It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussionThe epic Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain joins GOG.COM(169 posts)(169 posts)
(169 posts)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
This is my favourite topic
Posted September 29, 2021
Over the decades, gaming has expanded in ways people could never have imagined, but one genre that has continued to stand the test of time while still growing is the action-adventure genre.

For almost as long as there have been video games, action-adventure games and their real-time action, puzzles, and exploration have intrigued gamers all over the world. While we could spend years talking about our favorite ones, today, we wanted to focus on one that is close to our hearts – Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.



With the game coming to GOG.COM during our Anniversary event, we wanted to take a trip down memory lane to look at what made this game so spectacular.

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain tells an epic story
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain takes place in Nosgoth, a fantasy world filled with humans and vampires. In this world, pillars are tied to the literal health of the world. The Pillars of Nosgoth are protected by humans, but prior to your introduction to the world, some bad things (to put it mildly) have happened, and now vampires are being hunted down.

Of course, the remaining vampires didn’t like this very much and retaliated, killing many of the guardians. One thing led to another as revenge plot after revenge plot takes place, eventually causing the Pillars and their guardians to become corrupted.



This is where you, Kain (voiced by Simon Templeman), come in. After being resurrected, you are tasked with putting an end to these corrupted guardians in order to, hopefully, bring order back to the world of Nosgoth.

So, as you can see, if you are a fan of big stories, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain definitely has you covered!

Hack n’ slash, puzzle-solving goodness
While a great story can be enough to carry a game, thankfully, Legacy of Kain also excels in classic action-adventure gaming, fighting, and puzzle-solving!



Using a top-down perspective, you’ll explore large outdoor areas and crawl your way through dungeons, exploring, fighting off creatures and humans, and collecting new weapons and armor that change up your gameplay.

And because you are a vampire, your health will continuously (but slowly) decrease the longer you go without blood. You can top up your health meter by taking out humans and creatures with red blood, but make sure to avoid the tainted black blood because it will poison you!

In addition to plenty of weapons to choose from, you will also get some valuable spells to dispatch your enemies. Then, on top of that, you can even shapeshift into a couple of different forms to help with your quest.



Journey into the big world of Legacy of Kain
If you like top-down action games or just want something with an epic story and world-building, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain could be exactly what you are looking for. It features a memorable story and characters and provides plenty of exploration and action for people that prefer that.

On top of that, you can celebrate GOG’s 13th anniversary with us by playing a true classic making a comeback on modern PCs.

What do you think? Plan on checking this game out now that it is on GOG.COM? Let us know down in the comments!
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
pbaggers: So... anyone able to tell precisely what GOG did to get this running on modern systems? From a cursory glance, it looks like they used their own DirectDraw to DirectX wrapper rather than Verok's great OpenGL wrapper/fan patch. I tried turning on the subtitles that are in that version and they're not there. A shame that the latter requires a CD copy to install though. Maybe that'll change soon.
Or an iso. I made myself a backup on the cloud with the game's patch an iso just in case i want to play it in the future. But since i'm not a pirate these days i also bought the gog version. But unless both versions are equal i'm gonna go with the iso one
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
Lifthrasil: Damn. Why do you release this game only after allowing a always-online DRMed game here? I would have bought this instantly, if you were still a DRM-FREE store, GOG.
wait what?, what game was it?
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
Lifthrasil: Damn. Why do you release this game only after allowing a always-online DRMed game here? I would have bought this instantly, if you were still a DRM-FREE store, GOG.
avatar
jmfmagnum: wait what?, what game was it?
HITMAN 2016
Post edited October 01, 2021 by tfishell
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
groze: OK, so we got the worst game of the series but lost the best, since Squeenix removed Soul Reaver from the store. Nice. I already have it, but, still... I guess they just can't let people own the entire series at once, it must be a LoK staple. :P

[Disclaimer: I am aware Soul Reaver will be back up for purchase at some point in the future, Square-Enix are working on "updates", either trying to solve legal issues with that dude that made the SR unofficial patch they stole for the Steam and GOG versions as if it was their own, or, according to rumours, working with Nixxes on some sort of remastered/cleaned-up/fixed version. Still kind of funny that now that we got Blood Omen we lost Soul Reaver]
You`re entitled to your opinion and all, but Blood Omen had the best balance of gameplay and story out of all 5 games, imo. The core gameplay in each of the 5 games is pretty different, so any comparisons are gonna be subjective, tho(ugh.

