Legacy of Kain: Defiance

Legacy of Kain: Defiance is a video game that consists of 3 releases

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The final chapter in the Legacy of Kain series, this game follows the adventures of Kain and Raziel in their struggles to save Nosgoth from an ancient enemy.

Overview

Defiance is the direct sequel to Soul Reaver 2, and picks up where that game left off. It also provides some background to the events of Blood Omen 2. For the first time in the series, both Kain and Raziel are playable, and their interwoven story is told in alternating chapters. Scores are settled, many questions are answered, and a major story arc is completed.

Plot

Raziel - now aware of his terrible destiny to become trapped in the Reaver - is stuck in the Spectral Realmwith the Elder God. Kain, on the other hand, has returned to the Sarafan Stronghold, hoping to learn Raziel's whereabouts from Moebius. Although Raziel eventually gives the Elder the slip, his agenda does not compliment Kain's. While Raziel desperately wants to avert his fate, Kain is trying to reclaim his pre-ordained role as 'Scion of Balance'. He needs Raziel's help and free will to achieve it, but Raziel is still distrustful of Kain, and all the prophecies point to a final battle which only one - or neither - will survive.

Full Synopsis

Spoiler Warning

Kain using the Soul Reaver

Defiance starts right where Soul Reaver 2 left off with Raziel trapped in the spectral realm and Kain searching for the wraith. Unable to find him anywhere in his time period, Kain infiltrates the Sarafan Stronghold to interrogate Moebius the Timestreamer. His first meeting with the sorcerer, however, doesn't go according to plan as Moebius disables the vampire with his scepter and simply walks away; leaving Kain with a wounded ego. On their next meeting, Kain ambushes Moebius and disarms him before he can use the scepter on him. After being thrown around the room like a toy, Moebius succumbs and reveals that Raziel is in another timeline and Kain can find him by visiting the area west of the Pillars.

Raziel trapped in the spectral realm

Meanwhile, Raziel is some five centuries in the future; held captive inside the spectral realm by the Elder God. In an act of defiance, Raziel escapes from the Elder God grasp. Bitter with his failure to keep the wraith captive, the Elder God disables all the planar portals in the world thus denying him an easy way for to materialize in the physical realm. However, Raziel proves more resilient than he expected and reanimates existing corpses to materialize himself. As he makes his way out of a graveyard, Raziel comes across some of Moebius's vampire hunters. Realizing what time period he was in, Raziel resumes his old quest of finding the "Heart of Darkness" so he can resurrect Janos Audron. He travels straight to the Pillars to seek guidance from the ghost Ariel. The haunted spirit leads her to Vorador's mansion, buried deep inside the black forest. On reaching the mansion, Raziel finds the structure to be abandoned and rigged with traps to keep intruders out. He fights his way inside to finally meet Vorador. The old and bitter vampire shows him Janos Audron's preserved body and reveals that the "Heart of Darkness" must still beat somewhere. Following Vorador's advice, Raziel travels to Avernus Cathedral to find the black heart.

The Hylden and Vampire champions locked in a duel

Ancient vampire mural

Kain explores the area Moebius talked about and finds an ancient vampire citadel. As he explores this ancient landmark, he finds several murals depicting the history of the Ancients and how they built the Pillars to imprison the Hylden. In return, the Hylden cursed them with vampirism. The murals show how the vampire curse drove them to madness and they had to rely on human guardians for their Pillars. These guardians would be converted into vampires when they reached a suitable age, until Moebius and Mortanius revolted against the vampires and claimed the Pillars for their own. This ignited the ageless war between vampires and humans, leading upto Kain's fateful decision in Blood Omen.(Unknown to Kain, the Elder God is responsible for both the wars as he first influenced his disciples,the ancients, into a war against the Hylden; who didn't believe in his teachings. Then as the vampires were cursed with immortality, he turned to the humans to get rid of the vampires. He was the catalyst behind Moebius and Mortanius's revolt)

Kain also comes across some murals predicting the future and showing the Hylden and Vampire champion locked in a duel. Clearly recognizing the swords they wield, he realizes that the champions are none other than Kain and Raziel themselves. As he continues to explore, he comes across a secret chamber deep within the citadel. Inside the chamber, he meets an entity who claims to be the Oracle of his ancient ancestors and offers his help in finding Raziel. Secretly, this entity is none other than the Elder God, who wants Kain dead. With no other choices available to him, Kain accepts the Oracle's help and is teleported five centuries into the future - where Raziel arrives at Avernus Cathedral.

Turel as Hash'Ak'Gik

In the meantime, Raziel explores Avernus in his search for the elusive "Heart of Darkness". Inside the long catacombs, he stumbles across a group of humans worshiping someone named Hash'Ak'Gik. Raziel faces the giant creature, only to find out its his long lost brother, Turel. The vampire was summoned here from the future and has been trapped here for centuries - being worshipped as a God and given regular blood offerings. Turel was actually being used a vessel by the Hylden and on sensing Raziel, they decide to take over and attack him. Raziel defeats the monster and absorbs his soul, increasing his power of telekinesis. Raziel makes a way out of Turel's pit and finds Mortanius. The necromancer reveals that he used the "Heart of Darkness" to resurrect Kain as a vampire. Mortanius was also possessed by the hylden who used him to kill Ariel and do other heinous acts. Repenting his actions, Mortanius finally lets go and destroys himself. Armed with the knowledge that Kain posses what he seeks, Raziel makes his way out of Avernus. As fate would have it, he meets Kain on the way.

