Legacy of Kain: Defiance - Review / Retrospective

Рет қаралды 15,819

Күн бұрын

The final part of the Legacy of Kain saga, completely and utterly spoiled, where the stories of our protagonists receive what for now is the ending of their stories. How does it hold up? Is the story interesting? Do I complain about aspect ratio stuff even more?
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Пікірлер: 97

@numberfourtytwo 7 ай бұрын

In regards to Vorador's confusing fate, that can be blamed on content being cut from Defiance. They intended there to be a chapter where Kain resurrects Vorador by returning his head to his body, but it had to be removed due to time constraints. In Soul Reaver 2 Raziel encounters a statue of Mobious holding Vorador's severed head, that is Vorador's actual head and Kain would have retrieved it from there.

@KingLich451 7 ай бұрын

I wish we could see, or even play the story of Vorador, back when he was a Chad Vampire Lord

@JuanPerez-cs1gx 7 ай бұрын

That would have been an interesting parallel: Raziel resurrecting Janos and Kain Vorador. I think the issue began because the development of Blood Omen 2 started before SR1 was released and with a different team, and was released after SR2 was. So Defiance besides having to advance the story and answer questions from SR1 and SR2 also had to "patch" the BO2 story in (Writing SR2 and Defiance must have been a real pain for Amy Henning). However they didn't manage to include that cut content ^.

@arx3516 Ай бұрын

@@JuanPerez-cs1gx It is fitting because just as Janos was a mentor to Raziel, Vorador was (kind of) a mentor to Kain.

@knight_gabriel 7 ай бұрын

I'm a simple man - I see a lengthy Legacy of Kain retrospective - I watch it. Doesn't matter how much I've played those games and how many vids I've seen, it's something that's gotta be done. Legacy of Kain must live on through us. It's the wheel of fate!

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

So we are all bound, to the inevitable turning of the OOH! What's that video? XD

@khyronbradford 6 ай бұрын

“English is not my first language”….proceeds to speak English with a beautiful Shakespearan accent.

@finntrovert 6 ай бұрын

I've been thinking about how to properly convey how much I appreciate this compliment, and so far the only part I have decided on is: Thank you.

@khyronbradford 6 ай бұрын

@@finntrovertyour welcome, btw your retrospective videos have been a nice companion to my nostalgia.

@versebuchanan512 5 ай бұрын

Playing as Raziel: "Man, I bet the Sarafan were such badasses..." Kain: *Force tosses a fully trained Sarafan soldier onto a wall spike before he can get close* Me: "...oh"

@psxcsomething6114 7 ай бұрын

You know its funny that I was just looking for legacy of kain videos and this video just gets uploaded 24 minutes ago. This is clearly a message from the elder gods to watch all the legacy of Kain videos from this channel.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

It is the eternal cycle of write, record, upload, to which all souls are bound.

@christopher6547 7 ай бұрын

There's another good retrospective of the series (more on story than gameplay). Just two guys reminiscing about it. Channel is called The Save Point, though I don't think they make stuff anymore.

@polyemphis 7 ай бұрын

The climax of Defiance is so awesome.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Very much so!

@quarkbent9165 7 ай бұрын

As someone who mostly experienced the long tale of the saga in a mix of first and second-hand, i.e. playing Soul Reaver but watching others play the later entries, reaching the end of this series has been quite revealing, filling in a spot here and there that I missed or forgot over the years. Thank you for putting this whole set together. I do concur with the thinking that variety introduces novelty into life, and helps reduce burnout. In fact, I pretty much concur with everything I heard in terms of what you're planning :) Best of luck, even if you must defy the inexorable weave of the Norns.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching these! I'm glad if I managed to weave together a video series that was at least somewhat informative and interesting. It's already more than I expected I could do when I started. XD

@bannin2916 7 ай бұрын

Great job on the video! I appreciate the fact that you are very fair with your critiques at the end and don't fall into comedic tearing apart of the shortfalls like many others would do. Keep up the great work! No issue with the length.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Thank you! I do my best to try and give an honest perspective, which means acknowledging shortfalls of things I like, and the positives of things I'm not the biggest fan of.

