My Games of 2023

It's that time of year again, where everyone is running down their favourite games of the year. This is mine. As usual I'll be rating the games I played this year, not necessarily those that were released this year. 

Honorary Mentions:

Some old favourites that I 've revisited but can't really class in my lists.

The Legacy of Kain games:

Of course.

The classic Tomb Raider games:

I’ve made a video on them this year so it seemed appropriate to briefly revisit these old gems for research purposes. I’m a little rusty but they hold up pretty well and I’m really looking forward to Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered next year which looks like it could be amazing. Only a couple of months to wait now.

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Also Rans:

Games I can’t rate in good faith. Maybe I’ve not played enough. Maybe I’ll get back to them next year.

The Witness:

I’ve heard good things and I keep trying to get back to it, but every time I do I find myself bored after a few minutes

Undertale:

Again I’ve heard good things… but it’s just not my cup of tea and I found myself bored pretty quickly. Humour was good though.

Okami:

Another I’m told is great but I’m just having trouble getting into it

Dishonored:

What can I say? I got distracted and didn’t return to it.

Assassin's Creed Mirage:

I got burned by Assassin's Creed Valhalla and swore off entire franchise...but then I got this for Christmas. I’ve started it but won’t finish it before the new year. Mixed bag so far. Lot of what I like from old AC games - and a lot of what I hated from Valhalla. We’ll see next year

Talos Principle 2:

Loved the first one, got immediate crashes with this one, but otherwise seems good. Didn’t get too far this year though. Maybe next year

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The Disappointments

Games that let me down. Usually they're either bad, overhyped, or an installment in a franchise that I thought I could rely on.

Telling Lies:

After playing Her Story and being impressed I moved on to Sam Barlow’s next project… and found it to be a lot less refined and more boring. It seemed to just try to be more of everything and unwittingly lost much of the charm of Her Story. Still it did develop the concept in ways that led on to Immortality

Scorn:

I really wanted to like this. I mean it is gruesome and visceral, a masterpiece of Geiger Alienesque worlds that left me in cold sweats. It was disgusting and amazing…and unfortunately it became virtually unplayable. I ended up lost in a maze of corridors with only a pulsing dildo thing that did virtually no damage as a weapon, and was unable to get through a set of enemies. It’s a real shame. Maybe a skill issue or whatever, but I ended up more than a little disappointed.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion:

This one is unusual. I played and liked the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and started consuming other ‘7’ related projects in preparation for ‘Rebirth’ coming next year, but this one hit a dud note. Okay it has 7’s combat but mixing that with a one armed bandit so you gamble on whether you can complete something seems unfair…. And some bits really do depend on you getting the right luck. On the other hand, it has a lot of happy nostalgia… and that ending is amazing. 

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The Middle Ground:

The average games. Generally enjoyable, some nice ideas but nothing to set the world on fire.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog:

It’s a short, enjoyable point and click murder mystery starring the sonic characters that only lasts a couple of hours. What’s not to like? Not too complex, but bite sized fun 

Choo Choo Charles:

Another smaller indie game that I quite enjoyed that straddles the line between horror and comedy. Not too complex and not too long but entertaining nonetheless and a great adrenaline rush when you have a demon train chasing you through the forest.

Viewfinder:

Sort of reminds me of Antichamber and Superliminal. A great little indie game whose core gameplay is about manipulating perspective and turning photographs into reality. Creative and enjoyable and a nice little story too. Perhaps not quite as good as similar games though

Power Wash Simulator + Tomb Raider DLC:

Full disclosure: I bought this purely for the Tomb Raider DLC and the expectation that -given some suspicious Legacy of Kain related small print - there might be some hidden LoK easter eggs in there. Aside from my disappointment at discovering there aren’t any, I actually found the game to be really relaxing and enjoyable. It seems weird to start with but that rewarding little ‘ping’ and the sense of achievement for cleaning stuff was quite addictive. Mix that with recognisable Tomb Raider stuff and I was right at home. Maybe I should play the FF7 DLC at some point.

Immortality:

Another Sam Barlow classic and another of what you might think of as the ‘Her Story trilogy’. This one is undoubtedly the one that has developed the concept the most and made it very user friendly and accessible skipping between the scenes and behind- the-scenes of three films to try to work out what happened to a classic actress. Only, bloody hell! So much nudity and sex, holy shit! I joked about Sam Barlow and an obsession with ‘kinky vampire sex’ in my Dead Sun video - but that was before I played Telling Lies (which defo had a bit of kinky vampire sex in there) and this, which just lent into it so far that it's virtually impossible to play if you don't live alone. I mean the story is great and enthralling. The creativity and user experience is engaging and I wanted to know more. There are some fantastic and chilling moments as you work it out. But why is everyone naked again?

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The Cream of the Crop:

My picks of the best games I've played this year.

The Medium:

There was a lot about this game I really liked - and you can really see why Bloober team has been handed the keys to Silent Hill because this game almost feels like them pitching for it. The abandoned setting, the eerie atmosphere, the cool music (with collaboration between Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, no less), the horror elements all seemed just the perfect fit for it. The simultaneous two worlds mechanic was creative and interesting, if a little technically challenging, and I loved the story and the twists. It’s not perfect, but I really found this pleasantly surprising. 

Her Story:

You may have noticed I played the trilogy of Sam Barlow games this year. Well this was the first one and I think the best of the bunch. It was just such a breath of fresh air with a novel concept. Who would've thought watching through videos and essentially googling the terms within could be so engaging? (A shame Telling Lies rather let it down as a follow up). A lot is owed to the interesting story and characters and the joy of working out the mystery. It's perhaps a little modest and small in scope but is really creative for it. Highly recommended. 

