In this section, I wil attempt to disprove any so called, 'mistakes' and 'annoyances' that make Blood Omen 2 a bad game. I believe it is a good game. But here we go, all the questions and complaints:
-It's annoying how it doesn't have the same title as the first Blood Omen. It should be called, Blood Omen:Legacy of Kain 2:
That's actually a fair comment. It should've been called what it is above, but that's not a dis-credit to the actual game, Crystal Dynamics are just trying to clean up the series a little bit. You'll noticed how they aren't actually called Legacy of Kain:Blood Omen 2, or Legacy of Kain:Soul Reaver 2, they actually have a little 'Legacy of Kain Series' sign above the title.
-Kain has become unnecessarily evil, and generally spiteful in the second game. It seems they just tried to make him cool like he was in the first game but went a bit too far. It doesn't actually really give you a reason to go on with your quest. It ruins the game coz Kain is generally a bastard in this one:
I can understand how a lack of interest or personal like in the character you control in a game can prevent you from actually wanting to complete the game, but in Blood Omen 2's sake, let me explain what's going on.
1) Kain is a bastard, he is a good 2000 years from where he is in Soul Reaver, he sacrificed Nosgoth so he can live, he's going to raise dead Sarafan Priests to be his commanders.
2) Kain is too arrogant in Blood Omen 2? Look at what he was before the game starts. He was commanding an army, had the Soul Reaver, was conquering Nosgoth and was uncontested throughout the land, had powers beyond imagining, and then he wakes up without them. Of course, for a little self pride, he's gonna still think he's awesome, and number one.
3) Kain lost all his power in one instant, and woke up at the bottom of the line of vampires. His quest is relunctant, and yes, difficult to understand what motivates him. The 'revenge' theme has been used, but Umah is the one who entices Kain.
"He struck you down, don't you want revenge?"
"I recall a time when I played the pawn before."
Kain is especially cautious of betrayel, and is pissed off he ain't top dog anymore. As for not liking him enough to play the game, his persona in this sequel is the next logical step in his character to becoming the 'Solitary Self Declared Mocarch' of Nosgoth.
-The gameplay is repetitive, and killing enemies becomes tedious. A little variation in the combos, other than a three hit attack would have been better. The dodge system is stupid, you can't dodge forward or back, like in Soul Reaver:
You've got to understand, that if a game has bad guys to kill all the way through it, you're going to have to kill them. If that's repetitive, then all games where you fight a bad guy is repetitive. The gameply, running around and solving a puzzle every now and then, has been called stupid and simple, and an insult to some people's intelligance. In Blood Omen 2's defence, everyone who has complained about the puzzles has generally been people who aren't new to the world of Legacy of Kain. The puzzles simply cannot be as indepth as Soul Reaver's, your health does run out, and when it does, game over. You do not shift to the spectural realm, heal and shift back in Blood Omen 2. The puzzles are there simply to impede your progress, not as a challenge. Another stupid comment. All puzzles in games are there to impede your progress. They are simply there to lengthen the game. In Tomb Raider, it's called a great challenge to look for a key to a door, in Blood Omen 2, it's not a challenge, but 'impedes' your progress. Think about it. Some of the puzzles are hard, some require finding glyphs, some require you to use your Dark Gifts, others, are just related to killing bad guys. They are varried enough, and if you tell me the crane puzzle wasn't a challenge, I'll tear ya a new one.
The fighting system has been whined about for so long. For all you people who hate it because it's not like Soul Reaver's fighting system, you get a slap in the face with a cold fish. It's not Soul Reaver. They tried to make the game different from Soul Reaver, and some Kain fans were delighted that it wasn't like Soul Reaver. The combo is simple and repetitive and not enough variation? I think the Dark Gifts provide enough variation. Berzerk, mist, giga jump? Depends on the situation. The combo itself is your basic attack, and yes, maybe another attack button, like a kick, would have been great, but the game doesn't get a 4/10 for that.
