Love that these are popping after the comic & remaster announcement. If it sells well enough maybe we can get a Blood Omen remake, or a new game! Fingers crossed.
@@henzzar8639 Hear, hear! More LoK would be very much appreciated. So much so, I will buy the remasters new, despite almost never buying games near their release.
I am still pissed that Nozgoth as a setting has been so criminally underutilised, but then I worry that if it was actually used, would it live up to the previous paragons of Blood omen, Soul Reaver 1 and 2?
Exactly why I make these the way I do! XD I assume the audience consists mostly of two groups. Those who have played the game and want to hear other people's opinions, and those who may find the game interesting but have little to no intention of actually playing it.
7:20 as you said, letterboxing cutscenes was emblematic of the era. That's because TV was 4:3, and when TV broadcasted any movie from cinema, they letterboxed it to account for the difference in aspect ratio (generally; I know they might also cut the frame, or zoom in, but if I recall correctly, that was more frequent once we started to have digital TV and stuff were rather random and non standardized for a bit). So, to an old fart like me, letterbox means "movie!", and games, which were getting more and more cinematic at the time, wanted to capture that feeling.
It's understandable why movies would be shown that way, as they were filmed for cinemas on a different aspect ratio, but for games it never made sense to me, even back in the day. I should have mentioned this in the video, but somehow I missed it. You can see how the in-game cutscenes were clearly designed for the 4:3 aspect ratio, and then just had black bars added for that "cinematic" feeling, in how things are very oddly framed sometimes, and characters have the tops of their heads cut off etc which looks very odd sometimes.
@@finntrovertThink about it as the equivalent of modern day cutscenes/games with the film noise filter. It's not needed, it's just done on purpose to recreate a feeling in the viewer.
@@captainufo4587 And I always turn those off, because the only feeling it gives me is nausea. It's one of those things I think was extremely misguided back then, since as mentioned, I didn't like it even back then. Especially with no subtitles. Over here, back in the day, the bottom black bar was used for subtitles on TV. Developers should have leaned into the benefits of the new medium instead, in my opinion.
There's more to it. At the time, you couldn't just watch the video you were making in 3d software. It would have to be rendered frame by frame. Sometimes multiple times to add filters and such. This would take a very long time depending on many factors. Basically the less total number of pixels in a frame drastically reduced the time taken. Instead of making a lower overall resolution, it was common practice to use full resolution width ways and scrunch the height. Sometimes 16:9 sometimes a smaller height. The cinematic aspect was just a helpful excuse. Another factor would be the file size of the rendered video. File size being a very important consideration in development of the time.
@@finntrovert legacy of kain lorekin onnii siistiä :) palaan monta kertaa vuodessa pelaa/ lukemaan lorea. Tuleekohan se uus peli kun varmaan vuos sit tuli se pitkä kysely että mitä fsnir haluaisi nähdä seuraavaksi Lok sarjaan.
@@satsumana Saas nähdä mitä käy. Embracerilla kun meni yhdet yrityskaupat ohi, ja ovat sulkeneet studioita ja peruneet pelejä sen jälkeen. Saattaa jäädä Kain taustalle, sillä vaikka ovatkin legendaarisia pelejä, niin nykysuosio ei välttämättä pukumiehille riitä.
@@finntrovert I believe they stopped caring about the ip because it didnt really sell well even back in the day and while ago crystal dynamics was acquired by embracer group.
@@loppi9710 Money is undoubtedly part of it, but not all, since there have been LoK games in development, none of them have been released. Unless you count the early access of Nosgoth before it was canned. Shame, all in all.
@@finntrovert Crystal Dynamics kind of became the "tomb raider company" over the recent years. To be honest the embracer group itself is rather suspect so no idea what crystal dynamics will even do with tomb raider, let alone legacy of kain.
Sure that probably was the reasoning, but it's dumb, and doesn't work. I didn't like it in the 90's, and I like it even less now when we have widescreen monitors. XD
The overcorrection on not using block puzzles probably has more to do with criticism about games in general using them. Crapping on block puzzles was trendy at the time. Also interesting tidbit about the save files and the names they had, I suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that the PS1 LoK games used the 15 block memory cards that only allowed so much save information in the name of the block compared to the PS2 using a more open 8mb memory card that allowed longer save file names. Sure they could have just changed the system for the PC, but that’s work and we don’t like that!
