A Legacy lost in time.

I've only written one blog on games really and I thought that it was about time I wrote another. I feel that the particular series I'm going to be writing about never really gets the attention it deserves. his is sort of a pseudo review of the series, and my opinion on how it ends I guess. The series this write up is about holds a place in my heart for having one of the best stories involving time travel and destiny I've come across. I'm of course talking about the Legacy of Kain game series. This will a few spoilers so if you don't want the series ruined you may wish to stop reading here.



It was 1997 when I first stepped foot into the medieval land of Nosgoth, and I was 11 years old. This night I remember particularly well because I was staying at a friends house and his mother told me I was going to hell for playing a game about Satan. I remember the opening to Blood Omen very well. I remember starting off in the Tavern as the weary young nobleman Kain, and then being struck down by what seemed to be a random band of thieves as you left. When this happened my young mind couldn't quite grasp what was going on. Why would you kill the main character of the game within 5 minutes and not let me do anything to prevent this? Did I do something wrong? Then the first FMV began and we see our hero Kain hung by his in what appears to be hell. He is then given the option to come back from the dead to get his revenge. Our Anti-Hero of course chooses revenge and is brought back not as a human but as a vampire.



I've never quite finished the original, but have come close many times. The next game in the series was the first that I ever actually owned for myself which was Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. It came out in 1999 and did for the Kain series what Ocarina of Time did for Zelda, and that was bring everything into 3D. It also changed who you're protagonist was. In Soul Reaver you play as Raziel one of Kain's lieutenants. In the beginning of the game Raziel is cast into the lake of the damned by Kain because he evolved before Kain. I'll never forget watching Kain tear the bone from Raziel's new wings. This game ( as well as Soul Reaver 2) has to with chasing down Kain and trying to find your true destiny. Time Travel in introduced in the end of the first Soul Reaver and stays a major part of the story right up until the end of the series.



The last game of the series Defiance has been judged harshly by many fans. Either you love it or hate it. Personally it's one of my favorite games in the series. In this game for the first time you play as both Kain and Raziel. The game unfolds in chapters. Both characters are stuck in different times which to me made the game very interesting. You visit a lot of the same locations, but the appear very different because the large difference of time between your visits. While this game does a good job wrapping up the events that have unfolded between Kain and Raziel over the past few games it also ends with a new threat being revealed. It saddens me to think that this series will probably never be finished. Shortly after the last games completion director/writer Amy Hennig and game designer Richard Lemarchand both left Crystal Dynamics, and in 2006 Tony Jay ( A key Voice actor in the series) died. I do hope though that Crystal Dynamics does finish this series. The more time that passes however the more likely it is that this series will be forgotten, and that a true ending will never be created.



*Blood Omen 2 wasn't mentioned intentionally, because it's events are a result of a time Paradox in Soul Reaver 2, and is not considered canon by many fans.

* Writing like this is not my strongest suit, but I figured I'd give it a shot.