What game should I start with? Should I skip any or play every title in the series in order of release?
Which version should I look for for a particular game? Always go PC or should I look for other versions too?
>>345439939
>play every title in the series in order of release
This should be your default course of action whet trying to get into any kind of series.
Although I've heard Defiance wasn't canon/takes place in a parallel timeline or something. Correct me, lokfags.
Skip them all and watch cutscenes on YouTube. The only ones that would even be considered playable are BO2 and Defiance, and they're just absolute welfare-tier hack-and-slash with completely underwhelming mechanics tacked-on.
Also, get ready for a plot full of holes and characters that act against their best interests, and the most impotent conclusion in videogame history. The whole game is a vehicle for Simon T, Tony J, and Mikey B to delight you with Amy Henog's dialogue, all.of which are absolute God Tier if you can ignore the fucked plot/motivations.
>>345440428
>The only ones that would even be considered playable are BO2 and Defiance
You have to be 18+ to use this site.
Thoughts?
>>345441256
Just play the PC version.
>>345441256
Dreamcast is the superior option. Sony can't compete.
Blood Omen 2 is terrible, play the rest though
>>345441301
The port is a complete joke
>>345441301
PC version is buggy and borderline unplayable.
>>345441335
The Dreamcast version looks too much like a cartoon while the PS1 remains that gothic look.
>>345440983
I'm probably one of the like 3 people on this site that play BO1 on release, and it was a piece of shit.
>Loading screens are awful.
>Awful scrolling camera.
>Constantly have to swap gear and endure loading screens.
>Can only attack in 4 directions.
>Texturework is so poorly done, that you often can't pick out floor obstacles.
>Every boss is killed in seconds by spamming tarot.
>Kain ends attack strings literally randomly yelling "Vae Victus!" while his weapon just hovers in the air rendering you unable to attack or act.
>Loading screens.
It was shit. I loved it as a kid, but it aged like milk on a radiator. SR1/2 don't fare much better either. It least BO1 tried to make the gameplay interesting with Tarot/Spells/Forms.
>>345441475
>he played the PS1 version
Found your problem.
>>345441454
>The Dreamcast version looks too much like a cartoon while the PS1 remains that gothic look.
hmm
the only difference between ps1 version are kain and raziel models, the rest is completely the same as ps1 but in hi res
>>345441548
he is right tho, lok games aged badly when it comes to gameplay
Skip BO1 and BO2
Emulate Soul Reaver with a Dreamcast emulator
PC Soul Reaver 2
PC Defiance
>you can skip
Blood Omen 2
>you can skip but it's preferred you play]
Blood Omen 1
The rest are part of one big story.
>>345439939
Start with Blood Omen. It remains the best of them anyway.
Starting with SR2 the series sidelined the exploratory gameplay that defined BO1 and SR1 in favor of railroading the player through an increasingly soapy and narcissistic story. The first two LoK games were (mostly) just revenge stories. They were better for it. The melodramatic dialogue remains fun and hammy throughout the whole series though, and while BO1 works great as a self-contained story, SR1 ends on a cliffhanger. You might as well just play them all.
>>345440074
>Although I've heard Defiance wasn't canon/takes place in a parallel timeline or something
You're thinking of Blood Omen 2.
>>345441475
It definitely has issues--the combat is unbalanced, the loading was egregious, the graphics are a bit muddy. You're right. But the game gets by on having a setting that's fun to explore, and though combat itself could be clunky the dungeons themselves were mostly pretty well-designed. The nice aesthetic direction and tone don't hurt.
I played it for the first time a year ago and loved it. I replayed it recently and still loved it.
Just watch the YouTube videos of the cutscenes, the gameplay sucks ass outside of the first blood omen
Just how is he still so young...?THE HEART OF THE HEART THE HEART OF DARKNESS
>Blood Omen
Masterpiece, will forever be remembered as one of the best story telling games ever made.
>Soulreaver
Mediocre, blatantly unfinished was rehashed into a LoK game from another game, story was basic and lackluster but not bad, had a decent amount of exploration. gained enough popularity to get a sequel.
>Soulreaver 2
Horrible game, shit story, linear gameplay, even more unfinished than the first game.
>Blood Omen 2
Another rehashed game, contrived plot barely fits into any of the other games plot, complete mess of a game both story and mechanically.
>Defiance
Desperate attempt to fix loose ends and plot holes, fails horribly. abysmal game was the final nail in the coffin that killed the series.
>>345443016
zeldacuck and nintoddler detected.
>>345442260
BO1 has enormous concepts as a title implemented with varying degrees of success. Their reach far exceeded their grasp. I would like to see it redone with a greater degree of polish and revamped combat with the original absolute god-tier VA tracking.
