Now, at last, the masks had fallen away. The strings of the puppets had become visible, and the hands of the prime mover exposed. 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.
As well written as that line is though, I feel it is misplaced. After all, Kain has always held onto hope, fighting against all odds... after all, a man without hope wouldn't count on that "coin" landing on its edge.
@@justhenvandenberg5224 It'll be hard to replace some voices - Templeman is irreplaceable, Bell definitely so - we've already lost three of the greats in Jay, Lukather and Auberjonis so if the series does continue or gets remade, those three need to have those ready to fill those shoes.
"The dead shall rise" kinnda also makes it sound like a hint as well, as in the legacy of kain shall rise from the "dead" damn As Kain would say: The first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion: hope
@@SamuelBlack84 yup get ready for it. Kain is a racist blonde haired blue eyed evil vampire and raziel is a p o c gender neutral “hero” who loves small children.
They have already ruined Star Wars and LOTR. The latest installment deserved far more respect than anything else. Still, we were given the disappointing Rings of Power, and now we are being told that a second season is coming. I don't have any expectations, whether good or bad, for this. I simply don't expect anything from modern entertainment until they prove me wrong.
@@-41337 its gonna be probably only for die hard fans and only novels as well, the gameplay is just too hard to decide for now, if they wouldve followed up blood omen w more open world than this couldve been what diablo, fallout, and baldurs gate became. Soul reaver would be like a more morbid version of what nosgoth became like abes oddyssey and opened the world more
@@viktor-rp7xl To be frank, I only played LoK for the plot, not the gameplay. Even back then, CD was competing with the likes of Devil May Cry and God of War (DMC 3 came out roughly the same time as Defiance). But by god the plot was epic. As for OP, I'm generally pessimistic. I have some speculation that this new character could be the Seer from blood Omen 2, that would jive with a retcon for me but I'm not comfortable with new character inserts, only plot hole retcons. Not sure if that makes me a die hard fan since I've not played it in decades, but I'm with op, the plot made the franchise the cult classic it is today.
I'm carefully optimistic. I think this might be a great way to gauge interest for future installations. There are a lot of stories left untold in this world.
The moment i hear someone complain about shit being “woke” i tune them out. Lazy ass critiques are beneath the legacy of kain series. Im more concerned about the quality of writing not being the same as the games
@@Geekezf yeah there was so much love put into the series back then that idk if we’re going to get the same quality today, not saying that its impossible but it all felt like lightning in a bottle
Most ironic of all was the last gift that Crystal Dynamics had given us, more powerful than the sword that now held Silicon Knights' soul, more acute even than the vision its sacrifice had accorded us - the first bitter taste of that terrible illusion: Hope.
Good up load as always. And yah hope they stay true to the lore in general. I'm cautiously optimistic. Man that last line in legacy of Kain Defiance both chills and to a certain degree relatable to a certain degree. Hope to see the Kickstarter succeed.
Really hoping this does succeed in telling the consistent and captivating story befitting this beloved franchise. I need new games in the series, and if this is the first step to achieving that, then I'm willing to taste that bitter illusion of hope.
Her being raised bybkain would be lore breaking. Amy made a point of having turrl show up in defiance because kains soul had to me made whole through raziel and the spirit reaver. If he raised her and wraith raziel didnt get to consume her soul, then kain would still be missing a piece of his soul. Maybe she is an evolved version of voradors mysterious woman portrait
I'm ready to back this project. The lack of LoK content (video games and novels) is utterly saddening. I really hope they can see that we, the fans, are here ready to support the series.
I'm not going to support anything other than a video game, preferably continuing the story. I want a conclusion to the story I invested my time and money into all those years ago.
@@MajorJakas When it comes to a game, only Hennig could be chosen to best direct and write the plot. Mind you there's a fanfictiom writer who for a decade now has done a pretty interesting job writing a series following Defiance that if made into games could work well.