Horizon Forbidden West - Burning Shores DLC:

My game of the year last year scores highly again for its DLC. You get an expansive new area with plenty of story and activities to explore and enjoy - and they really have gone all in on the flying mechanic and the air in general with breathtaking cloud geometry and a lot of things revolving around flying and gliding. But they’ve also invested heavily in the water with a new mount that can swim as well as fly - and it is gorgeous underwater. My only complaints really are that its story did seem a little tacked on and unnecessary… and I didn’t necessarily completely buy into the romance - although I can see why it was appropriate for the character. It’ll be interesting to see where Horizon goes next.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake + Intergrade DLC:

Confession. I’ve never gotten into Final Fantasy before this year. I’ve absorbed so much through cultural osmosis but… well it’s mostly a turn based RPG… with menus… not my cup of tea really. So a remake of the most popular one that I already knew so much about - without having to go through some of the old things that worried me about it - seemed to be great. And I will confess it took me a while to get used to the tactics and the…urgh…menus… But once I’d got over it I did really enjoy the game and can really see why people consider it - and the original - to be a masterpiece. The graphics and gameplay were top notch, but the characters and story  and humour were brilliant and I enjoyed them so much and ended up endlessly quoting. This really is a huge success. Oh and I loved the Intergrade DLC too and found it was more emotional than the main game in places.

Jedi Survivor:

I had problems getting Jedi Fallen Order to run a few years ago, but when I finally did play it last year I found it to be a treasure. Jedi Survivor seems to be much in the same vein - with a few high profile technical issues, but otherwise it’s a real triumph. A vast open world -or worlds - set in the star wars universe with so much to do and explore and so many hints and references, so many little collectibles and sidequests. A cool story that doesn’t retread the same star wars tropes and some brilliant characters. Fully customizable lightsabers, costumes and even facial hair and hairstyles Everything about this oozes cool - and who doesn’t love a well crafted star wars game?

Final Fantasy 16 + Echoes of the Fallen DLC:

My word, Yes this did sort of become the Final Fantasy year for me. Having not played a game before, I ranked two in the top five and where I thought the 7 remake was great, I fell head over heels for 16. The characters and story are amazing, the combat is dizzying and with some mind blowing moves and combos and particle light shows that put everything else to shame - with some great decisions on upgrading. The boss battles are epic encounters that leave you jaw on the floor. The music is out of this world, the voice acting is superb. And my god the lore!! It has soo much lore and world building that I just ate up. So many distinct characters and settings and countries and political intrigue and religion and magiteck and history and… well, you get the picture. There’s so much of it they had to put an entire encyclopaedia in the game, along with a world map and character relation map. I want that for LoK. Okay it’s not perfect and there are weaknesses: it tends to oscillate between “wow epic” and long periods of relative quiet where not much happens. The sidequests aren’t all that and they can be overwhelming (though follow them up and they get rewarding at the end) and I’ve heard people complain that it’s too easy or strays too much from the FF formula - and I was a little underwhelmed by the DLC (although there is more to come there), but I was willing to overlook those because I was so blown away by everything else.. A real triumph this one.

God of War Ragnarok + Valhalla DLC:

It kinda had to be. Pretty much the first game I played this year ended up being the best. I’d previously put 2018 God of War second to Red Dead Redemption 2 but there’s no stopping the sequel. From the moment the game had me holding back the tears twice in the first hour I knew it was gonna be special, but everything about this is top tier. The combat is varied and addictive. The world (worlds) are beautiful and stunning with so much to explore and find. The story, the plot developments and its twists are brilliant. The characters are amazing and I loved them all - couldn’t help myself from doing impressions. It built upon and added to the first in so many ways. And lets add to that gloriousness with the new free DLC that added an endlessly replayable rouge-like, complete with shifting rooms that makes that area virtually Hades in 3D wearing a God of War skin - and even then it has story and lore and plot development. Ragnarok is an absolute triumph and my game of the year!

Next year is looking to be a bit busy, but hopefully I’ll actually add something to the blogs. Until next time, happy new year!

2023 Legacy of Kain Wiki Round Up

As 2023 draws to a close lets look back at the past year.

First off, apologies for the lack of updates this year. My partner ended up getting a new job in the gaming industry this year and it’s been epic and gruelling and I can’t wait to see what comes out of it, but for now it has meant that I've needed to pick up the slack on our projects a bit so I’m trying to do a lot of stuff for the Raina Audron channel on top of my previous commitments. Unfortunately that means I’m having less time for other things and keeping updates going is proving to be an even bigger challenge than normal.

Anyway here’s what’s been going on this year:

As part of the Raina Audron channel I’ve been posting several YouTube videos on the series. Roughly we’re beginning to split into three threads for videos: ‘Arcane Tomes’ for lore details and explanations, ‘Developer Chronicles’ for behind the scenes and game details and ‘Nosgoth News Network’ for real world news and updates related to LoK. This year The Arcane Tomes has covered Moebius’s People’s Army, The New Sarafan, The Vampire Hunters of the Soul Reaver era and the Silenced Cathedral. Developer Chronicles has a video on the links between Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain and a detailed deep dive expose on the development of Dead Sun. Where necessary these videos have been added to appropriate articles on the wiki.

Pleasingly there’s also finally starting to be enough news to make a current events series semi-viable so Nosgoth News Network had two updates in June covering various updates and Embracer news, One in July covering the return of Gex and one in September covering the Tomb Raider remastered announcement and SR1’s brief (failed) return to Gog. 