BO1 was a labour of love and the gem in the series.
Which version of BO1 is superior, or are they both pretty much the same?
>>345444801
PS1 BO1 has awfully long screen transitions and overall load times. Avoid and get the PC version instead.
>>345444801
>>345445163 is accurate but there's nothing wrong with the PSX version otherwise. If emulating the Playstation version (or playing it on the actual hardware) is your only option you'll be alright.
>>345439939
Play them in release
>Blood Omen
PC version
>Soul Reaver - Defiance
Console version
>>345441672
>>345441689
>skip Blood Omen 1
I can't believe someone has this much shit taste
>>345443016
>every other game is shit except for the first one
This has to be bait.
>>345445163
>>345445692
Gonna risk it with the PS1 version since thats piss easy to find and the PC version will most likely require some fuckery to get working.
>tfw theres a BO1 source port but its nowhere near finished
>>345445915
It's a copypasta, it's posted in every single LoK thread.
Play Soul Reaver, then 2 then Defiance.
Blood Omen has aged the wrong way but its story is very good. Still, the few key things you want to know you can get them from the SR saga.
Don't listen to contrarians, Soul Reaver saga is incredible and holds up pretty well in gameplay and aesthethics, even at low poly. The story is engaging and thrilling.
Go for it.
>>345445947
Get the PC version
Don't fuck around they're all on Steam.
>>345446192
>Blood Omen has aged the wrong way
>Don't listen to contrarians
???
>>345440428
get a load of this fag
>>345445947
Hang on, I'm going to upload my version of Blood Omen PC to MEGA and then post it here. It works for me so it should work for others aswell
>>345446285
>Wanting to play BO in this day and age
>Or being able to
>>345446273
He's asking about the first Blood Omen which isn't on Steam.
>>345446273
All except BO1 sadly
>>345446431
That's amazing, thanks!
Anyone else prefer Simon Templeman's voice in BO1? I love all his work, but his voice got kind of rougher and different from SR1 onward.
>>345446580
I wish it would upload faster. Only 30% so far
>>345446582
They told him to stop hamming it up hence why it's different.
LoK thread? When did /v/ regain it's culture?
>>345442941
Probably breathing exercises and diet. Plus those weird chanting and raspberry stuff voice actors do before going in-character
And massages. I always get one every year, and I'm looking younger every year.
>>345446659
I feel it's more hammy as time went by.
>>345439939
You should start with the Blood Omen first game, it tells us the story of Kain and gives us light about what the fuck is happening in Soul Reaver, besides if you play the first one you will giggle like a little girl when the storylines cross so nicely in later games. However either I am to shit of a pirate or nobody gives two shits about the game today because I can find a good torrent to replay it.
Who even owns the rights to the series right now? It's pretty much a given that they'll have to reboot the franchise if they wanted to make another LoK title since it's been years since the last one, and they did as far as I remember but the game was scrapped.
>>345448136
Dead Sun looked great but it had two fatal flaws
Amy Hennig wasn't involved, which turned the heads of the fans the other way
Everyone thought it was going to be shit and literally shitposted it to death
The publisher didn't saw a target demographic big enough to justify pissing old fans and the gain of new ones was low
So basically, no one would buy it, even if it ended up being good.
It wasn't even about Kain or Raziel.
>>345443171
I think the game is great as it is, but it's one of the games I can think of that could really benefit from a remake, so long as it were a very faithful one that maintained most of the level design and used the same gameplay style.
Alright, this shit hopefully works
Link to a PC version of Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen. I've completely forgotten the controls, so you have to figure out stuff for yourself. And whenever you want to load a save, you have to go to options first
https://mega.nz/#!bFtymJZJ!x5pXCH3baDsk4QmsLQkb3BQ1EoJ8K1u34eyH4VbAO1s
>>345439939
Play the PC version of Blood Omen. Then emulate the Dreamcast version of Soul Reaver.
Then Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance on PC.
You should skip Blood Omen 2 completely since that game's plot is completely disconnected from the others and, basically speaking, sucks dick.
>>345446495
>>345446192
Blood Omen is the one that's held up as an actual game the best. It even remains fun for replays better than most Zelda clones because its emphasis is on traps and environmental hazards much more than puzzles.
>>345439939
soul reaver 1 or blood omen 1, depending on whether you are ok with the old 2D graphics in blood omen
other than that, just play all of them in this order
Blood Omen
Soul Reaver
Blood Omen 2/Soul Reaver 2 (order really doesn't matter)
Defiance
>>345445915
It's pasta, but I kind of agree with it. I think Soul Reaver 1 is very solid and a lot better than mediocre, but I also think it's a step down from Blood Omen in many ways. The series fell apart with SR2, and Defiance wasn't exactly a return to glory either.
