Remember to play Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain 1 first

[God Module]

Not only is it a prequel to the Soul Reaver games, it's also one of the greatest games ever made. Skip Blood Omen 2 though, it sucks.

[Insanitor]

Man, imagine if that game got a Remaster. Modern Graphics and slightly improved combat, but otherwise the same game. God I would play the hell out of it! :D

[Ken]

I thought Blood Omen 2 was pretty good. It didn't have the depth of story or lore that the original did, but I loved playing as Kain and I really enjoyed the sort of alternate history tale....

Of the 4 games you mentioned I would certainly agree that BO2 was the weakest, but I think it is worth playing.... it's really short anyways. lol

[Mad Jack]

I would love to see both Blood Omen games remastered. They were every bit as good as the SR games.

[Beldarak]

I really liked Blood Omen 2 as a kid. It's hard to replay it today because it's super stiff but I loved how Kain evolved over the course of the game and the powers and drinking blood were really cool.

[thegroze]

Or watch a Let's Play of it. Seriously, you won't be missing out on much, Crystal Dynamics did an amazing job at keeping the story pretty self-contained, starting with Soul Reaver. I do own Blood Omen on GOG and it's nice to be able to play it, I guess, but I can't really say it's on the same level as Soul Reaver 1&2 or Defiance. It's a good reminder of what games used to be, it's a great example of this creative mentality we kind of lost in recent times, but, sadly, for all the creativity and experimentation, the implementation is... well, bad.

My point being that you can, for sure, go back and try Blood Omen if you play this remaster and end up loving what Soul Reaver is all about, but, to be completely fair, you don't *need* to and shouldn't feel pressured in any way to do it just because it's "where the series started". It's an entirely different thing, despite the common world and characters, and chances are you won't enjoy it all that much just because you liked Soul Reaver. I know I didn't.

So, yeah: go back, play the first game in the series if you feel like it, just don't expect it to be nearly as good as Soul Reaver 1&2, because it most definitely isn't. And be prepared for some awful gameplay, extremely hit-or-miss mechanics implementation and underwhelming writing.

[God Module]

Originally posted by thegroze:

Or watch a Let's Play of it. Seriously, you won't be missing out on much, Crystal Dynamics did an amazing job at keeping the story pretty self-contained, starting with Soul Reaver. I do own Blood Omen on GOG and it's nice to be able to play it, I guess, but I can't really say it's on the same level as Soul Reaver 1&2 or Defiance. It's a good reminder of what games used to be, it's a great example of this creative mentality we kind of lost in recent times, but, sadly, for all the creativity and experimentation, the implementation is... well, bad.

My point being that you can, for sure, go back and try Blood Omen if you play this remaster and end up loving what Soul Reaver is all about, but, to be completely fair, you don't *need* to and shouldn't feel pressured in any way to do it just because it's "where the series started". It's an entirely different thing, despite the common world and characters, and chances are you won't enjoy it all that much just because you liked Soul Reaver. I know I didn't.

So, yeah: go back, play the first game in the series if you feel like it, just don't expect it to be nearly as good as Soul Reaver 1&2, because it most definitely isn't. And be prepared for some awful gameplay, extremely hit-or-miss mechanics implementation and underwhelming writing.

Blood Omens writing and gameplay is better than Soul Reavers. It plays like a mix of Diablo 1 and 2D Zelda. Soul Reaver plays like 3D Zelda but with none of the interesting puzzles or level design. It's saved only by it's atmosphere and story. Are you sure you've even played the games? Also please stop recommend people to watch video playthroughs of videogames. They're videogames, not movies.

[black Harlekin]

Originally posted by thegroze:

Or watch a Let's Play of it. Seriously,

This is always an option for any game, some just prefer to play the game for themselves.

Originally posted by thegroze:

My point being that you can, for sure, go back and try Blood Omen if you play this remaster and end up loving what Soul Reaver is all about, but, to be completely fair, you don't *need* to and shouldn't feel pressured in any way to do it just because it's "where the series started". It's an entirely different thing, despite the common world and characters, and chances are you won't enjoy it all that much just because you liked Soul Reaver. I know I didn't.

