Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Still worth playing after all these years.

nice story

Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen is simply put, one of the best games from 1996. Unfortunately, it took a long time for it to get a digital rerelease as it was developed by Crystal Dynamics and Silicon Knights and Published by Activision, as such being stuck in copyright limbo for years before Crystal Dynamics got the rights again and rereleased it on GOG. And I'm happy they sorted it out, because my opening statement was no exaggeration. Blood Omen is a strong Zelda-influenced 2D action adventure game, with a beautifully desolate world to explore, tons of enemies to fend off, spells and weapons to master and some well-designed dungeons. Where it differs from its inspiration is that the titular protagonist Kain (voiced brilliantly by Simon Templeman) is a vampire, and so the player is encouraged to satiate their inner bloodlust by sucking the blood out of certain enemies and NPCs to heal themselves and to suck the souls of ghosts of said enemies and NPCs to recharge their magic. This twist on the formula, coupled with a focus on combat (though you do push bricks and solve puzzles), makes it stand out from its contemporaries, and the actual gameplay itself still holds up and is easy to pick up and play despite somewhat clunky controls (controller is VERY recommended). However, the star of the show here is the storyline: Blood Omen's story is one of the best gaming narratives, introducing us to Kain, the World of Nosgoth, Vorador, the Sarafan and the Circle of the Nine, all of whom are explored in great detail here and fleshed out in the sequel, Soul Reaver. Kain himself is a fascinating character to play as, and the people he meets are just as brilliantly realised and well-acted with a cast of screen and stage actors giving the game another edge over its contemporaries. So yeah. Don't let the fact that the sequels switched to 3D scare you away from Blood Omen: It's a killer action title with a strong plot, and is more than a recommendation from me: It's a must-play.

if you're playing blood omen, its because you love nosgoth. the gamme itself isnt the best, especially by modern standards, but the world of nosgoth is always a joy to see fleshed out. i recommend the game if you want to see more of nosgoth, not so much on its own merits, if im being honest

Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen is a tragic story of rebirth and complicated revenge by a simple nobleman from Coorhagen. I played this masterpiece on PS1 in 1996, bought from the electronics bargain bin inside Value City. From the case art and the searing words of revenge, I knew I was in for a magnificent ride. The difficulty of this game is something that I would have never expected, even for the time. I believed Blood Omen was beyond many titles available at the time and some of the stages, (Cathedral) were and are some of the hardest gaming experiences I have encountered to date. The world of Nosgoth is so dark for Kain. after his transformation, a simple revenge tale delves into the muck of world politics, where magic, death, and the very stability of his world are at stake. the simple bar scene during the opening and the way Kain spoke to the innkeeper has a way of giving the player the impression that Kain is someone of noble birth obviously, but also someone with empathy, which is foreign in Nosgoth. It isn't until his resurrection, that you see firsthand the depths of depravity he will be forced to go, willingly, to secure even a whiff of "an honorable revenge", his frustration, apparent, the resentment of his new station, obvious, Kain is a lost soul seeking redemption that is nothing but fleeting. Kain slowly begins to understand the gravity of his role in the very fate of Nosgoth as the truth and depth of his betrayal are even deeper than he could ever imagine, will Kain be the savior Nosgoth so desperately needs or will he be a herald of its destruction?