Raziel attacks Kain

As the chase finally ends, Kain tries to reason with Raziel. He informs Raziel that because of his unique remaking, he is the only one in all Nosgoth who truly has free will. He is not bound to the wheel of fate. But Raziel refuses to listen and influenced by the Hylden, he attacks Kain. Their battle ends in a stalemate as both the champions are equally matched in combat. As they struggle, Kain's material Reaver starts to absorb Raziel's soul. Taking it as a threat, Raziel rips out Kain's heart and banishes him to the demon realm. Having found what he was seeking, Raziel heads back to Vorador's mansion to raise Janos.

Raziel resurrects Janos

On his return to the mansion, Raziel finds that Moebius and his mob have already captured Vorador. Cunning as ever, Moebius escapes by setting his vampire hunters on Raziel. The wraith deals with them and makes his way to the secret chamber where Janos Audron's body is stored. He uses the heart of darkness to resurrect the ancient vampire and reveals the events of the past five centuries. Shocked and horrified, Janos decides to find some answers by teleporting the pair to the vampire citadel. Raziel explores the ancient monument and to his surprise, finds the Elder God underneath. He notices the Elder trying to hide something. Curious, he attacks the creature's giant tentacles to reveal a spirit forge. He plunges his wraith blade into the forge to activate it. This summons the souls of all the balance guardians to the forge, including Ariel. She informs Raziel that this forge will purify the blade with the spirits of all the balance guardians. As Raziel released her soul, she leaves him a final crypt ic message saying "You have done well, Raziel. But there is one more trial for you to bear. You must unite that which has been set asunder... only then will the Scion of Balance be armed for his true endeavor. Only then... ".Unable to make sense of these words, Raziel heads back to Janos for counsel.

Kain in the demon realm

Raziel returns to find an anxious Janos, as the bindings of the Pillars is about to break down. Janos tells Raziel to seek out the Scion of Balance, just as the Pillars breakdown and the Hylden come through to possess Janos. They reveal how Raziel had played right into their hands and acted like their champion. Realizing he must stop this threat, Raziel attacks the hylden Janos and defeats him in combat. However, he could not bring himself to finish the task of killing his old friend. The Hylden take advantage of this and banish the wraith back to the spectral realm. There, as always, he finds the Elder God waiting for him. The Elder tries to break Raziel's will, calling his actions insignificant. The Elder summons Moebius to the citadel.

Inexplicably, Kain was still alive in the demon realm and wakes up to find a gashing wound in his chest and a hollow gap where his heart once was. He comes across some Hylden who were banished here by his ancient ancestors ages ago. Kain defeats them as he makes his way out of the demon realm through a portal and goes back to the vampire citadel.There he finds Moebius in conversation with his God. Surprised to see his mortal enemy still alive, Moebius tries to use his scepter against Kain but fails as the heart which was once effected by it is no longer present inside Kain. Seeing that there is nothing he needed from the timestreamer, Kain impales Moebius with the Soul Reaver - killing him once again. In the spirit realm, Moebius prays to the Elder God for his life but is interrupted in the middle by Raziel; as he too impales Moebius with the wraith blade. Raziel's spirit reaver purifies Moebius's sight and he sees his precious God in its true form (a giant squid) for the very first time. Raziel devours his soul, thus ending Moebius's existence for all time.

The redemption of Raziel

Seeing how the spirit reaver purified Moebius's vision and allowed him to see the Elder God for the first time, Raziel realizes what he must do. He alone could end the conflict. As Raziel reanimates Moebius's corpse, Kain jumps forward and impales him in a reflex reaction. As Raziel completes his transformation, Kain realizes his mistake and tries to pull the Reaver out. As the Reaver starts to absorb his soul, Raziel refuses to let go and reveals his true purpose. He was meant to purify Kain and the Reaver of all corruption. By sacrificing himself, Raziel cleanses Kain of the corruption inflicting him since his birth (due to Nupraptor's pschyic attack at the time). As Raziel fades away, Kain is finally able to see the vampire's true enemy - the Elder God.

Armed with the purified Soul Reaver, Kain defeats the Elder and leaves him buried inside the citadel. As he reflects upon Raziel's final act of redemption, Kain realizes how his sacrifice provided with something far greater than the sword which now held his soul: Hope.

