Original Transformers and Rescue Bots voice actor, Michael Bell Bell is also known for his portrayal of Raziel in Soul Reaver: The Legacy of Kain. During TFcon he discussed playing the game.
On the disk commentary there's a short interview where he makes that very statement. "I feel the need to workout so that kids don't feel weird about a 60 year old cocker doing his voice."
"Kain is DEIFIED. The Clans tell tales of Him, few know the truth. He was mortal once, as were we all...." One of the best damn voice over openings to a series EVER!
The Official UK PkayStation Magazine held it as the best for some time! Don't know if they ever found one they thought was better, come to think of it...
There's no rush. The voice acting is so spot-on phenomenal and incredible that they could never top the original performances. I would much rather they just give the games a full graphical update akin to Crash or Spyro, but keep all of the original voice acting. Nobody can replace Tony Jay as the Elder God.
@@Calmputer I admit, I actually stole the initial joke from Dawn Somewhere. You should check out his commented playthrough of the Legacy of Kain series, it's pretty damn funny.
@@killert41 that was Zephon shitting eggs (for he became a insect-like monster); Melchia had to be impaled wih the door grates and then smashed under the big potato-masher in the center of the room
@Maurizio Carcassona Agree with you in that. But just imagine an *exact* Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver remake in Unreal engine or Unity, maybe using the old recorded voices already present in the game, only remastered, maybe adding depth or reverb or so. That would be a must-have for us who love the saga.
@Freeze Peach I swear only reason I ever have Haer'Dalis in my party is because of how much he reminds me of Raziel... Not having a romance option there was *criminal.*
Michael bell as charismatic and authentic as always, man do i miss him as Raziel!. He and Simon (Kain) did an stellar job on the LoK Series.. we (the fans) a're still waiting for a proper sequel or reboot.. "As long as a single one of us stands, we are legion...!"
Unfortunately Tony Jay (the Elder God) has popped his clogs. If they do produce a remaster and hire someone else to speak his lines I will ferociously rape everyone involved.
I do a remarkable Elder God voice i like to mock my friends with it XD "Do not test my patience! " "You have failed me!" "I will unmake you, if i become so inclined" "There are fates worse than death"
Its one of those rare performances that you can't imagine anyone else doing. The combination of his voice and talent and the superb writing. truly one of the performances of all time.
The coin already landed. I think it's the perfect ending for the series. The main idea was the fight against the inevitable/destiny, to tip the scale even slightly in your favor is already an incredible achievement. To make a sequel, they would have to change the tone of the game - all secrets are uncovered and all that's left is direct confrontation.
Wow the kid who received that copy of the game from him must feel so lucky today, i mean he's been introduced to one of the most beautiful games ever from the voice actor of the *protagonist*. DAMN!
@@Baiken hahaha yes this game probably would take like 24 hours to play all the through, if you already played it and knew all the puzzles and boss tricks.
Michael Bell is literally the reason I do voiceover lol I watch through that series of Michael, Simon, and Tony in the booth doing lines about once a year, it's just so fucking incredible. Three of the most incredible game performances ever all happening in the same room.
I find it interesting that Simon Templeton isn't that well known. I heard an audio play where he did King Henry II. Logain in Dragon Age. Roman in Uncharted. And of course, Kain. He always does the same voice. But man, he does it well!
@@Razamaniac I make it a habit to marathon the series at least once a year as well. First game in the series I played was Soul Reaver on the PS1 when I was young. Never played any of the Blood Omen games or found out about Defiance until the late 2000's
Man, hearing him talk about Soul Reaver makes me so sad they never made a finale. The fifth game ended on SUCH a cliff hanger with Raziel trapped inside the Soul Reaver and Kain poised to try and undo history. They tried, and it never went anywhere. He was still the life of the Soul Reaver games.
Raziel didn't get trapped inside the Reaver. He was afraid of that happening during the entire franchise but that was never a possibility. Raziel was the Reaver, or rather, half of it. At the end of Defiance, he finally became whole again.
@@celestus87 That's a bit semantic. He's permanently unable to act, his soul is part of a sword, maybe he's "whole" now, but that feels more like a trap.
I don't know, I used to feel like that wasn't a good end, but I've kind of changed my mind. It doesn't really matter how Kain saves the world, he had a whole, complete arc without that. The ending is not Nosgoth being restored, but Kain finding his true destiny. The loose ends would be nice to see the conclusion of, but I don't think it's necessary to the main narrative. I'd still reallly, really, really, really like a new LoK game though, please and thank you.
@@wareforcoin5780 I'd be skeptical that a modern videogame company with today's climate and today's politics being able to achieve 1/10th the narrative and voice acting quality any of the five originals had. If they could make one as good as the original, Soul Reaver 1 or 2, or Defiance, then, yeah, I'd like a new entry. I don't see that happening.
