*sigh* He’s perfect. I should just put this picture in a Lockett already! Anyone want to gush with me about this magical haired wonder.
Kinda shocked that Kain, Raziel, and Soul Reaver in general aren't doing absolute numbers on the #1 Monsterfucker website.
The angst, the gothic tone, vampires, written by a woman (Amy Hennig, back in the 90's when the games industry just... you didn't hear of female writers in gaming very often.)
The fucking story was inspired by PARADISE LOST and explores the themes of fatalism and free will. This *videogame* introduced a whole generation to key themes in existential philosophy.
These are not 'romantic vampires' either. This is, strangely enough, a post apocalyptic world. The first where the vampires take over human society and bring the world to it's knees, the second when the vampires degenerate and their empire falls.
They are *monsters who fancy themselves as gods.* They polluted the air around them to blot out the sun. They bring humanity to the brink of extinction. And they evolve into more eldritch forms the longer they live.
Look at this fucking thing. I shit entire houses worth of bricks when it loomed out of the shadows at me.
And don't get me started on this guy.
Yes, they are both vampires, yes, they are both (technically speaking) related to the main character. Yes, you should 100% be asking a lot of questions about this.
And the voicework... the VOICEWORK! The voice acting in the original games is just astoundingly good. It is so good that even decades later I can instantly recognise the voices of Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, and Tony Jay (RIP best Elder God.)
At the time we were used to only having limited voicework in games (or none at all.) Grunts, groans, instructions. To have a fully fleshed out story to the point of needing VA actors for more than a day's work was insane.
Don't forget, this was at a time when gaming was still seen as a niche hobby for men. The gamaing magazines at the time had 'page 3' nudes in them as well as advertising for telephone sex hotlines. So to work as a VA in the games industry was *not* at all attractive to most mainstream actors.
And for it to grab the attention of actors with such extensive profiles and careers even more so. You had VA's that had worked for Disney and long standing series, TV actors, Shakesperian actors: all of them invested in work for a videogame.
And the music... The music is the biggest 'Hear me Out' but. it. works.
The music for this game was created by the artist Kurt Harland of Information Society. And most notably one of the tracks, Ozar Midrashim, was taken from the album 'Don't be Afraid.' It became known as 'Raziel's theme' and inspired a slew of covers and remixes.
We're talking 'Dark 90's experimental eletronic music.' And you'd be forgiven for thinking that it would sound out of place in a setting like that, but it doesn't???
This is all without mentioning the actual game which was incredibly inventive for it's time. They somehow managed to make a game that takes place between two realities that you can warp to and from *seamlessly.* And those realities would physically move around you.
Playstation 1 era BTW... they got something with the computing power of a jacket potato to do THAT.
