Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a game that is many things: smart, original, and innovative. Released for the Sony Playstation in 1997, it blazed a new path for vampire fiction and left a mark that endures to this day in the form of a franchise beloved around the world. Kain himself was a multifaceted and complex character in the compelling land of Nosgoth, who’s mysteries did not reveal themselves to the player so easily.

For example, the text that appears at the beginning of the game is left unattributed, but the well read player might realize that it originates with the notorious English occultist, Aleister Crowley (Magick, Book 4.)

The “false death” trope was somewhat common in video games at the time. Silent Hill (1998) comes to mind, as well as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (although in a slightly altered manner.) One could conjecture Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty could fit into this rarefied category as well, as Solid Snake was suddenly replaced by a completely new character. Risks were being taken by the industry, and it paid off monetarily, and in the form of cult followings.

At first, it is unclear how a newly reborn Kain has come by his knowledge about vampires. But soon one realizes that vampires do indeed exist in Nosgoth, and some of them are terrorizing the land. The people aren’t much better, though, and are sometimes revealed just to be as monstrous as the monsters. They hold public executions at the end, and act with callous indifference and disregard to the suffering going on around them throughout.

There are some interesting mechanics, like that of the sun and its relation to health. Instead of bursting into flames when he walks outside during the day, Kain just slowly loses health (even if he is indoors.) The conceit is that vampires are supposed to sleep during the day. That’s a good compromise between the Interview With a Vampire style vampires and the Twilight variety (who just sparkle.)

There are numerous different kinds of blood in the game: green, black, blue, and red. Green is poisonous, red is standard and replenishes health, black is diseased, and blue revitalizes magic. This opens up the door to strategizing. Draining only a few of the chained prisoners in dungeons ensures that the next time you will come back, have will be ghosts and have blue. Another use of this is to go back a little if you have lost your way and see who has become semi-invisible, since creatures respawn.

Blood Omen rewards the curious player and guards its secrets from the casual, just as if they were Kain himself in the land of Nosgoth. In this respect, the meta-immersion proved very effective.