@arx3516 Ай бұрын

All games except Blood Omen 1 were voice acted in several languages, and Soulreaver 2 and Blood Omen 2 allowed you to chose between different languages, while Soulreaver 1 didn't, as there were different versions of the game for each language.

@Lyvarious 2 ай бұрын

It's highly likely that some other people made the connection with Kain's second resurrection and why his journey has taken on elements of Raziel's own, as another agent of free will with a 'unique resurrection', but you're the first person to ever comment on it in content that I've found. Really happy that one of the few pieces of the puzzle that I couldn't figure out has finally been explained.

@FeanorsCurse 7 ай бұрын

Any plans on doing a Thief series?

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

First off, thank you! Second, yes. That's a series on my planned schedule list, and if I manage to keep the one video each month rhythm, I'll start that around the end of this year.

@FeanorsCurse 7 ай бұрын

@@finntrovert You're welcome, thanks fr the videos. Cool, sounds good!

@ClearlyCero 7 ай бұрын

I struggle to understand why people are making games that aren't either a remaster or sequel for LoK.

@ProfessorFessor 7 ай бұрын

I think the video makes it very clear why, at least for sequels. They made the games so lore heavy if you hadn’t played all of them you wouldn’t fully grasp what was happening. As far as remakes go, I blame ownership hell.

@ClearlyCero 7 ай бұрын

@@ProfessorFessor I can appreciate that

@Killibug Күн бұрын

As someone from the future, they just recently came out with a remaster of the Soul Reaver games. I actually looked up this video after watching a playthrough of those two.

@ClearlyCero Күн бұрын

@Killibug i got them too, all my neurons got activated.

@Somebody374-bv8cd 7 ай бұрын

Great video. Regarding how games simply just pop up a million text boxes explaining game mechanics instead of doing it in a more subtle ingame fashion, unfortunately this has sort of become the norm these days. I guess it's just faster and easier to do for most devs instead of having to come up with creative ways to explain the mechanics.

@mogueraguh 2 ай бұрын

One mechanic that you didn’t mention is the cheat system. Some cheat skins carry over into cutscenes and kain has a quote relating to the tube reaver cheat

@finntrovert 2 ай бұрын

@@mogueraguh True. Cheats is a thing I have neglected to explore in general. Need to consider this.

@shanara99 7 ай бұрын

Ah, all seriousness aside... 5:40 "You can feed from enemies in a more traditional vampire way" *proceeds to phase the enemy thru a wall*. Finn!!! That's FINNISH PEOPLE, NOT VAMPIRES!!! Sigh... 8:00 "Vampires are weak to water". Yes. But you just need some liberal application of tactical soap on your clothes, anyway. 9:42 ..."but you have to surrender your ability to feed". Maybe. BUT you get to redecorate the walls! +1 for corpse Feng Shui. 11:30 *pauses the video* You see, Finn, that is done so it can teach you stuff that is obvious. *unpauses the video* 19:30 Obviously, the hint system couldn't take the hint that it was unwanted. 27:45 "Block puzzles make a return" *shows a shield* NOT THAT BLOCK!!!! 37:40 Ah, yes... Darkness makes you invisible... And light makes you REALLY REALLY thin. =P 39:23 Nah. The spirits are still possessing dead people. She was braindead, anyway... only thinking on makeup and reality TV. 50:00 "he was no god....." he was an orbital space station!

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

You know the emote I would add here if this were Discord or Twitch. Oh!

@arx3516 Ай бұрын

At the end of Soulreaver 2 is in the Sarafan fortress, but at the start of Defiance he is infiltrating said fortress. This means that after Raziel vanished Kain got out, and later returned. Why? Maybe he felt hungry and left the fortress to feast on a nearby village, but most likely he simply left to visit the Chronoplast chamber, in an attempt to gain the informations needed to plan his next move.

@ProfessorFessor 7 ай бұрын

4:3 was the standard for televisions at the time but movies were 16:10 or 16:9. This widescreen format works better as it more closely mirrors human vision. They swapped back and forth between the two to make the player more aware…wait, this isn’t Soul Reaver 2. I’m in the wrong comment section. You never saw me!! *Dark reaver activation noises*

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Damn it, Fessor. XD

@ProfessorFessor 7 ай бұрын

Our aspect ratios are predestined. Crystal Dynamics foretold ours eons ago. We each play out our cutscenes, graphical options are an illusion.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

@@ProfessorFessor Suppose you change resolutions enough times. Suppose that one day, it gets stuck on 4:3.

