wanted to say really well done to Mama Robotnik for this thread was a good read and really interesting. Cheers
 
N

Necrovex

Member
Frank the Great said:
i don't think the project is dead . . . i'm not sure how legit this is, but i found some instructions on how to install the remake on gamefaqs. it is essentially a mod of the PC version, so you need the base game.
Click to expand...

I could certainly be wrong, I had a difficult time navigating the site using Google Translate. I don't fully know if this mod covers the entirety of the game or only a portion of it. I am interested in it though, since playing Blood Omen is a tad difficult with its current appearance.
 
A

AndrewDean84xX

Banned
This thread saddens me. I love me some Legacy of Kain.

How much I would kill for HD remakes of Blood Omen, Sould Reaver, Blood Omen 2, Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance, is scary. The answer might be 38.
 
M

Mama Robotnik

Member
Just wanted to thank everyone for the really supportive comments about the research, it encourages me to continue my research and to keep presenting my findings! Thanks to George at Square Enix for posting that very intriguing Concept Art earlier in the thread!

Also. thanks to everyone who tried to help me decipher the text on The Pillars of Nosgoth Vorador concept piece - I have been informed that LOK Wiki actually accurately deciphered the text ages ago!:

http://legacyofkain.wikia.com/wiki/Vorador
 
J

John Caboose

Member
Mama Robotnik said:
Just wanted to thank everyone for the really supportive comments about the research, it encourages me to continue my research and to keep presenting my findings!

Also, thanks to George at Square Enix for posting that very intriguing Concept Art earlier in the thread!

Also. thanks to everyone who tried to help me decipher the text on The Pillars of Nosgoth Vorador concept piece - I have been informed that LOK Wiki actually accurately deciphered the text ages ago!

http://legacyofkain.wikia.com/wiki/Vorador
Click to expand...

Mama Robotnik said:
Also - a reminder that one of my sources has offered to answer questions if you have any.
Click to expand...

Here's the direct link to translation from the Vorador page you linked.

I have some questions. What was it that ultimately shut the project down? Was it ever considered that the game be made as a direct sequel to Defiance or was it always 'far in the future'? When was the planned release? How many people were working on it at most? Thanks.
 
P

PopcornMegaphone

Banned
Wow! I've never played a Legacy of Kain game, but I thoroughly enjoyed the OP. Posts like that are the reason I'm hooked on GAF!

Thank you for posting, Mama!
 
P

Psykoboy2

Member
Mama Robotnik said:
Just wanted to thank everyone for the really supportive comments about the research, it encourages me to continue my research and to keep presenting my findings! Thanks to George at Square Enix for posting that very intriguing Concept Art earlier in the thread!
Click to expand...

Would you, and George too, possibly be interested in being on a radio show I'm part of to talk a bit about all of this? All of us on the show are fans of the LoK series and could easily engage in a discussion on the series and these cancelled titles.
 
Monkeythumbz

Monkeythumbz

Communications Manager, nDreams
Psykoboy2 said:
Would you, and George too, possibly be interested in being on a radio show I'm part of to talk a bit about all of this? All of us on the show are fans of the LoK series and could easily engage in a discussion on the series and these cancelled titles.
Click to expand...
Just PM'd you :)
 
C

Cassius

Member
I've always wanted to get into this series, specifically Soul Reaver.

The mechanics seem pretty dated though.

I would play a new one.
 
Darkmakaimura

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Square Enix eventually projected that the game wouldn’t reach their sales expectations (click here), and they decided to cancel it in 2012. One of my sources speculates that as the company had invested no money into marketing at this point, it was an easy decision for them. Some of the development team were not told about the cancellation, and still came in on their weekends to work on the game while Square Enix executives knew it would not be coming out.
Click to expand...
Wow.... That's.... That's just.... Shitty.

So, this game was very recent and now what makes Psyonix think this MP Nosgoth game will bring back this franchise when just recently, an SP game was cancelled because it wasn't expected to reach an audience? But no, now we get an MP F2P game with the idea that it might spark interest in a regular LoK game? I don't get publishers/developers and their way of thinking anymore. It's really sad. I would LOVE to see a proper sequel to this series but with that recent cancellation and the MP components taken out of it to be released as a PVP game boggles the mind.
 
C

Celine

Member
Mama Robotnik said:
In 1997, Steve Ross was working on an independent game project using the original Quake engine called Sirens. The images were discovered years later by an IGN user called Embla (and catalogued by Ben Lincoln here). Looking at the images and explanatory content Ben has provided, it becomes immediately apparent that the cancelled project was some precursor to Blood Omen 2.

