Legacy of Kain Series

[X Prime]

I remember that part of the community, but in my times it were just what you'd nowadays call "gamer girls" who'd write their gay fanfiction for other gamer girls to gush about, but that type of subhuman would see sex anywhere.

Well yeah, the problem is some of them have graduated into writing for actual games.

 

[Tepes Thot]

I remember that part of the community, but in my times it were just what you'd nowadays call "gamer girls" who'd write their gay fanfiction for other gamer girls to gush about, but that type of subhuman would see sex anywhere. The games have NO romance whatsoever. BO2 had some teasing with Umah, but - as expected of Kain - his ambition was stronger than his desire. iirc the only prominent romantic couple in the franchise were Ariel and Nupraptor, and we all know what happened when the former got murdered.

One of the reasons I stopped asking for a new one right now. We know exactly where it’d be going.

I’m not saying romance can’t exist in mature writing, that’d be insane, but I think not falling into stereotypical supernatural = degeneracy has really made this series age like unique wine.

They bring it back now and it’ll be George R.R. Martin’s take on Kain and his council sons.

 

[SpellforceFan]

I’m not saying romance can’t exist in mature writing

BG2 (yes, 2, this rot began early) romances and how they were handled in the context of the game, managed to convince me that it's impossible to integrate them into the game and preserve the pacing and tone of it. I haven't played a single game with romance elements that weren't cringe. Not even one. They always stand out if they're an optional side quest/activity, so unless they're seamlessly incorporated into the main plot, and therefore unavoidable, there's no way to not make them seem added as an afterthought, or - much worse - a fanservice to "shippers" and gaming girls. I'm a completionist, and unless romance sidequests are required for an amazingly powerful reward or for a "golden" ending of the game, I avoid them.

LoK/SR series narrative perfection can be at least in part attributed that it focuses on main characters' ambitions, struggles and ideologies, instead of vampire sex. If I wanted to read low quality romance writing, I'd play a jap sex game.

 

[Hermiöne Granger]

Looks like Saber fixed the statue in the Soul Reaver Remaster to look more female like she is supposed to look. All the gaslighting wokies who were claiming there was no literally difference between the original and the remaster must be seething right now

before:

after:

 

[BrunoMattei]

Looks like Saber fixed the statue in the Soul Reaver Remaster to look more female like she is supposed to look. All the gaslighting wokies who were claiming there was no literally difference between the original and the remaster must be seething right now

View attachment 6683980

before:
View attachment 6683972

after:
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That's cool, but did Saber comment on the block puzzles?

 

[SpellforceFan]

Anyone played the remasters yet? Be honest, how bad are they. I'm expecting something like Scrapland+GTA remastered, so reflective surfaces everywhere + AI upscaled textures.

 

[Gravemind]

Anyone played the remasters yet? Be honest, how bad are they. I'm expecting something like Scrapland+GTA remastered, so reflective surfaces everywhere + AI upscaled textures.

Maybe don't rely on the nu/v/ rapefugee camp for "honest" game reviews. For the record, those are all the negative reviews for the game as it stands at the time of this post. Every single one.

 

[SpellforceFan]

Maybe don't rely on the nu/v/ rapefugee camp for "honest" game reviews. For the record, those are all the negative reviews for the game as it stands at the time of this post. Every single one.

Well, it's a remaster, so I didn't expect any QoL changes, but it's good to know that they didn't even try. Anyway, it's all about the characters, narrative, dialogues and quotes.

 

[Jerri's Kid]

I'm enjoying it so far. If you feel like it you can toggle back to the original graphics, but I like the new look. It plays like I remember it and it has the dynamic sound of the PS1 version. Some people complained about the sound being different because they played the broken PC version that doesn't use dynamic sound.

I've only experienced one crash and that was probably because of a browser tab I had open. The save files still worked after that. The sound for the second bell in the bell puzzle in the Silent Cathedral (the one that shatters the window allowing you to float to the timed passage that you open with a crank) cuts off abruptly but the puzzle still works.

I've seen more dramatic remasters than this one (Nightdive's remaster of The Thing has a lot of changes made to it, for instance) but as far as I can tell I don't see any censorship and the game runs and plays well, which is great since I could never get the PC port of SR1 to work right.

The game also has "lost" levels but they aren't connected to the main game. You access them from the menu but if you want extra content this is nice. I haven't finished SR1 yet nor have I started SR2. I've been told that SR2 doesn't have as many changes, but it's a newer game so I didn't expect a major graphics refresh.

 

[Lone MacReady II]

Not really interested in the gameplay but the story was immediately interesting. I'm glad to have seen it. The Cthulhic fucker in the water has such an amazing vocal performance, which is saying something for this game. Great Lovecraftian tribute.

 

[Jerri's Kid]

Not really interested in the gameplay but the story was immediately interesting. I'm glad to have seen it. The Cthulhic fucker in the water has such an amazing vocal performance, which is saying something for this game. Great Lovecraftian tribute.