Soul Reaver has the best core gameplay out of the 3D titles, being a wide-linear metroidvania with a ton of optional areas to explore; but it`s got the second weakest story (BO2 being the worst), since it ended up being merely set up for SR2. Plus there`s the awkward combat and block puzzles galore

SR2, otoh, ditched the exploration that made SR1 so memorable, and instead had you re-treading the same linear progression of levels (from the Citadel to the swamps, to Ushtenheim and back (several times across 3 time periods, with 80_% of the puzzles being confined to the Forges. And its combat was just dull. But it made up for it all by have the amazing Story with a capital S.

Defiance worked on improving the combat (basically being a DMC clone) and managed to carry on the high-level story from SR2. If it was less linear, it`d probably be the perfect game.

BO2 is a competent brawler with some really solid moments of environmental storytelling; but it`s got a mediocre overall story, which is a capital sin for an LoK game. Still looks decent with the HD textures though, and the Device level is some straight-up Giger nightmare fuel. I replayed it last year, and it`s still worth coming back to, some puzzles are pretty clever.

Original Blood Omen is on another level when it comes to exploration and gameplay systems, though.
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
kud13: You`re entitled to your opinion and all, [...]
Should have left it at that, buddy.

I don't think we should ALWAYS have to make clear some thing we say is just our opinion, I assumed it was pretty obvious. *I think* Blood Omen is clunky, janky, boring, the script is as meh as they come, just your standard "edgelord metal vampire" story set in a pretty par-for-the-course fantasy world, all wrapped in a Diablo/Zelda coating. People like it because of nostalgia goggles and because it attained this "will never be available for legal purchase" classic status. I played it way back when, didn't think much of it, I defintely had better games to play. Soul Reaver, on the other hand, gripped me from the start because it's not just a vampire revenge story, it deals with (way) more than that. Also, Hennig's Raziel is infintely cooler than Dyack's Kain. Then again, if Denis Dyack was behind something, the coolness factor drops down to 0 immediately, so there's that, too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got this game, I did buy it, and all, but I genuinely think it's mediocre at best (other than the stellar VA, for which I am genuinely grateful). I have no pseudo-objective (that would still be subjective, anyway) reason for why I don't like it as much as the ones that followed, I guess I just didn't like Silicon Knights all that much, and I'd rather side with emo Raziel than edgelord Kain, I guess.

Subjective, for sure, but that's all I can honestly say. If you like the game, more power to you, it's your prerogative. There's probably someone out there who thinks Blood Omen 2 is the best in the series, and that's fine, too.
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
groze: There's probably someone out there who thinks Blood Omen 2 is the best in the series, and that's fine, too.
This person would be me.
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
Lifthrasil: Damn. Why do you release this game only after allowing a always-online DRMed game here? I would have bought this instantly, if you were still a DRM-FREE store, GOG.
avatar
jmfmagnum: wait what?, what game was it?
As Tfishell already said, HITMAN has always online DRM on most of it's content.
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
Gudadantza: I never tried the PS1 version. Only the PC and the framerate alway felt the same for me. One user said that the game is capped to 42 FPS by design.

I tested the Verok patch and all is smoother and the animations seem to be faster, more fluid. The game runs at 60 FPS. Other user said that is how the PS1 version was, considering the GOG versions "slower" or more sluggish

Therefore I ask: Must I understand that the PS1 ran at 60 FPS? 60 FPS in a PS1 really?
avatar
InSaintMonoxide: This almost sounds like the frame limit has something to do with trying to make the game run in PAL speed on PC. I downloaded Blood Omen on Playstation Network and the PAL version runs pretty much exactly like the GOG version. Not smoother or faster.
I tried the GOG version with the Verok Patch and honestly I prefer the flood, feel and speed of the GOG version. As I said in other thread, it probably has to do with that the first version I tried years ago was the PC version and it did run exactly like the GOG version.
The drawback to me is that the patch adds new languages, voices and subtitles and it is pretty polished. Even new decent voices in the spanish version (fanmade). But I feel it like too fast for my taste.
It probably will be a good alternative for others.

Greetings
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
InSaintMonoxide: This almost sounds like the frame limit has something to do with trying to make the game run in PAL speed on PC. I downloaded Blood Omen on Playstation Network and the PAL version runs pretty much exactly like the GOG version. Not smoother or faster.
avatar
Gudadantza: I tried the GOG version with the Verok Patch and honestly I prefer the flood, feel and speed of the GOG version. As I said in other thread, it probably has to do with that the first version I tried years ago was the PC version and it did run exactly like the GOG version.
The drawback to me is that the patch adds new languages, voices and subtitles and it is pretty polished. Even new decent voices in the spanish version (fanmade). But I feel it like too fast for my taste.
It probably will be a good alternative for others.

