As a few people have correctly pointed out, at 4:48 there is at least a thousand years between the events of Blood Omen and Soul Reaver 1, not 500 as mentioned in this video. When I was recording, my mind was preoccupied with the resurrection of Sarafan which of course took place soon after the events of Blood Omen 2. Just thought I'd leave this here to save people the trouble of pointing this out again. Have a nice day :)
@@thanevakarian9762 as one who played all of the games (and finished them, except for Blood Omen 1, I enjoyed it so much but got stuck at some point since it was hard and I were pretty young) for hours and hours I really wish they make another game as awesome as the others, but I'm afraid the franchise is dead :(((
"Most ironic of all, was the last gift Raziel had given me. More powerful than the sword that now held his soul, more acute even than the vision that his sacrifice had accorded me - the first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion; hope" - Kain.
Kain's is not concluded just yet, Raziel's mission has ended because now he's in the sword. Hopefully the studio can truly give kain a true conclusion.
@@paulsmith5684 The team that made the original series is long gone mate, and with the failure of Dark Sun and Nosgoth, I'm afraid we're never getting another instance in the Legacy of Kain series.
@@5H4D3 I did take a look at the gameplay of legacy of Kain Dark Sun and I understood the story of it's somewhat but not all of it. Kain I believe in that game was supposed to be human helping this early version of Raziel but as vampire? A little difficult for me to explain.😣😣😣😣😣.
I'd hardly call him overlooked or underrated. He's Loghain from Dragon Age, Han'Garrel from Mass Effect, seemingly half of the Imperial High Command in SWtOR and the Announcer in BFME. At this point his voice is about as widely recognized as Steve Blum or Jennifer Hale.
It's my favourite series of all time. Great soundtrack with nothing comparable today. Gameplay with abit of everything. Characters with progression and motivations you can believe. A lore rich universe with beautiful dialogue. Look up deadhaus sonate. Original team getting together for a new game. Spiritual successor and weirdly free to play on All platforms
"Suppose you toss a coin enough times, suppose one day it lands on its edge." This happened to me once. I dropped a coin, it rolled off the table and when I found it on the floor, it was up on its edge.
@@TheKyrix82 but on a more hopeful note, Raziel give himself willingly instead of the crazed and ravenous soul he could become. It my fantasy to see the two of them converse again through the sword, Kain sometimes express guilt while Raziel now whole again forgive and encourage Kain to move forward.
Last year... I threw a coin out of my pocket on the dresser and it landed on its side!!!! I immediately thought of this. I thought of Kain in that moment.
Kain is and forever will remain my favorite character from any video game. The weight of his choices, the gravity of his resolve, the hundreds of machination he had to put into motion and his brilliant voice acting will forever be etched in my mind. One of the best game series that ever was and a fantastic playable theater drama. TY for making this tribute video.
He is up there as one of my top protagonists aswel. For me, he is balance. Neither good nor evil, but certainly trying to do the right thing, which paradoxically, is the good thing.
"Hate me, but do it honestly!" It's amazing how much powerful those words resonate in this day and age, when people just want to hate on nothing more than mere feeling.
I think the moral of the story of this ip is "think with your head instead of belive in what it has been told to you or what the emotion tell you" everything point in that direction imo.
@@lionguardant5468 Yes, never said it wasn't. But there's a difference between hating something or someone just because of how you feel, and doing so with a level of understanding for why you feel that way. Just looking at the average moron on twitter shows far too many people just want to be spiteful for no particular reason, or because they''re miserable and think they can bring down others.
Oh man... This game, this series was my Lord of the Rings, my Star Wars, my MCU. The writing, the voice acting, the atmosphere, it's a perfect example ofg ames as an artform and it's a crying shame that we didn't get a conclusion.
Or at the least a worthy remaster on modern PC and consoles, I tried getting my Soul Reaver 2 copy running on PS2 emulator but the music stuttered and hisses unfortunatley
@@worthyedge9307 Bizare outlandish story full of weird twists and turns, presented very compellingly with voice actors doing a fantastic job. Though LoK doesn't have quite as many and as long exposition cutscenes.
Kain honestly has a very sad story. He was condemned at the moment of his birth. He had no choice or say in his entire life and was forced to become a monster/ creature of the night. But Defiance ended the series perfectly because even with all that power that he gained and after defeating the true enemy. He had acquired a gift that no other demon or vampire could ever have and it was Hope.
He was also literally born insane. Remember, it was the discovery of Ariel's corpse that caused Nupraptor to do his madness wave on EVERY member of the circle, including the newborn Kain
He didnt defeat the Elder God, though. But he finally knows who the enemy is, not the humans, not the hylden, byt the Elder God, and he finally has the means to kill him.
I don't understand how this series hasn't been remastered over the years. This series is one of the greatest games ever created. Story driven with the right amount of action. Talk about tragically underrated!
The dialogue in this game was always spine tingling. The voices, especially the elder god, always brought me back. That and the Gameplay. RIP Tony Jay.
Literally chills hearing Kain's speech while watching my sculpt! Congratulations my friend for such a fine work with this video, youtube needs this quality content more often, and thank you kindly for the respective credits
I believe Kain will eventually succeed in his goals. It is confirmed that he is the sion of balance, and it is his destiny to return the pillars to the vampires. The sion of balance is an ancient vampire prophecy and all of their prophecies do come true in one form or another. At the ending of Defiance Kain is purified of corruption and obtains the purified spirit reaver and is therefore "armed for his true endeavour". I believe that it was his destiy all along but Mobeious, instructed by the elder god, created his artificial destiny in which he was supposed to die at the hands of raziel. In fact it is hinted that Moebious altered the timelines many times and not just with William. But now Moebious is finnaly dead, raziel is gone, and Kain is going straight to his destiny... atleast we can hope.. its just a theory
@@-Gilver Thanks. It is sad, but i keep telling my self its for the best. Maybe the ending would have been terrible, this way we can atleast imagine what could have been xD
@@ilijamiljkovic4287 Yes, Kain as Scion of Balance has various abilities, he can use all the powers of the Circle of Nine. Balance the World / Universe, being the only one capable of damaging the Elder God, is able to create / destroy guardians at will and purify them (just as can make with the pillars, using the Soul Reaver in a specific way), and most importantly, Kain is out of the Wheel of Fate, having the Soul Reaver and the Spirit Reaver inside him (like Raziel and the Soul Reaver in Soul Reaver 2), now Kain can do whatever he want. All this confirmed by a developer.
Well, you got yourself a new subscriber. Kain is probably one of my favorite characters ever written. A fantastic mix of Grey, a driven madman, fighting against fate itself.
This is fucking awesome; I *adore* The Legacy of Kain and this was well researched, well delivered and just a pleasure to listen to. Loved it man; gg's.
I'm really glad people haven't forgotten about this series. Even after that multiplayer garbage. Also it is believed that humans cannot adequately serve the pillars and with the annihilation of the vampire race the pillars would have fallen, leaving the world in the same wretched state. This is the dilemma that Kain had to face and it was orchestrated by Moebius on behalf of the Elder God, but the hylden had their own reasons to manipulate the events to lead to this outcome and escape the hellish dimension where the ancient vampires trapped them. However the hylden and the Elder God are not allies. In fact the hylden "cursed" the vampires with blood thirst, sterility, hideousness and... hearing the voice of the Elder God, suggesting that hylden and Elder God are actually enemies. This is further supported by Moebius telling his God that the hylden have escaped but he will "deal with them in time" (at the end of Legacy of Kain Defiance).
