Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun
Square Enix owns more franchises than I can keep track of, including Legacy of Kain. The company occasionally pays lip service to the series, mostly through Lara Croft/Tomb Raider DLC and Easter eggs, but it hasn’t done much with the Legacy of Kain series proper save the short-lived multiplayer arena shooter Nosgoth.
But did you know that game was the recovered remains of a failed attempt to bring Legacy of Kain to modern consoles?
Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun was meant to be a soft reboot of the franchise. All of the backstory and lore longtime fans love presented in a way that is approachable to newcomers.
Gone were longtime deuteragonists Raziel and Kain. Instead, players would have controlled a new vampire as they explored the world, gained new abilities, and ripped open throats and rifts between dimensions.
Dead Sun was an attempt to infuse the Legacy of Kain franchise with the new blood of modern gaming sensibilities, specifically a vast open world, fluid combat, and collectibles. But, for some reason, the game was canceled and its multiplayer component salvaged into Nosgoth.
Given the immortality of the Legacy of Kain games compared to the tiny lifespan of Nosgoth, I can’t help but think that Square Enix chose poorly. Perhaps one day we’ll get that actual Legacy of Kain remake/reboot we deserve, but until then, all I can do is just wish Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun had never been canceled.
