Whenever you assume again on the Soul Reaver video games, you consider their ambiance, their tone, and that always immaculate voice appearing. What you do not essentially take into consideration, is how awkward and clumsy they had been to really play — and in the end, those self same ups and downs apply to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered.
To be clear, each Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2 are deserving of the remaster therapy. Even now, they stand out as distinctive journeys via a memorable darkish fantasy setting, full with nice characters and a few incredible storytelling.
Particularly, the unique Soul Reaver helped outline a console era. On the time of its launch in 1999, it was intriguing and mature in ways in which few different motion adventures had been.
Participant character Raziel is solid down and killed by his grasp, the omnipotent Kain, within the sport’s opening cutscene. He is then resurrected a whole bunch of years later, coaxed right into a quest for revenge via the honeyed phrases of an ominous energy.
Even by as we speak’s narrative requirements, it is a very good setup, and as alluded, the storytelling does some very heavy lifting in carrying all the expertise. Soul Reaver’s script stays elegant and compelling; the writing can seem overly dramatic, but it surely’s delivered to life by some really glorious performances. The sport was forward of its time on this division, and it nonetheless holds up exceptionally effectively.
Structurally, Soul Reaver consists of largely linear environments that join to at least one one other and loop again upon themselves, not in contrast to the design in a traditional Metroidvania. What’s extra, Raziel unlocks new skills that pave the way in which to further areas and secrets and techniques as you progress.
Within the authentic launch, backtracking might be a supply of frustration — even with the inclusion of areas which you can quick journey between. However on this remaster, the introduction of a map display screen helps you preserve a greater sense of course. You will nonetheless must make a psychological notice of beforehand inaccessible areas and collectibles — which does really feel like a little bit of a chore as the sport opens up — however the map signifies that you may spend so much much less time making an attempt to recollect which locales neighbour one another.
So the remaster provides you a map, however past that, developer Aspyr has determined in opposition to any gameplay changes. Soul Reaver’s mixture of motion fight, puzzle fixing, and platforming nonetheless works as an entire, however particular person components are actually exhibiting their age.
Particularly, fight is annoyingly unwieldy right here in 2024 — an oddity, given how primary the system is at its core.
Lots of the foes that Raziel fights are vampiric in nature, and cannot be killed except they’re submerged in water, shoved into daylight, or impaled. As such, battles can really feel extra like puzzles than skirmishes, as you may must utilise your environment as a way to obtain victory.
Conceptually, fight is participating and attention-grabbing, however in follow, jittery controls and stiff animations make fights really feel weightless and imprecise. Soul Reaver is not a troublesome sport, however its extra demanding encounters might have you ever cursing Raziel’s stubby slashes, a dodge that does not at all times register correctly, and opponents that hardly telegraph their assaults.
Soul Reaver 2 does enhance upon its predecessor on this regard; fight is a contact extra in-depth, with higher outlined enemy sorts and an expanded collection of weapons for Raziel to experiment with.
However regardless of launching two years later — on a brand new era of {hardware}, no much less — the sequel performs very equally, to the purpose the place it nonetheless looks like a PS1 launch, simply wrapped up in PS2-era visuals.
Soul Reaver 2 can be a shorter sport on common, though you might argue that it is because it spends much less time on prolonged puzzle sections. Certainly, the sequel takes what Soul Reaver was praised for — the story, the characters, the ambiance — and makes an attempt to double down.
The result’s, sadly, a much less impactful narrative attributable to how self-indulgent the title turns into. An usually overwrought script slows the story’s momentum — a key power of the primary sport — and it is all only a bit too intelligent for its personal good.
That mentioned, there’s nonetheless enjoyment to be present in how the sequel elaborates on the encompassing lore and motivations of its principal characters. Soul Reaver 2’s storytelling is probably not as tightly constructed, however it’s a well-meaning escalation — and that is in all probability sufficient for gamers who’re already invested within the collection’ world.
In abstract, then, Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2 hit the identical sorts of professionals and cons that they did over 20 years in the past — it is simply that these cons are much more prevalent when considered via the lens of contemporary gaming.
However we would be mendacity if we mentioned that these flaws drag the remasters all the way down to any disastrous diploma — and that is as a result of, as talked about, the ambiance and tone of Soul Reaver remains to be so sturdy and distinctive. These with nostalgia for the collection — like ourselves — will relish the chance to relive Raziel’s journey, warts and all.
Which brings us to the remaster itself. Each video games have acquired a fairly vital graphical overhaul, and for essentially the most half, they appear nice. Belongings and textures have clearly been enhanced, however these visible enhancements do not diminish the gothic stylings that made the unique titles so recognisable.
You’ll be able to swap between the unique and remastered graphics with a click on of R3, too, which is at all times an appreciated function.
Nonetheless, the remaster does appear to introduce a number of minor graphical bugs. The digital camera clips via sure fashions in cutscenes, for instance, and we got here throughout some bizarre, out-of-place lighting results in choose environments.
As for extras, Remastered throws a ‘Bonus’ menu into the deal, which homes all kinds of cool perception into the event of each video games. There is a gallery filled with artwork, a full soundtrack participant, and even a newly-crafted ‘Lore of Nosgoth’ assortment which recaps key data.
However most impressively, you may discover lower Soul Reaver content material via the ‘Misplaced Ranges’ choice. Now, these aren’t totally playable areas, however checking them out remains to be nice enjoyable, if solely to unravel the crew’s method to degree design.