@Sana naman Succesful ako sa future Sorry for the late reply. I know that Kain calls him a false god. It might be because of their encounter at the time travel well in the vampire citadel, or maybe he heard Mobius praying. Or he might simply have more knowledge about the Elder God than is shown on screen. After all, he did live for millennia. Some millennia he lived through twice because he went back in time.
Nosgoth may have been garbage for a LoK game, but for me and a lot of my mates, it's still the best asymmetrical arena PvP game we've ever played and one of the best PvP games we've ever played. Sure, it cuts out the heart of LoK, but the outer skin is still very faithful.
Kain did discover that Elder God was also an Oracle worshipped by Ancient Vampires. They did talk and Elder opened a portal to bring Kain to Avernus Cathedral to confront Raziel, so at least he knew the voice. Elder God is also meant to look unsettling and monstrous, how can you describe his appearance and how he continues to grow over the centuries, fed by conflict, wars and destruction of Pillars who held him back.
@@GoodwillWright Agreed. I did enjoy Nosgoth while it lasted. Gameplay. Atmosphere of predator and prey. And overall style was very well preserved. I still believe the first Evilved Deceiver art is a masterpiece. I detested the Dead Sun though :) Really glad it got cancelled.
FINALLY !!! After all those years, I FINALLY found someone who understands Kain's true intentions. I FINALLY found someone who understands how OBVIOUS it is that Kain was never jealous of Raziel. FINALLY, someone explains that Kain only wanted to 'defy the tyrannous stars' and create Free Will in Nosgoth, in order to change fate and save the world. Kain even offered Raziel to rule with him, in Legacy Of Kain Defiance. Kain even refused to kill Raziel, when he beat him, in Defiance. Kain even warned Raziel that the Reaver was starting to consume him, in Defiance, instead of taking the opportunity to end Raziel once and for all. Kain was even sad, when Raziel FINALLY understood they were never enemies and sacrificed himself, so Kain could face 'the true enemy'. It was never a spoiled tyrant jealous of another Vampire's wings. It was always a being with such a heavy burden trying to reclaim his freedom and save the world, by fighting greater evils and guiding the most likely candidate for the title of Vampire's Champion to fight the Hylden's Champion (even though it tuned out Raziel was both Champions at once and Kain unwittingly was the true hero, all along : The Scion Of Balance). And don't feel sad for Raziel : As a Human, he was a genocidal blood-thirsty religious fanatic who murdered Vampires out of pleasure and to please his masters. He also murdered Janos Audron - making him the one who had to atone for that murder, by becoming the soul trapped in the Soul Reaver. As a Vampire, he was a genocidal blood-thirsty monster who killed out of pleasure and to catch his master's attention. As a Wraith, he was a rampaging soul-thirsty puppet who killed and ate souls not only for sustenance, but also to please his new master, The Elder. Kain never owed him anything and he initially only raised him from the dead to play his part in saving the world. No jealousy. Just manipulating one of the most horrible people who ever existed, to save the world.
Everything you said was accurate up until the last part and if you truly have no sympathy for Raziel and believe what you stated as a fact, you're at a complete loss and must not understand the character... Raziel had every right to fight back against the vampires as a human and as a vampire he had long forgotten his roots... As a wraith he became a tragic hero and chose integrity in the end to save the world, sacrificing himself for the greater good.. Raziel is arguably one of the only "good guys" in LOK...
@@Ameuxethon Raziel is such a damn memorable character, and I don't like when people can't see him as the real hero of the story, or anything less than Kain's equal (at the very least). He's nothing less than a heroic character, to me. He's come such a long way from his human and vampire self, they're entirely different characters.
Such a thought provoking series. How many times in my own life have I contemplated wether or not I was forging my own path or following a predetermined path no matter what decisions I made. A lot to be learned from this wonderful story. I am in complete awe of it to this day nearly 25 years after the first game came out and my father rented it from blockbuster on a whim. Games like this just don’t exist anymore and it’s a damn shame.
I've often thought the same. Personally, I don't believe in fate because life becomes worthless. Also, if some higher power were orchestrating my existence then they must really despise me, their own creation treated with such cruelty and indifference for their own twisted amusement I am in control of my own existence and many choices I have made through my own will have brought me joy as well as despair
This is one of the greatest videogameseries ever released. A plot that is seldom reached, awesome voiceacting, atmospheric gameplay with enough action but not to much to stand before the story, philosophical questions about fate, fatalism and free will, breaking the borders between hero and anti-hero... ...and deep tragic characters that I like to compare to the tragedies of star wars (Darth Vader as a tragic char in comparison to Kain) or metal gear solid. You know you have to kill the opponent, but you hate it because you understand him/her, the fight becomes a feeling of fate despite you'd prefer not to do it. This series left me thinking about it like no other game before 😏
@Jeffrey Gifford i remember having some serious technical issues with BO2 when it came out (on pc). i gotta get it from GOG and try it again someday. also SR1 had and still has technical issues on pc. dont remember if the console versions had those problems.
I have yet to play a game or game series that matches the writing and voice acting that these had. Even with the flaws and lack of conclusion, it is my all time favorite series. Would love a remaster and a novelization.
Such an underrated series, incredible narration, brilliant voice acting and compelling story, you never hear it mentioned at all or hear about a return after the previous title was cancelled, I agree with one of the other comments a Netflix series done correctly would be very interagency.
I loved the video. At 9:20 it would've been a nice touch to have a different sigil on both sides of the coin. So one side is Kain's sigil where he refuses the sacrifice and the other could've been Moebius Sigil. Or something, I think it would've been a nice touch. But still, love the video. LOK doesn't get enough attention anymore
"HATE ME BUT AT LEAST DO IT HONNESTLY" This line legit work in real life, and have usually a pretty strong effect in my experience from it being the response of me being gaslighted, had the opportunity to use it twice in 20 years but it worked as intended, it was also fitting the situations.
I actually flipped a coin and it landed on its edge. My neices could not decide whether what fast-food they wanted, one wanted pizza the other hamburgers. I prayed to God "Lord let heads be Burgers and tails be Pizza." Flipped the coin and it landed and started spinning, just expecting it to choose a side but it just stopped spinning... So we got both. The odds of that happening and it was wasted on a decision of what to have for dinner.
00:30 I may add that also the music of the serie is capable of standing next to the classics of beethoven or mozart, especially the theme of the sarafan stronghold in soul reaver 2 with all its levels (normal, danger and combat)
"Let's DROP the moral posturing, shall we? Your righteous indignation brought you here. I counted on it." Kain knew his 2nd well, especially considering it was the same fame Mortanius played on him.
I'm so glad you made this. LoK series was one of my favorite as a child, my uncle showed me the first one when I was like 5, and I followed them all from there. Cool to see it's not just my nostalgia/child mind that thought it was so awesome.
Honestly? I am glad that the series ended where it did. There is something about the open ending of the story that makes it that much more intriguing. As the narrator rightly said, this games story telling is pure artistry. It should be left as it is.
I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate what you’re doing here. I’m a big fan of the storyline and I was trying unsuccessfully until now to share this wonderful story with my wife, who‘s a fan of fantasy but not a gamer. Your videos gave us something to watch together. Thank you for that !
I remember playing these as a kid and the story was so confusing...really awesome to see these deep dives explaining the awesome character development and story I didn't understand back then!
