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I am an old fart (well… kinda) and a sucker for great acting and great stories, so Let’s Play Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain! What is Blood Omen? Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is an isometric RPG developed in 1996 by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics (released in 1997 for PC). This game is what started the Legacy of Kain series. Need I say more? Well, even if I do, I intend to explain stuff about Legacy of Kain in general during the LP. I tried to run this on a modern PC, and I can’t seem to watch the cutscenes. Will there be cutscenes? I can’t watch the cutscenes in-game either (I run the game on Win8), but the cutscenes will be edited in the episodes as appropriate. Is this a 100% run? Not likely. I wish I could say that I can 100% this game, but I honestly cannot. The world is just too big for me to 100% it. So, if I miss any secrets or optional non-secrets, do please point it out, it’s greatly appreciated! That being said, since it's 2015, I have access to the Internet, and, by extension, to a guide, and, as such, will try to get my hands on as many secrets as I can. Post-LP EDIT: no, this is not a 100% run. Spoiler policy? The thread has a strict no spoilers policy. 80% of the game is the combination of storyline, acting, and atmosphere, and many people haven’t played this game or any of the Legacy of Kain games (the last one came out 10 years ago, after all, and this one is 19 years old). As such, do please refrain from discussing anything that can spoil the storyline of Blood Omen or the Legacy of Kain series in general. Feel free to speculate, but PLEASE do not spoil stuff. Not only are spoilers inherently bad, but they can also cause confusion in the future due to how convoluted the series' storyline eventually becomes. I do this LP under an assumption that there are by now people who only know of the world of Nosgoth thanks to Nosgoth (the game) and who aren’t very familiar with the story barring some very general aspects. They are among the people the LP is conceived for, as I intend to actually explain the in-universe stuff in this Let’s Play, as opposed to narrating the gameplay in the “now I go here and hit this” style (I already tried that and it just doesn’t work  ). By the way: 1) there’s no way I’ll be able to maintain some kind of a schedule, as the times when I can record stuff are highly erratic and inconsistent, given that every recording requires a fair share of prior planning and, sometimes, even research. They will be semi-regular, however, as in, I will always have at least one update per week; 2) I will never ever speak over the in-game dialogue; 3) when there's an "uhh", it means that I'm looking for a word, as English isn't my first language, so apologies in advance  Videos                            
nutri_void fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Nov 4, 2015 |
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Apr 28, 2015 18:56
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| # ¿ May 17, 2025 10:11 |
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Yeah, that is true, the storyline really is difficult to follow on your own unless you play through all the LoK games multiple times (doing it once doesn't really cut it, as by the time of getting to Defiance one is not likely to remember what was going on in the past games and what happened when and what caused what). That's why mental notes (for understanding the future events), reminders (for remembering the past events), and random trivia (for everything) are quite helpful in understanding the storyline, which is actually fascinating. Well, except several loopholes, but these won't really come into play in BO, they will come in the later games and will have different reasons. It's such a shame that the series never got a proper conclusion >_< Btw, I should be able to post the update tomorrow
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Apr 29, 2015 17:28
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anilEhilated posted:Didn´t they turn it into an MMO or something? Clearly the proper conclusion is Kain becoming a raid boss. No, not really. They are making a MOBA called Nosgoth, which I have never played (and I don't think I will, I'm a singleplayer kind of guy), which is set in the same universe, but without Kain (afaik, he "mysteriously disappeared") and during the time period that hasn't been covered in the actual LoK games (which I will not specify because spoilers). Thankfully, they aren't using it to conclude the storyline. I think. I hope. Last time I checked it was an open beta, although that was a while ago
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Apr 29, 2015 17:34
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These are no rumors, Soul Reaver really was originally supposed to be the end of the series. In any case, I actually think that we will eventually get a proper conclusion (or another set of sequels, why the heck not *_*), although not in this decade
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Apr 29, 2015 20:48
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And we have an update! Now, I have a question for you. Should I keep the parts relatively short, or should I increase the length to 20-25 minutes, considering that I don't pump them out daily? nutri_void fucked around with this message at 00:54 on May 1, 2015 |
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Apr 30, 2015 10:09
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Yeah, you're right, thanks for the tip
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Apr 30, 2015 10:44
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It is live, yes. I personally don't think that it's a problem, because Actually, my attempt to do post-commentary turned out to be completely unsatisfactory, because issues arose with timing and I was speaking just way too fast when I knew all my text in advance
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Apr 30, 2015 14:23
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Hmm... well, it really depends on how long should be considered "frequently". I'm pretty sure that I would be able to post an update as soon as tomorrow, but even with shorter videos I still want to allow for some cooldown period for speculation. Add.: then again, the next 30 minutes of gameplay are about collecting stuff and teasing us with stuff that we can't get, and they will not bring any plot advancement... ----------------- Speaking of the Pillars, I never even actually noticed that three of them are, indeed, darker than the others! O_O Although it only shows in the cutscene, and not in-game (BO or any of the following games), and the pillars that are in near-charcoal state are the pillars of Dimension, Conflict, and Energy. Knowing the story of BO and other LoK games, I see it is a very random set of pillar guardians to be declared more insane than others. It may be just a graphical derp in the cutscene, but still... drat, now I'm curious *_* I will look into it nutri_void fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Apr 30, 2015 |
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Apr 30, 2015 21:17
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Longer videos and longer gaps it is, then!
