Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

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top-down hack'n'slash where you play as the villain sounds fun to you, and you don't mind playing a PS1 game with some outdated and unfair design, well...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!

One of the best games I played as a teenager and a long lost favorite of mine. I'm so happy it has finally found its way to GOG. Its a classic topdown action rpg with one of the best stories you'll ever encounter in a videogame. Both the world-building and the characters are *chef's kiss*. Go play it now!

The fact that GOG now has the full Legacy of Kain series fills my heart with joy. You guys just made my day.

Others have gone over the merits of Blood Omen in greater detail and with greater effectiveness than I could, so I'm simply going to note one important aspect of this port: It is, indeed, a good port. The game runs at a high resolution, accepts inputs from modern gamepads without a hitch, and plays smoothly on modern hardware. There are only two hiccups: 1. The FMVs are a bit low-res and grainy, although I expect fans will mod this problem away in relatively short order. 2. The game plays a bit slower than it should. Not in the sense of having slowdown, but in the sense of just being set to a lower speed. I suspect it may be based on a PAL version of the PC game, and if so, I kind of hope they correct that in an update. Apart from that, though, this is a perfectly good way to experience Blood Omen. I originally bought this more so that I could just own a legal copy of the PC version and continue to use my fan-modded KainGL version without guilt. But I think I may make this my version of choice if the speed issue can be fixed. It's a port of the sort of quality that I didn't expect to see for this obscure forgotten gem. Good work, GOG, and/or whoever else worked on this version.