Strictly Fantasy, i wanna thank you from the botom of my heart for doing this exelent perfect job explainig all this to me and us, all who love and grow up with this game. I always had probelms understanding the story, but yet i was loving playing the game as if i do :D you cleared alot of this story to me, tyvm again for your work. I subscribed to you, like, comment, nothing more i can do :D this game will never die to me :d never ever. i fell sorry for those who say it is a bad failed game or who never got to play it. i fell like it was yesterday that i played this game when i was 10 or 11 :( and yet i am soon 28... time flies but memories remain
The funny thing when you think about it with Kain, as he said, Aerials death caused the shift of him becoming balance guardian, but Nupraptor losing his sanity and driving all the other guardians mad tainted him from birth. It seemed this insanity was the driving force behind Kain's arrogence, lack of empathy and overall brash nature as he saw in BO1 and BO2. However it seemed as centuries past into the time coming into SR1, Kain managed to get more control of himself, after all those centuries he gained wisdom and foresight, while still appearing arrogant, he's clearly more of a deeper thicker then in his youth, and even despite the curse of insanity part of him, he managed to get control and pursue correcting the past, and ultimately stopping the larger threat. By the end of Defiance, before he was even cleansed to become the scion on balance, he showed his empathy for Raziel, not wanting him to sacrifice himself to the blade, despite knowing it was the only way. He managed to push back his arrogance and pride. And then he was fully cleansed of Nupraptor's curse, becoming the scion. Just an interesting thought how he overcame the negative traits of himself to pursue something better for the world.
Great to see new contant being made about this great series. A seriously underrated character and voice actor we have here. I remember the first time i played Blood Omen and was blown away by it, and it still feels great when replaying it. Hope we get more from this series. It really deserves it.
So would I. But where would you set it? In a modern day scenario where an ageing Kain is reflecting on his past & wondering how to deal with his existence in our era or set from the moment he is transformed onwards?
Flashback would serve to help as narration and sometimes summarize events we don't necessarily have to see. Set it centuries after the end of Defiance.
The best and most amazing thing about the Legacy of Kain series, though, is that one can unironically say that one of the best narrative-focused series in the history of videogames is "A series about time-travelling vampires." There's just so much beauty in the world, y'know?
Keep up the good work, I hope to see your subscriber count go up know that you are not screaming into the abyss and people will get to know your great chanel.
I am totally against using AI to re dub something with a dead man’s voice, but using it to remaster existing audio?? Just clean it up a bit, to combat the compression needed back then? That would be ok.
Question 4:48 you say 500 years pass between BO and SR. But Raziel states he has served kain 1000 years meaning 1000 years minimum (depending on how long it took kain to rise to power and learn how to create vampires). I know that bo2 states it takes place 500 years after bo1
Yes, you are correct. It's supposed to be a millennium. In the second timeline, I believe 500 years pass between Blood omen and Kain resurrecting the Sarafan.
BO ends with the fall of the pillars, BO2 intro starts 200 hundred years later when the Sarafan Lord appears and defeats Kain who is mostly dead for additional 200 years and then 100 years after the end of BO2 Kain raises the ancient Safaran knights to be his new clan heads. Then it is 1000 years that Raziel is a vampire and then it is an indeterminate time spent in the abyss that is estimated to be 500 to 1000 years. There's a plothole as to what happens to all the other vampires that were there during the Blood Omen 2 era and others Kain might have raised during the 100 year gap between the end of BO2 and Raziel's resurrection.
Oh great set of videos man I put this as my favorite game series of all time. Always loved the script and story. Great charecters. So gutted the series hasn't been caught up. Would be great to finish kains journey and hear his voice again
The dialogue in Legacy of Kain encouraged me to read more, the alliteration was amazing and to this day the series is my favourite story. Great characters and sublime music score.
I remember playing the demo for this on ps1. We got the station for christmas but didnt have any games. The system came with a demo disk that had this ff7 and a few other games
I had only three games on the ps1. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, Kageroo Deception 2 and Metal Gear Solid. I played those games endlessly. Legacy forever stole my heart, it's just beautiful.
Ah, nostalgia….. I absolutely love this game series!! Bravo sir, I’m happy I found your channel. It’s a damn shame we’ve never gotten a proper “ending “ after Defiance. Kain and Raziel are the best video game characters of all time.
This series has amazing dialogue and unparalleld delivery by the superb voice actors. That's probably the reason I still care about these guys 25 years later.
I wonder how I just found this channel. This is amazing work. Legacy of Kain was my favorite game growing up, after it most games do not feel the same. It is so unique and its story so engaging. Let's see how we feel after the Remaster comes out
As an old time fan and player of the series i congratulate you for your thorough approach to the game and its philosophy and for your awesome presentation of it. You reminded me of this awesome series. It seems that people have forgotten this series and yes we never got a proper conclusion..and i doubt we ever will after i finished defiance i waited for years to hear smth about a sequel but nothing. I was always intrigued by the games world, hidden truths and twists sad they never ended it properly.
We didn't deserve the beauty that was the legacy of kain series. I wish i could agree but without the elder god and with Square Enix firmly planted on the IP for the foreseeable future, don't see it happening. Great vid tho. Love anything shining the spotlight on one of the best video game stories ever told. R.I.P. Tony Jay
This franchise has so incredibly huge potential... Can you imagine a prequel to this already beautiful and vast story? Conversations with Raziel's ruthless brothers in their vampiric, uncorrupted form, the land of Nosgoth on today's systems and possibilities? And finally, could you imagine playing Raziel as the dignified, proud, handsome, but cruel and merciless lieutenant he was during his devoted service to Kain? I mean, if the story was handled right, in comparison to Raziel from back then, Kratos from God of War, could look like a pussy-whipped rebel ... Come on developers, give us fans what we deserve for keeping this beautiful franchise alive to this day, but do it with passion and hearts it deserves. "Do not tarry!"
I’ve been waiting for that for years, but honestly I have almost no faith in the writing and development of games anymore. I’m afraid they’ll ruin it. Unless you get Amy Hennig on board and the best voice acting available I’d rather it be left alone.
i think it first needs a remake, remake BO1, SR1 etc. with modern graphics and a good action gameplay, they could even reuse the dialogues recordings of the old games. And then, if there is success they could think about a spin off or prequel, maybe a "midquel" that overwrites BO2n and shows how Kain, after BO1 formed his armies and conquered Nosgoth.
Do remember, that Mr. Bale, Raziel's VA is approaching 82 at this point in time, and Kain's VA is 70+, I believe, there is little to no time for a sequel and if the sequel does not have the original VAs, it does not deserve to get off the ground!
LOVE these videos my dude! I'm not particularly into dark series but I have loved watching playthroughs of The Legacy of Kain games with all its interesting story beats, twisty plots, and tragedy. Like, ACTUAL tragedy, not just 'here have all this sense violence and bad stuff happening.' Like Oedipus and shit.
Well, let's put it this way: If there is anyone to restore the balance, the pillars & everything connected to it, it is Kain. And I honestly do not doubt Kain's ability to win this war against Hylden, treachery and manipulation. I am still hoping, like all of you as I guess, for another game of this extraordinary series, but I if there is no more to come it appears clear to me that Kain had reached his goal and won.
Yes. I often think that since Kain refused to sacrifice himself, he is trying to find an alternative means to restore the pillars in spite of all he is forced to do just to stay alive, like all vampires must.