To briefly summarise,  most of the news this year revolved around the new Embracer/Crystal Dynamics stewardship of the franchise and what it means moving forward. Unfortunately the news for Embracer hasn’t been great. They were responsible for a couple of big flops and then news broke that a major investment deal had fallen through leaving them with a massive funding gap. Since then there have been a number of job cuts across the board as Embracer works out how to steady the ship. Our thoughts go out to all those in the industry who were affected by this or lost jobs. It’s unclear how this will change things going forward, but word is they may be trying to focus on their marquee names - which may or may not include LoK  

There have also been some fan led moves on getting more stable versions of the games running. Alongside Verok’s patch for Blood Omen, we now have Gemini’s Soul Fixer to help run SR2 and Revamped to run Blood Omen 2 - which can be used in tandem with Pebble in the Pond’s Blood Omen 2 conceptual edition to allow both ‘2’ games to run smoothly. 

Tragically, the news isn’t great for the return of SR1. We know that it was removed from sale due to legal, technical and ethical issues resulting from the inclusion of a somewhat ropey fan patch in 2012 when the game first went on digital sale - and that it was planned for Gog to strip out the patch and put it in a new wrapper. However early in 2023 the game was completely delisted at publisher request. The wrapper project was briefly put out live in September - apparently by accident - before they realised and stopped it, commenting that they had been told by the publisher not to put it up… such a statement could imply other things are being worked on, but there’s no official confirmation of that.

Sadly we also lost Earl Boen who played the Sarafan Lord in Blood Omen 2, who passed away in January 2023. Requiescat in pace  
On the wiki you may have noticed that there are some major changes going around as we seek to update things for the new year, so keep an eye on those. Most of what’s been going on in the wiki world in the past year has been on the subject of Blood Omen with completed articles on Spirit forges, Secrets and a drive towards completing the enemy articles with the articles on Demons (Blood Omen), Army of the Last Hope (enemies), Brides, Brigands, City guards, Dolls (enemies), Gypsies (enemies) and  Laborers also completed and the Gypsies faction page also given an update. 

Additionally there has been a fair amount of Dead Sun info appearing as of late. This has fed into the Dead Sun video previously mentioned but we’ve also updated the Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun article with this info. And we now have functionality for interactive maps working along with the return of Slideshows  As we roll into the new year, I wish everyone the best of luck and hope that 2024 brings all that you could wish for ;)

My Games of the Year 2022

Okay so another year of trying to game in between work and wiki/LoK related work and this year was the year where my household finally took the plunge and upgraded to a new generation of consoles. So a brand new PS5 dominates the list from the middle of the year onward. It ended up being a choice between that or a Steam Deck... so like perfectly sensible people we ended up with both in the end. 
So here are the games I've played and enjoyed (or not) in the past year.

Honorable Mention 

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver HD Remaster

This one is something of a personal labour of love. Obviously I'm a huge fan of the LoK games, I'm lucky enough to share my life with another huge fan and I'm privileged enough to have watched her toil to bring this together and help in my own small way. So I can honestly say that the commitment and passion that went into this project was astounding. Probably thousands of hours were poured into tracking down the original sources of textures and refreshing them upto modern standards - or tracking down 'as near as humanly possible' replacements. The end result is a startlingly good remaster of a fan favourite that the community can be proud of. It's probably not fair for me to rate it personally, but it is amazing and I would recommend anyone to try it. 

Also Rans/Maybe Next Year/Haven't Played Enough to Rate

Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled

The Crash Team Racing Remaster. It seems just as much fun as I remember but is slightly different. I did only really play a couple of races so I'm not really sure I can judge.

Goat Simulator 3

Another game which seems to be hilarious multiplayer fun, but I just haven't had enough time with it. 

Scorn

Oh my Lord, the art design on this one, like HR Geiger came back to life and started developing videogames. Everything is creepy and disgusting and I love the atmosphere. It's really a thinker though and it took a while to work out what I was supposed to be doing - unfortunately that also meant that my time in 2022 ran out for it, but I will be doing it at the start of 2023.

God Of War Ragnarok

BBBOOOOYYYY!! Yeah I know this will be good. But I just got it at Christmas and I'm only 10 hours in. It got me straight away though - twice - so I'm sure it'll rate highly in my 2023 lists.

Disappointments

Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Crossover/Tombs of the Fallen/Discovery Tour

I'm not even sure if I count this one as a disappointment because I learnt my lesson on this one last year with the main game - and it's significantly soured my opinion on the whole AC series, which is a real shame. I suppose I should be impressed at the continued support for this game but the bad taste remains and after a few of the DLC's I couldn't stomach it any more
The discovery tour felt boring and a slog compared to those in Odyssey and Origins. Tombs of the Fallen was interesting until I discovered it was unfinished and half of the tombs were missing with no payoff. Then finally they raised my hopes with an Odyssey crossover. As you might see later in the list, the Odyssey portion was fun, but the Valhalla part once again crushed my hopes and seemed to butcher everything all over again. More Valhalla DLC has been released since but I'm not playing it. And the upcoming AC Mirage does look amazing, but it's gonna have to be near perfect for me to consider it. A very disappointing end for a franchise I enjoyed a lot in the past.

Inscryption

This came highly recommended as a genre crossing masterpiece. And yet as far as I can see it is just deck building card game with a few side activities. And I just can't seem to get anywhere every card I choose seems to be wrong and it just got boring really quickly. If Witcher 3 had made you play 10 hours of Gwent with no apparent progress before letting you get to the main game then it probably wouldn't have been as successful. I just didn't get this one.  

