The Legacy of Kain:Intro

   A few weeks ago I made a list of the top five games I would like to see remade or remastered in HD.  One of the entries on the list might not have very familiar to you (or at all for that matter.)  I'm talking about the Legacy of Kain series.  Now, I was very vague on the list because I simply couldn't provide the adequate back-story without the entry being ridiculously long. I will be going over each game separately so the stories of each are kept separate.   The vampire mythology in the games is already kind of hard to follow, but when they add time travel, alternate histories, and multiple destinies unfolding over the course of the entire series, summing the story up in a reasonable length might be difficult.   Nonetheless, I will do my best and try not to go too deep into the multiple paradoxes.

  Welcome to Nosgoth.  A Gothic land where vampires rule, magicians and necromancers play with the strings of fate, and everyone talks in a vaguely Shakespearean fashion.  Well, except for the vampires ruling part.  At the time of the first game, Blood Omen:Legacy of Kain, there is only one vampire left in the world, due to a massive vampire purge led by a holy brotherhood of warrior priests known as the Sarafan several hundred years prior.  The Sarafan where under the control of The Circle of the Nine: a group of nine sorcerers who where tasked with guarding and directly linked to the Pillars of Nosgoth: the source of life in the land.  Each pillar is linked to a specific attribute: time, death, mind, and dimension to name a few.  The duty came with the gift of longevity as well as the powers pertaining to the pillar which the guardian served.  The state of the pillars directly reflects the mental state of the guardian, and thus the overall health of the land.  At the beginning of the first game, we learn that someone has murdered the Balance Guardian, Ariel, causing her lover Nuprator, the Guardian of the Mind, to fall into madness.  In his insanity, he cursed all of the remaining members with dementia, corrupting the pillars.  This is the first of many recurring plot points throughout the series.
 

The Nine Pillars of Nosgoth

  With this brief history of Nosgoth, I will leave you with these links and the promise of more on the way.

• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (coming eventually)
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver( coming eventually)
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (coming eventually)
• Blood Omen 2 ( coming eventually)
• Legacy of Kain: Defiance (coming eventually)

Top Five Needed Reboots/HD Remakes

   In recent years, many game companies have rehashed and rebooted their most popular franchises, or simply remade them in HD.    While many great games and franchises have been brought back to the masses, here are the top five games I would like to see get an update. 

• 5) Half-Life/Return To Castle Wolfenstein  

   These are two of my all-time favorite PC first-person-shooter games.  They are also the only FPS games on this list.  That being said, they are only this low because they kind of already have an update.  Half-Life has been brought back with a fan game called Black Mesa, made using the Source Engine.  While it faithfully retells the harrowing adventure of Gorden Freeman through the Black Mesa Research Facility, as well as improving it in many ways, it would still be nice to have a game made by Valve itself. The same goes for Return.  While it hasn't received a direct reboot, the Wolfenstein saga will continue with the release of Wolfenstein: A New Order.  From what I have seen, New Order will contain a great many elements from Return, but it would still be amazing to see that story with the graphics that we have today.  

Super Soldiers(L)Return (R)New Order

The Luger

Half-Life to Black Mesa

•  4) Final Fantasy 6(3)/Chrono Trigger 

   I know what you are probably thinking, "Another combination? I thought this was a top five?"  And it is......kinda.   These first two choices are the only combos on the list, and they're only combined because I feel the same way about both of them.  
   That being said, any kind of remake of either of these games has been a plea of many gamer for quite some time.  Some people might cry foul for not putting these games at the top of the list, and that's okay by me.  Don't get me wrong, these are two of my favorite games.  It's just that these games are so well made, it's hard to think of how they could be improved.  When it comes to Final Fantasy, remakes are kind of a tough subject.  Games 1-3 have been remade several times for various devices, and FF 4 has been done to death.  But when it comes to FF 6 and 7, Square Enix has been adamant in their resolve to not remake them until they can make a game that surpasses them, despite the fact that they would basically be printing money.  
   Chrono Trigger on the other hand, has far less news behind it.  The only thing I know about it, is that fans want another Chrono game, but Square Enix denies them their desire.  They have even gone so far as to shut down an independent developer who was working on a 3D tribute to the game.  All the fans ever got was an amazing trailer and crushed dreams. 

• 3) Star Wars Battlefront

   There! I said it!  Yes, I am one of those fans.  I have always loved Star Wars Battlefront, from the first time I played it with Sister-in-law's brother, to just the other day.  I know that Battlefront 3 has been announced but that won't take it of my list.  I feel that with the advancements that have been made in gaming technology, this game could truly stand up to the other FPS heavy hitters.  (I know I said I would only have two FPS games on here, but technically, it's a third-person-shooter.)  

• 2) The Legacy of Kain Series

   This is one of the more obscure entries on this list.  Not many people know of the Gothic fantasy realm of Nosgoth, and the vampires inhabitants who weave their tales of fate.   This is exactly why I think it is ripe for a reboot.  Heck.  The developers, Crystal Dynamics, have already rebooted one of their other star franchises: Tomb Raider.  With games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 on the rise, as well as the popularity of the antihero, I think a return to Nosgoth is well overdue.

• 1) Metal Gear

   Never before have I wanted a remake so bad!  I know they made the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection a while back, but really all they did was smooth over the pixels.  It still looked amazing, but something was still amiss.  The lack of the first MGS game was a huge letdown, but the inclusion of Peace Walker gave many people a chance to play through an amazing story without owning a PSP.  But I digress.  The main reason for my recent obsession is the release of MGS5.  The new Fox Engine that it is built around is absolutely breathtaking!   If Hideo Kojima were to remake the entire MGS saga using Fox, I would literally die!  But more specifically, MGS 3:Snake Eater: aka, my favorite game in the series.  The fact that the newest game takes place a few years before the first Metal Gear could open the door for the possibility of remakes and improvements galore! 

Snake after eye-patch

Snake Before eye-patch

Fox Engine. Enough said.