Sometime in late April, I - finally - started playing Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It's a story of a man who realizes too late that the un-life of a bloodsucker who can no longer experience the pleasure of a warm bath might not be the greatest thing ever. Believing that slaughtering a cadre of elite sorcerers will cure his vampirism, Kain embarks on a quest through the twisted lands of Nosgoth. In 1996, a video game that treated being a vampire as anything beyond "cool powers" was astonishingly rare, but Silicon Knights proved that they were up to the task. This is not just another action-adventure with a sword-swinging protagonist and macguffins to collect. It delivers on the promise of being a lord of the dead, with all the consequences that come with. Damn good game, though it's taken me forever and a few months to finish it.
Just to be clear, I started my play-through in late April and finished in early July. That's a lot of weeks lost to a 13-to-18-hour piece of media. You already know this, but I'll say it anyway: I was busy with other stuff. Besides the handful of similar sword & spell titles I've covered in this blog, I've also been playing what seems like the entirety of the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast library. If that wasn't enough, I started work on a list of the top 100 worst Genesis games of all time, only to shelve it. Maybe I'll dig that back out in 2028, maybe not. Also, a lot of late hours were spent watching clips from The Sopranos, rolling (fully clothed) into a mountain of crushed sertraline, and wallowing in the endless depths of self-pity. You know how I normally spend my hours outside of games-writing.
The point is that there really isn't a point. My reasons for taking months to finish a single play-through are uninteresting and not at all related to the quality of the game. Like I said, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is damn good. It has sexy mood lighting everywhere, this wonderful sucking noise just before Kain slurps his victim's blood, and delicious narration for every plot beat or object of importance. There are other great qualities, ones more fundamental to the typical enjoyment of a video game product, but it's these that'll stick to my mind flesh until it crumbles to dust. They create that all-important flavor and identity that I've been crowing about for what feels like eons.
In the beginning, Kain can't do much beyond swing a sword and drain a dying adversary of their blood. Unlocking his full potential involves the exploration of caves, castles, lairs, and any other locale where mortals fear to tread. Oftentimes, you'll know you're on the right path as soon as you walk through the front door. Images of what you can expect to find are prominently displayed. Whereas Nosgoth is packed with winding passages and myriad secrets, its dungeons are generally more direct, more straightforward. Sure, hallways are doubtlessly laden with vampire-killing traps as well as fiends galore. You're far less likely to hit a dead-end or be forced to take an alternate route though. It's very "what you see is what you get" game-design, which keeps the adventure moving at a brisk pace. Well, as brisk as Kain's pitiable walking speed will allow.
In similar games, I'd be hunting down the boots of walk-fast or mastering the button combination required to move 3% quicker. Here, it's not such a big deal, and that's partly attributed to the forms. Naturally... I mean unnaturally, the vampire can take the shape of a wolf to cover more ground and leap over danger. Turning into bats allows him to fast travel, with other forms offering the means to walk on water or interact with the locals beyond slicing them apart. Also, admittedly there is something appreciable about Kain moving rather slowly. Walking becomes a conscious almost weighty decision. This isn't like some other action-adventure titles, which emphasize the action by letting the hero run all over the screen, blowing past everything. Here, the simple act of attempting to walk past a monster has risks. The one time you try to avoid fighting one monster might lead to you getting trapped in a pincer attack a moment later. Kain's wolf form is faster, but transforming takes time, creating an opportunity for nearby foes to surround him. The simple act of evading trouble in whatever form it takes is actually compelling.
Still, you should make full use of Kain's repertoire, particularly his spells and sub-weapons. Spells tend to fall into the direct-damage or puzzle-solving categories. Pretty self-explanatory. Though, also unlike similar games, the chances of you frequently using the same powers are fairly low. One spell allows Kain to control someone's body, using their flesh to pull switches and collect items. Thankfully, this novel ability doesn't suffer from constant reuse until it becomes mind-numbing. When obtaining a new ability, there's a brief tutorial section, and maybe a handful of incidents beyond that. This keeps trips to the inventory menu for spell reassignments to a welcome minimum. Sub-weapons are limited in number but are really effective when the circumstances are ideal. In fact, anything is better than losing health, since it's not often easily replaced.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is not afraid to place its players in precarious predicaments. The Circle of Nine, those oligarch bastards you've been tasked to hunt down, all have lairs that are equal parts elaborate and labyrinthian. Whatever confidence you might be feeling after raiding the last habitat and eliminating its occupant will disappear shortly upon arriving at the next one. Malek's Bastion is a castle completely frozen over, with nary a drop of warm blood within its halls. A nightmarish place for any vampire, let alone a whelp like Kain. Did I mention the ice physics? Probably should've, because there aren't any other appropriate times to slide that factoid into the review.
