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Square Enix registered Legacy of Kain related domain
- Thread starter Pooya
- Start date
Last time I checked Arkham City/Asyum sold 10million copies combined and Darksiders 1 did 1.5M.
lordchompy
Member
And Darksiders 2 was the death knell for THQ. There is no way Square-Enix is spending 20-25 million on a LOK game when Defiance pretty much flopped.
From a business perspective there is some money to be made, due largely to vampires being back in vogue and the fans of LOK who are waiting for a next installment, but it would have to be a 5-10 million dollar adventure game or a 15 million dollar linear action game that scraps the gameplay of the predecessors and just draws in action fans interested in the vampire angle.
Were I Square-enix, I would just remake Blood Omen 1 in 3D with the same top down perspective and some gameplay enhancements and then sell it as a downloadable title on PSN/XLA/Steam. That's a 1M project and a game that most LOK fans would buy.
You're welcome Square-Enix.
People should brace for the impact of a streamlined, cinematic AAA-blockbuster game with tacked-on multiplayer. That is, unless they actually have a tighter and more focused budget, but I doubt Square-Enix Eidos would somehow fund such a game.
My guess: It'll probably be a God of War clone.
My guess: It'll probably be a God of War clone.
THQ spent 75 MILLIONS on Darksiders 2 which was too much. A reasonable 15-25million should get the job done with this game (For reference: Castlevania LoS=approx 14M, Gears of War 1=15M, Arkham Asylum=Relatively low budget as sales target was 700k if I'm not wrong)
Hmm, I never really knew anything about this series. I just kinda new it existed, didn't know it was actually popular or considered to have an amazing story. Do the games still hold up? Still worth playing on PC? The world needs more Zelda-ish games (which I've heard these are, at least somewhat).
ChosenPredator
Banned
jeez if they did it like that the whole world would explode with hype...that is the type of tune that can be remember like halo/zelda/mario theme gat damn
oh and the voice acting is some of the best ever
Hmmm Blood Omen 1 is really playable, it's a traditional RPG with gothic tones. Yet to be honest getting the original working is a haze so I recommend the PSX version (Emulated or on a Vita/PS3). I think this is not a good entry point to the series.
Soul Reaver combat has aged, but it's still playable. It's a good metroidvania/zelda esque game, especially for its time; you'll know if you like the story in the first 30 minutes. If you do so, then you'll keep playing. The game is also the best open world in the PSX and the PC version has good mods that makes it look pretty good. Vanilla version is still ok if you like old school graphics.
Soul Reaver 2 is playable too, but at this point you should be too engrossed in the story to let that bother you. Has the best dialogue in a videogame, probably. Not as metdoirvaniaish, but still ZeldaEsque.
Blood Omen 2 is unplayable. Don't get near to it. Read the wiki or something.
Defiance as aged a bit as it was too combat focused. Yet it's solid if you like playing retro games. This acts as closure so I'm sure f you got his far you'll like to know what happens. Powerful stuff.
So, what can I say... play this series NOW
Z
ZombieFred
Unconfirmed Member
Dark Siders had an insane budget, something like this would be around 15-20 for the project to ever go ahead. The metroid "zelda" vania genre is still a market full of potential to publishers, when you look at games such as Batman Arkham Asylum/Arkham City and even Dark Siders, these titles sold very well, and Legacy of Kain has an incredible world that is full of rich lore and many things to really stand out, even more than DarkSiders. Since Square doesn't have that kind of title in their IP catalogue, Legacy of Kain is their perfect match for it. Even Eidos's life president has already said in the past he would love to bring it back.
Frankie Williamson
Member
Blood Omen 2 isn't even considered canon for the series. I don't think it is anyway.
Exentryk
Member
Concept art for this new title - http://bit.ly/U5lmuV
darkjedi187
Member
Great news, I really hope they don't screw it up. I was one of the great series I thoroughly enjoyed.