@@labelledamedumanor4876 I can no other than agree; just imagine if he had sacrificed himself to the pillar of balance at the end of Blood Omen - he would have opened up the gates for the Hylden, although he haven't had known them at all. For sure he is no classical hero, but in this antihero is a lot more good than in many heros and his searching for the moment when the twisted coin lands on the edge instead on one of it's sides has finally lead him to success over the Hylden and the Elder God.
Always loved kains voice actor. Absolute perfect portrayal of a vampire king, and not just a king, but the god of an alternate universe, and the savior of all or harbinger of doom. Spiteful, sharp pointed, direct, with no time for nonsense or niceties.
After having watched this, I have to say it’s an absolute crime that these games aren’t playable on any new hardware and that the story was never finished. I’ve never heard of Dark Prophecy, but I do remember the last Legacy of Kain game was called Dead Sun and it got cancelled at the last second
they are playable. gog has the entire series working, i think. i got SR 1, SR2, Defiance and they all work. i gotta try the Blood Omen games someday, to see if they work.
I think Mortanius put it inside the young Kain when he resurrected him as a Vampire. And during that entire time, the heart of darkness was inside Kain without him ever realizing it.
@@strictlyfantasy "Kain has the heart.....It's IN Kain!!!" How fitting that Mortanius would be the one to reveal this to Raziel after placing it in Kain himself. I believe Mortanius leaves to meet his death at Kain's hands right after. Fucking badass.
the Heart was used ot Raise Kain as a vampire since its shown that raise resurrection was not done thru what would be called "Regular" Necromancy instead we see in BO mortanius ttapping nito the spectral Realm to converse with Kain.
love how effective he is and how brutal he is. not even hesitating chopping away at a god and also love how he jsut accepts raziel hates him but just gets annoyed since he tries to claim its for th ebetter of th eworld instead of jsut revenge
It is available on steam, Soul Reaver series at least. However, I can't stress enough that you should plug a controller in because the games are truly not made for WASD!
@@knallpinne I'm not so sure. The gameplay was honestly pretty simplistic. Only minor improvements to the gameplay itself would be necessary to bring it up to the level of modern action/adventure titles. (I'd also love to see a remake of Blood Omen 2. I love that little black sheep. XD)
@@Syenthros Yeah, I just fear it would be overdone like the project that got cancelled where for some reason Raziel had a complete character switch and several other lore-changing artistic choices for nosgoth were made. Can't remember the title of that project however.
I truly love this whole series. A great storyline, good enough graphics for it's time, and the best characters possible in a game. I think I messed up finding this youtube channel. I subscribed anyway. Free will, right...........
Excellent, really enjoyed this series of Legacy of Kain character studies! Fond memories of an extremely well put together series. Well done for a great analysis!
That is probably why it has such a profoundly lasting impact. It's a grand dramatic play to rival Shakespeare's nested plots & Greek tragedies, with enjoyable segments of interaction mixed in. The hero vs. villain/good vs. evil dichotomy that's pervasive in contemporary books/movies/games/etc, gets utterly trounced and tossed out. The closest to a villain we get is the Elder God, whilst Raziel & Kain dance a waltz trading back & forth between protagonist & antagonist.
As a few people have correctly pointed out, at 4:48 there is at least a thousand years between the events of Blood Omen and Soul Reaver 1, not 500 as mentioned in this video. When I was recording, my mind was preoccupied with the resurrection of Sarafan which of course took place soon after the events of Blood Omen 2. Just thought I'd leave this here to save people the trouble of pointing this out again. Have a nice day :)
Timeline confusion with a legacy of Kain game? Nahhhhh way too easy to keep track of time in this series 😂
@@thanevakarian9762 lmao ikr?
Nom1fan lmao yes but that’s what makes the lore and story of these games amazing! Hope I’m around when another game with this kind of story gets made
@@thanevakarian9762 as one who played all of the games (and finished them, except for Blood Omen 1, I enjoyed it so much but got stuck at some point since it was hard and I were pretty young) for hours and hours I really wish they make another game as awesome as the others, but I'm afraid the franchise is dead :(((
Nom1fan me too, but I’m also afraid they’ll ruin it too.... maybe in like 10-15 years they can re make it and it won’t be terrible.
"Most ironic of all, was the last gift Raziel had given me. More powerful than the sword that now held his soul, more acute even than the vision that his sacrifice had accorded me - the first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion; hope" - Kain.
"the hope....of a sequel"
Terrible illusion...a fitting definition for the word 'hope'
@@FFKonoko no need. It ended just as Gow 3 ended. Hope established
@@FFKonoko They would butcher it.
Damn, you sir have the response, kain is the goat .
The amazing thing about Kain is...he never lies. Despite everyone claiming otherwise, he never once lies. To anyone. For any reason.
He tells some shady truth but still ever lied
never a whole truth
He certainly twists the truth and does manipulate people, but yes, he doesn't seem to outright lie
@@TheRealBDouble Honestly, there isn't even much of that...just people saying he did
Even in Blood Omen 2, he has a bunch of cheeky lil truths that hide the real truth 👹 love that dastardly mf
"Conscience? You dare to speak to me of conscience?!" Kain hits home with that speech. Videogaming will never be the same.
Kain's is not concluded just yet, Raziel's mission has ended because now he's in the sword. Hopefully the studio can truly give kain a true conclusion.
I would’ve chosen integrity, kain.
“Only when you have felt the full gravity of choice”
Fuckin Epic
@@paulsmith5684 The team that made the original series is long gone mate, and with the failure of Dark Sun and Nosgoth, I'm afraid we're never getting another instance in the Legacy of Kain series.
@@5H4D3 I did take a look at the gameplay of legacy of Kain Dark Sun and I understood the story of it's somewhat but not all of it. Kain I believe in that game was supposed to be human helping this early version of Raziel but as vampire? A little difficult for me to explain.😣😣😣😣😣.
Legacy of Kain simply an underrated game series!
I really wish that there had been at least one more game, where we see Kain's dream fulfilled.
@@christopherriley6299 I wish Amy Hennig to return to the series.
@@hishamk6514 Wouldn't that be fantastic?
They were making a new legacy of kain I don't know if it followed kain but it had the name.
Easily one of the most underrated IPs out there even though the soul reaver titles really pushed graphic capabilities of consoles at the time
Kain voice actor is by far the best voice actor ever!! He gave so much intensity and charm to Kain's character!! Kain is my favourite character ever!
simon templeman a criminally underlooked voice actor
I'd hardly call him overlooked or underrated. He's Loghain from Dragon Age, Han'Garrel from Mass Effect, seemingly half of the Imperial High Command in SWtOR and the Announcer in BFME. At this point his voice is about as widely recognized as Steve Blum or Jennifer Hale.
@@nastrael i knew he was Loghain
If you think that's good, you should hear the outtakes...
I would say all major characters were brilliant period.
6:21 Possibly the best voice acting and dialogue of all time!
It's one of my favourites :)
It's my favourite series of all time. Great soundtrack with nothing comparable today. Gameplay with abit of everything. Characters with progression and motivations you can believe. A lore rich universe with beautiful dialogue. Look up deadhaus sonate. Original team getting together for a new game. Spiritual successor and weirdly free to play on All platforms
The absolute best voice acting and writing in any game.
THE best. Show me a contender and I can tell you now it pales in comparison
@@whitehaireddevil1 Simon templeman as kain, Michael Bell as raziel and the elder god was a famous Disney actor xD the talent was insane
"Suppose you toss a coin enough times, suppose one day it lands on its edge."
