Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Finally, after two and a half decades, the inaugural chapter in the ever-illustrious vampire saga is once again available to the masses. Blood Omen is a dark fantasy Zelda-like starring a newly initiated vampire named Kain on a quest for vengeance that turns into an epic storyline with mad sorcerers, conquering armies and time travel galore. The world of Nosgoth is highly atmospheric, the voice acting is superb, the writing is as exquisite and flowery as it is immensely quotable and the exploration is as satisfying as ever. The PC version found here, while a tad slower than its PS1 counterpart (fixable with Verok's fanmade patch), boasts improved loading times that take away the one glaring flaw of the PlayStation original. This is the game that kickstarted the cult classic Legacy of Kain series and put both Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics on the map, way before either wrote a single line of code for Eternal Darkness or Tomb Raider respectively. Everyone who likes vampires, fantasy, Zelda-likes or just good games in general owes it to themself to experience this masterpiece.

So, I have not actually played GoG's version, but some have complained about the black screen at the beginning and being locked at 42 fps. Well, that's because it's a slightly patched PAL version made to run on Windows 10. This game still requires Verok's GL Wrapper patch to play as it should....at 60fps with much better options. I don't know why Gog didn't go that extra mile, but the fans surely did. Yeah....this game is easy to find anywhere, but you might as well buy it to say you own it legally.

I have memories of playing this game on the PS1 back in the day, but never finished it. I decided to play through the entire series again and chose to give it a try on PC because of the other gamer reviews. What a difference! It's graphically much cleaner looking. The long load times from the PlayStation are gone, as are the sound issues. The FMV also looks a little cleaner, but not much. Overall this is a great game and playing this 25 years ago on PC, my review would have been much higher. The game is somewhat linear, but allows for and rewards exploration. By investigating areas fully and using different acquired powers, you discover and unlock more things that make the game easier. Going back and revisiting areas also allows you to find things you couldn't access before. The path to building your character and completing the quest is really well thought out. The story is also pretty solid. Being much further along than I was on my original playthrough, I've learned a lot more about Kain and Nosgoth and it's helping me embrace the lore as I prepare to play the rest of the series. Sound and voice acting is good, especially for the day. When this game was made, top notch acting in games was not a thing, so kudos to Silicon Knights for putting effort into it. Now for the drawbacks. Unfortunately this looks and feels like a game from the 90's. While some old games like Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros. tend to hold up well, many of the games of the 90's - early 2000's don't stand the test of time. Late 2D and early 3D games were breaking new ground with visuals and gameplay and a lot of it just looks bad by today's standards. Control is not terrible, but a bit clunky. Switching weapons is a chore, as are some battles. The draw order and hit detection is really messed up in some spots. The voice acting, while good, is a bit limited and the FMV scenes are ugly. This is a really great game, if you are willing to forgive the things that come with its age.

Removing 1 star however with the abrupt ending. The whole story is epic right up to this point where it all a sudden ends. Great game though.

It is easy to understand why Blood Omen is a well-regarded game. The atmosphere is thick, the semi-open world concept with light Metroidvania elements intriguing, and both the excellent voice acting and competent writing help make the protagonist come alive in a way that wasn't too common in 1996. At the same time, I can't help but notice several flaws with the gameplay, which tend to bring the game down quite a bit. For the first couple of hours, the gameplay loop is quite entertaining: You hack away at enemies, get new spells and weapons, and explore the world with its villages and dungeons. Then, roughly a third into the game, you get a new spell called Repel, which breaks the gameplay on several levels. Instead of having to dodge traps and environmental hazards, you can now simply walk through them unharmed, and enemies cannot even touch you. The only thing you need is sufficient magic, which slowly regenerates over time. While more of an optional spell at first, Repel quickly becomes mandatory to beat the bosses and ever stronger enemies, so you're often relegated to either wait for your magic to fill up again or pop an item that gives you infinite magic for a time. Another issue is that whenever you leave a screen, slain enemies either respawn right where they were (this happens outdoors), or they come back as ghosts, whose attacks drain your magic instead of life. In short, since fighting enemies does nothing but drain your magic one way or the other and slow you down, I ended up simply running past them for a good portion of the game. Towards the end, the game throws dozens of hard-hitting foes at you, and instead of casting Repel all the time, I simply bailed. Clearly, this isn't exactly compelling gameplay, and a consequence of the Repel spell essentially breaking the game. You're too weak without it, but too strong with it. What you end up with is something needlessly dull and repetitive.