@@celestus87 It wasn't him becoming "whole" at all, it was about Kain being purified. "The Reaver was never made to be a soul stealing weapon, the ravenous soul devouring entity trapped within the blade was and always had been me". The Reaver originally drained blood from it's victims, But when it fed on Raziel's wraith blood it basically absorbed his soul because that Is his blood. So now thanks to time travel and this oddity you have two of Raziel's Future souls that can meet each other and still be the same presence in any space of about 1000 years. Raziel joining with the blade is basically his soul x2, it shouldn't be possible and that is why two Soul Reavers possessed by Raziel's soul meeting in the same space can break time to alter history. The way things were supposed to play out according to Moebius' machinations was that Raziel killed Kain with the Reaver before Kain or the blade were purified (remember the scene at the chapel of William The Just? Kain flinched because he knew how things were supposed to go, but he was hoping for the edge of the coin). At the end of Defiance you have Kain and Raziel reconciling after events that have purified both Kain and the Reaver which historically never happened. Thusly Kain now wields a weapon that can change time.
Michael also voiced Lawrence from the "Ratchet and Clank" series. When I recognized his voice in one of those games, I remembered the good old days. I love "Ratchet and Clank", but "Legacy of Kain" holds a special place in my heart. The story is amazing and the voice acting is excellent. I'm sure we all would love to see this drama unfold completely.
They really should do a LoK game to properly conclude the series. At the very least do an audio drama so their voices are recorded in case they pass away. I absolutely loved watching Raziel and Kain exchange verbal barbs. I never get tired of it.
Somewhat fitting bestowing someone an artifact (the Playstation) imbued with his own immortalized performance as Raziel, to complete a task that he could not see to the end by himself.
*Tumbling, burning with white hot fire, I plunged into the depths of the abyss. Unspeakable pain, relentless agony, time ceased to exist; only this torture and a deepening hatred of the hypocrisy that damned me to this hell. An eternity passed and my torment receded, bringing me back from the precipice of madness. The descent had destroyed me yet, I lived...*
ughhh Michael Bell and Simon Templeman were definitely my first inspirations for narration! and of course the inimitable Tony Jay was part of the series, too! truly Amy Hennig is a genius, we can only be poorer for all her games we won't see!
MATRIX FanAnimation I’d just have them remake the games but use all the voice and dialogue from the old ones, with today’s graphics? It would be amazing
Michael Bell... you are an absolute legend forever in my mind and in the mind of SOOOOO many other people. It is one of the best stories ever told, whether or not you can play it, you should be proud of being one of the two lead roles in one of the greateat video game stories of ALL time! Thats not a back handed compliment, with video games becoming such a major part of the zeitgeist, you should consider your self among the greats of film and novels. Really, you changed my perception of what story telling could be. I know he will never see this comment, but I hope others might understand how great this man is and was
This man's voice gave life to Raziel. My all time favorite soul devourer character along with my boy Kain! Hurts me in my soul that's there's not yet a remake being made. If I ever by a struck a luck become a millionaire I'll fund the game to be remade in a heartbeat! Just talking about it just gets me a bit emotional inside. Thank you Michael Bell! 😭
Micheal Bell's voice acting as Raziel is phenomenal. Perhaps my favourite voice acting from any game. I would love to see a proper return to this series with either a full graphical remake or a sequel to Defiance.
Kain is deified, the clans tell tales of him but few know the truth, he was mortal once, as were we all. Best intro to game ever. Information society's Ozar Mishradim and Michael Bells' voice for Raziel had me hooked from the very start.
@@Obese_Pterodactyl oh, didn't know that. People keep screaming for a reboot but, I dunno. Its was the voice talent and the writers that made the game. You cant replicate that and make it better.
The lore and philosophy of that saga were something incredibly unique and well-written. Even used some lines in essays and dissertations, to great effect.
Would love a sequel to the Legacy of Kain series. The world of Nosgoth had such deep and interesting lore, it's a damn shame that it all ended with Defiance (definitely a badass game, just unfortunate that it was the last).
Two projects have been cancelled since sadly. Nosgoth didn't pass beta testing and I believe a game set in it's world called Shifter was cancelled or shelved. I'd love a blood omen re-imagining.
The games were all about the story from start to finish. The combat even at the best of it was always a bit clunky. But it was always the story and the world's with the rich history that drew me in and the first class voice talent. The level in soul reaver where you climb into the church is just so vivid with the depictions of the large blasting music instruments is just one of the environments I could spend hours admiring.