Greetings
I agree with you here. I prefer the GOG version as well.
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
kud13: Soul Reaver has the best core gameplay out of the 3D titles
That's definitely not accurate.

In fact, Soul Reaver's gameplay is abysmally bad. It's chockful of dire jumping puzzles that can easily cause you to lose hours of progress if you miss a jump, and then you become forced also to repeat the earlier, likewise-abysmal jumping puzzles that are placed before the one that you just missed.

And it's not like you only have to repeat them once: instead, it's an endlessly-repeating cycle of tedium & aggravation.

All of those problems are compounded by the fact that you cannot save the game before attempting a jump, and hence there is no way to reload the game from the starting point of the jump, after you've failed the jump attempt.

I'd go so far as to say Soul Reaver has some of the very worst gameplay put into any video game, ever.

The devs evidently agreed, as they removed all that dire jumping puzzle garbage from the final Soul Reaver game (Defiance), which has vastly better gameplay than does Soul Reaver (as do almost all other games from any genre too, other than the few that are also plagued with awful jumping puzzles, which seems to have been a fad in games from the 1990's, which thankfully seems to have died out permanently in the early 2000's).
Post edited October 01, 2021 by Ancient-Red-Dragon
Posted October 01, 2021
avatar
TZODnmr2k5: Good luck on the search, I hope you can find it as that would be an excellent conversion mod to play!
It is Verokster's wrapper, updated to work with GOG version with Subtitles

https://verokster.blogspot.com/2018/05/legacy-of-kain-blood-omen-gl-wrapper.html?

This wasn't the one I used originally, but that one is legacy and made obsolete by Verokster's superior version.
Post edited October 02, 2021 by paladin181
Posted October 02, 2021
avatar
TZODnmr2k5: Good luck on the search, I hope you can find it as that would be an excellent conversion mod to play!
avatar
paladin181: It is Verokster's wrapper, updated to work with GOG version with Subtitles

https://verokster.blogspot.com/2018/05/legacy-of-kain-blood-omen-gl-wrapper.html?

This wasn't the one I used originally, but that one is legacy and made obsolete by Verokster's superior version.
Cool, thanks for the link!
Posted October 02, 2021
avatar
paladin181: It is Verokster's wrapper, updated to work with GOG version with Subtitles

https://verokster.blogspot.com/2018/05/legacy-of-kain-blood-omen-gl-wrapper.html?

This wasn't the one I used originally, but that one is legacy and made obsolete by Verokster's superior version.
avatar
TZODnmr2k5: Cool, thanks for the link!
And I just used this to install from the CD, and it works great! I like the options included.
Posted October 02, 2021
avatar
SmollestLight: The discount is 10% :)
Could you tell us for how long this discount will be active? Unless I'm overlooking something, this info doesn't seem to be available in the OP, and unfortunately that is the only place where GOG will usually announce it. Not that I care a lot about saving a mere 70 ct, but this is a problem on GOG in general. Other stores display the duration of limited offers directly on the game page, and here we have to rely on the info in the (somewhat hidden and quickly buried) news posts ...

EDIT: Oh, I see, the expiration date is displayed on the Anniversary Party promo page, so nevermind. Still a problem that you have to search for this info in at least three possible places though.

(Also, as an aside, why is the image quality of the screenshots on the game page so uneven? Don't get me wrong, acquiring the rights was a great achievement - kudos for that! :) - but I think such a spectacular release deserves better treatment, don't you, at GOG?)
Post edited October 02, 2021 by Leroux
Posted October 02, 2021
avatar
SmollestLight: The discount is 10% :)
avatar
Leroux: Could you tell us for how long this discount will be active? Unless I'm overlooking something, this info doesn't seem to be available in the OP, and unfortunately that is the only place where GOG will usually announce it. Not that I care a lot about saving a mere 70 ct, but this is a problem on GOG in general. Other stores display the duration of limited offers directly on the game page, and here we have to rely on the info in the (somewhat hidden and quickly buried) news posts ...

EDIT: Oh, I see, the expiration date is displayed on the Anniversary Party promo page, so nevermind. Still a problem that you have to search for this info in at least three possible places though.

(Also, as an aside, why is the image quality of the screenshots on the game page so uneven? Don't get me wrong, acquiring the rights was a great achievement - kudos for that! :) - but I think such a spectacular release deserves better treatment, don't you, at GOG?)
You can also check expiration dates of discounts in the message you receive on the mail about discounts (if you have wishlist discount notifications activated)

But it's true the expiration date of offers should be listed on the game page, i remember it being over or below the price a few years ago, if my memory is not playing tricks on me.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionThe epic Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain joins GOG.COM(169 posts)(169 posts)
(169 posts)