Gameplay

The biggest change in gameplay from the previous games was the new camera angle which gave the game a very cinematic look. While the camera served the purpose to making the game look better, it was more of a hindrance in gameplay. There are instances were your character completely disappears behind a wall. It also becomes hard to lock on a target sometimes because of the constantly moving camera angle.Raziel still has the ability to shift in and out of the material realm at will and this serves as a major gameplay element, especially the ones involving puzzles. Players have to constantly choose the right realm to travel in to get past certain obstacles. Kain, on the other hand, can turn into mist and pass through doors easily.

Raziel

In Defiance, Raziel begins with the basic Spectral and Material Reavers. All the temporary enhancements he had gained throughout Soul Reaver 2 had been lost or were otherwis e inaccessible by him. There was originally an intention explain this in-game - hinting that the Elder God had destroyed the crucial Elemental Fonts - but it didn't make it as far as the released version. Once Raziel escaped from the Underworld, he found the means to re-forge the wraith-blade with elemental properties (both old and new) but permanently this time. No fonts were needed - he could switch between his acquired elemental Reavers at will. Each elemental Reaver had different strengths and characteristics.

In Defiance, Raziel imbues the Reaver in forges within the Vampire Citadel. They were less puzzle-oriented than the Soul Reaver 2 forges, but they did not all give up their power easily. The Fire, Air, Water and Earth forges were each guarded by two spirits: spectres of the original Ancient Vampire Pillar Guardians. Raziel had to defeat them, and absorb their souls into the blade to gain the elemental enhancement aligned to their Pillars. The platform of the subterranean Pillars' chamber in Soul Reaver 2 illustrated this connection between the Pillar principles and the elements.

Kain starts off carrying the blood-devouring, physical incarnation of the Reaver. It had presumably been in his possession since he saved Raziel from the blade in Soul Reaver 2. Like Raziel, Kain could enhance the Reaver throughout the course of the game. He had to collect the five fragments of the Ancient Vampires' Balance Emblem to give the Reaver new magical attributes. These attributes were not all elemental; rather they appeared to be connected to the Pillars themselves - specifically the Balance, Conflict, Dimension, Energy and Time Pillar s. The final enhancement will have to remain a secret for now...

Kain

Aside from their varied charge colors, the Reavers could also be distinguished from each other to some extent by how they sounded when they were swung. The Dimension, Lightning, and Soul Reavers were the most distinctive.

Kain and Raziel started with a fairly simple range of attack moves, including a basic three-slash combo. As they progressed and fought enemies, they gained combat experience. Their level of experience was displayed by the Reaver meter on the in-game status screen, and whenever the Reaver meter filled, they would be rewarded with a new Special Attack. They could gain experience more quickly by performing complex combos (powerful combos could be created by stringing together previously-earned Special Attacks), and by fully charging the Reaver during battle. Both Kain and Raziel possess the power of telekenisis and often use it to move big objects or throw their enemies around. Players can even use these telekenitic powers in combat to pull off some rather satisfying combos.

Deleted Content

Like most games, a lot of content was left out of the retail version of the game. A few of the rumored elements which didn't make the cut are as follows:

Raziel's Shield - There were design documents which showed something similar to a shield on Raziel's left arm. It could have helped make Kain and Raziel moree distinct in combat
Addition Balance Emblems - More additions were planned for Kain's Reaver
Umah - There were plans to provide more backstory for Umah's character and maybe explain Vorador's presence in Blood Omen 2
Sanctuary of the Clans - It is rumored that the game was supposed to end in the future, back in the timeline where Soul Reaver takes place
Avernus - Avernus Cathedral and its catacombs were originally designed as much bigger areas but had to be cut short due to time constrains.

Quotes

- Kain: Given the choice, whether to rule a corrupt and failing empire; or to challenge the fates for another throw - a better throw - against one's destiny... what was a king to do? But does one even truly have a choice? One can only match, move by move, the machinations of fate... and thus defy the tyrannous stars.

- Raziel: Your pawn has reached the end of the board, Kain. And now my powers may even surpass yours. How ironic if the creature that you made should prove your own undoing. Now, we finish this.

- Ariel: You must unite that which has been set asunder... only then will the Scion of Balance be armed for his true endeavor. Only then...

- Raziel: The Soul Reaver -- pure of all corruption -- this is what it is for. This is what I am for -- The two become one - both Soul Reavers - together - and the Scion of Balance is healed. And I -- am not your enemy - not your destroyer - I am, as before, your right hand. Your sword.

- Elder God: You cannot destroy me, Kain - I am the Engine of Life itself. The Wheel will turn... The plague of your kind will be purged from this world... And on that inevitable day, your wretched, stagnant soul will finally be mine.
Kain: In the meantime, you'd best burrow deep.

- Kain: Most ironic of all was the last gift that Raziel had given me, more powerful than the sword that now held his soul, more acute even than the vision his sacrifice had accorded me - the first bitter taste of that terrible illusion: Hope.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Legacy of Kain: Defiance
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 Xbox PC
Publisher(s)	ak tronic Software & Services GmbH
Developer(s)	Crystal Dynamics, Inc.
Genres	Add a new genre Action Adventure
Themes	Add a new theme Horror Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy
Original US Release	Nov. 11, 2003 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases
PEGI	PEGI: 16+