With a more powerful console it was seen as being cheap using older gen ways when you could make something more complex even though what they did with the block puzzles in the 1st game was excellent
It does! And I do intend to go all the way, already started on the next script. I just wish I had more time so I could make these faster, but it is what it is.
The human FOV is more wide than it is tall and that's where modern 16/9 or 16/10 come from. These don't represent the actual human FOV, but are merely compromises. No human sees exactly alike. Of course 4/3 was still standard and you wouldn't want to limit what the player can see during gameplay. Letterboxing forces your view to the center, where the camera does the most work, hence "cinematic". Your eyes are supposed to naturally "zoom in"/focus around the center, in which case the wide FOV should feel more natural. A secondary effect is the clear distinction between gameplay and cutscene. You just know when to relax and being visually guided kinda supports this. It kinda does make sense, for its time, but that doesn't mean it has to work for everyone. Perception is always subjective.
Regarding letterboxing during in engine cutscenes: a lot of the time, these are not rendered in real time in order to ensure that the animations don't go out of sync. The models used are often more detailed and have more points of articulation than the in game models as well, so to render these out in real time without loading would be more challenging, especially if the camera moves in a way that the geometry culling routine can't handle, possibly leading to bugs and visual glitches that would disrupt the viewing experience, especially if the game is designed for 60hz and has been converted poorly to 50hz PAL. The letterboxing reduces the size of the video file whilst retaining the same fidelity as the game, so it's actually a bit of smoke and mirrors to make the game appear to be more technologically advanced whilst saving money on lavishly rendered FMV cutscenes that the dev team would need to outsource to a specialist animation studio with top of the line workstations that would have been prohibitively expensive to purchase as compared to using the in-engine tools to render it in a way that more closely resembles gameplay.
It also creates a clearer distinction between the gameplay and the cutscenes, so the player is less likely to accidentally skip the cutscenes by pressing buttons
@@casanovafunkenstein5090 True, sometimes games render cutscenes that only look like in-engine cutscenes. That is not the case with SR2, but the in-engine cutscenes are rendered in real time just like the rest of the game. There's already a clear delineation of cutscene and non-cutscene time when the UI fades out. You also can't skip those cutscenes in SR2, but even if you could, a solution to accidental skips has been used for decades now. "Hold to skip", or by having the skip in the pause menu.
I love finding videos about this game, just so I can drop my one, game breaking tip about combat. Never pick up a weapon, and just use the first two light attacks in Raziel's combo. If you get the timing down, it will stunlock everything, even the shadow demons to death.
Thanks for the great video. I think I might get this off gog sometime, it is unfortunate that crystal dynamics hasn't really continued the series for years.
Well the game was made when 16:9 televisions didn't really exist in the consumer market. Sure they existed but they were prohibitively expensive and most content wasn't made for them so you would end up with a stretched screen or a lot of unused screen. Letter box was a compromise to get wide screen on the mass majority of peoples televisions at the time it was released. It is a cinematography thing too thats been around for ages to get wide angle shots and lets the director use other resolutions for shots that are between 16:9 and 4:3. 4:3 is still used today too. The reason the cinimatics are in letter box is because of a kew word, cinimatics. It was also used as a way to tell the player something important was happening story wise. You don't have to like it but it was a artistic choice and one by necessity at the games launch. There is no issue with it. Pootis Engage is a great example on the use of the black bars. Also at the time, you had screens that weren't exactly 16:9. Letter boxing is making a comeback with ultra wide shots in cinematics since most people do not have an ultra wide screen. Also, some modern games utilize 4:3 with pan and scan to create claustrophobic atmosphere.
There absolutely was no necessity for it here. It was necessary to not crop things from movies, and instead shrinking the entire thing to show it on a television. In a video game? That is not the case, and in most games, including the Soul Reaver games, you do not get wider angles or see more, on the contrary, they use the same trick as when TV shows were converted to widescreen. Dropping the top and bottom, causing weird and poor looking framing, since it's obvious the shots were composed for 4:3 and just cropped for widescreen. It was an artistic choice, yes, but even back in the day I thought it was unnecessary, poorly thought out, and completely trashing the benefits of the medium to try and look like something you are not.
In what way was it a necessity? Give me one, one reason why a cutscene has to be letterboxed or presented in widescreen. Why does storytelling break down the instant the game continues in 4:3? This isn't Resident Evil 4 where the change from letterbox to fullscreen in the middle of a cutscene was an early warning that quick time events were coming, there is no reason it was a requirement.
i got introduced to legacy of kain series by starting from the defiance or the very last one which probably not as bad as starting star wars from the phantom menace
@@voltaiccarcassgaming2034 Either by having an older controller, or using the Soul Reaver 2: Soul Fixer patch which increases controller compatibility to most modern controllers as well.