Put me down in the camp that would be thrilled if it still stuck with the original timeline or one of its many possible permutations, just from perhaps a new perspective.
As has been reiterated, time travel is such an integral part of this series, that I'm sure Amy Hennig and crew could figure out something if they really wanted to make sure that new people could come in without being too lost, while not alienating long-time fans.
...Besides, what's the point of bringing a property like this back, if you're not going to reel in the original fan base in some meaningful way?
As has been reiterated, time travel is such an integral part of this series, that I'm sure Amy Hennig and crew could figure out something if they really wanted to make sure that new people could come in without being too lost, while not alienating long-time fans.
...Besides, what's the point of bringing a property like this back, if you're not going to reel in the original fan base in some meaningful way?
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
You're gonna like this, Mama.
Mama Robotnik
Member
I remember reading the Richard Buxton reference to an animated pitch a while back, but I (maybe mistakenly) dismissed it (in the nicest way) as an amateur project.
If I were to - highly speculatively - try to combine that storyboard with similar visual references in the series - in the context of one of the Wars for Nosgoth I mentioned in my previous post, I'd offer the following:
Vampire Hunter mercenaries - last seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, including the giant with the big hammer.
Zephon, Kain's vampire son, fighting in the first wave of a war against these humans.
The armies of man, armoured and resolute, guarding their one chance to win the war - the towering (Silenced) Cathedral.
A possible interpretation of the storyboard - we are witnessing a scene from the "The humans/The Razielim/Kain's Remnant Empire" war referenced in my linked post. It is the era after Raziel's execution. Zephon is leading his clan into war against the humans, to fight them for the Silenced Cathedral. The opening fodder of the war are hired Vampire Hunter mercenaries - while the battle lines are held by Sarafan-like warrior-priests. As Soul Reaver shows us, Zephon and his clan win the battle.
The War for Nosgoth in this speculation, therefore takes place in the millenia between Raziel's execution and resurrection.
That's my completely speculative, near-guesswork take on the image. Should the game take place in this era, we would see the following events:
-The genocide (or time-displacement) of the Razielim. The razing of the Razielim territories.
-The battle of the Silenced Cathedral (as per the storyboard above).
-The invasion of the Ash Village, and the impaling of Dumah.
-The cataclysms of Nosgoth as it descends from death-world to wasteland.
-The fortification of the human citadel.
-Kain's early experiments with the Chronoplast time machine (possibly linked to the Razielim disappearance?)
-The devolution of the clans, and the grotesque mutation of the surviving lieutenants.
-The expansion of The Elder God.
Certainly an interest era to visit.
If I were to - highly speculatively - try to combine that storyboard with similar visual references in the series - in the context of one of the Wars for Nosgoth I mentioned in my previous post, I'd offer the following:
Vampire Hunter mercenaries - last seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, including the giant with the big hammer.
Zephon, Kain's vampire son, fighting in the first wave of a war against these humans.
The armies of man, armoured and resolute, guarding their one chance to win the war - the towering (Silenced) Cathedral.
A possible interpretation of the storyboard - we are witnessing a scene from the "The humans/The Razielim/Kain's Remnant Empire" war referenced in my linked post. It is the era after Raziel's execution. Zephon is leading his clan into war against the humans, to fight them for the Silenced Cathedral. The opening fodder of the war are hired Vampire Hunter mercenaries - while the battle lines are held by Sarafan-like warrior-priests. As Soul Reaver shows us, Zephon and his clan win the battle.
The War for Nosgoth in this speculation, therefore takes place in the millenia between Raziel's execution and resurrection.
That's my completely speculative, near-guesswork take on the image. Should the game take place in this era, we would see the following events:
-The genocide (or time-displacement) of the Razielim. The razing of the Razielim territories.
-The battle of the Silenced Cathedral (as per the storyboard above).
-The invasion of the Ash Village, and the impaling of Dumah.