-The story doesn't make sense, no one knows what's going on. Why is Vorador alive? I heard the game is based on the alternative time line of Soul Reaver 2, is that right? If it is, then Blood Omen 2 has become Soul Reaver's spin-off, not like Soul Reaver being a Blood Omen spin-off like it was originally:
This is a very good point. I disagree with making Blood Omen 2 based on the alternative time line, created at the end of Soul Reaver 2. Blood Omen 2 seems to be created because they have made an excuse for it, rather than making a game based on Kain's original rise to power. (Even though, the original story based on this is apparently rather boring, and not good enough for a game). To say Blood Omen 2 is a spin-off of Soul Reaver 2? No, that's not true. I think Crystal Dynamics got a bit pissed off when the general idea was Soul Reaver was not a sequel to Blood Omen:Legacy of Kain, but a spin-off. I think by putting Blood Omen 2 on the alternative timeline, it ties in the two type of Kain's indefinately, making them a true sequel to one another, and interelated. Unnfortunately, we won't know what significance the Blood Omen 2 story plays on the whole scheme of things, until Soul Reaver 3. However, the confusion in plot with Vorador's existence could have been intentional, they probaly did it this way without telling us because they thought it might get us all arguing over the point for ages. Oh excuse me, what have I been doing?
-The story isn't really a Blood Omen sequel, it's linear in construction, Kain's narration isn't as often as Raziels, or as often as it was in the first game, and it's divided in stages, which annoys me because it isn't really the same feel of a big epic quest, rather than a game with levels:
A good point. But it is still Blood Omen's sequel, whether it was built exactly like the old one, or like it is now. It stars Kain, and his journeys. Granted, it is true his narration is not as frequent, it seems he talks more with characters in the game, that to the player, so you aren't drawn into the whole experience as well as when you first played Blood Omen, or Soul Reaver. The linear construction of not having freedom, and the 'levels' are irrelevant. If Kain was more active on his narration, this would not be a problem, you'd be too drawn in for the whole ride, but because his narration is short and 'every-now-and-then' you aren't. The levels could not be avoided. The maddening size of Meridian could not have been preloaded like in Soul Reaver, it was simply too big. The scale of the city itself was almost even too great for simple stages, the game would jutter and stagger every now and then, (a problem avvoided by standing still as Kain would it starts to jutter, let it load for a few seconds, and resume your journey). It would have been the best game ever if there wasn't any stages, you would have access to the whole Meridian, that would have been amazing, but the system can't allow it, it's not possible, so the game had to be chopped down into Stages. You'll notice any areas where you'd have to return back to Solitude, you were transported? That was a way of avoiding the back tracking, which would have given people a lot more freedom.
and now, time for the stupid complaints:
-Kain's vampire teeth are alligned differently than they are in Soul Reaver:
Shit, let's change the whole game to fix up four teeth!
-Kain is sheet white, and doesn't have the same look as the original Kain, who looked more realistic, this Kain looks like a Goth pretty boy:
Ok, granted, he doesn't were a shirt, but dear god, you like what Kain looks like in the original game? A grey beast with Spock eyebrows and a lack of pixels? I didn't play Blood Omen because I thought Kain was a sexy beast, I played it coz the game was awesome.
-The game doesn't have any of the characters from the first one in it other than Kain and Vorador:
They're dead, remember?
-Michael Bell is more of a good guy and easier to listen to when he's narrating:
Simon Templeman was the guy they casted for Kain in the first game and all the others, but hey, why don't we get the voice of Raziel to play Kain for this one?
Well, that's it, for now, overall, none of these comments hold enough standing to really ruin Blood Omen 2, the game does have glitches in it's loading, yes, they can be resolved by standing still for a moment and letting the game load. People who don't want to own the game, and can't be bothered doing this, then don't worry, it doesn't concern you. It's not the best Legacy of Kain game, but heck, it's still a Legacy of Kain game, and it's story will always have a major bearing on the overall plot of Soul Reaver 3.
By ColdBain
