Friday 8 January 2016

Raina's Legacy of Kain Figure Collection


As long as a single one of us stands, we are legion.

After many years of hoping I will own at least one Raziel figure one day, me and Bazielim collected all nine published figures. With each new one we got, there was an excitement to be finally able to hold them and pose them to take some pictures, we wanted to find the remaining. As all the figures are collected now, I have decided to write the differences between thems for anybody who would like to own them or just to know their specifics. Ben Lincoln already wrote his impressions of the figures found here. Rarity is judged on how likely you are to find one on ebay, not in comparison to figures from other franchises.

Rarity ratings:
*: Common
**: Uncommon
***: Semi-rare
****: Very rare
*****: Extremely rare



BBI Kain
Rarity:**
Height: 22cm
Reaver length: 18cm
Accessories: throne, Soul Reaver, purple bolts
Packaging: Box (first series) or blister pack (second series)
Overall Rating: 6/10 - Most accurate Kain figure you can get

BBI Kain was based on Kain as seen in SR1 intro and is very accurate in many regards. He is made out of a durable plastic and has lots of joints. Both his legs and arms have 4 joints each and the head and torso can also be rotated. His left hand is in permanent clutching position to hold the Reaver and his left hand is semi-opened. Kain´s face has a big angry grin, which is a bit over the top. Kain is also wearing Vorador´s earring, which looks like the incarnation from Blood Omen and is blue. His hair is plastic and sticking out in the lower middle part, as if blown by the wind and held together by a golden band at the end. The scar on his chest is present, but vaguely visible. The cape seems a bit short and is bearing the early double prolonged Razielim symbol as seen on one of his concept art and early model. The boots are especially well done, with lots of tiny details and the correct colour scheme. However, his toes are unnaturaly prolonged for some reason, but at least he has gaiters at the bottom of the feet, which hold the open boots in place.

Kain can be stood up on his throne with the Balance Pillar behind him (though it is torn off too early, so no symbol) and the purple bolts can either be attached to his hands or the throne. They fall easily out of the throne stand though, so be careful.

The Soul Reaver is made out of a very light material. The blade itself curves nicely, but it does not have any details on the surface, is missing the greenish tint in the middle and the middle line is not black like it should be. The fangs are incorrectly fused to the beginning of the blade, while they should be protruding outwards instead. The nose has a bit thicker opening than it should. The crossguards have stripes only on one side.

Note: The box is incorrectly labeled and contains pictures from the Raziel BBI figure.

 Kain standing on his throne.

Razielim symbol on his cape


BBI Raziel
Rarity: *
Height: 20 cm
Staff length: 21cm
Accessories: Underworld stand, Razielim staff, torch, souls, removable cowl
Packaging: Box (first series) or blister pack (second series)
Overall Rating: 7/10 - Affordable and accurate figure which can be commonly found

This version of Raziel was modelled directly after the Raziel renders as seen in the SR1 intro. It is the most accurate version of him in that regard. His skin colour and overall bones and muscle structure are very precise to the render. His arms and legs both have four joints to turn around but only his upper torso can be rotated (only horizontally though). Otherwise the quality is on the same level as on BBI Kain with the joints. His boots are also very detailed and matching colour. The straps on his hands lack a bit of material detail in comparison to the NECA Raziels.

Raziel comes equipped with the staff and a torch, so you can pose him to hold them in his iconic style or both at once. He has holes in both of his hands to make holding easier and his right thumb is posable. Holes in his feet make it possible to insert him on his Underworld stand firmly. The souls which come only in the boxed version can be put into the stand.

The biggest minus of this figure is the hard plastic cowl, which can only be inserted one way (comes in two parts which fit into each other). Unfortunately, it causes Raziel to have a fixed look and he is unable to move his head as a consequence. I´d suggest swapping it out for a cloth one (if you can sow or just use a substitute). The wings (claimed to be „life-like“) are very close to the original render, look good and are made out of soft rubber. However, they are very loosely attached to Raziel and can easily fall out. I´d recommend glueing them into the holes on his back so you can do some cool poses with him.