Elden Ring

Yep. The real 'Game of the Year' ends up here for me. Sorry. I tried, I really did. I loved the atmosphere, the locations, everything seemed to be gorgeous and epic...and then I played it and encountered a minor sub boss and just no matter what I did I couldn't get passed it. Hours spent wasting my time banging my head against a brick wall with no progress. I'm getting too old for this 'git gud' rubbish. It's probably a great game, but it's not for me - and that's a real shame

Returnal

Another on that suckered me in with its beautiful haunting world, its amazing atmosphere, its endearing mystery only to soon start slapping me across the face screeching "not for you" in my ear. Again I really wanted to like this but just banging my head against a wall for hours on end trying to beat the first boss got to me. Probably a masterpiece, but one I'm locked out of - and that's a shame too. 

The Middle Ground

Genesis Noir

Another somewhat misguided recommendation. I mean its a short creative indie game that seems like it'd be pretty good. But unfortunately it bored me rather quickly and after it kept losing my progress I called it quits

Exo One

I'm not sure I ever completely got the hang of what was going on here or what I was supposed to be doing, just half controlled a disc skipping off surfaces on various alien planets. Sort of relaxing but also confusing. 

Immortals Fenyx Rising

Well I liked AC Odyssey, so maybe some similar Ubisoft fare could clean the taste of AC Valhalla out? Unfortunately not. Not that it's bad. It seems okay enough. I found it quite funny and was reasonably entertained, but just found myself becoming bored with the endless map junk and after a while I couldn't go back

Matrix Awakens

I'm not sure what I expected for this. For all the advanced technology on show it is just a tech demo and once the initial action was over I found myself a little bored exploring the city. It is really impressive what it can do and what the engine will do in future.

Scarf

Another recommendation that missed the mark. It has to be said that it is an enjoyable enough indie game with a lot of heart and some interesting mechanics, but it just lacks some of the magic of Journey or some of the other indie fare I've played.

Road 96

An indie game that seems to set out to fix most of the problems that 'Life is Strange 2' had - and it's an intriguing concept. You are a nameless teenage runaway seeking to escape an oppressive regime and cross the border to start a new life - along the way you meet a cast of interesting characters and make it out or not. Then you start again with a different teenager taking a different path. The story and characters build across this disconnected runs to perhaps overthrow the government. It's quite nice if not too advanced.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Crossover

As I said before, I'd really enjoyed Odyssey so the news that there would be new content for it and a crossover event for both Odyssey and Valhalla raised my hopes and persuaded me to dip my toes in again. And I was reminded just how much I love Odyssey and missed Kassandra. It was like putting on an old pair of comfy slippers. 

Buoyed by goodwill I decided to give the Valhalla portion a go - and you've already seen how that turned out...and I will never forgive them for butchering Kassandra in Valhalla.

Alan Wake: Remastered

I tried the original Alan Wake almost a couple of years ago after playing Control and Quantum Break and couldn't get into it. Luckily a PS5 remaster gave me an excuse to try again and I found that once I got into it I did quite enjoy this one. A lot more of a straightforward survival horror style adventure than 'Control' with some interesting if somewhat clunky mechanics and a nice story that feeds into 'Control'. The DLCs are where it does most of the interesting stuff and you can see where they pushed things and referenced to make 'Control' the game it is. Looking forward to the upcoming Alan Wake 2 now.     

The Cream of the Crop

Heaven's Vault

I feel bad putting this game so low on the list because it really deserves better. It's a indie archaeology game where you decipher an ancient language and slowly play historian to uncover a whole timeline of ancient cultures - with a few lovely twist as you work it out and some really nice relaxing moods. For a small game It hit spots like no game since the Outer Wilds and I loved it.

Spiderman: Miles Morales

It almost feels like a DLC to Spiderman PS4, but done purely to show off what the PS5 could do and with some extra mechanics to the mix. Despite it being a little daunting at the price it was, as a game it just works and is just as fun as the original.Looking forward to the real Spiderman 2

Stray

I will admit this didn't click with me as much as I thought it would. That said it is a beautiful game, with a lovely atmosphere, some lovely characters and story and some of the most amazing cat physics and behaviours you will ever see - and how can you resist a dualsense controller purring? Perhaps didn't hit me in the heartstrings as it did others but it is an amazing captivating cat experience

Astro's Playroom

I don't often play platformers these days, but this one...boy it really hit the spot. The geniuses behind the PSVR showcase Astrobot Rescue Mission do it again for an entire console/controller with the PS5/Dual Sense-centric Astro's Playroom. I laughed my ass off so much, it's choc full of squee inducing Playstation references (including my honorable mention), it's so creative with the use of the dual sense (which has fast become my favourite controller of all time, I must say), it has a fantastic catchy musical score and is a genuine joy to play. 

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Considering the news that broke this year with Embracer stealing Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics away from Square Enix, it's perhaps fitting that the last game under the SE umbrella is one of the best. One suspects the heat from CD's unpopular Avengers game meant EM were a lot more free to do what they wanted with GoTG and they've done a great job here. It's a nicely worked action adventure with good mechanics, enjoyable gameplay, a great set of characters, great dialogue and banter and a great story - all of which seems to be very faithful to the property (where Avengers perhaps felt flat). And Damn, that soundtrack is amazing. 80's power ballad epicness mixed with fictional band awesomeness that fits right in. 

