Fans have been clamouring for another game in the Legacy of Kain series for years now. The vampiric action games were well-loved for their gothic world-building and bloodthirsty take on third-person combat. More of that was on the way, but then it got staked right in the heart.
A massive post on NeoGAF by forum member Mama Robotnik offers up a bounty of details about Dead Sun, a Legacy of Kain title that was in development for three years by Climax. The game’s lead characters were Asher and Gein, a human/vampire duo who become necromantically joined when the latter tries to kill the former.
Dead Sun seems to have been the rumoured franchise reboot that was being whispered about a while back. It appears as if the scuttled title — reportedly cancelled when it was determined it wouldn’t meet sales projections — would have picked up decades after Soul Reaver, showing a human population beginning to rebuild after centuries of being fodder for vampires. Looking at it now in hindsight, the shifting-worlds feature serves as a reminder of the debt that Shadow of Mordor owes to the LoK games. Remains of Dead Sun have allegedly been repurposed as part of Square Enix’s recent Nosgoth multiplayer release, but that’s cold comfort to people who wanted more of the series’ emotionally overwrought singleplayer stories.
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16 responses to “Take A Look At The Legacy Of Kain Game That Got Killed In 2012”
Shame, I probably would have given it a try.
Never known much about the series, but this certainly would have interested me.
They’re great games, and all still available on GOG/Steam. If you they’re on sale for cheap and you have the inclination to play through an older game then I’d say they’re worth a shot.
I loved LoK and its sequels but the dimension shifting was never the most interesting part of the game.
Two thoughts – Why do all the women have one boob out? and why is this game so full of Assassins Creedy BS like ‘follow the path’ minigames?
I would have given it a shot. Soul Reaver was one of my favourite games on my ps1 back in the day. Always through Raziel was such a cool character with the way he sucked up the souls and the world phasing was really fun. It was probably the first game I remember playing that incorporated the environment in killing enemies as well, it was satisfying throwing vampires on to spikes to impale them and the like.
If I were to make a list it’d be high up on my most under rated games of all time in terms of how many people seem to have played it and still talk about it. I believe it reviewed well at launch though?
I remember it reviewing really well at the time.
Pretty sure it used Gex’s engine & blew everyone away with the massive improvements. Also the way the world was built meant never seeing a loading screen because it wsould load the next section before you opened a door.
I think the only complaint I remember reading was that it contained box puzzles.
Reboot? Didn’t the last one end on a CLIFFHANGER?
I don’t remember the story even getting out of hand, in fact I’m Damn sure I remember the last game cleaning up a few loose ends.
Reboots are done way too often out of laziness. Build on the foundation that was given to you. Especially when it’s as solid as this.
I read it as less of a reboot, more of a spinoff given that it seems like the same world, different time period and different characters.
I do agree that reboots are too common, but spinoffs in video games are too rare imho.
Spinoffs are fine & a great way to build a bigger world without screwing your main narrative.
I may have misread 🙂
Not really. Defiance wrapped up most of the loose ends, the only big one (that I can remember anyway) was how Vorador was still alive.
There was undoubtedly more of Kain’s story to tell, but he won a pretty huge battle against the Elder God, and was in a good position to start fixing things.
Although I’m sad that the story won’t be finished, it was a pretty decent place to finish it.
I thought:
Raziel was sucked back into the sword, completely the circle but I took it as meaning they could get him out?Well, kind of. Raziel loops around through time again.
Raziel is absorbed by the Blood Reaver, creating the Soul Reaver, which at some point makes it’s way to Avernus Cathedral for past Kain to find. Kain later shatters the blade over Raziel, and his spirit bonds with his past self. Raziel purifies the Spirit Reaver with Ariel’s soul, and the purified Spirit Reaver is used to heal both Janos Audron and Kain (and is absorbed into him), which also allows Kain to see/fight the Elder God.
Also, at some point in the past, Kain and William the Just fight with the Soul Reavers and create a world where vampires are persecuted relentlessly.
Obviously they are jumping around in time a lot, so when I say that he loops through time again, I mean through the series as a linear experience.
Raziel’s journey ends when the Spirit Reaver is absorbed into Kain. The physical form of Raziel needs to be in the Soul Reaver, or risk completely screwing the timeline, which Kain already almost did at the end of Soul Reaver 2 when he prevented Raziel from being absorbed.
“Vae Victis – suffering to the conquered. Ironic that now I was the one suffering. Not anything as pedestrian as physical pain. Rather the cruel jab of impotent anger – the hunger for revenge. I didn’t care if I was in Heaven or Hell – all I wanted was to kill my assassins. Sometimes you get what you wish for. The Necromancer Mortanius offered me a chance for vengeance, and, like a fool, I jumped at his offer without considering the cost. Nothing is free. Not even…revenge.”
Love the melodrama of the Kain series right from the outset.
This series is considered to have one of the best storylines in gaming, and all the games released in this series were good, so I hope they continue.
This is my obligatory ” We need a conclusion to the series” comment…..
Somewhat glad this iteration didn’t get released. Never enjoyed the Ass Creed style gameplay, and, well I think the video speaks for itself. I’d like few things more than to see more LoK, but not like this. A decent premise and aesthetic taped onto another gameplay systems clone. Shadow of Mordor is the first AC game I’ve been able to get the whole way through since AC1 and that was only because of the setting , I’ve certainly never had the urge to return and play more of it.
A pity, and worse for people who are still able to enjoy these systems, but personally there was nothing from this vertical slice that appeared to do LoK real justice.