Note: The blister pack does not come with either the stand nor the souls.



 The yellow bits are the souls

 Wings detail.

 No cowl on.


BBI Lieutenant Raziel
Rarity:***
Height: 20cm
Sword length: 16cm
Wing length: 18cm
Accessories: Removable wings, sword
Packaging: Blister pack
Overall Rating: 9/10, Very accurate face detail, must own for vampire Raziel fans

Lieutenant Raziel figure is one of the best LOK figures. He has high quality detachable wings and a cloth cape with Razielim symbols. He is accurate in terms of his armor (except that the knee pads should be silver, not golden, and his fingers should be red not white), but other than that his face looks similar to the render FMV. He carries a sword adorned with runes which was specifically designed for this figure. This figure seems to be based on the concept art of Lt. Raziel, which explains the inclusion of his nipple and right shoulder pad being slanted.

Note: Despite what the picture on the back of the packaging shows, this figure does not come with a scythe and shield. It seems that was part of the prototype which did not make it into production as a boxed version was never released and a more economic blister pack was mass produced instead.











BBI Spectral Raziel Limited Edition
Rarity:*****
Height: 20cm
Reaver length: 17cm
Accessories: Underworld stand, wraithblade and a coil, set of hands casting the Fire Glyph, Melchahim staff
Packaging: Limited edition box
Overall Rating: 8/10 - Extremely rare figure with unique accessories

The limited BBI Raziel was sold during Comic Con 2003 and only 3000 were made, so if you own one, consider yourself very lucky. The figure itself is nearly identical to the regular release of BBI Raziel, except that his claws are brown colour, not white, and his cowl is in the soul sucking revealing pose. Unlike the regular BBI version, however, it has some really cool looking accessories. You can swap out Raziel´s hands for the ones „holding“ the flames of the Fire Glyph, which does look really good. There is also a green wraithblade included, which does look like the in-game one but is being held like a saber. It even has the coil on Raziel´s arms, with one end being able to be attached to Raziel´s thumb. The last accessory is a very accurate looking Melchahim staff, which is much more sturdier and heavier than the Razielim staff found in the regular version. The wings are a bit more stiffer and thicker than the normal BBI Raziel and it comes with an Underworld stand as well.

Note: This is the only Raziel figure which does not come with a torch.






Fire Glyph!









NECA Material Plane Raziel
Rarity: ***
Height: 18cm
Reaver length: 14cm
Accessories: Material wraithblade and coil, torch, replacable hands
Packaging: Blister pack
Overall Rating: 7/10 - Good, exceptionally done cowl!

This figure is a mixture of Soul Reaver 2/Defiance Raziel. It features a very well done cowl which can be removed by popping his head off. For some reason, the head does not pop back into the neck joint though and frequently falls off, which makes posing him difficult. He has some strange white highlights on his legs and pelvis and was given white toes nails which should not be there either. The wings on his back are attached via a ball joint which makes it easier to pose than BBI Raziel, however, when they are down, they must overlap each other (like bee´s wings). I am not a big fan of the material he is made out of as it feels too rough on touch. The wraithblade is attached on to his finger and is made out of bendable rubber material (you have to be careful not to lean it too much otherwise it might stay bent). The figure has replacable hands – one set with movable fingers with holes in them for attaching the torch and the other pair is static for attaching the Reaver. Overall, however, it is a nicely done figure and very articulate.







NECA Spectral Plane Raziel
Height: 18cm
Reaver length: 14cm
Rarity: ****
Accessories: Spectral wraithblade and a coil, torch, replacable hands
Packaging: Blister pack
Overall Rating: 10/10 - Must own! The see-through plastic material is top-notch

You might have expected that the spectral version of the NECA Raziel would mostly be the same, but this is not the case. He is made out of entirely different half see-through material which adds a really nice effect (including the wings), especially when posed against the sun. The material is nice and soft to touch as well. The figure is tinted green to represent the spectral realm and his cowl comes in a stretched position for soul devouring. The torch is half see-through as well, though they forgot the flame should be blue, not orange/red. The Reaver comes in green and is basically the same as the material version. His head does not pop off this time, which is really good and you can easily pose him into quite a lot of positions. Possibly the best Raziel figure you can get.








