Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

You'll have to forgive my excitement; I've been waiting years for this. There's a fair chance you've played (and liked) the Soul Reaver games and Defiance, but never got a chance to see how it all started. If that's the case, buy this game. And if you have never experienced this series, this is the place to start if you love your games to be story-heavy, with great dialogue and voice acting, beautiful music, awesome art design, and tons of atmosphere. But first, let's talk about what makes this a game: to be frank, the gameplay is... OK. Not great, not too shabby either. Basic combat with an interesting healing mechanic, some spells and items that mostly boil down to different projectile attacks, and a mild sense of exploration. Then there are some basic Zelda-like puzzles. You know, enter a dungeon, find a new item (or spell), and use that to traverse the dungeon. Nothing too mind-blowing, not even in 1996. Combat gets pretty challenging towards the end, though. So why am I so excited about this release? You probably have read this before, but let me reinforce it: the story and presentation in this game are superb. They're more than enough to carry you to the end, even if you just tolerate the gameplay. The complex maze of revenge, intrigue, betrayals and other fun activities Kain gets involved with is told through stellar writing and impeccable voice acting, and carried by a soundtrack that goes straight to the jugular. The Willendorf theme is especially haunting if you ask me. Speaking of atmosphere, the graphics are, for my money, exactly right. The choice for sprites over 3D (which wasn't really a choice, this game had been in developing for a long time) helps to make the game look beautiful to this day. The lighting, especially, exudes Gothic ambiance. I could accept an upgraded resolution, but that's as far as I'd go. In conclusion, if you're the least bit curious about Blood Omen, you can't go wrong with this purchase. And at this price, it's a steal.

Finally here. Just enjoy it for what it is. Two things of note: when you go into bat form for fast travel, select a destination on the map then press the key to travel there. (Normally outside of bat-form the toggles map on and off) I didn't find that very intuitive. Also note you don't have health bars and such on the opponents. Pay attention to the sounds and visuals for how well you're doing. VAE VICTUS!

This is one of my all time best games ever. I bought it 23 years ago in a big cardboard box and played it for ages. Do yourself a favor and buy it now. Thank you GOG for releasing this. I have started playing it again and I enjoy it now just as much as I did when I first played it .

Only GOG could bring us this piece of perfection. No other Legacy of Kain game was as well made as this one. Simple mechanics with solid controls, and an enticing story that keeps you going. Been missing this game for more than 25 years. Thank you GOG.

Glad to see another great game out from licensing hell. The first Blood Omen was always my favourite in the series, and it is great to see it avaliable for purchase once more, possibly for the first time since its original release. Didn't really play much into the game yet, but this is basically all things GOG does best: game runs great out of the box, no need for any tweaking or patching.