It is Kain´s backround story, you don´t loose anything by not playing BO1 but you gain many good moments by knowing the game (by lets play or playing yourself)
I started with SR1 back in the day without knowing Blood Omen existed and it was a good experience.
I recently played again SR1, SR2 and Defiance again and it was much more enjoyable to know what happened in BO1 as you visit some of the old locations, getting references about the Oracle and many more little things though the games (William, Voradors attack, Hash ak gik was already mentioned in BO1).

the story comes together more nicely if you know BO1 in detail.

Originally posted by thegroze:

So, yeah: go back, play the first game in the series if you feel like it, just don't expect it to be nearly as good as Soul Reaver 1&2, because it most definitely isn't. And be prepared for some awful gameplay, extremely hit-or-miss mechanics implementation and underwhelming writing.

Depends on what you are looking for, the gameplay is very old top down adventure game style but SR1 and SR2 hadn´t much of a good gameplay either, my biggest enemy was the camera in these games and i hoped they reworked it for the remake.
The amount of times i had to take a leap of fate, had something blocking the view mid fight or fell off just because the camera decided to switch in the movement got me frustrated a few times.
And the fighting in SR2 was something i skipped as much as possible, it was wonky at best and filled with enemys who just start to stunlock you or knock you back.

So no, SR doesn´t get any bonus points over BO for gameplay, they are both very dated and not the strong point of the franchise.
The strong point is the story telling and the only reason to suffer through the gameplay.

[thegroze]

Originally posted by Layer XIII Ego:

Blood Omens writing and gameplay is better than Soul Reavers. It plays like a mix of Diablo 1 and 2D Zelda. Soul Reaver plays like 3D Zelda but with none of the interesting puzzles or level design. It's saved only by it's atmosphere and story. Are you sure you've even played the games? Also please stop recommend people to watch video playthroughs of videogames. They're videogames, not movies.

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it, I never said you were wrong or that you didn't play the games, so all I ask from you is that you don't do the same to me. I did play all of the games, for the record. I was just trying to give people a different perspective, and let them know that they shouldn't be goaded into spending money on something they may not enjoy -- hence why I suggested watching a Let's Play. If people feel like they loved what they saw and really want to play it for themselves, then, sure, buy it and play it, but be aware that if you're jumping in blind just because someone said you should play it, there's a big chance you won't enjoy it.

As for this constant comparison of Blood Omen to Diablo and/or a "gothic/dark" 2D Zelda, yeah... no. Both Diablo and the 2D Zeldas have way smoother, better gameplay than Blood Omen, Diablo has better music and art style and the 2D Zeldas are just better games all around. I wouldn't mind if Blood Omen was more like Diablo, actually, using a mouse to control that clunk-fest would make it at least more bearable.

As for the writing in Blood Omen being better, it's subjective. Personally, I prefer the themes addressed in the Soul Reaver story arc; stuff like determinism, gnosticism, doubting religious dogma, fate and/or the status quo, the whole aspect of whether there is free will at all, and what does it mean if it does. Compared to this, Blood Omen never really felt to me like anything more than "edgelord goth classic medieval fantasy-trope nobleman gets tricked into becoming a vampire and goes on a revenge quest" (sure, Raziel's story starts kind of the same way, but it quickly turns into something more than just that). People have the right to prefer each game, I do believe Soul Reaver's writing and themes are better than Blood Omen's, but that all boils down to personal preference.

[God Module]

Originally posted by thegroze:

Originally posted by Layer XIII Ego:

Are you sure you've even played the games? Also please stop recommend people to watch video playthroughs of videogames. They're videogames, not movies.

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it, I never said you were wrong or that you didn't play the games, so all I ask from you is that you don't do the same to me.

Maybe don't start your post with "Watch a lets play" of one of the greatest games ever made.

[Meralie]

Originally posted by Layer XIII Ego:

Skip Blood Omen 2 though, it sucks.

Disqualified! Blood Omen 2 was great! Hopefully it and Defiance will also get a remaster too :).

[Nick The Hick]

Originally posted by Layer XIII Ego:

Not only is it a prequel to the Soul Reaver games, it's also one of the greatest games ever made. Skip Blood Omen 2 though, it sucks.

Couldn't agree more. Pick it up on GOG. Works perfectly. but I liked BO2 as well.

