The Legacy of Kain
The Legacy of Kain is Series of primary Action-Adventure Games created by Crystal Dynamics and Published by Eidos Interactive, released between the years 1996 and 2003. All the main games of the franchise are available to be purchased in Steam currently.
My Experience
I still own the original disk and the PS2 till nowadays.
I played The final Game of the Franchise, Defiance, an very unique experience, it was the first game that combined two different perspective of reality thought the game, trough the two main protagonist of the Saga.
Exploring the world, fighting various enemies and unlocking new abilities related to a special blade.
as the story progress new areas will be unlooked each with rich of stories of their own.
Usually told in game by the main character observing an ancient Vampire Mural.
The intricate and dense lore of the world, the settings and the interaction with various entity, spirits of another realms, and time traveling.
The interaction between the characters old monuments of an ancient race of Vampire that lived describe the various events related to them, in the fictional world.
The Game sets an importance regarding particular details, a few examples would be: the ancient painting of the vampire race foreshadowing's of a champion that wields fiery sword. And a particular importance's towards
The Pillars of Nosgot.
This also sets importance to the weapon wielded by the player trough the game.
How the protagonist interact with each other and their rivalry is told many times in different timelines, and how the weapon was meant to fight itself.
The Pillars have stood like silent sentinels over Nosgot since the dawn of recorded History.
The main characters eventually lead to the destruction of the pillars with the consequences of his own actions.
The game approaches the concept of time travelling as resource of the main protagonist to change his own fate, The protagonist went back in time in a selfish attempt to control his own destiny multiple times.
The concept of time is mentioned also by various characters that trough their actions altered the fate of the world. By changing the past is also left us in a cycle, that never continued.
This is the the time line following the Main Games Before Defiance that I found posted on
Reddit.
Going trough the details would require me to spend another month on this Post and I have to make cool 3D models.
This is
the Video that deconstruct and Explain the Main Timeline in details.
The post follows the time lines of the follow games of the Legacy of Kain:
Very recently Recently in October 2022, Crystal Dynamics announced a Reboot for the saga and allowed us to participate an
online survey regarding the main game and the continuation of the story.
There may be some hope left for the Franchise.
I made a post on my twitter about a survey for the reboot of the franchise and I was particularly interested on this project. I will contribute in my way by making a Scenario for the game.
I was particular interested in this specific weapon, called
The Soul Reaver.
I'm planning to make a scene for the sword and some other key elements from the main games using
Unreal Engine 5. The iconic weapon will be recreated in Honour of the franchise reboot announcement.
The Reaver
The Soul Reaver
A legendary weapon forged for the Vampire champion.
The Soul Reaver, a legendary sword forced long time ago by an old forgotten race of vampires. From The land of Nosgot, a fictional world, incorporating elements of fantasy, steampunk and science fiction, it also shares common analogues with medieval settings.
The blade was destined to fight itself, this happed trough the history when the main character time travelled to the past wielding the future version of The Reaver to clash with another character wielding The Reaver from the past.
The Soul Reaver is the signature weapon of the main protagonist the Vampire Kain and it plays a key role in the main games of the franchise as both the protagonist ultimate weapon and story element.
Kain was not the only one that wielded the Soul Reaver, as it happened the weapon ended up in the hands of William The Just, later known as Nemesis.
William was "corrupted" by the design of Moebius The Time Streamer, developing into a sadistic despot bent on massacring civilizations with his fanatical army.
Hoping to put an end on Nemesis, Kain travelled back in time with the intention of murdering the young William.
He killed William, thus triggered a paradox, and creating a new timeline.
The the weapon was forged by an ancient Vampire known as Vorador, and it was originally an enchanted sword created for the champion of the vampire race, forged with the intention of defeating the Hylden and their champion.
It has a physical form wielded by Kain in the main games and a wraith version of it wielded by Raziel.
The forging of The Reaver narrated by Raziel.
The serpentine blade was known in game as The Reaver will eventually become The Soul Reaver, and a Vessel for the wraith Raziel.
As Kain Journey continued he observed a particular ancient mural depicting the fate of a battle involving the Vampire Champion and the Hylden Champion
Kain Observed a particular mural depicting the end of the battle between the two champions.
The Two champions wielding both The Reaver will eventually fight, and the one of the hero will fall.
By the fate wasn't certain as a late discovery trough Raziel's journey unravelled more information's regarding the fate of the champions.
Raziel was sceptic of the authenticity of the murals, depicting two different endings.
For more details of the prophecy I will invite you to watch this.
The Soul Reaver wielded By Raziel
The Soul Reaver the main weapon wielded by Raziel is the spectral Version of the original Reaver, this particular variant has different elements attached to it that can be unleash once fully charged.
These are the List of Soul Reaver manifested and used thought Raziel's journey in the various games:
Soul Reaver 1
Soul Reaver 2
Defiance
The Various Elements in which Raziel Soul Reaver will be imbued with
The Spectral Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the in the Spectral Realm.
This is the base weapon of Raziel.
The Material Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Realm.
This is the first Reaver that Raziel can use in the material realm, and is the base form of the Soul Reaver.
The Dark Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Real.
A shadow version of The Reaver, it will turn Raziel invisible when charged up, can create matter from darkness.
The Light Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Real.
It unleashes a light when fully charged that blinds enemies and it operate crystals oriented devices.
The Fire Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Real.
Burns enemies on contact when fully charged, it can be unleashed to create a flaming explosion setting enemies on fire, it also used to lit up on torches for puzzles.
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Real.
When fully charged it can launches shockwave that sends enemies flying, if spikes are present it will impale them. The Air will also extinguish fire from torches.