This happened to me once. I dropped a coin, it rolled off the table and when I found it on the floor, it was up on its edge.
Sadly, the edge Kain's coin landed on was one where he lived and still could save the world, but Raziel died.
@@TheKyrix82 but on a more hopeful note, Raziel give himself willingly instead of the crazed and ravenous soul he could become. It my fantasy to see the two of them converse again through the sword, Kain sometimes express guilt while Raziel now whole again forgive and encourage Kain to move forward.
Last year... I threw a coin out of my pocket on the dresser and it landed on its side!!!! I immediately thought of this. I thought of Kain in that moment.
Be thankful you're one of the few that actually has free will.
I found out today that the chances of a coin landing on its edge is roughly 1 in 600
Kain is and forever will remain my favorite character from any video game. The weight of his choices, the gravity of his resolve, the hundreds of machination he had to put into motion and his brilliant voice acting will forever be etched in my mind. One of the best game series that ever was and a fantastic playable theater drama.
TY for making this tribute video.
He is up there as one of my top protagonists aswel. For me, he is balance. Neither good nor evil, but certainly trying to do the right thing, which paradoxically, is the good thing.
"Hate me, but do it honestly!"
It's amazing how much powerful those words resonate in this day and age, when people just want to hate on nothing more than mere feeling.
Hate with integrity and character instead of blindly lashing out like a animal or more likely an unwitting pawn
I think the moral of the story of this ip is "think with your head instead of belive in what it has been told to you or what the emotion tell you" everything point in that direction imo.
hate on nothing more than mere feeling? you know hate is a feeling right
@@lionguardant5468
Yes, never said it wasn't. But there's a difference between hating something or someone just because of how you feel, and doing so with a level of understanding for why you feel that way. Just looking at the average moron on twitter shows far too many people just want to be spiteful for no particular reason, or because they''re miserable and think they can bring down others.
yea, fantastic quote. writing in this game was killer.
Oh man... This game, this series was my Lord of the Rings, my Star Wars, my MCU. The writing, the voice acting, the atmosphere, it's a perfect example ofg ames as an artform and it's a crying shame that we didn't get a conclusion.
Its pure fuckin BS
Or at the least a worthy remaster on modern PC and consoles, I tried getting my Soul Reaver 2 copy running on PS2 emulator but the music stuttered and hisses unfortunatley
Metal Gear Solid always felt like it's counterpart.
@@Yora21 in what sense? I'm curious
@@worthyedge9307 Bizare outlandish story full of weird twists and turns, presented very compellingly with voice actors doing a fantastic job.
Though LoK doesn't have quite as many and as long exposition cutscenes.
Kain honestly has a very sad story. He was condemned at the moment of his birth. He had no choice or say in his entire life and was forced to become a monster/ creature of the night. But Defiance ended the series perfectly because even with all that power that he gained and after defeating the true enemy. He had acquired a gift that no other demon or vampire could ever have and it was Hope.
And it was thanks to his right hand. His sword. Without raziel, he’d never have been able to see the true enemy.
He was also literally born insane. Remember, it was the discovery of Ariel's corpse that caused Nupraptor to do his madness wave on EVERY member of the circle, including the newborn Kain
He didnt defeat the Elder God, though.
But he finally knows who the enemy is, not the humans, not the hylden, byt the Elder God, and he finally has the means to kill him.
You know whats sadder? Having your wing bones broken then forced to take a 500 year long Acid Bath.
@@C0wb0yBebop One might say Raziel's physical turmoil was equal to Kain's emotional turmoil. Two sides of the same coin.
truly a masterpiece of story telling. Soul reaver intro still almost makes me cry
I don't understand how this series hasn't been remastered over the years. This series is one of the greatest games ever created. Story driven with the right amount of action. Talk about tragically underrated!
lucky you here we are
The dialogue in this game was always spine tingling. The voices, especially the elder god, always brought me back. That and the Gameplay.
RIP Tony Jay.
Literally chills hearing Kain's speech while watching my sculpt!
Congratulations my friend for such a fine work with this video, youtube needs this quality content more often, and thank you kindly for the respective credits
Congratulations on the sculpt. It looks very compelling.
@@CynicalWarlock Thank you, I appreciate it!
I love the way kain looks at his sword at the ending. A sword that’s always going to be more than a simple blade
Kindred indeed, that blade and him.
"Kain refused the sacrifice" this line still gives me so much chill. The OST is so epic as well
I believe Kain will eventually succeed in his goals. It is confirmed that he is the sion of balance, and it is his destiny to return the pillars to the vampires. The sion of balance is an ancient vampire prophecy and all of their prophecies do come true in one form or another. At the ending of Defiance Kain is purified of corruption and obtains the purified spirit reaver and is therefore "armed for his true endeavour". I believe that it was his destiy all along but Mobeious, instructed by the elder god, created his artificial destiny in which he was supposed to die at the hands of raziel. In fact it is hinted that Moebious altered the timelines many times and not just with William. But now Moebious is finnaly dead, raziel is gone, and Kain is going straight to his destiny... atleast we can hope.. its just a theory
Damn good theory
Shame we never really got a good close to this treasure of video game series
@@-Gilver Thanks.
It is sad, but i keep telling my self its for the best. Maybe the ending would have been terrible, this way we can atleast imagine what could have been xD
@@ilijamiljkovic4287
Yes, Kain as Scion of Balance has various abilities, he can use all the powers of the Circle of Nine. Balance the World / Universe, being the only one capable of damaging the Elder God, is able to create / destroy guardians at will and purify them (just as can make with the pillars, using the Soul Reaver in a specific way), and most importantly, Kain is out of the Wheel of Fate, having the Soul Reaver and the Spirit Reaver inside him (like Raziel and the Soul Reaver in Soul Reaver 2), now Kain can do whatever he want. All this confirmed by a developer.
It's not a theory, it's what it was explicitly said at the ending of Defiance!
@@arx3516 cool. Then im double glad im right xD lets just pray we get to see a legit good ending to this amaizing series
Well, you got yourself a new subscriber.
Kain is probably one of my favorite characters ever written. A fantastic mix of Grey, a driven madman, fighting against fate itself.
This is fucking awesome; I *adore* The Legacy of Kain and this was well researched, well delivered and just a pleasure to listen to. Loved it man; gg's.
I'm really glad people haven't forgotten about this series. Even after that multiplayer garbage.
Also it is believed that humans cannot adequately serve the pillars and with the annihilation of the vampire race the pillars would have fallen, leaving the world in the same wretched state. This is the dilemma that Kain had to face and it was orchestrated by Moebius on behalf of the Elder God, but the hylden had their own reasons to manipulate the events to lead to this outcome and escape the hellish dimension where the ancient vampires trapped them. However the hylden and the Elder God are not allies. In fact the hylden "cursed" the vampires with blood thirst, sterility, hideousness and... hearing the voice of the Elder God, suggesting that hylden and Elder God are actually enemies. This is further supported by Moebius telling his God that the hylden have escaped but he will "deal with them in time" (at the end of Legacy of Kain Defiance).
@Sana naman Succesful ako sa future Sorry for the late reply. I know that Kain calls him a false god. It might be because of their encounter at the time travel well in the vampire citadel, or maybe he heard Mobius praying. Or he might simply have more knowledge about the Elder God than is shown on screen. After all, he did live for millennia. Some millennia he lived through twice because he went back in time.