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May 1, 2015 14:54
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Negatron00 posted:Noice, Yeah, it's been almost 10 years >< Should an actual continuation of the series be released someday, there would have to be recasting, and it would inevitably feel not right, even if the new voice actor were to nail the performance I remember playing Blood Omen for the first time (that actually was well after I have played all the other LoK games - I couldn't really play it on release due to me being only two years old back then), and the to-down view took a LOT of getting used to. As did the abscence of certain characters. And the controls. All the menus and selection screens in the game are tied to function keys, and I still mess them up. --- On an unrelated note, there will be an update tomorrow. It won't include any storyline advancement despite being about 30 minutes long, and will be basically a sequence of obtaining and showing off a bunch of new items and gameplay mechanics, so I don't feel bad about not leaving a larger gap between the updates in this case.
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May 1, 2015 21:01
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Negatron00 posted:drat i'm old...I was 14 in 96 I feel the same way when I see people born in 2000s as teenagers
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May 1, 2015 22:56
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So, we have an update! In this case there is zero story advancement, we just collect a bunch of spells and powerups. They are essential to the progression, but not to the story. As such, this time my commentary consists mostly of semi-random (although sometimes interesting) trivia about the lore and development of Blood Omen. I also ended up making some cuts and speed-ups, it was just too painful without them, so I ended with 21 minutes instead of the "around 30" that I promised. As this update does not contain story, the next one will be posted fairly soon, within a couple of days. --------------------- marasamune posted:I love this series to death. It's so well voice acted, especially for the time. I want to talk about a lot of things but as someone said above me, if you start talking about one thing you almost have to talk about everything. I'm looking forward to the next video, and hoping you continue through the whole series. I never got them to work (not on Win8), I just edited them into the videos
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May 2, 2015 17:10
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anilEhilated posted:Soul Reaver 1 managed to mix exploration, platforming and puzzle solving really well. The others... less so. Unfortunately, SR1 also had, unlike the other 4 games, block puzzles ><
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May 2, 2015 17:49
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I'm pretty sure that the PC version of SR1 wasn't a port in the first place, and that Steam version is basically a PC version that is tweaked to be compatible with modern systems. At least that's what I think it is (EDIT: Never mind, it's a PS1 version port) Also, it's perfectly fine to talk here about LoK games in general and not specifically BO1, the only requirement is no spoilers (heck, I'm barely an hour into the game, there isn't much BO to discuss yet anyway), so no need to apologize nutri_void fucked around with this message at 19:44 on May 2, 2015 |
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May 2, 2015 19:17
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I dont know posted:Nosgoth, the online game, wasn't actually an originally conceived as such. It was supposed to be the online component to a single player game called Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun. The single player game was cancelled and the multiplayer component was released on its own similar to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Ultimately, I expect there will be a mainline series game at some point, though likely with an entirely different devs, but that has happened a few different times already. I know at least 3 different and unconnected development teams have made games in the series. That being said, Dead Sun was supposed to be an in-continuity reboot with completely different characters and an independent storyline. Unless, of course, the Dead Sun that had its singleplayer component killed in favor of the multiplayer Nosgoth and the Dead Sun which we recently learned bits of information about are de-facto different games (which is entirely possible).
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May 3, 2015 00:14
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These glimpses, as well as the fact that a lot of stuff remained open for interpretation (e.g. the question of what exactly is a vampire in that setting), may actually be the very reason why the stuff introduced in later games by a different writing team was weaved into the overall lore as smoothly as it was
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May 3, 2015 19:18
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Wait what is this An actual update I basically talk about Nupraptor and his insanity without spoiling stuff. Decided to cut this one off where I did in order to make Nupraptor's retreat a separate episode, which is already recorded and will be up tomorrow
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May 9, 2015 17:53
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marasamune posted:
Yes, you can. However, the people you drink from need to be in front of you meristem posted:No, it's the former (it was a reboot). I meant that after the Dark Prophecy was cancelled the original concepts for Dead Sun may have, theoretically, been including the continuation of the LoK storyline, and then changed for a reboot. It is theoretically possible nutri_void fucked around with this message at 12:31 on May 10, 2015 |
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May 10, 2015 11:16
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And here's the update. I deiberatly avoid talking for the first part of the episode. the Nupraptor's theme is one of the best drat soundtracks in the series, and the thing is just too dark and gritty and awesome to talk over *_*
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May 10, 2015 21:03
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Patchwork posted:I'm glad someone going over these games and hope to continue seeing more. I'll probably stick to doing them in the order they were released. The timelime is warped multiple times, and I think that it'll be less convoluted if I do them in release order and just put "...and to understand where the hell did this plot point come from and/or why it makes no sense, watch this thing in a previous game" links as needed
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May 10, 2015 21:59
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Err.... I guess I'll just have to have faith. Last time I played through the entire game was on Vista, so I have no idea whether it'll get stuck now.