[TirAsleen]

Blood Omen 1 was an entirely different game made by Silicon Knights, those devs never made a sequel. Soul Reaver is technically Tomb Raider, while BO1 is a diablo hack and slash, that is more about the story and immersion of Nosgoth. BO2 has again, nothing to do with BO1

People make games not studios and publishers.

We will never get a game like this again.

Last time i checked, Square Enix had the rights?

BO1 remaster could be a small teaser for a bigger diablo-like or should i rather say path of exile like LoK project.

In the meanwhile there is this game from the orginal developer:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1142050/Deadhaus_Sonata/

[thegroze]

Originally posted by TirAsleen:

Blood Omen 1 was an entirely different game made by Silicon Knights, those devs never made a sequel. Soul Reaver is technically Tomb Raider, while BO1 is a diablo hack and slash, that is more about the story and immersion of Nosgoth. BO2 has again, nothing to do with BO1

People make games not studios and publishers.

We will never get a game like this again.

Last time i checked, Square Enix had the rights?

BO1 remaster could be a small teaser for a bigger diablo-like or should i rather say path of exile like LoK project.

In the meanwhile there is this game from the orginal developer:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1142050/Deadhaus_Sonata/

Square Enix sold the rights to Embracer a while ago. Not just of the Soul Reaver games, but of pretty much of all the classics of the old Eidos catalog. Crystal Dynamics also owns the rights to Blood Omen, they're listed as publishers on the GOG game page, the only place as of now where you can legally get the game for PC.

As for the "original developer", screw Denis Dyack and his scams. He's been trying to pull one up ever since that Shadow of the Eternals hoax, closed THREE studios in the meantime, now he came up with this MMO "narrative" ARPG AI Web3 asynchronous gameplay streaming integrated blockchain based bullcrap. Yeah, my guy, it's really what Blood Omen fans want. But, hey, the game's probably never going to be released, his new studio has been working on it since 2018, changed engines three times (same number of studios closed, how nice), changed art direction more times than I can count and is basically doing some cringe radio plays instead of actually working on the game. All the while fans go on their official site and purchase supporter packs for 50 bucks. I guess they're having a closed beta, now, but with all the NDAs they put in place, we don't even get to glimpse at how the freaking thing is coming along.

We're probably never going to get a game like Blood Omen again, that's right, and Deadhaus Sonata is definitely not it, too. We can always play any of the Diablo games, at least they play way better than Blood Omen.

[TirAsleen]

Originally posted by thegroze:

Snip

Oh..bummer, but thanks for the info.

Yeah, Deadhaus Sonata seems to be in development hell, that said, the gameplay trailers i have seen provided far more interesting vampire gameplay than BO1 and its sequels, but it needs a world building such as Nosgoth.

Have you seen the intro movie of Path of Exile 2? Its far better than Diablo 4, i mean the immersion alone, its pretty dark.
If this would only be in the Nosgoth world with its corruption all over+ more focus on Vampire gameplay + Simon Templar speaking some lines that would have been nice.

Maybe the A.I. will do such a game at one point. lol

[thegroze]

Originally posted by TirAsleen:

Originally posted by thegroze:

Snip

Oh..bummer, but thanks for the info.

Yeah, Deadhaus Sonata seems to be in development hell, that said, the gameplay trailers i have seen provided far more interesting vampire gameplay than BO1 and its sequels, but it needs a world building such as Nosgoth.

Have you seen the intro movie of Path of Exile 2? Its far better than Diablo 4, i mean the immersion alone, its pretty dark.
If this would only be in the Nosgoth world with its corruption all over+ more focus on Vampire gameplay + Simon Templar speaking some lines that would have been nice.

Maybe the A.I. will do such a game at one point. lol

When it comes to games like Diablo, I'd actually highly recommend Grim Dawn. No scams there, no "F2P" "cosmetic MTX" crap, just good old gameplay in a product you purchase and then it's yours to play and keep. Tight gameplay, interesting and different setting (not the tired old medieval fantasy trope), a team that keeps on working on the game years after its release. It's even getting an expansion soon™, one that will add a new class and hours of new campaign content.

Seriously, give it a try, if you hadn't already.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/219990/Grim_Dawn/