Nosgoth may have been garbage for a LoK game, but for me and a lot of my mates, it's still the best asymmetrical arena PvP game we've ever played and one of the best PvP games we've ever played.
Sure, it cuts out the heart of LoK, but the outer skin is still very faithful.
Kain did discover that Elder God was also an Oracle worshipped by Ancient Vampires. They did talk and Elder opened a portal to bring Kain to Avernus Cathedral to confront Raziel, so at least he knew the voice. Elder God is also meant to look unsettling and monstrous, how can you describe his appearance and how he continues to grow over the centuries, fed by conflict, wars and destruction of Pillars who held him back.
@@GoodwillWright Agreed. I did enjoy Nosgoth while it lasted. Gameplay. Atmosphere of predator and prey. And overall style was very well preserved. I still believe the first Evilved Deceiver art is a masterpiece. I detested the Dead Sun though :) Really glad it got cancelled.
FINALLY !!! After all those years, I FINALLY found someone who understands Kain's true intentions. I FINALLY found someone who understands how OBVIOUS it is that Kain was never jealous of Raziel. FINALLY, someone explains that Kain only wanted to 'defy the tyrannous stars' and create Free Will in Nosgoth, in order to change fate and save the world. Kain even offered Raziel to rule with him, in Legacy Of Kain Defiance. Kain even refused to kill Raziel, when he beat him, in Defiance. Kain even warned Raziel that the Reaver was starting to consume him, in Defiance, instead of taking the opportunity to end Raziel once and for all. Kain was even sad, when Raziel FINALLY understood they were never enemies and sacrificed himself, so Kain could face 'the true enemy'.
It was never a spoiled tyrant jealous of another Vampire's wings. It was always a being with such a heavy burden trying to reclaim his freedom and save the world, by fighting greater evils and guiding the most likely candidate for the title of Vampire's Champion to fight the Hylden's Champion (even though it tuned out Raziel was both Champions at once and Kain unwittingly was the true hero, all along : The Scion Of Balance).
And don't feel sad for Raziel : As a Human, he was a genocidal blood-thirsty religious fanatic who murdered Vampires out of pleasure and to please his masters. He also murdered Janos Audron - making him the one who had to atone for that murder, by becoming the soul trapped in the Soul Reaver. As a Vampire, he was a genocidal blood-thirsty monster who killed out of pleasure and to catch his master's attention. As a Wraith, he was a rampaging soul-thirsty puppet who killed and ate souls not only for sustenance, but also to please his new master, The Elder. Kain never owed him anything and he initially only raised him from the dead to play his part in saving the world. No jealousy. Just manipulating one of the most horrible people who ever existed, to save the world.
Everything you said was accurate up until the last part and if you truly have no sympathy for Raziel and believe what you stated as a fact, you're at a complete loss and must not understand the character... Raziel had every right to fight back against the vampires as a human and as a vampire he had long forgotten his roots... As a wraith he became a tragic hero and chose integrity in the end to save the world, sacrificing himself for the greater good.. Raziel is arguably one of the only "good guys" in LOK...
@@Ameuxethon Raziel is such a damn memorable character, and I don't like when people can't see him as the real hero of the story, or anything less than Kain's equal (at the very least). He's nothing less than a heroic character, to me.
He's come such a long way from his human and vampire self, they're entirely different characters.
@@Oz1455 EXACTLY! LITERALLY EPIC!
Such a thought provoking series. How many times in my own life have I contemplated wether or not I was forging my own path or following a predetermined path no matter what decisions I made. A lot to be learned from this wonderful story. I am in complete awe of it to this day nearly 25 years after the first game came out and my father rented it from blockbuster on a whim. Games like this just don’t exist anymore and it’s a damn shame.
I've often thought the same. Personally, I don't believe in fate because life becomes worthless. Also, if some higher power were orchestrating my existence then they must really despise me, their own creation treated with such cruelty and indifference for their own twisted amusement
I am in control of my own existence and many choices I have made through my own will have brought me joy as well as despair
"The first bitter taste of that terrible illusion... Hope"
This is one of the greatest videogameseries ever released. A plot that is seldom reached, awesome voiceacting, atmospheric gameplay with enough action but not to much to stand before the story, philosophical questions about fate, fatalism and free will, breaking the borders between hero and anti-hero...
...and deep tragic characters that I like to compare to the tragedies of star wars (Darth Vader as a tragic char in comparison to Kain) or metal gear solid. You know you have to kill the opponent, but you hate it because you understand him/her, the fight becomes a feeling of fate despite you'd prefer not to do it. This series left me thinking about it like no other game before 😏
I wish this game would be popular again.
@Jeffrey Gifford i remember having some serious technical issues with BO2 when it came out (on pc). i gotta get it from GOG and try it again someday. also SR1 had and still has technical issues on pc. dont remember if the console versions had those problems.
I have yet to play a game or game series that matches the writing and voice acting that these had. Even with the flaws and lack of conclusion, it is my all time favorite series. Would love a remaster and a novelization.
"What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets!"
No wait, that's not right...
😂😂
Robin Williams and castlevania sympathy of the night in one sentence
Sounds like something Kain would say and would fit perfectly in this universe.
The voiceacting is just amazing
Such an underrated series, incredible narration, brilliant voice acting and compelling story, you never hear it mentioned at all or hear about a return after the previous title was cancelled, I agree with one of the other comments a Netflix series done correctly would be very interagency.
One of my favorite game series of all time.
I loved the video. At 9:20 it would've been a nice touch to have a different sigil on both sides of the coin. So one side is Kain's sigil where he refuses the sacrifice and the other could've been Moebius Sigil. Or something, I think it would've been a nice touch. But still, love the video. LOK doesn't get enough attention anymore
"HATE ME BUT AT LEAST DO IT HONNESTLY"
This line legit work in real life, and have usually a pretty strong effect in my experience from it being the response of me being gaslighted, had the opportunity to use it twice in 20 years but it worked as intended, it was also fitting the situations.
I actually flipped a coin and it landed on its edge. My neices could not decide whether what fast-food they wanted, one wanted pizza the other hamburgers. I prayed to God "Lord let heads be Burgers and tails be Pizza." Flipped the coin and it landed and started spinning, just expecting it to choose a side but it just stopped spinning... So we got both. The odds of that happening and it was wasted on a decision of what to have for dinner.
Holey moley
Both Kain's and Raziel's character design is absolutely masterful. I have no idea how they came up with that stuff
I LOVED theze gamez as a teen. The voice acting was the pinnacle of the craft, hopefully replicated in future iterationz.
00:30 I may add that also the music of the serie is capable of standing next to the classics of beethoven or mozart, especially the theme of the sarafan stronghold in soul reaver 2 with all its levels (normal, danger and combat)
"Let's DROP the moral posturing, shall we? Your righteous indignation brought you here. I counted on it."
Kain knew his 2nd well, especially considering it was the same fame Mortanius played on him.
I'm so glad you made this. LoK series was one of my favorite as a child, my uncle showed me the first one when I was like 5, and I followed them all from there. Cool to see it's not just my nostalgia/child mind that thought it was so awesome.
Honestly? I am glad that the series ended where it did. There is something about the open ending of the story that makes it that much more intriguing. As the narrator rightly said, this games story telling is pure artistry. It should be left as it is.
I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate what you’re doing here. I’m a big fan of the storyline and I was trying unsuccessfully until now to share this wonderful story with my wife, who‘s a fan of fantasy but not a gamer. Your videos gave us something to watch together. Thank you for that !
