Expert: gameusurper - 4/10/2008

Question
QUESTION: When the PS2 first came out I rented a game and fell in love with it but cant remember what it was called. This game starts with your death and you are given the chance to go back in time and change the events leading up to your death. You have to however keep going back further and further as you continue to change the future to unfavorable circumstances. I remember that your death occurs in a town square i think. I would really like to find this game so if you need more information let me know, I sort of only have pictures in my head of certain points.
Thanks
Chanelle

ANSWER: I am going over in my head what this game could possibly be, but I am at a loss based on what I have to go on at the moment. Of course I have not even played nearly all of the early PS2 games, so I may not know at all if I haven't played it. If you can give me some of the major events, characters or abilities that you remember. And perhaps what kind of game in general it was. Like was it a side-scroller, action, adventure, RPG, platformer, etc?

Right now with what I have from you, I am thinking Soul Reaver 2. The Soul Reaver series dealt alot with death and time travel. But if you can give me some more of what you can think of, it would help. I will try and help you out best I can.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The game was an action game, the character was male, major events first cut scene featuring your death, then you find the screen as a view of a desk (?) from the side. Your offered the chance to stop the events leading up to your death by some above unknown, then you go back in increasing amounts of time.  The setting is in the period in which the PS2 first came out and you go back in time at least till the 1800 i think, its a puzzle type game. Lots of riddles to solve. The effects of you going back in time are much like the butterfly effect. It was definatly a new game which came out right around the time of the release of the system. Ill try to think of more but for now thats all I remember it was a long time ago after all.
Thanks
Chanelle

ANSWER: I am confused by this statement:

The setting is in the period in which the PS2 first came out and you go back in time at least till the 1800 i think, its a puzzle type game.

What does 'The setting is in the period in which the PS2 first came out' mean? Is it set in modern times and you only go back a few centuries. The 1800's would be the colonial era, mostly. This would help to know so I could eliminate all fantasy-based adventure and RPG games from the possibilities.

And earlier you said it was an action game, but now you mention puzzles. Does this mean it has things like block-pushing, door-opening and lever-pulling puzzles, as well as ones where you must use various gained abilities, integrated within the action part of the game? Do you run, jump and attack immediately by pressing the appropriate button on the controller?

Another thing. Do you remember if the game is 3D or 2D? Did you move within a polygonal 3D world, or from a top down or side view 2D world?

Okay, from what I have now, I can flesh out my thinking a little more. Now, although you say this game is for PS2, what you described in your follow-up is nearly identical to a few very old PS1 games from back in 1997 and 1999, respectively. I will elaborate.

Number one: The Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen (1997)

You are an arrogant nobleman named Kain (male) who is enjoying a drink at an unnamed tavern in an unnamed town. As you walk out of the tavern, you are assaulted by assassins bent on taking your life. Try as you may, you are unable to keep them from cornering and killing you. (first scene featuring your death)

The scene then switches to a cutscene on a cliff overlooking a fiery pit where you are shackled to a frame by both hands with a sword impaling your heart from behind. A cloaked figure with a skull for a face slowly steps up from behind you and removes the blade from your back and hands it to you. As you grasp the hilt, your body is consumed by a vile hunger as your flesh pales over and you are transformed into a vampire to seek your vengeance. (this is the aftermath of your death)

When you awake, you are next to a sarcophagus (could possibly be mistaken for a desk?) in a dank, stale crypt. You then proceed to make your way out of the crypt and into the unforgiving daylight.

The story is not necessarily one where you are trying to prevent your death, but one of revenge, where you are out to kill your murderers and discover who was behind the plot of your slaying to begin with. However, you are constantly being guided by an unseen voice of which the owner's motives are unknown. (some above unknown)

You do not go back in time much except for a brief period near the end of the game where you are trying to stop the victory of an evil overlord from happening so as to change history. As such, there is not a lot of events in the present that change due to your influence in the past. Just one, mainly. (This is probably set in a gothic equivalent of the dark ages, and you go back in time once from there)

This scenario fits quite well with your description. It is one of the games that has stood out in my mind ever since you first asked me this question. The next one doesn't quite fit as well in some areas, but is more accurate in others.

Number two: Soul Reaver (1999)

As a lieutenant of the aforementioned vampiric nobleman Kain, after the fall of the Pillars of Nosgoth and his rise to power, you, Raziel, (male) have evolved the ability to fly before that of your master. With jealousy and rage engulfing him when he sees this, Kain rips your wings from your shoulders and has your comrades throw you into the Lake of the Dead. Flailing, burning with white hot fire, your body is wracked by unimaginable pain and torment. When the hell finally ends, you are awakened by the voice of the Elder. (first scene featuring your 'death')

The Elder guides you to exit the netherworld and seek the truth using your newfound powers of soul devouring. (You do not start 'next' to anything this time. But the voice of the Elder also guides you throughout the game.)

This game would also be seen to take place in a gothic version of the dark ages. There is extensive time travel not in this game in particular, but in the subsequent sequels which spawned from it, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance, as Raziel learns his true purpose and fate in the world. This time travel is brought about by a time streamer named Moebius who was introduced in the very first game in the series, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen.

Also the time traveling elements don't so much effect the future as much as allow you to see the origins and eventual endings of various people and things in the world.

When you mentioned time travel, this is one of the games that first came to mind, and many of the other things you remember fit well into this scenario also. Each game has a few things that don't fit exactly, but overall, the details of both are very close to your description.

Although these two games are for PS1, the sequels for both of these games: Blood Omen 2 and Soul Reaver 2 are for the PS2, as well as the combination sequel that prominently features both characters, Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Though you said that this game you are trying to remember was for the PS2, I cannot dismiss the uncanny similarities your descriptions have with these two old PS1 games. If one of these is not it, I will still try and help you think of it. I just think we should eliminate these two as candidates seeing as they both closely fit your memories.

If you would like to see the cutscenes that are mentioned for these games, here are a few links to the respective intros on Youtube:

Blood Omen:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt4KwJPSoEs
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j33LpjnWpIo

Soul Reaver:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5BRglejVCs

You can probably also dig up gameplay footage as well if you search the corresponding games title on Youtube.

This is what I can come up with for now. Please keep in touch, and after reading this and watching the videos, if one of these is still not the game, or even if it is, let me know and we can try some other possibilities. Though there are not many I can think of that fit your memories as well as these two.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I would out what the game was in my attempts to remember more about it. I remembered that destiny was in the name and after some clever googleing i found the game. Its called Shadow of Destiny. If you dont know it then i highly recommend it. although from what i have found so far it can be hard to get your hands on. Thanks for all your help! i really appreciate it.
Chanelle

Answer
Yeah, I never heard of that one. I have that one as something to get if I find it sometime, though. Like I said, I could only give you suggestions based on what I've played. Never seen the beginning of that game, so I didn't have it as a frame of reference. Glad you figured it out.