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May 10, 2015 23:56
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I knew about the lawsuits... I knew not about the child porn
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May 11, 2015 12:15
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anilEhilated posted:I'm fairly sure Omen 2 is an alternate universe thing. It's like "what if Kain awoke in a world ruled by horrible writing" or some such shite. No, it's not an alternate universe. It's an altered timelime. The way things came to be as they were in BO2 is first mentioned in the very end of SR2 and is properly explained (with the expection of one loophole*) in Defiance *there are more loopholes, but only one is relevant in determining the relationship between the events of BO2 and Defiance
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May 11, 2015 12:25
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Hey, you learn something new every day!
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May 11, 2015 18:51
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BO2 is fun for the first hour and a half (largely because it has, imo, the best combat system in the series) Then it gets repetitive as holy hell And then that wtf plot point/loophole/continuity screw-up comes in And the character designs And getting power upgrades by stomach extension There's a lot wrong with BO2 That said, I also get some guilty enjoyment out of it, at least for the first several hours (although the endgame is insufferable) Defiance and SR1 also get repetitive, but they have more things on repeat and Michael Bell, so it doesn't get boring anywhere near as fast nutri_void fucked around with this message at 00:21 on May 13, 2015 |
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May 13, 2015 00:17
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I think that flays are programmed to move towards all NPCs. In Steinchenroe we encountered Irmok (the lunatic who hints at the disguise form), and if you throw a flay at him, it will track towards him and circle around him for a good minute (the guy is invulnerable). In hindsight, I probably should've shown that offD_W posted:Episode 1 - The intro here mostly takes place about 500 years before the events of BO except for the murder of Ariel (the girl in front of the scales) which happened about 30 years ago. This is really the only part of the game that doesn't explain it's story very well. Who and why those people are murdered is never really discussed in this game I think. I can't quite remember. Regardless it's not really a spoiler to say that they were Pillar guardians and were murdered because someone convinced them that committing genocide on vampires was a good idea. Yeah, and they don't really explain it until SR2 iirc, which is why I talked about how the intro gave backstory for Malek, not Nupraptor (whose story is basically "Ariel got killed and everything went to crap"). Didn't want to start talking about how many years ago were these events happening, as it's not really relevant until SR2 nutri_void fucked around with this message at 14:06 on May 13, 2015 |
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May 13, 2015 13:58
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In case anyone's wondering: the updates will start again this weekend, I just have a thesis and an exam to get done with beforehand
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May 21, 2015 21:07
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Well, that took me a while But hey, at least I manage to switch to post-commentary I won't be disappearing for prolonged periods of time like that anymore
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Jul 13, 2015 13:35
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I'm not letting it die, no way
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Jul 14, 2015 01:59
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Update!
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Jul 25, 2015 16:54
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I think that nobody in the universe knows how to run until the first temporal paradox happens
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Jul 26, 2015 12:25
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An update is finally here. This one took a long time, but that's because there's a bonus video this time, which took a hilariously long time to make
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Aug 8, 2015 17:56
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The whirlwind is awesome... as long as there aren't any enemies nearby ><
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Aug 9, 2015 17:12
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We have an update. Didn't think I'd manage to squeeze the entire Termogent Forest in a single video, but I did
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Aug 11, 2015 22:39
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Thankfully, on PC these loading screens take the time they should take on PC - a fraction of a second. Never had to cut them outZain posted:When you randomly died - It's the sad thing about the programming of old isometric games. Not sure of the "Hitbox" stuff on them but they've always been awkward as hell. Yeah, sometimes enemies will try to hit you and their attacks will go right through without hurting you, sometimes you will be on the receiving end. And, of course,. there are always sprites being stuck in each other (I think I've even shown this in one of the earlier videos)
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Aug 12, 2015 10:11
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A small announcement: after I post a new update tomorrow, there will be a short hiatus (1.5-2 weeks). I am moving to a different country in a few days and won't be able to transfer the game progress to a laptop, so I will have to focus on recording the game before I leave, then transfer the footage and record the commentary once I settle in
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Aug 15, 2015 21:39
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And here's the promised update Edit: also, there will be no hiatus, I have managed to record a LOT more than I expected (I am already in the very endgame) in advance and will proceed to make a bunch of videos and publish them every 1-2 days. The frequency will be compensated by the updates being more bite-sized, 10-15 minutes long (usually, although that does vary sometimes depending on the nice natural points in the game to cut a vid off) nutri_void fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Aug 16, 2015 |
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Aug 16, 2015 13:52
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Thanks for pointing these dialogue buts out I wonder if these brides that you encounter before reaching the mansion are just reused sprites or if they are actual brides. Also, the deep guttural grunts are also somewhat out of place
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Aug 17, 2015 11:27
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The update is here, the quest to save the world is temporarily ditched because FULL MOON WEREVOLVES TELEPORTERS THE FUTURE KILL-ALL LAKE
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Aug 17, 2015 21:15
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It does, I screwed up ._. Thankfuly, all that really is there by that point is a bunch of artifacts
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Aug 18, 2015 10:10
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