>>345448640
Blood Omen's selling point is Kain. Literally 90% of the charm that the game has comes from Kain's monologues and the way he interacts with the world.
He's a massive fucking dick-ass anti hero and that's what makes him interesting and drives you forward. It's also interesting seeing how he changes from the mindset of a human and becomes a proper vampire, culminating with you know what. Then Soul Reaver starts building on that.
The franchise's main charm is in the characters and story, but the best way to experience these is putting up with the gameplay (that said, disregarding BO2 the only really shitty one is SR2 because of the combat system, but it's all bearable) and playing through all of them in order. Fuck BO2.
OP is a retard if he doesn't take what I said into account.
>>345448371
I'm sure it wont be that hard to figure out.
Thanks man, you're a hero.
>>345448981
Eh. Kain's musings and the story are a lot of fun, but the game's main appeal for me comes from the dungeons, the exploration, and the art and sound design. It's why I've never cared as much for its sequels. I never thought the series had that great of a story, especially not after the first Soul Reaver.
>>345449706
>especially not after the first Soul Reaver
Ironically enough, I think the best cutscenes (meaning, interactions between characters) happen in SR2. There are also some really good ones in Defiance.
>>345449803
The best cut scenes maybe (though the series never really excelled in terms of cinematic direction), but the actual story got incestuous and dull to me. It got soapy and schlocky in a bad way.
"Apparently I am." will always be a great line, though.
>>345449706
SR2 is where the story takes off
Incredible that there are people calling themselves fans and didn't played the saga.
>>345450091
Big words for a tiny man.
>>345450094
But I have. I just don't care for how it takes off because it crashes for me almost immediately. I think the series would have been better off if SR1 had its original ending.
Besides, I admitted I'm mostly a fan of Blood Omen which had a self-contained story.
>>345448371
The game works on Win7, but the screen freezes for some reason. I can hear Kain doing something like sword swinging when I press the button, but all I see are the characters frozen in place. Gonna check if there's a fix for that anywhere.
>>345439939
play the soul reaver series. The rest of the games are shit
>Tony Jay is dead
>Michael Bell is 77
>You will outlive Simon Templeman
RIP voice kings.
>>345439939
Play release order
Timeline is this anon
BO > B02 >SR >SR2 >Defiance
>>345442941
Amy Hennig always looked like a grandma.
>>345451619
>best voice work of the 90's vidya
Jeez why was SR the only PSX game with good voice work?
>>345446495
What are you even talking about? Blood Omen is a dark gothic Zelda game that never got made. It is distinctly different from everything else in LoK series, but it's a good game on its own.
Remember me?
Blood Omen 1 is fucking fantastic. Simon Templeman's voice acting is simply amazing.
Soul Reaver was ok, but it was extremely rushed and it shows. Especially near the ending where I felt a little scammed to be perfectly honest. When reading about how it was supposed to end, it felt like a kick in the balls, as the original idea would be insanely much better than what we got.
>>345454559
It's a shame. But at least we can pretend, what with the unused dialogue recordings.
>>345452285
I remember there being something stupid about it, but not specifically what
>>345452285
No, as a matter of fact.
>>345455317
>>345457253
Well then I am posting it. Enjoy
>>345457325
>>345457447
>>345457528
>>345441256
Playstation or Playstation 2? First PS's Sega rival is the Saturn. You are comparing a console to another from the next gen.
>>345457618
that kain face
>>345457691
>>345457676
saturn was dead the entire generation honestly
>>345457325
Am I allowed to read this if I haven't played any of the games yet?
>>345457774
>>345457772
It's safe and it's not canon. This was made to promote the game
>>345457854
>>345457947
lol
>>345457947
>>345458046
>>345458116
This part never happensThere is cut audio that would have made this bitch canon
>>345458205
>>345458205
I really wish the game had turned out the way it was planned. Would have been a lot better than the ending we got and the games after it.
>>345458291
The end of this shitty comic
I still love Blood Omen 1.
Listening to Kain monologuing makes it worth it.
>>345458205
If I remember right the Human city across the Abyss is just a big dead end. I'm assuming that's where she was going to be before it was cut.
>>345458046
>that font
How come Blizzard didn't sue?
>>345458337
I don't agree. SR2 had the best scenes in the series. The chemistry between Raziel and Kain was so much better than muh revenge. Only problem was BO2 being such a far departure from the other games
>>345439939
I bought the steam bundle a long time ago and its not bad.