Jedi: Fallen Order

I had tried this a little while back and had some bad technical issues which stopped me playing, but a PS5 sale gave me a chance to catch up and try again on a beefier machine - and boy am I glad I did. This one was a really enjoyable Star Wars adventure, great story, characters, mechanics, the right amount of exploration and collectables. And I mean who doesn't love space travel, lightsaber fights and force combat? And that ending? Chills. Bonus points for references in the new Star Wars series as well. Hyped for the upcoming Jedi Survivor.

Life is Strange: True Colors

 I think this is quite probably the best Life is Strange game since the original (and I include 'Tell Me Why' in that assessment). Deck Nine - who previously picked up the loose ends of LiS1 and made Life Is Strange: Before The Storm - have done it again in taking over the main series after Dontnod moved on. I was suspicious but this was way above my expectations. The setting is lovely, the characters feel more fleshed out than ever before, the music is fantastic and the power is the best it's been since Maz could rewind time. Okay the ultimate endings felt a bit underwhelming but I found the overall experience of this to be great. Still not sure on the status of this franchise after the SE-Embracer deal, but hopefully we'll get come clarity on it soon.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut/ Iki Expansion

Perhaps a little in the vein of Mile Morales, in taking what seems to be a DLC for a PS4 game a beefing it up for a PS5 release, but whereas you can argue Miles Morales short run time doesn't justify the cost, the same cannot be said of GoT. A whole new island is added to the map with new challenges, new mechanics, new activities and new locations to explore along with an endearing and compelling story, that fits right in with the 'Kung Fu movie' aesthetic of the main game. I was a little rusty to start with, but this made me remember why I loved GoT so much in the first place.

The Pathless

This was one of the first games I played this year and for a long time I thought it was going to take the title. This game just feels like it was made for me. A vast beautiful open world with cool traversal, hundreds of enjoyable puzzles, epic bosses and all the feels. It's by the people that did Journey and Abzu and for the first time it takes those previous games and combines it all together into something approaching an all encompassing storyline which includes the prior games. I loved this.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

Wow, this sort of came out of nowhere.I liked the previous game a lot, but didn't think this one would be this good. It is absolutely stunningly gorgeous - putting a lot of AAA studios to shame - and they've worked on and tightened everything up from the first game so it all feels a lot better. It's gruesome in places, frantic in others, sometimes you have to be sneaky, sometimes you have to run for your life, sometimes you can relax and explore in semi open world, sometime you just have to open photo mode and take picture....and some times you have to stand in awe as literally millions of individual rats take on liquid physics.. this game has it all

 

Horizon: Forbidden West

Of course what indie studios can do a AAA should do better and this one does. You can really see the sheer effort, talent and attention to detail than went into this. This was the first game I played on the new PS5 and it remains my favourite so far (at least until I get through God of War Ragnarok). Stunning visuals, gorgeous views, new mechanics like the glider (and something else #spoilers) which make you wonder how you played in the previous game before it was a thing. The characters, the dialogue, the Mass effect style team building to the final Avengers style showdown - all is on point. I loved HZD but virtually everything here seemed to be a level above it and really showed what the PS5 could do. The only complaint really is that the story of course loses some of it's natural mystery and intrigue, being a sequel, but they still found ways to surprise me and keep me on the edge of my seat. And that ending really builds hype for the future of the series and I can't wait. It's perhaps a shame it's been beaten out on GOTY lists elsewhere - although I can see why. Horizon deserves more recognition - and needs to stop releasing so close to other GOTY contenders. 

2022 Legacy of Kain Wiki Round Up

 Okay we're now officially into 2023 so I thought I'd round up some of the work that's been ongoing through the year. 

In terms of articles, you can find completed articles for  Ziegsturhl, Nachtholm, Nachtholm Cove, The Lake of Tears, Steinchencröe, Vasserbünde, Coorhagen and Blood Fountains: with a few more still waiting in the wings.

We've also been working on getting a number of interactive maps up and running so you can find those here. For more guidance, you can find the main world map  and going down a level maps for Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2 and Soul Reaver 2 - At the most detailed level you can find the individual BO1 area maps, which start at the Cemetery here.

Following suggestions we've also started our own discord server. It's still in its infancy, but you can find that here

If videos are your thing then 2022 has seen a wealth of LoK Video content. Firstly the Blood Omen alpha video series - first begun on the series 25th anniversary towards the end of 2021 - finally reached it's conclusion this year. You can find the completed playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-qhg60oOo1N3EHsbsM8DV5bmXUyJ-tg

My Previous post about it is probably the best round up of the full video list.

On top of that there was also another Soul Reaver build released with a few extra bits, so we added a video for that. 

Sadly there was little of note in other builds that surfaced this year, but there is still hope that there's more our there. 

In terms of the Arcane Tomes lore videos we completed videos on Ariel, the Champions of Prophecy, The Hylden and The Sarafan

We've started a small sub-series on Vampire Hunting orders so expect Moebius's Mercenary Army to follow soon. 

Of course among fasn there have been numerous newsworthy bits to pay attention to but the biggest news in the Embracer purchase of LoK being finalised, the control of LoK being given back to Crystal Dynamics and the subsequent survey which saw a massive 100,000 responses and lit up hope for the series for the first time in years. We'll see where that leads, but for now I'll leave you with the recent NoClip Crystal Dynamics documentary, which featured a nice section on LoK and an ending guaranteed to make LoK fans smile. 

Happy 2023 everyone! 

Developmental Builds: The Blood Omen Alpha series is complete

 In case anyone has missed it, since the 25th anniversary of Blood Omen in November 2021 we've been going through the Blood Omen Alpha to highlight all the cut content goodness that's been uncovered there and hopefully showing that SR1 isn't the only game in the series with a massive stash of 'what could've been' moments. 