-The cataclysms of Nosgoth as it descends from death-world to wasteland.
-The fortification of the human citadel.
-Kain's early experiments with the Chronoplast time machine (possibly linked to the Razielim disappearance?)
-The devolution of the clans, and the grotesque mutation of the surviving lieutenants.
-The expansion of The Elder God.
Certainly an interest era to visit.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Where's that storyboard from?
Mama Robotnik
Member
http://www.oxm.co.uk/50109/new-lega...vealed-possible-artwork-spotted-in-portfolio/
(They also refer to me as a "Kain sage" which is quite nice).
Mama Robotnik
Member
Vampmaster over at the Eidos forums has discovered that the company that the storyboard above was produced for - has other connections with Square-Enix, whereas Corlagon shows evidence that the source is desperately trying to remove all reference to the image and Legacy of Kain from his linkedin/website.
Paracelsus
Member
Square should have bought Vigil Games and had them handle the reboot.
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
Now you are free to reclaim your TRUE destiny Raziel! If you're willing to pay the price of 4.99$
Stop encouraging him for regurgitating that lame "protect her" meme. It unfunny enough in Tomb Raider threads.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Can't wait for Mike Tyson wiggling in a chair trying to sell me a Raziel colored 360 controller
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
He did not survive the meme. I have only spared him from the total dissolution.
Darkmakaimura
Member
My lore is a bit rusty, but isn't Hash'ak'gik really just a Hylden or was he some other entity? Because I recall the whole thing of demons just being Hylden who were deformed after being in that alternate dimension (Hell?) for so long. Either way, I wanted Hash'ak'gik to be something more than just a deformed humanoid or vampire. I really did not like the direction they went with Blood Omen 2 and Defiance.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Well. In Blood Omen, Hash'ak'gik is a demon, also known as the Unspoken (called that by Ariel) and the Dark Entity (called that by Silicon Knights on their now-defunct FAQ). Cults of the Unspoken existed in Nosgoth history (mentioned in a book Kain reads at Stalhberg), with the altar in the Avernus catacombs being a prime example. He's a demon with the ability for possession, and he periodically possesses Mortanius, namely when he uses his body to murder Ariel and cause Nupraptor's insanity to infect the Circle and the Pillars. His exact agenda wasn't elaborated upon much further than that (it was the "first act in his theatre of Grand Guignol", in his own words, but Kain kills him after that so who knows what the other acts would be... xD), but we can assume it involved the destruction, or at least the complete corruption of Nosgoth for his own ends.
Now, in the sequels, the BO2 team (unrelated to either the original Silicon Knights writers nor the Soul Reaver writers... -_-) made shit up about "the Hylden", which was full of plot holes. So when Defiance came around, they had to retcon a whole lot of stuff: not just the plot and world-building elements introduced in the Soul Reaver games, but the Hylden nonsense as well. So, since Hash'ak'gik was an entity worshipped in the Avernus catacombs, they made it so that the cultists were unknowingly worshipping the Hylden-possessed body of a time-travelled, devolved Turel. Turel was obviously not the Unspoken from BO1; you could argue that the Hylden were the (retconned) race of the BO1 Unspoken, since you see this entity take brief possession control of Mortanius in Defiance as well, and we know Mortanius was possessed by the Unspoken, but it's never been quite clear to me how the Unspoken and his Pillar-ruining plan fits into the whole Hylden scheme. I might need to replay those games.
I played the hell out of BO1 and the original Soul Reaver, but the other two games got quite convoluted and my mind tends to glaze over all that time-travelling prophetical Hylden/vampire race paradox shit. Haha.we know Mortanius was possessed by the Unspoken, but it's never been quite clear to me how the Unspoken and his Pillar-ruining plan fits into the whole Hylden scheme. I might need to replay those games.
The unspoken is the hylden lord who wants to destroy the pillars for their return. Yep, the one Kain killed in BO2 and appeared later in defiance for setting up the events of.. Blood Omen 2.