I was a bit disappointed by this game. The original was so ahead of its time that this one did not live up to my expectations. And the amount and difficulty of combat dragged the whole experience down. I hope the remaster has a difficulty level to make combat easier or skip it 😂
Look at it this way, Finn - the pretentiousness of the letterboxing does fit to thia game series. ;-) Apart from that I want to compliment you on another entertaining work of yours. :-)
I'm always down to listen to someone talk about Soul Reaver
Man, please do Legacy of Kain: Defiance. This is so nice
Thanks! And I will, after Blood Omen 2.
new finn drop let's gooooooo i'm about to pass out to this SO HARD
Enjoy!
Love that these are popping after the comic & remaster announcement. If it sells well enough maybe we can get a Blood Omen remake, or a new game! Fingers crossed.
@@henzzar8639 Hear, hear!
More LoK would be very much appreciated. So much so, I will buy the remasters new, despite almost never buying games near their release.
I am still pissed that Nozgoth as a setting has been so criminally underutilised, but then I worry that if it was actually used, would it live up to the previous paragons of Blood omen, Soul Reaver 1 and 2?
Cant wait for the remaster!
@@alexh2790 Hear, hear!
@@finntrovert Yup, and it comes out just before my b-day so I know what I'm treating myself to.
WOOOO. Moar Finn!!! Another review of a game I don't have to play :P
Exactly why I make these the way I do! XD
I assume the audience consists mostly of two groups. Those who have played the game and want to hear other people's opinions, and those who may find the game interesting but have little to no intention of actually playing it.
@@finntrovert Works for me. :P
@@RTheren I aim to please!
7:20 as you said, letterboxing cutscenes was emblematic of the era. That's because TV was 4:3, and when TV broadcasted any movie from cinema, they letterboxed it to account for the difference in aspect ratio (generally; I know they might also cut the frame, or zoom in, but if I recall correctly, that was more frequent once we started to have digital TV and stuff were rather random and non standardized for a bit). So, to an old fart like me, letterbox means "movie!", and games, which were getting more and more cinematic at the time, wanted to capture that feeling.
It's understandable why movies would be shown that way, as they were filmed for cinemas on a different aspect ratio, but for games it never made sense to me, even back in the day.
I should have mentioned this in the video, but somehow I missed it. You can see how the in-game cutscenes were clearly designed for the 4:3 aspect ratio, and then just had black bars added for that "cinematic" feeling, in how things are very oddly framed sometimes, and characters have the tops of their heads cut off etc which looks very odd sometimes.
@@finntrovertThink about it as the equivalent of modern day cutscenes/games with the film noise filter. It's not needed, it's just done on purpose to recreate a feeling in the viewer.
@@captainufo4587 And I always turn those off, because the only feeling it gives me is nausea.
It's one of those things I think was extremely misguided back then, since as mentioned, I didn't like it even back then. Especially with no subtitles.
Over here, back in the day, the bottom black bar was used for subtitles on TV.
Developers should have leaned into the benefits of the new medium instead, in my opinion.
There's more to it. At the time, you couldn't just watch the video you were making in 3d software. It would have to be rendered frame by frame. Sometimes multiple times to add filters and such. This would take a very long time depending on many factors. Basically the less total number of pixels in a frame drastically reduced the time taken. Instead of making a lower overall resolution, it was common practice to use full resolution width ways and scrunch the height. Sometimes 16:9 sometimes a smaller height. The cinematic aspect was just a helpful excuse. Another factor would be the file size of the rendered video. File size being a very important consideration in development of the time.
@@rondroske3623 which is a potential explanation for pre-rendered cutscenes, but aside from the intro, SR2 does it all in-engine.
26:45 only in the pc version the ps2 version still uses the letter save style
Not only that, but it has a Widescreen hack that you can download and get rid of the letterboxes.
i adore this game series
As you should! Individual games may be flawed in several aspects, but damn... the series will always hold a special place in my heart.
@@finntrovert legacy of kain lorekin onnii siistiä :) palaan monta kertaa vuodessa pelaa/ lukemaan lorea. Tuleekohan se uus peli kun varmaan vuos sit tuli se pitkä kysely että mitä fsnir haluaisi nähdä seuraavaksi Lok sarjaan.