Yeah, Tony Jay was awesome (RIP). These games used a very talented pool of old school voice actors that make modern VAs sound like dog shit by comparison. Nearly all of the LoK VAs are either dead or retired, which is the main reason why I would never want these games to be remade.

 

[Jerri's Kid]

I forgot to add a few other things regarding the remasters.

They added a compass and a more helpful map that shows what collectibles you have yet to obtain in each region. I never found the world to be all that huge and confusing, but I'm sure it's helpful to many people.

You also have control over the camera to some extent. It doesn't always work that well in some locations but it is helpful much like the camera changes in the DS version of Super Mario 64.

Lastly, they added a day/night cycle that was cut from the original. It can make the game a bit more atmospheric at times, but sometimes it makes a few areas a little too dark at night so I have mixed feelings about it.

 

[Lone MacReady II]

Yeah, Tony Jay was awesome (RIP). These games used a very talented pool of old school voice actors that make modern VAs sound like dog shit by comparison. Nearly all of the LoK VAs are either dead or retired, which is the main reason why I would never want these games to be remade.

His voice just drips with a stern and utterly unique cadence. Every word hangs on your ears and demands you pay attention.

 

[TrainWreckWatcher]

Anyone bought it? Curious how it is.

 

[Max Free]

It's basically just a graphical update, retouching the textures, some shadows, some (not all) formerly pre-rendered cutscenes are now rendered live, some QoL features were added, and they re-introduced a formerly scrapped day-night cycle in SR1, making some areas practically unplayable without a torch, especially the cathedral at night. Thats it for the main game, no further changes has been made. Even some misplaced texture mappings have been "preserved". Even the out-of-bounds vampire model in SR2 is still there were she was in the original (even tough I kinda like they didn't removed her). For all I know, they used the same engine as the originals. You can switch inbetween modern and old graphics via F1 seamlessly.

They packed in some of the lost levels of the original SR1 concept under the "extra" section in the launcher for you to play, notably the undercity with the human priestess, the turelim territory with a boss fight, and Kains retreat, all dysfunctional and only meant for you to be explored. With the help of cheats, the smokestack is actually beatable, and crashes your game when you do. Also, some areas of them can't be reached without cheats.

Some of the translations are clearly just AI without any double-checking. That sometimes leads to some funny translations, like "Melchiah" being translated to "Milchtier" (milk animal) in German.

I appreciate the effort they went through, but the visuals were never the important part of the game in the first place. The lost levels are actually the highlight for me. They are not much, but seeing them gave me some closure. I do wonder why no attempt has been made to restore the original SR1 ending as an "extra", since they did seem to have complete access to the source code, and even audio translations for a lot of the dialogue into many languages pre-exist.

 

[Tepes Thot]

I haven’t had time to touch it yet, but everything I’ve seen/heard sounds like what I wanted. I was pretty pleased with the TR remasters, and Saber seems like the last devs that actually listen to fans, so I’m excited to try it.

 

[Azur Alliance]

It's basically just a graphical update, retouching the textures, some shadows, some (not all) formerly pre-rendered cutscenes are now rendered live, some QoL features were added, and they re-introduced a formerly scrapped day-night cycle in SR1, making some areas practically unplayable without a torch, especially the cathedral at night. Thats it for the main game, no further changes has been made. Even some misplaced texture mappings have been "preserved". Even the out-of-bounds vampire model in SR2 is still there were she was in the original (even tough I kinda like they didn't removed her). For all I know, they used the same engine as the originals. You can switch inbetween modern and old graphics via F1 seamlessly.

They packed in some of the lost levels of the original SR1 concept under the "extra" section in the launcher for you to play, notably the undercity with the human priestess, the turelim territory with a boss fight, and Kains retreat, all dysfunctional and only meant for you to be explored. With the help of cheats, the smokestack is actually beatable, and crashes your game when you do. Also, some areas of them can't be reached without cheats.

Some of the translations are clearly just AI without any double-checking. That sometimes leads to some funny translations, like "Melchiah" being translated to "Milchtier" (milk animal) in German.

I appreciate the effort they went through, but the visuals were never the important part of the game in the first place. The lost levels are actually the highlight for me. They are not much, but seeing them gave me some closure. I do wonder why no attempt has been made to restore the original SR1 ending as an "extra", since they did seem to have complete access to the source code, and even audio translations for a lot of the dialogue into many languages pre-exist.

Oh that's nice. At least the cut content finally got added back in somehow.

 

[TrainWreckWatcher]

It's basically just a graphical update, retouching the textures, some shadows, some (not all) formerly pre-rendered cutscenes are now rendered live, some QoL features were added, and they re-introduced a formerly scrapped day-night cycle in SR1, making some areas practically unplayable without a torch, especially the cathedral at night. Thats it for the main game, no further changes has been made.

This sounds fantastic.
Welp time to buy myself a treat.