@ProfessorFessor 7 ай бұрын

I have seen the crash logs. I find no nobility in the frozen 4:3 screen you so rudely forced on my computer. My eyes are open, Finntrovert.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

@@ProfessorFessor Let's drop the moral posturing, shall we. We both know your love for all things retro led you here. I was counting on it. There's no shame in it, Fessor. Nostalgia is motivation enough.

@chrisdiokno5600 7 ай бұрын

God, it's so weird to think this came out when I was 5. I hope Kain returns someday

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

I hope so too. If it happens in a good game? Even better!

@ProfessorFessor 7 ай бұрын

It’s so weird to think this came out when I was…23…

@Grinnar 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for making me feel even older.

@Bubblegum-tg5bg 14 күн бұрын

I was 7 and now I’m nearly 30. 😅

@chrisdiokno5600 14 күн бұрын

@Bubblegum-tg5bg mood

@Nigel222 7 ай бұрын

Is there any in lore reason for why Kain teleports in cut scenes but in gameplay he doesnt? Like in parts where you play as Raziel you see Kain teleport away and whatnot. Its just funny when you take into account the platforming you have to do as Kain when he could just teleport instead.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

I don't think it was ever properly examined, so we are left to assume the reason ourselves. Such as, perhaps teleportation is such a draining task he only relies on it when absolutely necessary.

@Lyvarious 2 ай бұрын

@@finntrovert Or look cool. Remember that Kain has mist, AND bat, form both of which are used as movement abilities too. Kain's use of teleport is hilariously inconsistent to me because if he hadn't used it until after being cleansed of corruption then it could be a visual clue that he seems to have received new abilities as part of his journey in Defiance.. maybe from being cleansed or maybe from assembling the emblem or something. Honestly I'm more sad that Defiance didn't enhance combat with abilities that had been removed from previous entries. Add in stuff like Kain's magics from Blood Omen.. yes even Blood Omen 2 if they really felt that it was necessary, not that I'd be overly happy, suddenly the combat wouldn't have ended up so stilted. I could see Raziel show casing his spectral advantages over Kain's display of mystical, then crossover stuff with both of them having vampiric foundations.

@Lordbretelus 7 ай бұрын

Great job on the videos, amazing story recap that really helps to piece together this quite convoluted yet enthralling plot

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@jeremymcarthur7469 7 ай бұрын

36:50 i mean....why the f would someone play the 5th game in a series first and be dumb enough to think they'll know whats going on

@ProfessorFessor 7 ай бұрын

Well judging by the success of this game’s sequel I think doing more to be approachable to new players would have been very wise.

@jeremymcarthur7469 7 ай бұрын

@@ProfessorFessor fair point

@Chaosherold 7 ай бұрын

At first I would like to state that you created another very enjoyable piece of media, Finn. Furthermore I'm curious in which direction you *would* take the franchise if you were in the position to add another game - storywise as well as regarding the mechanics.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Good question, and I'm not sure. The obvious path forwards would be to follow Kain as he begins to learn more about the Elder God, whose nature even to players is mostly unknown. How does it connect to Nosgoth? Was it always there? If not, where did it come from? What power does it have? That could be connected with Kain having to thwart plans trying to prevent young Kain from ever reaching the point he is in now. As for gameplay? More like Soul Reaver, but with better combat and more puzzle variety. So a somewhat open-ish world that would unlock more as you gain spells which allow you to manipulate the environment, with those spells taking a major role in puzzles and boss battles, which would also have puzzle elements in them again.

@nazgulsenpai 7 ай бұрын

The platforming looks very similar to Gollum. So Defiance is a Gollum-like?

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Not only that, it's the Dark Souls of Gollum-likes.

@nazgulsenpai 7 ай бұрын

@@finntrovert :o

@luizferrarezzi 7 ай бұрын

cant wait until someone mods raytracing to this game

@Lyvarious 2 ай бұрын

There have been a couple mods already. I remember seeing one back in 2022 or something, and that was originally released in 2019 iirc.