I imagine the female vampire will be tied to Raziel in some form or another. Perhaps as a woman that he loved, but was brainwashed into thinking she betrayed him in some form or another. Maybe she "caused" the death of his family, by the Order lying to Raziel, or actually killed them for one reason or another. There are many ways they can take this, and if the OG are doing it, or helping, there is a very huge chance this'll turn out amazing
@@faynarawn4164I really hope that's not the case, either. I've been with this series since the 90s, and I would be pretty disappointed if they went that route. But honestly, in this day in age, it wouldn't surprise me. It better not be an "independent woman" type of deal, or everything happening from her POV, where we get watered down versions instead of seeing panels and the main stories focusing on Raziel and Kain.🙄
I'd love if, the reason for Raziel's zealotry is the first bout of violence Voreador expresses against mankind. Killing Raziel's loved ones. A sort of self fulfilling prophecy, as Raziel hates due to someone else's hatred, a cycle of violence that only ended in his death and rebirth.
Exploring Raziel's motivations as a human feels like ground that doesn't need exploring IMHO. I could be missing something obvious though, and I hope I'm wrong. I would have liked to have seen more on other characters - perhaps Vorador or Janos or someone else brand new , pre-human Kain, maybe related to the pillars. Or, what happens after Defiance? Although, after Defiance is probably best explored as a new game. :D
Thank you for making a video on this upcoming graphic novel. I feel like all the fans really need to push and show them how much this game is loved. I'm looking forward to the graphic novel. I hope it stays true to the lore and characters. Maybe this will lead to an actual Remake or continuation of the actual story. I can't wait to add this to my collection honestly.
I started playing this game shortly after the second installment is released and have been anxiously anticipating every sequel since that including the incredible cliffhanger that was defiance. I love the end of the video at the end of that game and man that game had me looking forward to a sequel more than any other
On one hand I'm genuinely excited we'll get to see more of the Sarafan era, and maybe a glimpse at some of the other inquisitors in life, since they'd have to be included in some small capacity right? On the other hand, introducing a new elder vampire that hasn't been seen or heard of in the series thus far leaves me apprehensive about what they plan to do with her. From the art she is an elder vampire (the head shape and the claws), but when I first saw her I kinda hoped she would have been a Hylden that was "left behind", much like the Seer was. Not to mention, to make her look akin to Kain they're definitely trying to draw parallels between the characters, and I'm not too keen on that. It screams self insert that wants to be like their fave character that they're gonna inject to make them seem super interesting and relevant to the plot like a sage/mentor, only for the character to fall flat because the writing for them won't be up to snuff. This is assuming any of the writing in the book will be any good anyway.
I've said this in a previous video but there has to be an original timeline in which human Raziel and his Seraphan brothers aren't killed by the Wraith. Because the Wraith was not there until the death of the very first Raziel. Something had to kill the original Raziel for the Wraith events to be triggered.
We could even speculate that Raziel was personally recruited by Moebius himself, who knew about his pivotal role in history. Moebius obviously knew what Raziel would become later, but nevertheless groomed him into a cruel zealot just for his own pleasure.
I have been disappointed so many times in recent times by these "returns" that I dare not be optimistic. But the truth is, there's nothing I want more than a really good Legacy of Kain game/book/comic... anything.
I just saw a preview of the comic and apparently Kain has his Elder Definitive Vampire look when he revives the Sarafan when he's supposed to be just barely starting his empire as a younger vampire... Unless it's a Kain from a different timeline??
I will be backing this project when it launches. I'll take any LoK I can get at this point. It's a crime this franchise has been dormant for this long.