This weekend we've finally reached the end of the trail and now have a completed set of videos detailing those changes and the endless possibilities of game development. 

You can find the completed playlist here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-qhg60oOo1N3EHsbsM8DV5bmXUyJ-tg

But here's the rundown (along with a cut content rating where applicable and some highlights)

1) Introduction & Miscellaneous 

2) Enemies & Abilities 
3) Maps & The Level Select 

4) Ziegsturhl & The Cemetery  (medium - look out for expanded crypts)
5) The Expanded Lake of Tears, Nachtholm and the Wolf Cave (med - look out for the expanded lake)
6) Ghosts, Graveyards & The Pillars (med - new graveyard &energy bolt dungeon)

7) Steinchencroe & Vasserbunde (low - some interior reshuffles)
8) Nupraptor's Retreat & Lupo the Butcher (low - some level select hints about a cut character)
9) Coorhagen Part 1: Force Shield, Magic Absorb & the Repel Reshuffle  (medium - new spells)
10) Coorhagen Part 2: Bone Armor & Inspire Hate (medium - alternate routes)
11) Malek's Bastion (low - alternate trap & mechanism designs)
12) The Oracle's Cave & Stun Dungeon (low-med - proto overland & route reshuffle)
13) The Stone Keep Mist Dungeon, Lakes of the Dead & Roundabout  (med-high - proto overland & new areas)
14) The Prototype Termogent Forest (high - proto overland & dungeons)
15) Vorador's Mansion & The Chess Match (med - several secrets, new 'boss encounter')
16) The Chess match (old video of the chess match)
17) Prototype Uschtenheim, Repel Reshuffle & the Ruined Land (high - new town, new dungeon)
18) Dark Eden (low - some minor boss preamble fiddles) 

19) The Lightning Trail & The Long and Winding Road to Avernus (low - minor structural changes & new shortcut)
20) Active Maps & the Great Avernus Redesign (high - completely redesigned city)
21) The Road to Willendorf, Spirit Wrack Dungeon, Provincial Mines & Willendorf Trail (med-low - new dungeon)
22) Willendorf Citadel & The Expanded Willendorf Tunnel (med-high - greatly expanded dungeon)
23) The Stahlberg Resistance, Dollmaker, Nemesis Keep, Battle of the Last Stand (low-med - environment changes & potential dropped story threads with resistance & time travel method)
24) On to the Past: Time Travel, Stahlberg & The Nemesis Keep (med - changed environments & altered castle areas)
25) Back to the Future: The New Present, Moebius & The Grand Finale (med-high - numerous prototype & new areas)
26) Deleted Dungeons & Assorted Mysteries (high - numerous new & changed areas)
27) Blood Omen Alpha Highlights (old highlights package)

And for an added bonus here's another early Soul Reaver build that showed up during the series. This one is just after the cuts but features the most complete abilities and Reavers known thus far, as well as a completed Sound Forge.

2021 Games of the Year

 It's that time of years again. Although I've ended up pretty busy this year I'm hoping I can come back and add a bit more for 2022, but for now here's what I've been playing this year.

Honorable Mentions

Although 2021 has been another tumultuous year, I do still do a number of things in the gaming sphere and these two were close to my heart and took a lot of my time

Soul Reaver 2 Beta

This little beauty showed an earlier version of one of my favourite games. Not too much to show, but it did finally show us the deleted female vampire and her cutscene - along with scenes featuring three other deleted characters - and numerous other minor changes. I worked through this one for the 20th anniversary of SR2

Blood Omen Alpha

This bugger has technically taken up about half my year. Okay so we originally wrote about this back in 2018, but with the pandemic and all we’d done for the alpha SR1 it seemed wrong to leave this without the love it deserved. So for the 25th Anniversary of the series we started putting out a BO1 alpha video series. It’s taken about six months of pretty much solid work and I’ve only just finished it, but there will be enough videos to keep going through until nearly April next year.

Also Rans/Maybe Next Year

Okami

A cause of some interpersonal falling out, my SO loves Okami, but perhaps doesn’t appreciate my distinct lack of artistic skill - and my inability to draw perfectly straight lines of perfect circles free-hand. Without these skills the drawing sections seemed quite difficult. I’ll probably revisit this once I don’t have someone monitoring my drawing so much ;)

Alan Wake

Having played through and quite enjoyed Control and Quantum break, I thought I’d go back to where it all began. Unfortunately I’ll be honest I got a little bored and a little busy by the end of the first chapter. But I’m hoping to get back to it at some point

Transistor

I tried playing this a few years ago on a friend’s recommendation and I couldn’t get along with it. Having now played its successor Hades I thought it was a good time to go back and try again - and I still can’t get along with it. Shame cos I know there’s gold here 

Tekken 7

I have not played fighting games in a long time and then this came on sale. I’d heard good things and yet it seems it’s a genre that has now passed me by. I just couldn’t get my head around it any longer and the story mode seemed really weird. 

Stories Untold

Another “I played X and it was good so let’s play X-1”. In this case the predecessor to Observation - and this is just not what I expected.It’s essentially an old text based RPG type thing - complete with a virtual  retro 80’s PC and room on screen - where you have to type and guess the right responses to progress. I’d forgotten how frustrating those things could be and after spending an hour cycling through all the possible commands with no success I put it down. There’s probably a solution somewhere but I don’t have the patience anymore.

Life Is Strange: True Colours

My traditional Christmas purchase/present that I haven’t finished yet. 2 Chapters in and it seems really good. We’ll see how it fares through 2022.

