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:''This article is about the video game series. For the work of literature, see Legacy of Cain.'' ''Legacy of Kain'' is a series of action-adventure video games primarily developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix Europe (formerly Eidos Interactive). The first title, ''Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'', was created by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics, but, after a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics retained the rights to the game's intellectual property, and continued its story with four sequels. To date, five games comprise the series, all initially developed for video game consoles and later ported to Microsoft Windows. Focusing on the eponymous character of Kain, a vampire antihero, each title features action, exploration and puzzle-solving, with some role-playing game elements. The series takes place in the fictional land of Nosgoth—a dark, Gothic fantasy setting—and revolves around Kain's quest to defy his fate and restore balance to the world. ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' introduced another antihero protagonist, Raziel; the adventures of both characters culminate in ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance''. Themes of destiny, free will, morality, redemption and the hero's journey recur in the storyline, which was inspired by ancient literature, horror fiction, Shakespeare's plays and Gnosticism. The ''Legacy of Kain'' games have enjoyed critical success, particularly receiving praise for high-quality voice acting, narrative, and visuals, and, as a whole, had sold over 3.5 million copies as of 2007. ==Games== ''Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'' was created by Silicon Knights under the direction of Denis Dyack, with assistance from publisher Crystal Dynamics, and was released in 1996 on the PlayStation. In 1997, it was ported to Microsoft Windows. Dyack conceived the "vampire project" under the title ''The Pillars of Nosgoth'' in 1993, and Crystal Dynamics producer Lyle Hall chose this fantasy concept over two other proposals (one of which was ''Too Human''). Pursued in hopes of bringing a strong narrative and artistic cinema to consoles, it was built as "a game which adults would want to play", featuring an unconventional hero and gameplay that demanded thought as well as reflexes.〔〔 Developed as a 2D action-adventure game with role-playing game elements,〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=psxnation.com )〕 it debuted to positive critical and commercial reception.〔〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=GameRankings )〕 Selling points included its 50+ hour length and the wide array of items and abilities the player character commands. ''Blood Omen'' introduces Nosgoth, a fictional land designed with novel-like complexity,〔〔 and gives the player control of Kain, a newly resurrected vampire seeking revenge against his murderers and a cure for his vampiric curse. ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' was released in 1999 for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows, and was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000. It originated as an independent concept inspired by Biblical mythology named ''Shifter'', devised by Crystal Dynamics' Amy Hennig and Seth Carus, but, at the request of company executives, was integrated into the ''Legacy of Kain'' universe in pre-production.〔〔 Hennig, the game's director, likened the technological advance from ''Blood Omen'' to ''Soul Reaver'' to the evolution of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series from the Super Nintendo to the Nintendo 64—bringing the franchise into 3D while maintaining a similar style. ''Soul Reaver'' was hailed as a technical achievement for its plane-shifting gameplay mechanics and its data-streaming game engine, which eliminated the loading pauses that were prevalent in PlayStation-era games.〔 It was a commercial and critical success, selling 1.5 million units worldwide,〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=GameRankings )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Metacritic )〕 but the strong reactions of players to its cliffhanger ending impelled the developers to allay concerns that it was released unfinished. The game elaborates on one of the two endings to ''Blood Omen'', taking place in Nosgoth's dystopian future where Kain rules an empire of vampires, and introduces a new protagonist, his lieutenant Raziel, who is executed by Kain and resurrected to exact revenge. ''Soul Reaver 2'' had an accelerated development cycle and was released after two years, despite a switch to sixth generation consoles early in the project. It was initially targeted for release in late 2000 on the PlayStation and Dreamcast, but was reworked and released in 2001 as a PlayStation 2 exclusive, and was ported to Microsoft Windows later that year. The developers' goal was to retain the elements that made its predecessor successful, but they decided to eschew the "complete a level, fight a boss" flow of the previous game in favor of a more narrative-driven approach. The plot serves as a direct sequel to ''Soul Reaver'', picking up immediately after its ending. The player controls Raziel as he uncovers the mysteries surrounding Nosgoth's distant past and his own destiny. Meanwhile, Kain attempts to subvert fate and restore the world by manipulating history. While ''Soul Reaver'' was still in development, Crystal Dynamics initiated another project—a successor to ''Blood Omen''—and when the ''Soul Reaver'' team had started work on their follow-up in late 1999, two ''Legacy of Kain'' games were in simultaneous development.〔 ''Blood Omen 2s "creative seeds were sown" in 1999, and the finished product was released in 2002, six months after ''Soul Reaver 2'', for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo GameCube. It was not produced with the involvement of the ''Soul Reaver'' crew, instead being created by a new team at Crystal Dynamics under the direction of Glen Schofield.〔 A key point of focus for the developers was the main character, Kain; Crystal Dynamics had "a huge investment in Kain as a character". Shifting the focus of gameplay towards action, gore and combat instead of puzzle-solving, it retains several of the qualities which made the previous games popular, but was criticized for lacking innovation.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=GameRankings )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Metacritic )〕 Despite middling critical reception, it was released on four platforms and sold well. The setting, an enormous industrial city, is a departure for the series. The story picks up after the ending of ''Soul Reaver'' 2—players control a younger Kain after an unsuccessful campaign to conquer Nosgoth, as he is opposed by traitorous vampires and a new enemy. ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'', the most recent entry in the series, was released in 2003 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. First conceptualized as ''Soul Reaver 3'',〔〔 it represented a combined effort from the ''Soul Reaver 2'' and ''Blood Omen 2'' teams to consolidate and re-balance the storytelling, puzzle-solving and combat aspects of its predecessors, fusing elements from the two sub-series into one game.〔 They chose a new title under the ''Legacy of Kain'' banner to reflect this new focus. The player alternates between control of Raziel and the ''Soul Reaver 2'' incarnation of Kain in each of the game's chapters, under the premise that only one of the two will survive—emphasis was placed on cinematic presentation.〔〔 The story concludes on a hopeful note, but without full resolution; during production, Hennig departed Crystal Dynamics to work for Naughty Dog, and ''Defiance'' did not meet Eidos' sales expectations. Following its release, Eidos placed the series on hold. Former Eidos North America CEO Bill Gardner and Eidos Life President Ian Livingstone expressed interest in reviving the franchise, but Crystal Dynamics stated that they were not working on a continuation. ''Nosgoth'', a multiplayer game, was confirmed by Square Enix London community manager George Kelion to be in development in June 2013, in response to a series of internet leaks and resultant speculation. According to Kelion, it is to be set in the same universe as previous ''Legacy of Kain'' titles, but will not be "a traditional or even single-player LoK experience". The game is intended to be viewed as "very much on a separate branch to both the Soul Reaver and Blood Omen series", and Crystal Dynamics are not involved in its development. Kelion has stated that ''Nosgoth'' will be more formally announced and revealed at a future date, sometime beyond the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Legacy of Kain」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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