The spoken intro to LoK: Defiance, was awesome. That set me up for the whole game
Still remember how happy I was when I realised I got to play as elder Kain.
I remember playing these as a kid and the story was so confusing...really awesome to see these deep dives explaining the awesome character development and story I didn't understand back then!
Strictly Fantasy, i wanna thank you from the botom of my heart for doing this exelent perfect job explainig all this to me and us, all who love and grow up with this game. I always had probelms understanding the story, but yet i was loving playing the game as if i do :D you cleared alot of this story to me, tyvm again for your work. I subscribed to you, like, comment, nothing more i can do :D this game will never die to me :d never ever. i fell sorry for those who say it is a bad failed game or who never got to play it. i fell like it was yesterday that i played this game when i was 10 or 11 :( and yet i am soon 28... time flies but memories remain
The funny thing when you think about it with Kain, as he said, Aerials death caused the shift of him becoming balance guardian, but Nupraptor losing his sanity and driving all the other guardians mad tainted him from birth. It seemed this insanity was the driving force behind Kain's arrogence, lack of empathy and overall brash nature as he saw in BO1 and BO2.
However it seemed as centuries past into the time coming into SR1, Kain managed to get more control of himself, after all those centuries he gained wisdom and foresight, while still appearing arrogant, he's clearly more of a deeper thicker then in his youth, and even despite the curse of insanity part of him, he managed to get control and pursue correcting the past, and ultimately stopping the larger threat.
By the end of Defiance, before he was even cleansed to become the scion on balance, he showed his empathy for Raziel, not wanting him to sacrifice himself to the blade, despite knowing it was the only way. He managed to push back his arrogance and pride. And then he was fully cleansed of Nupraptor's curse, becoming the scion.
Just an interesting thought how he overcame the negative traits of himself to pursue something better for the world.
These games need to get remastered!
Only if Amy Hennig is involved. She is the true mastermind of this tale.
I would love this series so need a new one added to the franchise on current gen
Its happening on the ps5!
@@meowijuana2322 I hope you’re right. I would love to see a remaster like Demon Souls
What they need is a sequel to actually finish the story.
Great to see new contant being made about this great series. A seriously underrated character and voice actor we have here. I remember the first time i played Blood Omen and was blown away by it, and it still feels great when replaying it. Hope we get more from this series. It really deserves it.
Raziel says he served Kain for a millennia. Not just five hundred years
Its so satisfying to know other people appreciated these masterpieces! Ty
I wish they would make another one or maybe even a movie. I would love to see if they could portray it the right way I would pay to go see it.
So would I. But where would you set it? In a modern day scenario where an ageing Kain is reflecting on his past & wondering how to deal with his existence in our era or set from the moment he is transformed onwards?
Flashback would serve to help as narration and sometimes summarize events we don't necessarily have to see. Set it centuries after the end of Defiance.
The best and most amazing thing about the Legacy of Kain series, though, is that one can unironically say that one of the best narrative-focused series in the history of videogames is "A series about time-travelling vampires."
There's just so much beauty in the world, y'know?
Keep up the good work, I hope to see your subscriber count go up know that you are not screaming into the abyss and people will get to know your great chanel.
Thanks for the kind words. I'll keep at it :)
This was one of my favorite series for a long time. Really cool story. Fantastic twist. If there was a game I would hope to see re made, it's this
This series needs a full end to end remaster. Not a remake, a remaster
Except some of the voice actors are dead. We'll need a remake if there is to be an ending.
@@christopheraaron1255 ? there is an ending ,, didn't u play Blood Omen 2 ? he fulfilled his destiny , he saved the world .
@@noobiewatcherz9938 Blood Omen 2 was a separate timeline, created because of the events of Soul Reaver 2. Every other game was in the main timeline.
I am totally against using AI to re dub something with a dead man’s voice, but using it to remaster existing audio?? Just clean it up a bit, to combat the compression needed back then? That would be ok.
...a character study of the Legacy of Kain? And this episode opens up with my FAVORITE quote of the series? Subscribed.
Question 4:48 you say 500 years pass between BO and SR.
But Raziel states he has served kain 1000 years meaning 1000 years minimum (depending on how long it took kain to rise to power and learn how to create vampires).
I know that bo2 states it takes place 500 years after bo1
Yes, you are correct. It's supposed to be a millennium. In the second timeline, I believe 500 years pass between Blood omen and Kain resurrecting the Sarafan.
BO ends with the fall of the pillars, BO2 intro starts 200 hundred years later when the Sarafan Lord appears and defeats Kain who is mostly dead for additional 200 years and then 100 years after the end of BO2 Kain raises the ancient Safaran knights to be his new clan heads. Then it is 1000 years that Raziel is a vampire and then it is an indeterminate time spent in the abyss that is estimated to be 500 to 1000 years. There's a plothole as to what happens to all the other vampires that were there during the Blood Omen 2 era and others Kain might have raised during the 100 year gap between the end of BO2 and Raziel's resurrection.
Good good!!
Oh great set of videos man
I put this as my favorite game series of all time. Always loved the script and story. Great charecters.
So gutted the series hasn't been caught up. Would be great to finish kains journey and hear his voice again
First time a video game made me cry... Raziel’s sacrifice. Giving himself back to kain... ugh hard moment
no doubt, those games were amazing! gave me all the feels
Bro your voice, and this lore, I was smiling from awesomeness. Thank you!
They need to remake this masterpiece.
The dialogue in Legacy of Kain encouraged me to read more, the alliteration was amazing and to this day the series is my favourite story. Great characters and sublime music score.
I remember playing the demo for this on ps1. We got the station for christmas but didnt have any games. The system came with a demo disk that had this ff7 and a few other games
I had only three games on the ps1. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, Kageroo Deception 2 and Metal Gear Solid.
I played those games endlessly.
Legacy forever stole my heart, it's just beautiful.
Ah, nostalgia….. I absolutely love this game series!! Bravo sir, I’m happy I found your channel.
It’s a damn shame we’ve never gotten a proper “ending “ after Defiance. Kain and Raziel are the best video game characters of all time.
nicely done, really saddens me this game series was never finished! one game they had just one more to go to finish the story!
I always loved soul reaver's lore and knew it was complex and ambiguous. Great job distilling this so it makes perfect sense. Nice vid.
aaahh kain literally the first "too angry to die" video game character
This series has amazing dialogue and unparalleld delivery by the superb voice actors. That's probably the reason I still care about these guys 25 years later.
God damn these games are the best, the story, the voice acting, the characters.... we need to know the end of it, or at least give us a remake!!! 😭
I wonder how I just found this channel. This is amazing work. Legacy of Kain was my favorite game growing up, after it most games do not feel the same. It is so unique and its story so engaging. Let's see how we feel after the Remaster comes out
As an old time fan and player of the series i congratulate you for your thorough approach to the game and its philosophy and for your awesome presentation of it. You reminded me of this awesome series. It seems that people have forgotten this series and yes we never got a proper conclusion..and i doubt we ever will after i finished defiance i waited for years to hear smth about a sequel but nothing. I was always intrigued by the games world, hidden truths and twists sad they never ended it properly.
Brilliant video im about to watch all your other ones keep up the great work.
We didn't deserve the beauty that was the legacy of kain series. I wish i could agree but without the elder god and with Square Enix firmly planted on the IP for the foreseeable future, don't see it happening. Great vid tho. Love anything shining the spotlight on one of the best video game stories ever told. R.I.P. Tony Jay
I would have loved to have seen a debate between Kane and Elder before their final clash.
