Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Finally getting around to playing the LoK games. Surprisingly good writing in all regards: world building is tantalizing and mysterious, characters are interesting and theatrically dramatic, and each item comes with delicious flavour text delivered by Kain . Line delivery by the main voice actors, especially for this era of games, is excellent. The magic is wonderfully varied and brutal with their effects. Atmosphere is usually great with the lighting and weather being a big plus. Traversal was mostly enjoyable with traditional vampire abilities coming into play. Unfortunately it's not all blood fountains and misery. The audio quality for the voice acting often sounds like it was recorded on an answering machine from a camcorder. Audio cues will replay every time you go to certain places or do certain things and in a game that encourages backtracking I found that it was an odd choice. Combat can be very rudimentary early on or if you're out of magic or just hoarding them for later, the hitboxes are often ludicrous, and enemies can get stuck on you/each other. UI can be a pain to navigate, especially in certain areas that require frequent changing.

This is the game that started it all for the Legacy of Kain series and was the second one I played, after Soul Reaver. You play as Kain on what initially seems to be a tale of revenge that quickly twists and turns in knots that unfold over multiple games. Parts of the gameplay and combat feel very dated today, however, the voice acting, character development, story, musical score, and the world all mesh together to create an exquisite experience. If you're a fan of the series or just a fan of good ol' games this is a great game to add to your collection.

I only finished this game once in my life and that was on the old Playstation 1 in 1997. While the graphics in this version look the part, the game itself plays much smoother than I remember. It used to slow down so much when multiple enemies were on the screen on the Playstation 1 version. I also own this on the Playstation 3 and it does the same thing there as well. But thankfully, this PC version is fully optimized to run clean as a whistle on modern computers while keeping its original rough-around-the-edges look. Imagine one of your favorite classic VHS movies given the blu ray disc treatment, and you'll get an idea of how this classic game used to run versus how it runs now. The pixely graphics and cheesy voice acting are all here in all of their classic mid-90s glory, and should give some of you a glimpse at how your mom and dad used to play games just a few generations ago! Sit back and enjoy one of the greatest gems ever released on the Playstation 1, now in fully optimized modern PC splendor.

The original Blood Omen Legacy of Kain can best be described as a Zelda clone with horror elements and some jank. That said, it is an easy recommendation and a lot of fun. I've made a video showing off the game for those curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL3iPZcP4mI

Blood Omen is a fairly standard hack'n'slash with big weapons, limited-use items and spells, as well as life and mana meters to keep a look upon. The gameplay is deliberately slow-paced and rigid, and while this is not something I'd want in a more recent game, it's still mostly fun, notably because BO:LoK really delivers when it comes to the vampiric powers and maleficent spells you get to use. You swing your sword, suck blood, transform into monstrous creatures, have your enemies explode into blood and guts... It's even more satisfying when you consider this was one of the first games to let you play as a vampire! Speaking of vampire stuff, BO:LoK is... dark. Not just because the game world is inhospitable, but also because Kain is a full-on villain protagonist, a murderous monster who slaughters as many townspeople as he does ghouls - and boy, does the game revel in it! While the plot is not as complex and the language not as elevated as it would be in the sequels (Amy Hennig was not yet involved in the writing), it's enticing and has some great voice acting. Graphically, it does not look particularly great, but still manages to have a uniquely gothic and grim atmosphere. To me, that's the main appeal of the game: its dedication to edginess and worldbuilding, helped by its passionate writing. It can be quite challenging, and alas, frustrating in some regards. The level design is great but relies heavily on environmental traps, and the enemies get increasingly strong and annoying. In some sections, they will relentlessly push you into spike traps, which would be okay if save points and opportunities to heal yourself were more frequent! I would thus not recommend it to anyone, but if a top-down hack'n'slash where you play as the villain sounds fun to you, and you don't mind playing a PS1 game with some outdated and unfair design, well... give Blood Omen a shot. It's a fun nostalgic romp, and the solid first entry of one of the best-written game series of all time!