Now onto the real thing:

Disappointments

Twelve Minutes

With Outer Wilds and a few others peaking my interest in time loops, I was intrigued by this lovely looking thing and the cast seemed amazing. However the final product let me down. Only Willem Dafoe is worth noting, there’s next to no exploration and where others have a trail of breadcrumbs to investigate, Twelve Minutes seems to just be about randomly guessing and doing random stuff until something works… and the less said about that twist ending the better.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

A game that disappointed me so much that I'd forgotten that I'd played it this year and almost missed it off the list - despite it having a big chunk of playtime. I'm not even sure where this went wrong. On paper it should have been up on the top end of my list. I loved Origins and Odyssey so when I saw this getting rave reviews I thought this would be a slam dunk, but unfortunately for me it's gone off like a wet fart. Explore the whole of England (and beyond)? Check. More assassin-y stealth? Check. Social Stealth is back? Check. Vikings? Check. More interesting exploration puzzles? Check. Story and Lore fan service. Check! Hell my University town even shows up. All of these things should have made it great, but it just fell so flat for me.

After Bayek/Aya and Kassanadra, Eivor as a protagonist just felt so flat, the story was so vast that it fell apart and felt disjointed and uninspired with no overarching motivation - such that it devolved into what seemed to be a territory grab simulator. I appreciated what they were trying to do with the story and liked the developments but most of the major beats just didn't affect me or play on my emotions like Kassandra's story had. The follow on content has seemed to be disappointing compared to its predecessor - mostly consisting of time and money sinks. And OMG the bugs: so many game breaking bugs that were just never fixed. I came across no less than six game breakers that had been there since day 1 and were never patched.

The monetization was far more dubious than previous entries.... I mean I could go on about this for ages but long story short, all those things that people complain about in AC games seemed to finally be pushed so hard here as to actually break the experience for me and I just cannot understand how this one got any good scores at all unless it was people deliberately backlashing against the direction of Origins and Odyssey.

Much like my thoughts on 'Last of Us', chalk this one up to an overhyped and over-reviewed game turning out to be nowhere near as good as suggested and severely disappointing as a result.   

Middle Ground

Limbo

First off, screw the early indie gamers… and devs.. Limbo is from that era of early digital indie games. Where single people could make compelling games in their bedrooms…and they all made sadistic platformers that taught you how to complete something and then put a trap there for the lols. Great fun if you like the feeling the developer is laughing at you. Less fun if you like having you sanity or enjoying the games you play. 

Streets of Kamurocho

Its the first level of Streets of Rage 2 but with Yakuza characters. What's not to like? 

Before Your Eyes

An inventive little game that is controlled by your eyes. I’m serious. It uses your webcam to track your eye movements - specifically when you blink - and this controls your progress through the story. It’s a little weird. Especially when you’re struggling to keep your eyes open so you don’t skip a scene but very well done and lovely little story, if a little on the short side.

Sayonara Wild Hearts

Another short one and to be honest I’m not even sure how to describe this. Sort of a trippy rhythm game. It’s so off the wall and is really enjoyable

AER Memories of Old

Take a pinch of journey and mix it with an open world made up of islands in the sky where you can change form and soar as a bird. Another lovely little indie game with a lovely atmosphere, beautiful artistic visuals and a story line that a mini-epic

Lost Ember

Lost ember is one of those games that Steam has been recommending to me for years, and I’m glad I finally took the plunge. Not unlike AER with have something of a cosmic-epic plot wrapped up in a smaller indie-game like atmosphere with some inventive mechanics and a heart warming/melting story. You play as a wolf trying to get a spark into heaven, but you can shape shift to be any of the animals you find along the way. A lovely little game with a lot of heart 

Quantum Break

I’d ended up quite impressed by ‘Control’ last year so it seemed sensible to go and look back at Remedy’s other works - especially with the hint that they were all linked. The game and the plot were pretty good and I can definitely see how it fit in the progression from Alan Wake to Control - although I’m not sure the whole game>TV episode>game sequencing necessarily worked to its strengths. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable one and I’m a sucker for time screwing sci-fi. 

Unravel 2

This year, myself and my better half played a few couch co-ops together and this was one of those lovely experiences for us both. You play as two string figures linked by twine and you have to find ways through platformy-like levels by swinging, knotting yourself up, pulling the other through and a lot of teamwork. A lovely little game even if the story lost me a bit.

Carrion

One of Devolver Digital's that I’d had my eye on for a while. They call it a reverse horror game and it feels a bit like an old platformer from 16-bit era - only you’re the bad guy/boss. A really inventive little game with some light metroidvania elements, where you start off small and only by gruesomely murdering people in the most horrifying fashion can you grow, evolve and develop new skills and fulfil your Lovecraft abomination potential. It’s brutal and funny with a couple of sequences I wasn’t expecting and a nice little twist to make you consider who the bad guy really is. 

Streets of Rage 4

It’s back and goes straight for the nostalgia. Okay this is essentially made by a group of fans of the original games and it really shows. They’ve taken all the best bits and rolled it together into one package, throw in the new levels and updated elements and this truly feels like a worthy successor. The gameplay and playability is still there it still feels just as good - and as an added bonus you can earn points to unlock all of the past characters from previous games. Amazing and addictive and makes it feel like the early 90’s all over again.

