Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is the sixth entry into the Legacy of Kain series, releasing over 25 years after the last game, Defiance, which received a remaster last month. In anticipation of the game’s release on Tuesday, 31st March, Bit Bot Media, the developers of LoK: Ascendance, have released a behind-the-scenes trailer to give fans a look at the team’s work.
You can watch the Legacy of Kain: The Making of Ascendance trailer below.
It is clear that the team at Bit Bot Media is excited to be working on Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, with several members of the team recounting their own experiences with the series. “A majority of the team are fans of this franchise,” James Rhodes, co-founder and vice president of Bit Bot Media, points out, “and I think that drives the passion and excitement for them to be involved.”
After the solid release of the Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remaster last month, it’s great to see the series getting some new blood in those old veins, and the dev team is taking it in some interesting directions. “The Ascendance video game is our take on expanding the world of Legacy of Kain,” explains James, “which will be a kind of retro, sidescroller experience, expanding these characters in ways that people haven’t seen before.”
With all previous entries in the LoK series being 3D action platformers, the shift to a 2D sidescroller is only the first of several big shifts, and in order to pull it off, Bit Bot Media reached out to Same Beddoes of FreakZone Games (Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe). Same, who is the director of game design on Ascendance, goes into how the main theme of the game, flight, plays such an important role in both the gameplay of Ascendance and the broader Legacy of Kain narrative. “His [Raziel’s] gaining of his wings is one of the most pivotal moments of Soul Reaver as a story and of Legacy of Kain, as a whole,” he explains. “I remember thinking, ‘How do we make flight work with a platformer in a way that feels powerful and epic, but also doesn’t feel completely overpowered?'” The team settled on giving Raziel something akin to a traditional stamina bar, which they call a “lore meter”, which decreases with every air dash or beat of Raziel’s wings, and refills when on terra firma.
While multiple playable characters may not be new to the Legacy of Kain series, Ascendance offers four, each with its own playstyle and abilities. Alongside Vampire Raziel, fans will get to play as Sarafan Raziel, the vampire Elaleth, and the titular Kain. “When you play as Kain, you feel so powerful!” Sam remarks. “You can turn into a swarm of bats, you can turn into fog to dash through gates or behind enemies, and hit them in the back.”
One of the most important elements of the Legacy of Kain series has been its excellent voice acting, and this was not lost on the dev team, who quickly set about getting as many of the original voice cast to return, over 25 years later, to reprise their roles. “The enthusiasm on their [the voice actors’] part to want to come back and do these characters again was really fun to see,” recalls James Loe, the franchise game director, who made a point of finding a spot for acclaimed voice actor, Darin De Paul in the cast.
Bit Bot Media has also called on the help of internationally renowned composer, Klayton, otherwise best known as CellDweller, with the music for Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. An artist and producer who has been creating since the 90s, when the LoK franchise began, Klayton used the technology available during that time to work on an original score, as well as a cover of Raziel’s Theme. He remarked that “relying on that kind of stuff for some sound design heavily influenced the direction and the sound architecture of the score.”
Check out the trailer to see even more details about Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, including the game’s animated cutscenes, before the game releases on Tuesday, March 31st, across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles.
What are your thoughts on Legacy of Kain: Ascendance? Let us know in the comments below, and join the Gamer Social Club Discord to chat about your favourite games, play in community game nights, take part in giveaways, and more!