I am very, very hopeful about this. More than I want to be, if I were honest about it. The Legacy of Kain series is one so very dear to my heart and there was just so much left unresolved. Now after so many years... One postulating hope that I feel like could be an amazing opportunity and could finally close the loop on an old, open thread would come in with those unexpected interactions you mentioned. However, not an interaction between future Kain and mortal Raziel - though I would love to see what that could look like and how it could be just dripping with dramatic irony - but between mortal Raziel and Janos. Let me explain... As the audience, the first interaction we saw between Janos and Raziel was in Soul Reaver 2 and there was quite a bit of build up towards that meeting. Janos was hoped to be the source of all the answers Raziel had yearned for up to that point, crossing even time to find him. When Raziel enters Janos' chamber, Janos knows him on sight - calls him by name - and is openly shocked at Raziel's appearance as a deformed wraith. "Raziel, my child... what have they done to you? ...You appear to have been cruelly tested." This not only suggests that Janos knew who Raziel was before this moment but that his appearance of being a wraith was very counter to what Janos would have expected of him... perhaps, counter to a form he was already familiar with? We never got any explanation at all about how Janos knew Raziel's name - none whatsoever - and we simply assumed that he (Janos) was shocked at Raziel's appearance due to his being reborn as a wraith. But this always struck me as stilted and oddly disconnected. Any familiarity between them could be chocked up to limited writing space or just trying to move the story/game along since Raziel was the protagonist. (We the audience already knew who Raziel was, so why waste time "introducing" him to a new character?) I think that was the unspoken assumption for years. But that doesn't make sense simply because everything with the series was so well thought out and and so well constructed. Additionally, this kind of dynamic isn't there with any other characters that Raziel meets, with one exception - Moebius. When Raziel and Moebius first meet it is at the very end of Soul Reaver/beginning of Soul Reaver 2. Likewise, Moebius knows exactly who Raziel is and acts as though they have a prior relationship, one derived from Raziel's mortal life. This is because we quickly come to find out that they did through the Sarafan, though Moebius exaggerates this in an attempt to manipulate wraith Raziel. Moebius: "I knew you when you were one of the Sarafan brotherhood, Raziel. We were even close..." Raziel in disgust: "Oh please..." The point being, wraith Raziel knows/remembers nothing from his mortal life and he stumbles blindly through the past trying to pick up the threads with characters who already know the story - because they knew him before his death and vampiric resurrection. I always felt like there was more there between Janos and Raziel than Raziel himself knew or could remember, similar to the dynamic between himself and Moebius but with Janos being less forthcoming. You could argue that Janos had some precognitive knowledge of Raziel from his role as the Reaver guardian but there is very little evidence to support that and that explanation feels a bit empty and a wasted opportunity. That would be a far more reasonable explanation for how Moebius knows Raziel upon their first meeting due to his knowledge as time guardian, but even then - we come to find out that Moebius was telling the truth, though a slanted version of it. When we get the reveal in Soul Reaver 2 that mortal Raziel was the one who killed Janos it was such a turn. We were shocked with wraith Raziel to discover that his mortal self was the one responsible for the horrid act of killing a character whom he (and we) quickly came to love and respect - one we saw as wholly altruistic. It was a repellent revelation that was filled with tragic irony. But what if that tragedy went even deeper? I think of Moebius and Janos as two opposing sides in conflict with one another in how they relate to Raziel; the two sides of Kain's coin, so to speak. Both acted as guides to Raziel in their own way and both clearly had hopes for what he would do/become. We as the audience presume (righly) that Moebius is manipulative and malicious in his intentions but when it comes to Janos we are encouraged to vaguely assume a more benevolent nature. However... I think there are signs against this. Janos is forthcoming in the information he gives to Raziel, but there are always key omissions that he keeps to himself that are suspicious. In Soul Reaver 2, Raziel asks Janos regarding the deaths of the previous vampire pillar guardians, "...why did their guardianship's not sustain them?" Janos replies, "I... don't know." We know this is a lie! We come to find out that they destroyed themselves due to their misguided faith in the Elder God, and Janos admits to knowing this later in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Indeed, we see Raziel's blind trust in Janos begin to erode in Defiance when he presses Janos for clarity, how Janos tries to evade being completely forthcoming, and Raziel standing his ground against this evasion. Janos: "The Pillars must not remain under human guardianship. They are not competent to serve." Raziel: "Why then did you allow the Pillars to fall into human hands?" Janos: "Raziel, there is no time..." Raziel: "I want answers. The world can end this instant for all I care." What if Janos were less altruistic than we were led to believe. What if he like Moebius had a relationship with mortal Raziel that we have as-of-yet never seen? Perhaps Janos was aware of what Raziel could become even while the latter was mortal - his destiny as vampire messiah - but saw another way/path and was grooming him towards that end, one that Moebius subverted into the outcome we know? Janos was not so malicious as Moebius but no less manipulative or misguided, as