@@satsumana Saas nähdä mitä käy. Embracerilla kun meni yhdet yrityskaupat ohi, ja ovat sulkeneet studioita ja peruneet pelejä sen jälkeen. Saattaa jäädä Kain taustalle, sillä vaikka ovatkin legendaarisia pelejä, niin nykysuosio ei välttämättä pukumiehille riitä.
why isn't there a film of these, not even animated one? pretty sure it'll happen someday
Good question.
The series just kind of... stopped.
We'll see what happens now that it has a new owner.
@@finntrovert I believe they stopped caring about the ip because it didnt really sell well even back in the day and while ago crystal dynamics was acquired by embracer group.
@@loppi9710 Money is undoubtedly part of it, but not all, since there have been LoK games in development, none of them have been released.
Unless you count the early access of Nosgoth before it was canned.
Shame, all in all.
@@finntrovert ah ok, thanks for info!
@@finntrovert Crystal Dynamics kind of became the "tomb raider company" over the recent years. To be honest the embracer group itself is rather suspect so no idea what crystal dynamics will even do with tomb raider, let alone legacy of kain.
On an old TV the letterbox was to make it look more cinematic but for gameplay you want to see more of your surroundings
Sure that probably was the reasoning, but it's dumb, and doesn't work.
I didn't like it in the 90's, and I like it even less now when we have widescreen monitors. XD
@@finntrovert true but I still love it Great vid btw I've subbed gonna watch sr1 next
@@aaronwilliamson7242 Fair enough!
That's the beauty of taste, we all have differences in that, and that is what makes life so interesting!
The overcorrection on not using block puzzles probably has more to do with criticism about games in general using them. Crapping on block puzzles was trendy at the time. Also interesting tidbit about the save files and the names they had, I suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that the PS1 LoK games used the 15 block memory cards that only allowed so much save information in the name of the block compared to the PS2 using a more open 8mb memory card that allowed longer save file names. Sure they could have just changed the system for the PC, but that’s work and we don’t like that!
That's interesting!
I don't know jack about older console hardware, so finding out likely reasons for certain design choices is always nice.
Q
Fvck work. Play forevur 1!!!!
With a more powerful console it was seen as being cheap using older gen ways when you could make something more complex even though what they did with the block puzzles in the 1st game was excellent
I'm so glad u continued the series it deserves so much more love
It does!
And I do intend to go all the way, already started on the next script. I just wish I had more time so I could make these faster, but it is what it is.
Well I'll be here for it brother
The human FOV is more wide than it is tall and that's where modern 16/9 or 16/10 come from. These don't represent the actual human FOV, but are merely compromises. No human sees exactly alike.
Of course 4/3 was still standard and you wouldn't want to limit what the player can see during gameplay.
Letterboxing forces your view to the center, where the camera does the most work, hence "cinematic". Your eyes are supposed to naturally "zoom in"/focus around the center, in which case the wide FOV should feel more natural.
A secondary effect is the clear distinction between gameplay and cutscene. You just know when to relax and being visually guided kinda supports this.
It kinda does make sense, for its time, but that doesn't mean it has to work for everyone. Perception is always subjective.
Regarding letterboxing during in engine cutscenes: a lot of the time, these are not rendered in real time in order to ensure that the animations don't go out of sync. The models used are often more detailed and have more points of articulation than the in game models as well, so to render these out in real time without loading would be more challenging, especially if the camera moves in a way that the geometry culling routine can't handle, possibly leading to bugs and visual glitches that would disrupt the viewing experience, especially if the game is designed for 60hz and has been converted poorly to 50hz PAL.
The letterboxing reduces the size of the video file whilst retaining the same fidelity as the game, so it's actually a bit of smoke and mirrors to make the game appear to be more technologically advanced whilst saving money on lavishly rendered FMV cutscenes that the dev team would need to outsource to a specialist animation studio with top of the line workstations that would have been prohibitively expensive to purchase as compared to using the in-engine tools to render it in a way that more closely resembles gameplay.
It also creates a clearer distinction between the gameplay and the cutscenes, so the player is less likely to accidentally skip the cutscenes by pressing buttons
@@casanovafunkenstein5090 True, sometimes games render cutscenes that only look like in-engine cutscenes.
That is not the case with SR2, but the in-engine cutscenes are rendered in real time just like the rest of the game.
There's already a clear delineation of cutscene and non-cutscene time when the UI fades out.