The Water Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Real.
Can turn water into ice and vice-versa. the ice can be climbed by Raziel.
The Earth Reaver
Can only be used by Raziel in the Material Real.
When equipped will make Raziel walk under water and when interacted with the earth symbol it will create earth bridges used as Platforms.
The Spirit Reaver
Can be used in Both The Spectral and Material Realms.
It is the strongest and most powerful Reaver variant that Raziel ever used.
It is obtained after Killing Kain and absorbing the
Spirit of Ariel into the Material Reaver.
It is a powered up version of the Base Reaver that Raviel use in the Material Realm
The order in which Raziel obtains the elemental Reaver in the Defiance is:
The Spirit Reaver is granted at the end of Defiance to Raziel, it is the only weapon that can manifest itself in both the Spectral and Material Realms.
It is the most powerful version of The Soul Reaver and the final weapon for the wraith.
I also want to notice that the Fire Reaver is the only elemental Reaver present in the first Soul Reaver game striking a strong reassemble to this particular vampire mural.
The mural depicted below is also encountered soon after obtaining the Fire Reaver in Defiance.
Raziel Narration of the Mural
The Soul Reaver wielded By Kain
In Defiance, Kain Soul Reaver will have different attributes obtained by reforming an ancient Vampiric emblem.
Each emblem part will unlock a new ability for The Reaver, enchanting the weapon with various vampiric elements and powers, and the control and manipulation time and space.
Kain emblem will be reassembled and each peace contains an element on which The Reaver will be imbued with elemental powers, that Kain can unleash on the enemies once fully charged. These are:
- Balance Middle emblem part - Blood Stone
- Flame Bottom emblem - Red Insignia
- Dimension Right emblem - Green Gem
- Lightning Left emblem - Yellow Insignia
- Time Top emblem - Blue Gem
The Completed Emblem in Game
Kain Vampiric Emblems
Balance Emblem
Enchant the Reaver with Blood Magic
Balance Reaver In Game
Causes a blast that damage enemies and strengthen its wielder attacks.
Flame Emblem
Enchant the Reaver with Fire Magic
Flame Reaver In Game
Deals fire damage to attacked foes, causes its enemies to attack each others and enhance Kain's own pyrokinetic abilities.
Dimension Emblem
Enchant the Reaver with Spatial Manipulation
Dimension Reaver In Game
Allows the wielder to move at the speed of light and make clones of themselves. Also allows the wielder to disperse the damage done to enemy to the the others close to that area.
Lighting Emblem
Enchant the Reaver with the Power of Electricity
Lightning Reaver In Game
Allows the wielder to manipulate lighting and release it in a burst of Energy in a wide area.
Time Emblem
Grants The Reaver control over Time
Time Reaver In Game
By attacking with this Reaver the time for enemies will be slowed down drastically,
unleashing the burst will speed up the movements of Kain.
The various emblems enchantments can only be used in game by Kain.
Kain Soul Reaver
Kain will absorb Raziel Soul with The Reaver at the end of Defiance, creating the Soul Reaver.
The weapon was so powerful that it was capable of harming the
Elder God at the End of Defiance.
The Characters
The
various characters of The Legacy of Kain interact between each others during the course of the various games and in different timelines. The two main Protagonists, Kain and Raziel, eventually meet, interact and clash with each other trough their journey in different eras, affecting the land of Nosgot with their actions, as their fate is tangled and bounded together.
Kain
A vampire antihero, main protagonist of the saga, tangled in plots to control the fate of his world.
Once a human nobleman, Kain was murdered and given the chance of taking revenge on his assassin by becoming a vampire.
He travels the lands of Nosgot in hopes of finding a cure for his Vampirism, murdering and conquering anything in his way. But gradually begins to view his transformation as a blessing.
Kain doesn't care of the consequences of his actions, as his selfishness and arrogance brought the world in ruins and caused the destruction of the pillars, trough the various timelines.
For centuries, he ruthlessly pursued a singular ambition: to restore the land of Nosgot, and return it to vampire rule.
Armed with the Soul Reaver and pursued by his fallen creation Raziel.
Kain time travelled many times to changes his own destiny, he believes in fate and pursuits an immortal journey trough a never ending cycle.
Five Centuries after the collapse of the pillars, Kain's conquest of Nosgot began, he had discovered a method of raising vampires.
He created various lieutenants, one of them, Raziel, will be
executed by Kain, as punishment for his transgression by
evolving,
before Him.
Raziel
Once a Vampire, revived by a mysterious benefactor, and returned as a wraith, to exchange his revenge.
Raziel is also strikes a similarity with the Hylden Champion, as both are wielders of a "flaming sword"
Raziel was the second in command and Loyal Lieutenant of Kain.
He evolved to such an extent that he surpassed Kain, a transgression which seemingly prompted his
execution. He was cast into the
Lake of the Dead.
Raziel was then resurrected by an ancient entity known as The Elder God, as his former champion, and returned to Nosgot as a wraith to cast his revenge.
The
Story of Raziel Is one of most intricated and detailed ones I ever had experienced. as he journey trough the World of Nosgot he systematically eliminates his fellow vampires brothers, growing stronger.
Lured trough time and confronted by terrible revelations, Raziel realized his terrible, inevitable future; he was destined to become the captive, ravenous spirit trapped within The Soul Reaver, and later the wraith blade itself.
Temporary rescued by Kain himself from this terrible fate. his lust of vengeance was gradually tempered, superseded by a higher quest for knowledge and freedom.
Due to his resurrection as a wraith Raziel has been ostensibly rendered exempt from the
Wheel of Fate, thus making him the only creature in the world that truly has
free will.
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