NECA Kain
Rarity: *
Height: 18 cm
Reaver length: 20 cm
Accessories: removable right hand holding lightning bolts, Soul Reaver
Packaging: Blister pack
Overall Rating: 4/10 - The worst out of the released LOK figures, but worth it if you are trying to collect them all

One of the most common found figures along with BBI Raziel is NECA Kain. Labeled as „the good (Lara), the bad (Hitman) and the ugly (Kain)“ in the slogan of the first NECA Player Select series figures, he surely fits within this description. The figures was based on the in-game Kain from Defiance and was painted in the same colours as the 3D Kain model. First thing which stands out is that he is green, while he should be golden yellow instead. The second thing is his face has a very over the top grin, which I assume was a try to mimic one of the official posters for Defiance. However, it does not make him look menacing, but rather goofy and the prolonged ear/crown pieces give him almost troll like visage. The figure does not have many joints (his arms have joints only on his shoulders) with his legs fixed in place and overall gives an impression of a statue. The cape is plastic and shaped to appear to be blowing behind him. Unfortunately, Kain´s symbol on the cape is upside down and the cape´s size is overexaggerated. At least the scar placement is correct. His right hand can be swapped out for a one holding a bolt of lightning. The left hand is folded in a grip where the Soul Reaver can be inserted (the cap on top of the hilt must be unscrewed first). The Soul Reaver itself appears to be very well made, with lots of nice details but the colouring seems off (the hilt is brown instead of being golden and is too long) and the skull itself is too small.









BBI Dumah
Rarity: ****
Height: 25cm
Weight: 650g
Accessories: Removable helmet, glowing eyes (requires batteries)
Packaging: Box
Overall Rating: 10/10 - This figure towers high above the others – it´s huge and very detailed! Get him!

Dumah is indeed grand in size and weight (not even BBI Kain is his equal in this regard). This is a pretty hard to find figure, so if you come across one, you won´t regret buying it. It´s attention to detail is great in every regard – from the decorated armor plates, shoulder pads and knee pads (he is missing his clan symbol on the back of his hands, though). He has quite a few joints too, so is pretty well posable. The removable helmet uncovers his war painted face and dreadlock like hair beneath, both details which were impossible to spot on the low resolution textures of the original 3D model. The hair part includes the light up eyes and can be removed in order to insert/remove the batteries. The switch can be set to two modes – lights are continuously on when holding the button on top of Dumah´s head or stay on once you press the button until you press it again (better option for taking pictures). Note that you can´t press the button while he has the helmet on, you have to remove it first. Due to his size he does not come with any other accessories or a stand.

Note: His box differs from the other boxed BBI LOK figures - it´s much taller and promotes the limited edition Spectral Raziel on its sides.






 
Raziel statue by Studio Oxmox
Rarity: *****
Height: 29cm
Weight: 2kg
Accessories: Spear, wings
Packaging: Box
Overall Rating: 9/10 - This statue is the rarest one on this list and usually very pricey, recommended to the hardcore fans!

This rare statue is made out of polyresin. The box itself does not state who is the manufacturer was but only that it was made in China. The box features a unique Raziel render with a winged shadow behind him (found only in German ads) with a cathedral for a background. The statue comes in with two detached wings which need to be glued into place and a wooden spear (both very delicate and fragile). Raziel is standing on a coffin with the Reaver engraving on top of the lid and has the Soul Reaver logo on one of the sides. The statue itself is pretty accurate, though Raziel´s skin colour is green and his toes are too far apart which looks weird. Other than that, details are very good and it is an excellent addition to anybody´s collection. The spear must be handled with care so it does not break and the wings, once glued in, prevent the statue from being transported in its original box, so bear that in mind. It is unclear as to how many of these have been produced in total but it is the rarest item on this list. The Oxmox website lists the client as Eidos Interactive, Germany and that it was made by Studio Oxmox, sculpted by Marc Klinnert. Other website claims the statue´s retail price was €52,00.













Here are some shots with all the figures compared:
Battle of Kains, who shall succeed?