The story concept of Sirens read as follows:



Years after Sirens was cancelled, the concepts of two ancient races, banishment into other realms, and a city of horror and decay – would become the foundations of Blood Omen 2’s story. Sirens’ villain race would be brought into the Legacy of Kain universe as the Hylden. One of Sirens’ Daemons (left) shares the atrophied features, gaunt face and exposed teeth of BO2’s Hylden (right):
Click to expand...
That's strange Mama.
I have a few in-game screenshots from around 1996/early 1997 of Sirens for PS1 but it doesn't look like a FPS at all as depicted by the screenshots in the page you linked...
 
F

Freeza Under The Shower

Member
Awww, and to think Nosgoth was pretty decent too. Too much shit hidden behind micropayments for me, but the design of the game itself was fairly solid. Mostly that horn at the one-minute-to-end though.
 
J

Jolkien

Member
Very interesting read.

The root of the IP is very nice. I wonder sometimes if this series is not one that could use a full reboot. Whether they reboot the series or keep it going I wouldn't be against more game in this universe. I only played Soul Reaver but I remember liking it back in the days.
 
Monkeythumbz

Monkeythumbz

Communications Manager, nDreams
Zero-ELEC said:
RIP Nosgoth, you were actually quite good. :_;7
Click to expand...
^This.

Freeza Under The Shower said:
Awww, and to think Nosgoth was pretty decent too. Too much shit hidden behind micropayments for me, but the design of the game itself was fairly solid. Mostly that horn at the one-minute-to-end though.
Click to expand...
Nosgoth's gameplay was loads of fun and it looked great too, full credit to Psyonix and Square Enix London Studios for that. Seeing the game shut down is sad, but it didn't have sympathetic market forces behind it to ensure acceptance by the community. It just goes to show what happens when you try radical experiments within the main branch of an existing, pre-established IP.

More_Badass said:
What is up with this series that games keep getting cancelled?
Click to expand...
The Curse of Kain has struck again…

Jolkien said:
Very interesting read.

The root of the IP is very nice. I wonder sometimes if this series is not one that could use a full reboot. Whether they reboot the series or keep it going I wouldn't be against more game in this universe. I only played Soul Reaver but I remember liking it back in the days.
Click to expand...
A reset is preferable to a reboot IMHO, however the best idea I've heard is still for a game set around the time Kain first raised his Lieutenants and set about conquering Nosgoth. Wouldn't be hard for newcomers to pick-up the story there, even with the current continuity in place.

Morrigan Stark said:
Not really. Nosgoth wasn't Legacy of Kain. :p

Out of respect for the poor devs who worked hard on this, I will refrain from saying what I really think of these news.
Click to expand...
Nosgoth was made with no less heart, care, attention or effort than other games under the LoK banner. You may not have seen its appeal, but many long-time members of the LoK community did. FWIW, heaps was done to fit Nosgoth in with the lore established in LoK:BO1, LoK:SR1 and LoK:SR2 - quite possibly more than ever happened with LoK:BO2, tbh.
 
C

cordy

Banned
Reminds me of Soul Reaver back as a kid. I never thought that game was coming out. I mean they gave demo discs of that game back then so I figured it was right around the corner.
 
G

GrantDaNasty

Member
As someone who has had very little exposure to this IP (I've only ever played about an hour of Soul Reaver), which games are the must-play-tier titles (I'm guessing the first LoK and Soul Reaver for sure)?

But yea...weird to see how much work has gone into this series and how little eventually came out of it.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Monkeythumbz said:
Nosgoth was made with no less heart, care, attention or effort than other games under the LoK banner.
Click to expand...
Yeah, sure. Just without, you know, all the things that made LoK games good.

There is absolutely nothing surprising about its failure. It was a bad, bad idea from the start.

quite possibly more than ever happened with LoK:BO2, tbh.
Click to expand...
You don't need to preach to me about BO2, I don't consider it canon. :p

GrantDaNasty said:
As someone who has had very little exposure to this IP (I've only ever played about an hour of Soul Reaver), which games are the must-play-tier titles (I'm guessing the first LoK and Soul Reaver for sure)?
Click to expand...
Yep. The first Blood Omen, as well as Soul Reaver, are available on PSN for quite cheap, assuming you have a PS3, Vita or PSP to play it. Soul Reaver also had a Dreamcast version but it's unlikely you'll find it easily I guess. It's also on Steam, but the port sucks. Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance are also good and worth playing for the full story (but not "Blood Omen 2" which needs to get tossed in the trash and set fire to) and are on PS2 and Xbox, and also have mediocre Steam ports. Well, Defiance has an OK port, you just need to fiddle a lot for decent controller support. SR2 is plagued with crashes though, I wouldn't recommend it.
 
KiteGr

KiteGr

Member
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