we have clearly seen him withhold information and critical knowledge to push Raziel towards the ends he wanted. He withheld the information about the Hylden and how the ancient vampires worshiped the wheel of fate. With this revelation of the ancient vampires' faith, Raziel's trust (and ours) in Janos and the vampire's path is deeply eroded and put into doubt. This could be made all the more tragic by pulling the curtain back upon how close Raziel might have been to going down another path in his mortal life, one that was caught in between the manipulations of Moebius and Janos. Good lord... could you picture it? If Raziel had to make a critical decision in his mortal life between the machinations of Moebius and the misguided omissions of Janos and literally used a coin to decide the outcome. Moebius simply won the coin toss, so to speak. Going a bit meta here, Janos is clearly named after the Roman god Janus - the two-faced god. Janus was the deity of (among other things) beginnings and endings as well as portals or entry ways. This was because an entry way had two faces (inward and outward) and the two faces looked forward and backwards in time. The tradition was that the temple to Janus would close the doors in times of peace (to keep the peace) and open in times of war. I find it interesting and highly symbolic that there is a conspicuous duality with Janos in that he is open with the information he gives to Raziel but it is always highly selective, with key omissions. Only when forced and in moments of conflict is he wholly forthcoming. Additionally, when Janos is possessed by the Hylden in Defiance he is literally two-faced (glowing green eyes); two parts looking towards two different directions - the salvation of Nosgoth and its destruction, symbolic of the past and the future respectively. Janus is also often depicted as holding keys in his hand, as he is the keeper of doorways and locks. In Soul Reaver 2, Janos states, "The binding must be secured. The Pillars are the lock..." to which Raziel slowly begins to answer, "and the Reaver is the key." Janos literally is the keeper of the most important lock in all of Nosgoth; the Pillars. Kaine: "Moebius is a puppet, Raziel. Haven't you realized that yet? That's the sweetest irony in all of this; Nosgoth's great manipulator is their plaything." I think by comparing Janos and Moebius in this way, we can see how - though their intentions are very different - they fill a similar roll in moving Raziel across the board. They are both holders and keepers of hidden and ancient secrets, and yet they themselves are fatally unaware of critical truths beneath the surface (IE the true nature of the Elder God/wheel of fate). They both use the truth to manipulate Raziel; Moebius by bending the truth while Janos conceals it. Both encourage Raziel to take up the Reaver and make sure he and the blade are united in his journey. I just think there is so much more there for the story between Raziel and Janos that we haven't seen and the pieces are right there, just behind the curtain and out of view.
As great as it is too see that the IP isn't totally dead, I wish they weren't just retreading old ground. Defiance ended in a way that changed everything, so I'd rather see the story going forward after that.
"for thousands of years. I have waited alone here. Losing faith...(...)" - Janos Audron 21 yrs. 21 fu****kin' yrs!!! We were waiting like Janus and losing it. Is it really happening? They were playing with us so much over the years. LOK: Dead Sun far developed but cancelled. MMO Nosgoth published but cancelled! I know every LOK fan will agree with me here: "The first bitter taste of that terrible illusion: .....hope" - Kain
I love the Legacy Of Kain series. I hope this does well and we get all five games remastered. The only thing that sucks is how many of the voice actors have passed away. The games were done so very well.
I hope this turns out well and brings some excitement to this series from new audiences. I would love to see the first 2 games get a remake at the least.
I already signed up to get notified when the Kickstarter is up and running. I don't know about tier perks, but I will do my best to make sure I can donate as much as I can.
Thats the right attitude. EVERYONE MUST FOLLOW THIS. Even if you dont like graphic novels. Even if you have doubts on the ending result. Thr bare minimum contribution is still fine. THIS! Is the way to prove to crystal dynamics and their parent company that the revival of the franchise IS a more then enough good idea.
I'm very skeptical on this one, on the mere fact that most remakes/reboots/sequels to old franchises nowadays suck. I really hope they don't go the Star Wars way of introducing this new characters that will be awesome in every single possible way and the new main characters of the franchise, while keeping the old characters around just as a crutch.
I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this after 20 years of projects getting cancelled. I'm cautiously optimistic about how the story is going to go
Let me get this straight, basically it would be like the prequel reboot, but with clues to answer not only from Raziel deep Backstory development but also more Lore of the Sarafan Crusades (Rise and Fall), The Two Kain Paradoxes (Elder Time travel and Young One Conqueror) and probably and even perhaps a properly fix to the Blood Omen 2 or even Nozgoth...!? I love it! How much intrigue! excited for the revelations of this much talked about special historical period and the possibilities of seeing more time travel, reference reintroduction to the previous games and more! Also Heres a Crazy Theory i belive that Girl actully could be the Seer or even a new Reinterpretation of the Priestess! I wish them Luck and maybe just maybe whe get a new brand game , from The canceled projects to even a properly remake too!
I only wish that it will be good and successful so Crystal Dynamics will be compelled to do a reboot/remake. I don't have any expectations, I just pray it will be good.
