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Legacy of Kain is a series of video games developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. Although the first game in the series was developed by Silicon Knights, Crystal Dynamics later won a legal fight over the rights to Legacy of Kain and pursed the series without Silicon Knights. The idea behind Legacy of Kain was first conceived in 1993 but it took another 3 years before the first game appeared on the Sony PlayStation console.
Overview
The series features an extensive storyline and history that is told and expanded upon during each game. One of the most compelling aspects of the games is the dialogue and the length to which the story is told within each game. Most of the individual games primarily deal with a subset of the storyline; although since the general timeline is non-linear, some of the later games include pieces of the story from the past, present and future. (See time travel.) The exact history and timeline of the series is still under much debate but there is a general timeline that is accepted by most fans
The series is mainly dedicated to chronicling the afterlife of the vampire Kain, but during the story the player is introduced to many other characters and sub-plots.
The series is set in the fictitious realm of Nosgoth. The realm of Nosgoth seems to be a battleground for which 2 races at always at war. Firstly the Ancients and Hylden of ages past and presently Humans and Vampires.
The Pillars of Nosgoth were once erected to restore balance and order to the land, but their power is waning and some seek to destroy the pillars entirely. It is unknown whether there was ever a time of peace in Nosgoth or whether one will ever come to pass.
Another interesting game mechanic in this series is that the player takes the role of 2 different characters during the course of the games. For example in the Blood Omen games the player controls Kain, but during the Soul Reaver games Raziel is controllable and the story is resumed from his point of view. Finally in Legacy of Kain: Defiance the player assumes the roles of both Kain and Raziel at regular intervals.
Destiny and fate
An underlying element of the story is heavily concerned with destiny and throughout the series fatalism is a strong theme. The idea that a persons destiny can be foreseen and thus altered is presented to the player. Much of the 3rd game is devoted to discovering whether this hypothesis is true. Some characters try to use this facet to their advantage by attempting to manipulate other characters (notably Raziel) destiny.
Free will is also challenged during the story and a great number of the in-game characters believe that no one truly possesses free will, except maybe Raziel. Therefore these characters believe that Raziel is the key to altering destiny.
Time travel
Much of the story behind Legacy of Kain contains time travel. It is used as a method for creating a diverse and very non-linear timeline that can, at sometimes, be very confusing. Strangely, the origins of time travel in the series are scarcely mentioned and it is accepted as something that just exists. (Presumable the time travel devices are Magic based rather than technology based.)
Although much of the story that involves time travel does make sense, it usually requires background reading and replaying of earlier games before a full understanding of the story is acquired. Many Paradoxes are introduced during the story, as is commonly the case among stories containing time travel [1] (http://homepage.mac.com/billtomlinson/newtt.html), and these paradoxes further add to the confusion.
The games
So far there have been 5 Legacy of Kain games in the series, each one continuing the story and answering questions that previous games had left unanswered. The games have appeared on a number of different platforms, but the PC is the only platform to contain all the games. Even though each game is ultimately an action game, some do share properties of role playing and adventure games.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
- Main article:
- For the Sony PlayStation, PC and Sega Saturn.
This game is the first in the series and sets the scene for this series quite well. A lot of story is presented to the player in addition to much lore and history that will not be fully explained until later games in the series. This game is a top down hybrid of action, adventure, and role-playing games, where the player controls Kain, a newly born vampire seeking to fulfill his desires for revenge, and rid himself of his vampiric curse.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- Main article: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- For the Sony PlayStation, PC and Sega Dreamcast.
The second game in the series puts the player in control of Raziel. One of Kains former lieutenants damned for evolving faster than his Kain. No longer a vampire, Raziel hungers for souls and must seek out his old brethren and master to exact his revenge for condemnation.
Soul Reaver 2: Legacy of Kain
- Main article:
- For the Sony PlayStation 2, PC. (Also planned for Sega Dreamcast, but later cancelled)
This direct sequel to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver sees the player pick up the story where the previous game left it. Raziel is still in pursuit of Kain, but now he has to uncover the mysteries surrounding his own destiny.
Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
- Main article:
- For the Sony PlayStation 2, PC, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube
In this game, players again take the sword of Kain and continue his quest to rid the world of humanity and claim Nosgoth as his own.
Much more of a pseudo-sequel to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain than anything else. Developed by a different team at Crystal Dynamics and thus lacks much of the qualities that make the other games popular. Thought of by many fans of the series as an unrelated spin-off that doesnt really advance the story beyond anything that is already known. There are some minor inconsistencies in this game that are not fully explained (yet) and this is often seen as a consequence arising from the development team being different.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance
- Main article:
- For the Sony PlayStation 2, PC and Microsoft Xbox.
The fifth Legacy of Kain game is quite different from the others since the player takes control of both Kain and Raziel throughout the game to discover how their destinies are intertwined.
Many fans believe that Legacy of Kain: Defiance was created as a finale or conclusion to the series but there has been no official word yet as to whether there will or wont be any further games in the series. The end of Legacy of Kain: Defiance however left some vague openings and a few unanswered questions which could hint at a possible sequel.
See also
External links
- Nosgothic Realm (http://www.nosgoth.net/) Contains lots of artwork and pictures.
- The Lost Worlds (http://www.thelostworlds.net/) Site archiving deleted and lost information about the Legacy of Kain series.
- Dark Chronicle (http://www.dark-chronicle.co.uk/) Extensive encyclopaedia about anything to do with Legacy of Kain.
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