 NECA figure face off

 Material plane Raziel vs Spectral plane Raziel

BBI spectral Raziel vs NECA spectral Raziel

We shall test your thesis, Raziel.



Sunday 15 November 2015

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun Kain´s death confirmed

Our fellow dedicated LOK fan Divine Shadow just unearthed the suspected controversial idea in the cancelled Dead Sun game. According to his source, Kain was to travel back in time to kill his younger self and thus a new timeline, which is seen in Dead Sun, would emerge and would be void of both Kain and Raziel. Basically, Climax went down the route we have been told by the games would be the worst outcome (fatal paradox) and undid all of Kain´s plans to restore Nosgoth. This further strenghtens the notion, that Climax writers knew very little of Legacy of Kain storyline (we have seen that before) but Kain not being in a Legacy of Kain game? No, thank you. Divine Shadow also mentions that the game was cancelled due to poor design and narrative choices upon which millions have been spent.

Monday 5 October 2015

Soul Revenant project update

I apologize for being silent for a few months, but we are back with some new content to show you. Our environmental artist Francesco has  finished the Underworld section of the game and now moved on to modelling the Abyss and the Sanctuary area. These are the current screenshots from the Underworld area (work-in-progress):

 The vortex of souls

Tunnel leading out of the main chamber

In front of the Warp Gate

 The exit to the Underworld

The exit to the Underworld in material realm

Dumahim training chamber

In spectral
On the way to the Sanctuary

Sunday 27 September 2015

Lara Croft and the Faces of Evil

I did a little bit of research on Lara Croft figures recently and the results I found, in some cases, were really amusing. It is amazing how much of bad merchandise is out there but given Lara´s popularity, it is not suprising. What is surprising is the price on some of these items is way too high for the „quality“ of the build and accuracy to Lara herself. This article is just for fun with my descriptions below:



  1. Exhibit no.1 seems to have been sleep deprived for days and the surprised look on her face does not help the impression either. Her ponytail is also very thick and resembles more like another substance. 2/10

  1. This statue looks a bit better than no.1, however, the exaggerated features (especially the „neandertal“ brow) look really odd. 3/10
  2. This poor figurine has seen its better days for sure. The makers obviously heard nothing of body proportions and her giant shorts and shoulders make her look like she just fell of a cliff and this is her mangled corpse. There are straps on her chests for some reason and she wears a really thick red lipstick on her tiny face. One of the worst entries on this list indeed. 1/10
  3. This one is supposed to represent Lara from the movies, so it tries to look more like Angelina Jolie, which I do not think was fully conveyed. 5/10
  4. This is quite rare and expensive figure (around 70 dollars). While the body seems faithful and accurate to what she is like in Tomb Raider Anniversary, her face is quite atrocious with giant nostrils and bags under her eyes. 6/10
  5. Lara here isn´t too bad, however, her face does seem a bit off and her thick eyebrows and prolonged forehead does not help either. 5/10
  6. This Lara has huge eyes and lips resulting in a bit of a grotesque look unfortunately. 4/10
  7. Lara here looks quite alright, the only problem is a very long neck and a big „hair bump“ on her head. 7/10
  8. This was a set including a crocodile and Lara. Given her vacant look on her face, she does not seem to be too scared of holding crocodile´s mouth open like that. 4/10
  9. This Lara from Legend is one of the more expensive ones but it looks really good and worth the money. 10/10
  10. Another rendition of Angelina Jolie´s Lara, very bland looking. 4/10
  11. This was doubted „voluptous“ in the description, but the look on her face is more offputting if anything else. 5/10
  12. This „terminator-look“ Lara is another Angelina Jolie figurine, while a bit more distinct than the other two, the prolonged forehead makes her look like she is balding. 3/10
  13. This is a TR3 catsuit Lara. Her chin seems to be a bit too short, but it is not too bad otherwise. 7/10
  14. This is TR2 wetsuit Lara and I dare to say one of the best looking ones on the list in terms of being truthful to the in-game renders. Not too expensive as well, I really recommend it! 9/10
  15. The new Tomb Raider reboot got its own figures as well and this one has a lot of joints and accessories. It seems to be quite faithful to the game, so another good one to pick up! 8/10
  16. Angelina Jolie clones were quite a few and this one does not fall out of the line either. It seems just as bad as the others with a hint of trying to go for realism, which did not really pay off in the end. 4/10
  17. Lara even got herself to be a bad bear plush toy, if that´s your kind of thing.
  18. Based on Angel of Darkness, this statue seems alright. 7/10
  19. This is what happens to Lara when she rolls around in mud too much. The paint job on this figure is very sloppy, there are much better TR 2013 figures out there than this. 4/10
  20. Cheap version of no.10, this figure is trying to be faithful to Legend, but not as successfully. She seems to have too much of a make-up on her face and the eyes are quite off as well. 5/10
  21. Underworld rendition of Lara is actually quite alright and one of the better cheap ones. 8/10
  22. If this is the expression Lara has each time she exercise, then I rather not see it. It´s not one of the worst, but not exactly spectacular either. 4/10
  23. This is a very expensive statue released for the Temple of Osiris game and damn, it looks awesome (her hair seems to be a bit too big though). 9/10
  24. This is a very big statue and is very expensive. Her face seems alright but it is not quite looking like Lara though. 6/10
  25. TR4 Lara from the intro cinematic has her face covered to protect her from sand, but her very strangely shaped chest section takes the attention. 4/10
  26. Another Jolie Lara, one of the better ones I´d say. 4/10
  27. Angel of Darkness statue, quite large, but not really sure it´s any better than no.19, her jaw line seems to be too wide. 6/10
  28. TR3 Lara with a weird tiny nose, not much else to say here really. 5/10
  29. This is what would happen when you would try to inflate her head like a baloon... 2/10
  30. The only young Lara on this list with her head melted into her neck and with weirdly protruding breasts. 3/10