@shanara99 7 ай бұрын

Ah, yes.... 2003.... Very important year for videogames... But HOW could you forget the most important fact? 2003 was the year the N-gage was released!!!

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

I need to save all that for my 12 hour retrospective about how Nokia was the peak of gaming.

@RTheren 7 ай бұрын

@@finntrovert N-Gage, the goatse of handheld consoles :P

@lasskinn474 7 ай бұрын

@@RTheren it was the cheapest smartphone you could get that could run emulators and stay connected to irc while playing said emulators(get a notification popup for new messages and all) while having to not pay per minute to stay connected to irc which was still a big deal at the time. plus original had a decent enough of a mp3 decode chip glued onto it. and were you to review java midp 1.2 games it would be the best device there is to play them. anyway you could connect to internet through bluetooth from most apps as well(you just install the nokia bluetooth connect software, it's an undocumented feature of that). 4x the ram of a 3650 free after boot too. plus it had doom on day 1 of release. really it had a lot of things going for it and sold pretty decently, the problem with it for nokia was mostly their marketing budget since the device itself had basically no new software development done just for it for the operating system, that's why the screen is what it is as well because essentially it's 3650 with camera removed and more ram plus the glued on mp3 chip while still selling for cheaper, it's also why the taco can't hotswap the mmc because they just didn't code the refresh feature into the operating system. you could pick it up for the 300 euros or the later 100 euros without sim lock. all the treo's, qteks and such that lagged behind in supporting gprs and such cost non-simlocked 700 euros+, all the way to 1500euros+. that's why the us plans for those had to be 100 bucks+ per month base pricing. p800's were also very expensive and as result had much less software available.

@RTheren 7 ай бұрын

Finntastic review. What's next on the platter?

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Chocolate, cigarettes, and sandwiches. Also something something rogue AI.

@RTheren 7 ай бұрын

@@finntrovert Oh right, I forgot you mentioned that before xD (shitty memory and all that)

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

@@RTheren How could you forget random bread posting? It was glorious.

@RTheren 7 ай бұрын

@@finntrovert Hey, that bread posting intersectioning convo about 'fishy' definition was unforgettable xD

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

@@RTheren Life is just that beautiful sometimes. And all of it is connected by bread.

@Vantud391 7 ай бұрын

You know, I was recently searching youtube for LoK content again after a long while, how coincident.😅 The camera view in this game is so terrible, I prefer Blood Omen 2's player view.

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

As much as the movement in Blood Omen 2 could be better, the camera in that game is IMHO the best in the franchise. I never ever felt lost or disoriented in that game because of the camera.

@WildFungus 7 ай бұрын

top shelf story in this series unfortunately after the Ps1 era the gameplays always a little on the tedious side.

@KingLich451 7 ай бұрын

Ah, the end of the road, at last. What awaits us now? We shall wait, and see...

@finntrovert 7 ай бұрын

Now, at last, the owner has changed. The lack of interest from Square Enix had been visible, and their lack of respect exposed. Most ironic of all was the last gift that capitalist interests had given me: More powerful than the desire of corporations to endlessly recycle franchises, more acute even than the trust in indie developers making remakes of old games. The first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion - Hope.

@srr5v 7 ай бұрын

1. I once tried playing this series of games, but I think the theme wasn't interesting to me at the time. But I do watch your playthroughs and reviews of them. One thing is that I never have patience for is platforming type puzzles, maybe because I never played them when younger. 2. Will you ever do a full playthrough of Planescape: Torment. The thing is, that like Ultima, and Baldur's Gate series to a different mode, it's a very personal RPG, so it's a question of whether you want to share the playthrough that you do, and/or whether you want to play for spectacle or not? But it'd be amazing if you did (maybe you already have? I will look through your posted videos after this and check). 3. Watch my take on the 1998 TV miniseries "Merlin" and 1978 Battlestar Galactica on my channel to humor me, I'm trying to say something with the composition. It's called "Merlin and Battlestar Galactica for the People" on my channel, will try to post a hard link in the next comment. Be ware. Thanks.