Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Blood Omen is a top-down action-adventure game, where you'll play Kain, a wrongly kiled noble turned vampire. On your quest for vengeance, you'll visith various areas of Nosgoth, unlocking transformations, spells and weapons granting you access to previously inaccessible areas and secrets. The gameplay is clunky, and the design of various maps feels a bit of a chore to go through (long death gauntlets if you don't use the correct magic, a breeze if you are prepared). No matter what, however, several areas are a slog, so I'd recommend using the wolf speed to avoid combat when possible. The game has a lot of great ideas in the gameplay, but the execution is stiff. You'll have to constantly visit and re-visit menus to tweak your gear and magic selection every few minutes or waste utility items to avoid combat and speed up exploration. What redeems the game is that the ideas ARE interesting, and it's nice to unleash destruction upon your enemies when you can splurge (I recommend to be liberal with consumables, especially if you explore outside the main path). Some magic is particularly effective against certain enemies (for example, exploding the body of monsters which can come back when normally killed), and it's nice to explore those combinations. Melee is mostly awful, though (wonky hitboxes and possible stunlocks). The puzzles range from clever (rare) to busywork (often). The biggest draws are the story and the atmosphere. The plot starts straightforward, but it takes a few turns along the way. Our protagonist is a mostly evil, yet somehow charming vampire. His disdain managed to amuse me several times, and his voice acting is suitably theatrical for the drama that unfolds. The music gives off a desolate vibe, fitting the world you'll traverse. The world's lore is also fairly unique and interesting. The game can wear your patience, but if you learn to embrace it, it will reward you with a solid story and surprisingly clever ideas, while offering a unique mood.

Blood, Deamons, Darkness, Venegance, an incredible story... what else? Nothing more... The definitive rpg old style horror game experience! Waited for so long time.. It is a must buy for everyone!

IT'S HERE, IT'S FINALLY HERE, REJOICE CHILDREN

I cant's tell you how glad I am to be able to play this again. The whole series is now on GOG. I may have to play them all again. This is one of my favorite games of all time. Plus Tony Jay and Simon Templeman voices can get women pregnant. So there is that.

Playing this game for the first time in 2024. First experience with this series is from the 2003 release of Legacy of Kain: Defiance. I thought that game was perfect. One of my favorite games ever. I loved the world they built in that game, and going back to the source has been really fun. Obviously the gameplay is kinda clunky compared to games today... but I love the story so much I just don't care! I can't wait to see the early story of these games.