SR1 is a little bit of trouble getting used to in terms of controls but my computer could run it fine. If you can I'd get a Dreamcast emulator though and just run it off that since it is graphically superior than the steam version/ps1 version.
Never got the chance to play Blood Omen 1, are there any good PS1 emulators which I can run it off of? It seemed like an interesting game.
>>345458485
I found it largely tedious.
>>345458497
Just pirate the first BO for pc. It doesn't have the shitty load times the ps1 version has
>>345458547
I do agree it was a little tedius because unlike SR you didn't gain new abilities to progress and explore and instead only got reaver elements.
Am I the only person that liked blood omen 2?
>>345458864
I liked how edgy Kain was in it
>>345458708
It's been a while since I've played these games but I was wondering, was there any reason why more guardians weren't born? Like, after Ariel was killed, Kain was born, right; when he went to town on the other guardians, were there no replacements after that?
>>345458595
Is it even pirating? I thought it was freeware by now
VAE VICTIS
>>345459712
Kain's resurrection stopped the other guardians from being born because he is the balance guardian. He has to die for new guardians to be born because he is the most important one.
Of course if he dies the vampire line is gone so the hylden will return. Nosgoth is fucked no matter what
>>345441342
Fuck you, BO2 is great, it just fits poorly story-wise to the series and that was fixed by Defiance.
>>345459712
>Like, after Ariel was killed, Kain was born, right; when he went to town on the other guardians, were there no replacements after that?
Cause he had to die himself before that could happen, that's what the choice at the end of BO is all about
>>345460131
Yes remember when Defiance showed how Vorador came back to life and everyone forgot about it?
>>345457447
>Raziel without cloven hands moments before his "execution"
>Sent by the elder GODS
Already a load of bullshit
>>345460006
>>345460189
Ah, gotcha, thanks!
>>345460248
It does show that Moebius didn't catch him in the new timeline and it shows Janos getting taken in by Hildens.
>>345458116
>The noble Zephon
And the bullshit continues. This should not irritate me to this degree
>>345440428
fag
>>345440074
>Although I've heard Defiance wasn't canon/takes place in a parallel timeline or something.
the timeline is fucked by the arse but no it's canon
>>345439939
play every title op. I promise you will not regret it
>>345460739
>>345460571
It's non-canon promotional material
Also look at Zephon's face it's hilarious
What was the reason they suddenly stopped making those games and forgot them?
>>345460887
He looks like he was reminded of a really good joke in the middle of conversation
>>345460923
Not enough profit was made by Defiance, then Amy left, then Tony died.
>>345460923
very poor sales anon. Then square makes nosgoth and when that failed "I guess no one wants a new legacy of kain" when nosgoth has nothing to do with it
>>345461032
At least Nogoth was better than that abortion of a game they had in production, that would be DmC of LoK series, complete with a quote "Fuck you, vampire!".
>>345461160
Both are shit it doesn't matter if one is worst than the other both should not be tolerated
>>345461160
Wasn't it also being worked on roughly the same time DmC was announced? What a weird time period.
>>345458595
So is BO1 like an ARPG? Or what is the gameplay style of it?
>>345461419
Yep and both games used UE3.
>>345461739
It's a western take on Legend of Zelda.
>>345441475
>BO1
>Complete shit
Everything wrong with this post
>Loading screen issue
PC superior version
>Awful scroll camera
Never had an issue
>Constantly swap gear
Learn to optimize and again PC version if fine.
>4 directional attack
Ok?
>Can't discern floor obstacles
git guid
>Spamming tarot beats boss
I've never seen or ever heard of that before
>Can't into Vae Victus
>Hovering weapon?
Git gud
>loading screen
>Playstation
Just admit you're shit.
>>345461739
It's classical Zelda.
>>345461739
Zelda
>>345461739
Ever play classic zelda style games?
>>345461828
That's not that big a coincidence, like 70% of games use UE
>>345461916
The directional attack was indeed fucking annoying if an enemy was standing diagonally from you
>I've never seen or ever heard of that before
He is correct about that though, he probably means that the items (like Flay or whatever) look like Tarot cards
>>345443171
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=blood+omen+omnicide
>>345462059
Bosses are immune to spells though. Which boss is he talking about? Also I never had a problem with diagonally positioned enemies. Get good or use Havock and Malice with blood armor.
>>345462270
Who the fuck is talking about spells?
>>345462405
THESE CURIOUS DEVICES
>>345462405
But that's what they are classified as. Flay doesn't do shit to bosses and neither does anything else.
