I played Blood Omen directly after playing Zelda: A Link to the Past and my god are these two games similar and very very different at the same time. Zelda gets so many things right and it's strange to see Blood Omen, released over 4 years later, get so many of them wrong. Wonky combat system, uninspired level design, weird inventory management, storyline at times strangely disconnected. The game feels like it is just going to fall apart at any moment of it's playtime. And even my incredible amounts of low-poly nostalgia couldn't make me not cringe at the incredibly ugly 3d animated cutscenes.

Despite all that, Blood Omen manages to create an unparalleled dark, gothic atmosphere. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing. The voice acting is on a level I don't remember ever hearing in a video game. Kain's voice actor went full in on his role. The way Kain is written is very engaging, developing slowly from being just a bitter, arrogant, self-centred misanthrope into contemplating the strange, cruel world around him and developing a complex relationship with fate.

The spells and magic items are so good. They are so over the top and gory and brutal, they really feel like the type of magic a bloodthirsty vampire would use. The first magic item flays the skin of the enemy, killing them instantly, and at first it feels a bit overpowered are extremely brutal. But it just keeps getting better from there. Expect to kill enemies in very very bloody ways. The mind control spell also gets my commendation for how well it was implemented.
Favourite spell: Blood Shower

Also, the UI design is so good. Bring back that UI that takes up almost half of the screen for no good reason.

For all it's flaws, I love Blood Omen with my entire heart.