Yah, very well said, i recall finding Blood Omen at a electronics discount sale as i thought it looked interesting, well wow, what an immersive experience they gave even with just the old top down scrolling type of perspectives. From the first screens in the woods and the lightning and thunder and rain and trying to figure out why i was there and what i was supposed to do exactly, why these tavern people were so rude, then dying horribly and quickly ,then i was in a crypt!?! Whatthewhat? lol... it just drew me in so strongly as the graphics were really creepy and pretty detailed for what it was at the time, but the sound effects and voice acting was one of the other major aspects that just boosted my imagination and i could visualize the story and it was really engrossing and addictive. Yah, it had some super maddening points trying to figure out how to beat an enemy, or the map of a castle was just getting ridiculously confusing the longer ya went, but it was the biggest feeling of success and victory when ya finally solved something or beat a really tedious enemy that took multiple tries. Vae victus! Sadly i just dont see many game makers wanting to make good quality stories such as Legacy of Kain series and other games like back many years ago.
But yah, back to soul reaver , it had some amazing areas that were just stunning to see, it just made me want to explore everything, but it was too bad it was so restricted in so many places , like where i would try and jump off a ledge or bridge into a further deep area but the barrier would just stall ya. It was kinda disappointing in places as there didnt seem like enough enemies compared to all of them ya had to fight in Blood Omen, the regions seemed kinda empty.
@@d.aardent9382 I wonder how many people played soul reaver first knowing nothing about kain and his exploits then went back and realized the full story of how he came to be. That first scene of him ripping the bones out of his wings I had to replay it to make sure I saw it correctly. At first I thought he just hit him really hard. The disc of blood omen we rented had scratches on it so some of the cinematics skipped a little. Luckily it was only the bat flight to one of the areas and the sacrifice ending where Ariel talks about how he was a good man.
Oh shit. He’s mediv too? I can hear it in my heard. I don’t think he voiced the hearthstone version of mediv though. I think that sounds like Reno Jackson
Legacy of kain defiance is still one of the best games I've played, that dialog and voice acting. It also has easily one of the best soundtracks (the main theme ozma something) is incredible.
Undoubtedly one of the absolute best game series ever Truly a forgotten gem and never got the full recognition it deserves Just the lore the story phenomenal
Lost Worlds fansite works on showcasing all the cut content, because the game was supposed to have much more content and even a different ending. Lots of cut stuff was used in later games.
unfortunately...Crystal Dynamics have relentlessly said there will be no soul reaver remaster without tony jay (I.e. the elder god). which is a shame but very respectable as well. because tony jay's elder god voice was so damn good.
He actually tried to play the original Soul Reaver. He told this story in greater detail, when recording Soul Reaver 2. Its in the extra content of that game.
It sounds like Michael was given a copy of Soul Reaver 1 and got stuck on the tutorial where you're supposed to do a high jump then glide over the chasm. :c
There was a blooper reel scene in one of the "behind-the-scenes" videos on either Soul Reaver 2 or Legacy of Kain: Defiance (I forget which one) where Michael talks a bit about him playing through Soul Reaver 1 and getting stuck in a certain area until his daughter cleared it for him. He said that "kids have a sort of microchip in their brains" that lets them ace video games. 😅
I remember when I was a kid and I played the game I got completely stuck on the first platformer part of Legacy of Kain. Like so stuck I gave up on the game for many years. Then on a whim installed it once again and cleared it like no problem. Had same thing with that obscure game called "Space Interceptor" or otherwise "Project Freedom". Completely stuck for a long time and when I decided to play it once again a few months ago after many years, I cleared it a single sitting.
C'mon Square Enix. Legacy of Kain The Lost Worlds even spent 20 years in recovering lost material for that specific game, show some respect to its fans, and do a remake with all the cut content. I'm not even asking for a remaster, even with the original PSX graphics, just COMPLETE. PLEASE. We need that. Also why not, revive Dead Sun.
One of my all time favorite game and cant imagine it without his voice. Also,im gonna jump on the bandwagon and say,we need a full remake of all of the games! :]
I just found out that Raziel's voice actor is much-much older than the character he played. Such a great voice talent and none of his 2 roles sounded the same. Amazing!
I know this is a year old, but the game he was talking about was SR1, trying to glide across the first chasm in the Underworld. Video for context, from behind-the-scenes clips on SR2 disc: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fgnLO7iJZaA.html
the way he says yee and eyes closes with plesure 🥰, it says everything!!! he loves his character. we love raziel too, as he is you and you are him till the end of times 🥰
He seems like such a lovely person! I adore the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver series. Best, most immersive games ever! A new one or remastered versions would be epic!
One of the games, either Defiance or Soul Reaver 2, there was some behind the scenes stuff where he talked about this in the studio while doing the voice work.
Zephon's voice played live, this guy is epic, one of the most sophisticated voice interpretations on a play station game ever, is outstanding even for today's game standards
I remember this on Soul Reaver 2 extras, so many great extra and voice sessions and outtakes with the great and late Tony Jay, Rene Auberjonois and Paul Lukather