If done right this could explain how Raziel became attached to The Elder God "I know you Raziel. You are worthy" and then Moebius "I knew you when you were one of the Sarafan brotherhood Raziel. We were even close". Makes me think human Raziel volenteered for something. Gave himself to the elder somehow
y would chu tink tat fors 🤔 concidering tat POS company has noting tu even do wif tis 🤨 tbh im 90% sure DES has nu idea tis even exsists..and even if tey do i doubt tey even cares sence it has nu busness tu do wif em 😐
it could be a fascinating chance to have kain meet his younger self. imagine end point kain meeting either his human self or his fledgling self. You could get some great and interesting interactions between them.
As much as id love to see Raziel return and the entire series with him, i have no faith in anything Crystal Dynamics is involved with. The contempt they hold for the IP's that made them their fortune is putrid and how they behave towards the fans of those IP's is disgusting. I'm deeply concerned they'll bastardize the characters the same way they've done Lara. Better to die a heroes death in glory and honor than for your corpse to be paraded through the streets in some macabre ritual to play for more coin.
@@DarthSanguine Spectral Raziel wouldn't be, but human or vampire Raziel could be. We have basically all of human Raziel's life, and pretty much the same for his time as a vampire. So well over 1000 years of potential content. Of course both of those would have to be dealt with carefully so as to not conflict with the already existing narrative.
@@DarthSanguinewe could get past iterations of Raziel, which could ironically reverse the roles between him and Kain throughout the Soul Reaver games. But Raziel could also speak through the Reaver. Giving his own insights and occasionally sassing Kain lol
I really hope they don't add her as some weird ass love interest. I never once saw either Raziel or Kain have a long term love interest or anything like that. I don't want some weird ass twilight vibes in the great Legacy of Kain story.
What I want to see and I believe, is needed for the "moral outrage" of the vampire genocide to make sense, are vampires that spare humans, just feeding on them enough to survive. For me there was always a lack of nuance, since we only see vampires that act arrogant and condescending, seeing humans merely as cattle, predators that delight in the killing, not even one, besides Janos, who shows any empathy or at least the sober rationale that they have to do it purely for survival reasons, since, apparently, vampires can only be nourished by human blood but I could be wrong about that
Thank you for your ongoing work in documenting this great saga from my childhood. Fingers crossed for new material that comes in this age of shameless nostalgia cash-grabs 🤞
The Soul Reaver and Blood Omen comics had to stay out of spoiler territory so details were very sparse, though we did get the infamous Priestess panel before she was cut from the game.
Well the project is already a success, the orignal financial goal has been blow away and they got 46 times the original goal, if that doesn't show the industry we want more Legacy of Kain then I don't know what more they need...
Look ive been making theories myself about this book but I'm keeping strong hopes for possible closure hopefully leading to maybe getting that moment we get before it gets lost forever
I wonder if, like Jack Crow from John Carpenter's VAMPIRES, Raziel was a lone child survivor of a vampire attack on his family. The only difference between them was that Raziel became a self-righteous zealot who, even though he was an accomplished warrior, he was an arrogant bully and probably had an over reliance on Moebius' Sceptre whilst engaging his vampiric opponents.
I'm excited at learning this, but cautious since other series that have returned haven't been well received. As someone else said in the comment section "Please don't suck."
Yeah. If the writing and dialogue of the characters isn't as it was in the games... it will feel a bit downgraded. One of the very best aspects of lok was their writing. No lame and simple lines.. but truly articulate thoughts in every word.
Yo this is gonna be bananas!! It’s already more than 10x its needed budget on Kickstarter!! Unless they absolutely sabotage the story then a new game is surely to come down the line! I CANT FREAKIN WAIT!!
I'm really excited by the prospect of this comic. I'm sure it'll be a self-contained story, but that's more than ok with me. In the best-case scenario, this'll be a great story that leads to the rejuvenation of the franchise. If worse comes to worse, it'll be a forgotten work, and we'll continue to talk about how great the games were. Either way, I'm looking forward to this!
This should be pretty good so long as crystal dynamics has plenty of agency with the product, usually the success of these sorts of things bring forth progress to new products so for now the future looks bright, even if hope is a bitter illusion
I hope that the writers do their diligence and are well read on the lore as we don't want plot inconsistencies arising from new story details that are introduced in the comic.
