The “Legacy of Kain” series is one of my all time favorite gaming series ever. It is absolutely filled with rich story and characters. The story is, in fact, one of the best and most in depth I have ever encountered. It is full of honor, sacrifice, fate, and pretty much everything else that makes a story “epic.” It is, however, when you throw in the elements of god-like vampires and time travel that the storyline also becomes one of the most complicated in all of gaming. You really had to make an effort to follow the goings-on of these games, much like “Metal Gear”; but, if you did, it was well worth it. I would like to try to give some sort of synopses here, but even that would probably take about ten pages.
As far as the characters, they are again, some of the best yet most complicated I have encountered, not just in a video game, but in any form of fiction, and that’s saying something. Take, for example, Raziel, the protagonist from “Soul Reaver,” the sequel to the original “Legacy of Kain” title. Raziel is simply put one of the best and most tragic characters in the history of video games. (Shit, I just realized how many broad statements I have made as to the greatness of these games and characters, but I don’t care, I stand by them.) Throughout the game and the series, Raziel takes the form of scourge, victim, villain, pawn, and ultimately, hero. It is one of Raziel’s many moments of discovery in “Soul Reaver” that is one of my great moments in gaming.
RAZIEL DISCOVERS HIS ORIGIN
Our protagonist, Raziel, is at this point in the game a vampire whose leader and brethren have attempted to kill him by throwing him into some watery abyss. Water being like acid to these vampires, his survival is at once miraculous and tragic as he is now a wasted shadow of his former self with only one thing moving him forward…revenge. His quest takes him to a Sarafan tomb. The Sarafan are human, and they are also the hunters and sworn enemies of all that is vampire. Think Spanish inquisitor combined with Salem witch hunter. It is upon entering this tomb, however, that the game gave me the most WTF, out of left field, didn’t see it coming plot twists ever. As he inspects the names on the tombs, he finds those of his aforementioned brethren as well as his own. My fucking jaw hit the floor. You then find out that throwing you in the abyss was your leaders second betrayal to you, he had made vampires from the corpses of their sworn enemies, one of them being you. What follows is a seamless transition to game play, a great rest of the game, and a great rest of the series. This series has most likely seen it’s last game with the 2003 game “Legacy of Kain: Defiance,” one of the only games I ever took vacation time to play. While there are talks of, and certainly a place for another sequel, it seems as though it may never be. The “Legacy of Kain” series did, however give me many hours of gaming enjoyment, including this most shocking and great moment in gaming.
I still have Soul Reaver at home somewhere. It rocked back in the day.