Bravo. Thank you for reminding me how truly magnificent these games and the story arc therein were. Beautiful.
This franchise has so incredibly huge potential... Can you imagine a prequel to this already beautiful and vast story? Conversations with Raziel's ruthless brothers in their vampiric, uncorrupted form, the land of Nosgoth on today's systems and possibilities? And finally, could you imagine playing Raziel as the dignified, proud, handsome, but cruel and merciless lieutenant he was during his devoted service to Kain? I mean, if the story was handled right, in comparison to Raziel from back then, Kratos from God of War, could look like a pussy-whipped rebel ... Come on developers, give us fans what we deserve for keeping this beautiful franchise alive to this day, but do it with passion and hearts it deserves. "Do not tarry!"
I’ve been waiting for that for years, but honestly I have almost no faith in the writing and development of games anymore. I’m afraid they’ll ruin it. Unless you get Amy Hennig on board and the best voice acting available I’d rather it be left alone.
i think it first needs a remake, remake BO1, SR1 etc. with modern graphics and a good action gameplay, they could even reuse the dialogues recordings of the old games. And then, if there is success they could think about a spin off or prequel, maybe a "midquel" that overwrites BO2n and shows how Kain, after BO1 formed his armies and conquered Nosgoth.
Do remember, that Mr. Bale, Raziel's VA is approaching 82 at this point in time, and Kain's VA is 70+, I believe, there is little to no time for a sequel and if the sequel does not have the original VAs, it does not deserve to get off the ground!
LOVE these videos my dude! I'm not particularly into dark series but I have loved watching playthroughs of The Legacy of Kain games with all its interesting story beats, twisty plots, and tragedy. Like, ACTUAL tragedy, not just 'here have all this sense violence and bad stuff happening.' Like Oedipus and shit.
Well, let's put it this way: If there is anyone to restore the balance, the pillars & everything connected to it, it is Kain. And I honestly do not doubt Kain's ability to win this war against Hylden, treachery and manipulation. I am still hoping, like all of you as I guess, for another game of this extraordinary series, but I if there is no more to come it appears clear to me that Kain had reached his goal and won.
Yes. I often think that since Kain refused to sacrifice himself, he is trying to find an alternative means to restore the pillars in spite of all he is forced to do just to stay alive, like all vampires must.
@@labelledamedumanor4876 I can no other than agree; just imagine if he had sacrificed himself to the pillar of balance at the end of Blood Omen - he would have opened up the gates for the Hylden, although he haven't had known them at all.
For sure he is no classical hero, but in this antihero is a lot more good than in many heros and his searching for the moment when the twisted coin lands on the edge instead on one of it's sides has finally lead him to success over the Hylden and the Elder God.
Some of the best dialogue and script writing ever to have appeared in a video game series.
Love your way of words and composition of this video essay! Keep it up going to watch the Raziel video soon too! Keep it up :D
Always loved kains voice actor. Absolute perfect portrayal of a vampire king, and not just a king, but the god of an alternate universe, and the savior of all or harbinger of doom. Spiteful, sharp pointed, direct, with no time for nonsense or niceties.
After having watched this, I have to say it’s an absolute crime that these games aren’t playable on any new hardware and that the story was never finished. I’ve never heard of Dark Prophecy, but I do remember the last Legacy of Kain game was called Dead Sun and it got cancelled at the last second
they are playable. gog has the entire series working, i think. i got SR 1, SR2, Defiance and they all work. i gotta try the Blood Omen games someday, to see if they work.
I love how its Melchiah @ 7:36 that has Raziel's torn off wings. After all he would never let a good body part go to waste.
nice Char study bro, i always wonder how janos audron hart was always inside kain's body and he didn't know it, i couldnt understand that.
I think Mortanius put it inside the young Kain when he resurrected him as a Vampire. And during that entire time, the heart of darkness was inside Kain without him ever realizing it.
@@strictlyfantasy "Kain has the heart.....It's IN Kain!!!" How fitting that Mortanius would be the one to reveal this to Raziel after placing it in Kain himself. I believe Mortanius leaves to meet his death at Kain's hands right after.
Fucking badass.
the Heart was used ot Raise Kain as a vampire since its shown that raise resurrection was not done thru what would be called "Regular" Necromancy instead we see in BO mortanius ttapping nito the spectral Realm to converse with Kain.
You know, I’m not normally a big fan of vampires but Kain has got to be one of my favorites.
One of the all time best games EVER
If ever a game series deserved a remaster, it is the Legacy of Kain series. Imagine all 5 games, remastered and glorious in HD
Love this series.
love how effective he is and how brutal he is. not even hesitating chopping away at a god and also love how he jsut accepts raziel hates him but just gets annoyed since he tries to claim its for th ebetter of th eworld instead of jsut revenge
This series was my childhood.
“Alas poor Nupraptor, I knew home well.....well, not really”
“The Heart of Darkness”
Two lines I still joke about with my friends.
You know, I find it absolutely *criminal* that this absolute gem of a game series hasn't been remade on modern consoles or PC.
It is available on steam, Soul Reaver series at least. However, I can't stress enough that you should plug a controller in because the games are truly not made for WASD!
@@knallpinne Oh yeah, trust me: I own them. I just really wish they'd be remade, because those games *deserve* some modernization.
@@Syenthros I wholeheartedly agree, graphic-wise at least. Game-wise I fear the developers would have a hard time meeting the expectations, though.
@@knallpinne I'm not so sure. The gameplay was honestly pretty simplistic. Only minor improvements to the gameplay itself would be necessary to bring it up to the level of modern action/adventure titles.
(I'd also love to see a remake of Blood Omen 2. I love that little black sheep. XD)
@@Syenthros Yeah, I just fear it would be overdone like the project that got cancelled where for some reason Raziel had a complete character switch and several other lore-changing artistic choices for nosgoth were made. Can't remember the title of that project however.
Still so upset we never seen a LoK: SR-3 :/
It upsets bc makes no sense...they just saw they would earn better money with uncharted. End of the story xddd
@@wurnotantmlb uncharted? Wasn't that made by naughty dog?
I truly love this whole series. A great storyline, good enough graphics for it's time, and the best characters possible in a game.
I think I messed up finding this youtube channel. I subscribed anyway. Free will, right...........
This is excellent, thank you so much.
I love these videos. Please keep them coming. Know your time efforts and dedication are appreciated by many. Thank you for doing what you do.
Great content bro this is one of my all time favorite games ! The story itself was so good it was movie
Excellent, really enjoyed this series of Legacy of Kain character studies! Fond memories of an extremely well put together series. Well done for a great analysis!
Holy hell where can I get this game
It's available on psn for PS3
@@kevinmcdonough6515 what legacy of kain games?
@@aceofspades0996 Blood Omen 1, and Soul Reaver 1
All the others are available on steam.
GoG.
This is very well put together. Thank you for making it.
The games story strikes me more of a play then a game.
That is probably why it has such a profoundly lasting impact. It's a grand dramatic play to rival Shakespeare's nested plots & Greek tragedies, with enjoyable segments of interaction mixed in. The hero vs. villain/good vs. evil dichotomy that's pervasive in contemporary books/movies/games/etc, gets utterly trounced and tossed out. The closest to a villain we get is the Elder God, whilst Raziel & Kain dance a waltz trading back & forth between protagonist & antagonist.