Bonus points for people who spotted the Lara Croft men´s underwear in the picture. Who would wear it anyway? 

Disclaimer: All the pictures are from Ebay listings and belong to their respective owners.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Nosgothic Realm reborn

After many years of waiting, Nosgothic Realm finally got its visual and structural update it needed. The new site was designed from scratch by its owner, Tenaya. She ported over all the fanart and fanfinction and even included a new section for Nosgoth. There are some amusing things to be discovered as well. For starters, I recommend looking at the Blood Omen 2 page.

You might also wonder what happened to the old forums hosted on Yuku. Unfortunately, they have been taken over by CyborReaver and closed to all members for unspecified reasons. Therefore, the current link will take you to the facebook group instead, until Nosgothic Realm will find a suitable host for its new forums.

UPDATE: The new forums are now found here. The old forums are now archived on the old site.

Monday 29 June 2015

Soul Reaver reforged by Man at Arms

We have all been patiently been awaiting this day and today the legendary blade Soul Reaver was reforged by Man at Arms. Look at the spectacular process of forging piece of metal into a fully functional replica. My only gripe with it is the inaccurate face structure (mostly eyes and nose), wrong placement of the guards and lack of any details and spirals curling the wrong way on the hilt. All in all, it is still a great looking blade and huge thanks to the guys who made it!


Final result:

Compare it with Michael Craughwell´s version:


Or this version, by Omega Artworks:


Livebyhonor´s sword:

Thursday 25 June 2015

Blood Omen The Complete Soundtrack

Hello LOK OST lovers!

In collaboration with TheClayKinderSurprise, we bring you the full soundtrack for BO1 ripped directly from the game (including opening and closing cutscenes). This soundtrack includes both PC and PS versions of certain tracks as well. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Music extracted using the latest Blood Pill. More info in the read me file!


Friday 5 June 2015

Paul Lukather died (1926-2014)

In the unfortunate news, I have found out that our beloved and talented voice actor, Paul Lukather,  died last year in October, aged 88. He did some of the most incredible voices in the gaming industry, voicing the vampire Vorador in all five Legacy of Kain games. Some of you might remember he also voiced the President in Metal Gear Solid 2. Nevertheless, he will be greatly missed.