I first played a Legacy of Kain game when Soul Reaver came out, which at the time was considered a Tomb Raider for goths, only with better controls and some annoying block-pushing puzzles. It was the atmosphere that sold it rather than the genre—so dark and portentous it could shit bats.
Which is why I’m not bothered to see the newly announced Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is changing genres and will instead be a pixel-art 2D action-platformer with a story told in the visual novel-style, with some first-person 3D bits thrown in for the PS1 vibe. But mostly it’ll be 2D action.
“Combat and movement are closely intertwined,” lead writer Claribel Guerra says on the Xbox blog, “pushing you to constantly stay in motion as you fight, jump, fly, turn into a swarm of bats, and climb through Nosgoth’s dark, crumbling environments. Encounters often flow directly into platforming challenges, creating a rhythm that keeps the pace moving forward.”
Three characters will be playable: Kain, Raziel (both as a human knight and as a vampire later in the timeline), and Elaleth, a new character introduced in the recent Kickstarted comic book prequel The Dead Shall Rise.
“Each playable character brings their own combat style and traversal tools,” Guerra says, “including aerial movement, gliding, special abilities, and evasive dashes. These mechanics are governed by a stamina-like resource that fuels nearly every action, from attacking to flying, forcing you to manage your momentum carefully.”
They’ve brought back some of the original voice actors, with Simon Templeman returning as Kain, Michael Bell as Raziel, Anna Gunn as Ariel, and Richard Doyle as Moebius.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance will be available on Steam, GOG, and Epic from March 31. Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered will be available in all the same places from March 3.
Best MMOs: Most massive
Best strategy games: Number crunching
Best open world games: Unlimited exploration
Best survival games: Live craft love
Best horror games: Fight or flight