Superliminal

If there’s one thing I do like in my games is a bit of a mind screw that makes you go “What?!” leaving you totally baffled before explaining itself. Such is the case for Superliminal. Perhaps the closest example I can think of is something like a cross between Portal, Antichamber and the Stanley Parable. You have a series of rooms with puzzle room that defy physics and make you question your perception while a narrator tries to guide you through and explain your predicament. A lovely brain teasing perspective changing mind bender 

Observation

I must say I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this one and ended up really pleasantly surprised. An atmospheric sci-fi game that puts you in the role of HAL on 2001: A Space Odyssey. You play as the computer when something Alien happens to your craft and it seems a single astronaut survives. As the computer system you should aid her…but something else is whispering - or beeping - to you in the dark. The game is virtually on rails with very little true exploration allowed, but it is nonetheless stunning, tense and gripping and stuck me to the edge of my seat. Terrifying, awe-inspiring and amazing - and an ending that begs a sequel.   

A Way Out

Gotta love Josef Fares and Hazelight. I played Brothers: A Tale of two sons a few years ago and was won over by it’s charm and inventive gameplay…And Josef’s little megastar turn in the last few years  had certainly focused my attention on his next projects but I just hadn;t managed to get around to this until now and I can honestly say I wish I’d played it sooner. A Way Out takes the Brother experience and makes it a full couch co-op experience, with so many nice little touches, lovely gameplay sections. I could go on for ages. Stealth, Shoot Outs, Teamwork, Puzzles - it’s got it all. Hell we spent hours playing connect 4 inside a videogame and then went and bought a real set because of it.And that last sequence is amazing. This is a brilliant game. “f**k the Oscars” indeed.

 Cream of the Crop

Hades

One of those I’ve been pushed to play and I just didn’t see the point. “A repeating roguelike? Yeah not sure about that”. But ultimately I’m glad I was persuaded. The combat is fast paced and exhilarating and the procedural generation means you never quite know what you’re gonna get, so it’s a constant challenge. The music is epic, the voice work is amazing, the story is engaging and dished out in parts so you always have reason to come back for more. And every time you think you have it mastered a whole other level opens up meaning you get to replay it more. Hades is a masterpiece that really deserves the praise it got. 

It Takes Two  

Speaking of masterpieces, It Takes Two just won Game of the Year - and for very good reason. My word Josef Fares and Hazelight did it again with this one. It clearly builds upon A Way Out but is just a whole other level. It takes the couch co-op gameplay, adds a whole bunch of really enjoyable classic competitive mini games to the mix and dials everything up to 11 - on the way taking aim squarely at just about every genre out there. Seriously this game does so many videogame genres and plays just as good as the best of ‘em. The story seems a little kiddy to start with, but it’s absolutely not a ‘just for the kids’ game and there are some moments where I’m not sure it would even be suitable for them. It’s funny, replayable, the narrative is great and the gameplay is fantastic. Honestly this can’t come highly recommended enough. 

The Forgotten City

A chance stumble recommended because of my enjoyment of Outer Wilds, this was a game that took my breath away - especially considering it started out as a Skyrim mod with a small team of devs before blossoming into a full game of it’s own. How do I even describe it? You’re transported back in time and find your way to a forgotten Roman City filled with golden statues. There is one rule - the golden rule - if anyone commits a sin (which is not really defined) then the statues will come to life and turn the inhabitants to gold. And if you’re quick enough you can make it away to a time portal to start the time loop again and try to fix where you went wrong. The game itself is a real adventure. Filled with bits to explore, puzzles to solve, information to glean and work out, accusations to make and a philosophical discussion about the very nature of right and wrong. It’s beautiful, atmospheric, scary in places, thought provoking, educational, has great voice acting and haunting music. It’s tragic and funny, has well thought out structure, clues and endings and the true ending is a punch the air winner. I loved this game

Ghost of Tsushima

Got this one after Christmas last year and for the longest time this year I couldn’t see past it for my favourite game of the year. It’s just so effortlessly stylish, like walking into a kung fu movie. The usual PS exclusive amazingness is on show: a huge open world filled with stunning sights and achingly beautiful visuals, amazing gameplay and detailed combat, fantastic atmosphere and music, a brilliant story with entertaining quests and a tragic haunting end  - and so many neat little touches that I couldn’t put it down. As far as AAA games are concerned this was my number 1 pick - although I might put it a little below some of the top ones I played over the last few years. It’s just so cool and I loved it for it… but there was another that stole my heart more 

Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye 

Looking back on it, the original Outer Wilds was one of those games that was just so inventive and epic that I didn’t really know how to rate it. I felt obliged to move some of the big AAA titles above it on my list, but looking back now I almost feel that Outer Wilds gave me more to remember with its time loop getting lodged in my brain and my heart far more, so perhaps I’m correcting for that here.Echoes of the Eye does more of what OW did, but takes it to another level. 

are the masters of time loop games and gradual clues to unravel a mystery and make you solve it and EOTE just adds so much that it feels simultaneously like a new game and like an inseparable part of the base game. I won’t spoil too much (such games are best going in blind anyway) but there’s something new and unseen in the solar system with new areas to explore, new mysteries to work out, breathtaking scenery mindbending physics, brainteasing puzzles and a trial of breadcrumbs and questions to follow and ponder and that oh so memorable musical score is back and adds even more…and then it gets dark…literally…suddenly there's stealth and terror like I really had not expected from this game…and meta commentary… and the light of discovery…It’s one my SO and I actively debated not finishing because once you know the magic is gone and you can’t erase the knowledge and play again. A beautiful (if somewhat unclear) ending makes it all worthwhile and ties it back to the base game - and if you finish the base game again there is a special reward waiting. 

A truly stunning game that - even with a few frustrating sections - really blew me away and deserves to be considered the best of the year.