You also can't skip those cutscenes in SR2, but even if you could, a solution to accidental skips has been used for decades now. "Hold to skip", or by having the skip in the pause menu.
Cant wait for your Defiance review
Thanks!
Wish I had more time to work on these, but I'm trying to get the Blood Omen 2 video out in two weeks, and the Defiance one next month.
@@finntrovert Hey its fine. Take your time
I love finding videos about this game, just so I can drop my one, game breaking tip about combat. Never pick up a weapon, and just use the first two light attacks in Raziel's combo. If you get the timing down, it will stunlock everything, even the shadow demons to death.
After a grueling 48-hr-ish troubleshooting dilemma that I didn't even solve yet, I can totally use a video review by you to chill out with. Kudos!
Oof. Strength to you!
Good old Legacy of Kain
Thanks for the great video. I think I might get this off gog sometime, it is unfortunate that crystal dynamics hasn't really continued the series for years.
Thanks for watching!
It's very much worth playing still, and yes, very unfortunate the series has just stopped.
The reaver was only ever referred to as the reaver in this game. Not the soul reaver. So the twist worked really well for me.
This was the 2nd PS2 game I owned. The block puzzles were too hard so it took me like 3 years to finish it.
10 minutes intro.... We're still far from the over 2 hours intro of Persona 4. xD
Nice and comprehensive review, Finn.
Thank you!
Well the game was made when 16:9 televisions didn't really exist in the consumer market. Sure they existed but they were prohibitively expensive and most content wasn't made for them so you would end up with a stretched screen or a lot of unused screen. Letter box was a compromise to get wide screen on the mass majority of peoples televisions at the time it was released. It is a cinematography thing too thats been around for ages to get wide angle shots and lets the director use other resolutions for shots that are between 16:9 and 4:3. 4:3 is still used today too. The reason the cinimatics are in letter box is because of a kew word, cinimatics. It was also used as a way to tell the player something important was happening story wise. You don't have to like it but it was a artistic choice and one by necessity at the games launch. There is no issue with it. Pootis Engage is a great example on the use of the black bars. Also at the time, you had screens that weren't exactly 16:9.
Letter boxing is making a comeback with ultra wide shots in cinematics since most people do not have an ultra wide screen. Also, some modern games utilize 4:3 with pan and scan to create claustrophobic atmosphere.
There absolutely was no necessity for it here.
It was necessary to not crop things from movies, and instead shrinking the entire thing to show it on a television.
In a video game? That is not the case, and in most games, including the Soul Reaver games, you do not get wider angles or see more, on the contrary, they use the same trick as when TV shows were converted to widescreen. Dropping the top and bottom, causing weird and poor looking framing, since it's obvious the shots were composed for 4:3 and just cropped for widescreen.
It was an artistic choice, yes, but even back in the day I thought it was unnecessary, poorly thought out, and completely trashing the benefits of the medium to try and look like something you are not.
In what way was it a necessity? Give me one, one reason why a cutscene has to be letterboxed or presented in widescreen. Why does storytelling break down the instant the game continues in 4:3? This isn't Resident Evil 4 where the change from letterbox to fullscreen in the middle of a cutscene was an early warning that quick time events were coming, there is no reason it was a requirement.
i got introduced to legacy of kain series by starting from the defiance or the very last one
which probably not as bad as starting star wars from the phantom menace
The story was probably a bit confusing, but it's not a bad place to start!
Can't watch just yet! Need to finish the Soul Reaver video first! Thanks again! ❤
Thank you for watching these!
My copy was broken I couldn't get past the dark forge so I was never able to finish it
How you get controller as an option?
@@voltaiccarcassgaming2034 Either by having an older controller, or using the Soul Reaver 2: Soul Fixer patch which increases controller compatibility to most modern controllers as well.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY.
And a girthy one. XD
@@finntrovert you went and made it weird
@@WaywardBrigand All according to keikaku!
I may be a little bit tired. XD
I was a bit disappointed by this game. The original was so ahead of its time that this one did not live up to my expectations. And the amount and difficulty of combat dragged the whole experience down. I hope the remaster has a difficulty level to make combat easier or skip it 😂
blood omen 2 seuraavaksi?
Juu. Näin ois tarkoitus.
Look at it this way, Finn - the pretentiousness of the letterboxing does fit to thia game series. ;-)
Apart from that I want to compliment you on another entertaining work of yours. :-)
Thank you!
I fear they will resurrect this series and ruin it forever with woke propaganda.