Well, finally this game that was on the original (Sept. of last year) box is 
out.  It is very good.  Here's a review.

I. Graphics: 8.5/10.
Very good graphics.  There are plenty of FMV scenes that are mixed in with the 
game in a pleasing manner.  It's a traditional top-down view.  

The view *doesn't* change when you go into combat, for which I am grateful.  
(That aspect of Beyond the Beyond drove me crazy.  First, you run into a 
monster.  Then you'd load the combat screen, slowly panning in on it.  
Thenyou'd fight, vainly pushing buttons to get the APS configurations.  Then 
you'd win and have to look at your characters' victory dances.  Then you'd 
have to sort out the treasure.  Then load the normal screen again, walk ten 
steps, and load the battle menu again.)  When battles occur frequently, it's 
very important to make them as fun and non-tedious as possible.  I think Kain 
does a good job with this.

With the top-down view, there is plenty of lighting.  The light changes 
depending on what spells you're casting, what time of the day it is, whether 
it's raining or snowing, etc.

II. Sound: 10/10.
This game has *extremely* good sound.  First off, the music is just first 
rate, and very moody.  It fits in well with the game.  Secondly, the voices 
and dialog are better than in any other game I've seen/heard.  LoK has 
professional voice actors that really know their stuff, and do a very good 
job.  Hopefully the quality of voice acting in this game will start a new 
trend with video games.

(As a sidenote, EGM's review is completely baked in this category.  They give 
7/10 for "sound."  This is just *insane* considering the quality of the music 
and the dialog in this game.  I have no idea what EGM's problem is on this.)

III. Originality: 9/10.
Although vampires and the like are very popular now, Kain scores really big in 
"originality" with me for the ambience and atmosphere of the game.  They go 
farther toward creating a genuinely ghoulish ambience than any other game I've 
seen.

IV. Gameplay: 9/10.
Seems fine so far.  Of course, I haven't completed much of the game yet, so 
this score is a little premature.  It seems to flow along nicely, and the 
controls are for the most part reasonably layed out.  It has been a little 
linear so far in terms of plot, but this will probably (??) change as I get 
further into the game.

V. Overall: 9/10.  This game is really worth buying if you're in the mood for 
an RPG with dark tones.

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Craig A. Jensen
jensen@math.cornell.edu
caj11@cornell.edu