Somehow, Kain must persevere, even if it involves consuming several Hearts of Darkness. These are perhaps the most important items, the life after death for the unliving I guess. They revive Kain with a scant amount of HP when he dies. They're a clever means of giving someone multiple chances without giving up any tension. You'll want them nearby if, for example, you were caught unaware, and it was a long time since your last save. This is a great feature since it keeps the player glued to their controller and doesn't require a reload whenever something goes wrong. I say all this, without even realizing that the hearts can be consumed for far more health than if used solely as a revival tool. Oops. Still, you'll want to hoard these as much as possible, since late-game enemies will hit very hard.
Another feature that adds tension while also being quite convenient is the "ghosts". A person or creature that is killed in a building or dungeon will reappear the next time you enter the room, but only as an ectoplasmic anomaly. Ghosts are weaker than their living counterparts, and they don't restore health when fed upon. Indeed, free lunches only grow in scarcity as the adventure continues. Several enemies in the overworld won't become spirits when they're killed. They're also very unlikely to be on the path to your next destination, let alone several rooms deep in a dungeon. By the way, the presence of living creatures usually indicates you're visiting a building or cave for the first time. It's a nice touch. I also appreciate that the next location Kain must visit is highlighted on the map. Even after dropping the game for multiple months, I was able to get back up to speed and resume my place almost instantly.
As I said way back, trouble takes many forms. These forms can walk on two legs, or four legs, or slide across the ground on one big gloppy appendage-like thing. It's easy to swing a sword wildly whilst yelling VAE VICTIS, but doing so without getting hurt in response? Not quite as easy, but you'll get the hang of it. Stepping back or stepping to the side are effective dodging measures. Depending on the type of enemy, you might want to show some restraint by attacking with a blade instead of magic. In other words, kill them but leave them standing. You can't feed on the living if they're in pieces or ashes. That said, if you're not hurting for resources, then it is thrilling to indulge in the power fantasy that is laying waste to scores of foes. I'm partial to the worms that melt anything they come in contact with. Always a good time. Beware though, as there are many cretins that exist solely to spread misery. A certain zombie will let loose with tiny projectiles. By tiny I mean "smaller than a pixel". Don't even try to run past these jerks if you're in a cramped corridor. Evil Spirits are obnoxious bullet-spewers placed in equally obnoxious locations like swamps and sewers. The constant is that instances of backtracking are shockingly rare, so you'll only deal with their ghostly forms if you absolutely want to.
There is always a touch of problem-solving when dealing with bosses. Rushing them sword in hand never works, unless of course that sword is the Soul Reaver. This extremely powerful blade is obtained about 2/3rds of the way through Kain's quest and will make instant mash of what remains of The Circle of Nine. The only catch is that it costs a ton of MP to wield, but that's easy to work around. With some resource management, trivializing the endgame wasn't much trouble for me. I walked into the final battles with over 60 Hearts of Darkness. Not that I needed them when I had a sword that kills anything in a hit or two, but whatever.
Still, I also have to recognize that I missed out on quite a lot of secrets, 75 out of 100 in fact. Most of these discoveries led to sub-weapon ammo and other welcome resources. Other rewards were more memorable, such as bits of lore and visuals not seen anywhere else in the game. I should've been more thorough, but my play-through was already waylaid by countless delays, and taking breaks just because I was sick of constantly checking a guide was off the table. Maybe in another timeline, one where I played this at the time of its release and wasn't cursed with an endless fount of other games.
Complaints are few, with most centered on the rather cumbersome UI. First off, kudos to the version available on GOG for being playable right out of the "box". There wasn't any need to look up some fan patches or futz with .ini files. The port also adapted perfectly well to my Logitech F310. It's nice being able to play through the entire game with just a controller, even though every button is required in order to choose powers, forms, or items. The inventory screen feels slightly dated, but at this point I'm just nitpicking decades-old sensibilities. I suppose I should also mention the poor hitboxes, particularly when they lead to Kain taking a lot of cheap hits. It's... really not a big deal. The game could have Dodonpachi-level hitboxes and that'd affect the score* by maybe a decimal point.
All in all, I'm glad that I've finally put Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain to rest. It was a very enjoyable adventure, particularly in how much of a mid 90s time-capsule it turned out to be. There is this distinctly wonderful vibe coursing throughout, no doubt the result of talented voice-actors and artists. Nosgoth is impressively realized with plenty to explore. Some rough edges exist, but I'd say they're hardly worth considering.
*As if I was ever planning on tacking a score to the end of a review.
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