Amy Henning was reaaaaaally good with retcons.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
So this article (a rumour thing, nothing confirmed) says it's gonna be a "Soul Reaver reboot":
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/20/rumour-crystal-dynamics-working-on-soul-reaver-reboot/
Meh...
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/20/rumour-crystal-dynamics-working-on-soul-reaver-reboot/
Meh...
Cameron122
Member
Why do you meh at possibly glorious news?
Darkmakaimura
Member
That's how I understood it. Hash'ak'gik is really just a Hylden Lord because demons are just deformed Hylden anyhow. I don't like it, but that's how I understood it.
I love this series to death. It was my favorite series during the PS1 era. I hope all the rumors are true and we get a sequel, not a remake or reboot.
One word. Reboot.
Cameron122
Member
I hope they go the MK9/Star Trek route and make it a reboot that recognizes the previous material.
Mama Robotnik
Member
I'm really calmer than you might imagine. Nine years does that. If they announce this as an exclusive iOS card game with the programmers doing all the voice acting, then so be it.
Darkmakaimura
Member
I'd be somewhat okay with this if it's time travel involved.
Oh fuck, I hope not. Don't place this game on mobile, especially if it's a new title. I doubt they would go that route anyways.
Darkmakaimura
Member
I really hate you people. I want to buy Defiance off of GOG right this moment. :\
In reality Hashakgik is not "someone" but the name the humans called a possessed. turel. In the purest sense, hashakgik is the name given to the many hyldeh that possessed turel and spoke through him as their vessel. Hash and the hyldenlord-unspeakable are separate characters even if BloodbOmen intended it different back then.
I love this story
Darkmakaimura
Member
See, it gets all confusing.
According to this, Hylden Lord, Hash'ak'gik and Unspeakable are all the same.
http://legacyofkain.wikia.com/wiki/Hylden_Lord
That's what I always thought but like I said, all the time travel and retconning....
Er, sorry if I'm butting in, but I'm one of the two lead guys working on that wiki and we haven't really finished that particular article good and proper. We're doing our best, but there is still a lot of banal and erroneous nonsense on that website from before we got there. Don't trust it completely.
In Legacy of Kain lore as it stands, Hash'ak'gik isn't really a character, he's a fabricated god invented by the Hylden to control humans and bring down the Pillars. Technically he's Turel, but not a god or anything of the sort. Turel was posing as a god under Hylden duress. Silicon Knights had their own ideas about Hash'ak'gik, but those are long since obsolete.
The smart thing about this retcon, to me, is that in BO1, there was a quote attributed to Hash which went "bring me your first born, and shed their blood upon the altar of the world". Who else in this story shed the blood of their first born on the altar of the world? Kain, when he condemned Raziel. Who was the executioner? Turel.
I could talk more about what makes it a clever solution. It is a bit confusing, but keep in mind that none of this was thought up in advance when Soul Reaver was developed. It's just Amy Hennig linking coincidences from BO1 and SR1, while being forced to make something sensible out of the abject crap she was handed by the Blood Omen 2 storywriters, and managing to make it all look plausible.
Oceansized
Banned
Spectral/ Material Realm puzzles are what made the Soul Reaver games for me.
Mechanically, the idea of switching to the ethereal plane where the environment deforms and time stops is still sound, and has more potential than what we saw in just the three Raziel-featuring games. I mean, imagine what amazing puzzles and solutions you could come up with now that we have actual physics engines.
If anyone played Quantum Conundrum you could kind of see where I'm getting at.
Mechanically, the idea of switching to the ethereal plane where the environment deforms and time stops is still sound, and has more potential than what we saw in just the three Raziel-featuring games. I mean, imagine what amazing puzzles and solutions you could come up with now that we have actual physics engines.
If anyone played Quantum Conundrum you could kind of see where I'm getting at.
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