Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered

A great man once said “Remake Soul Reaver, you cowards!” – Those were the immortal words of Australian Youtuber Skillup, a man who like so many, myself included, has dreamed for the last 20 years, that Soul Reaver would make a return. And over the last few years, we have indeed seen the return of many classic franchises, in some way or another. Some good, and some not so good … but the remaster treatment is an effective way to show love to loyal fans and gauge interest in a modern-day adaption of a beloved, long-dead IP.

Tomb Raider has had its first three original games remastered and overjoyed fans across the globe. Now another collection of Tomb Raider 4 to 6 is coming out next year, and in the meantime, Aspyr thought it would be good to bring back another long-lost Eidos IP from the grave…

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.


What is Soul Reaver Remastered?


Before Amy Hennig brought us the Uncharted series, she worked in the late 90s developing a sequel to the Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen game, known as Soul Reaver. She came on the project which was a bit of a s*** show and tightened up the ship, from major rewrites, leading the gameplay design, and generally was awesome. And what came out of it, were two Soul Reaver games, a Blood Omen sequel, and a final game to wrap things up. All of which were either highly praised or became massive cult favourites. Even having Dead Space creator Glen Schofield as the director of Blood Omen 2.

However, after 2003’s Legacy of Kain: Defiance, the series was dead, with a potential sequel/reboot in the works, but was cancelled in the early 2000s. But since 1999’s Soul Reaver and now, there has been a large following growing, and now fans can rejoice that Soul Reaver 1 and 2 have been remastered.

Sadly Blood Omen 2, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance are not present, but this is fine (as they might come later), and we can experience both Soul Reaver games with revamped visuals, 4K resolution, quality of life changes, and most important, a map!


Soul Reaver Remastered … You are Worthy!


This is another remaster from the folks at Aspyr, the same people who brought us the fantastic Tomb Raider 1 – 3 remasters earlier this year. The format is the same, with a nice shiny coat overlay, bumping up the cracks, and rough edges, while enhancing the textures, fine details, character models and lighting. It’s a grand remaster overall for the presentation and sound, with 4K resolution, new revamped character models for everyone, and colour correcting to bring out more depth to the elements.

Smoother controls have been added in, allowing players to adjust better to the first game which came out 25 years ago and never had the best controls to begin with. Plenty of smaller quality-of-life inclusions are here to allow anyone to grasp the finer elements of the mechanics and game world. The biggest leap in presentation is with the first game, which has had a major overhaul visually, revealing new details I never knew or could see clearly when playing the original. Such as with the first boss Melchiah, you can now see all the horrific details on his body, and the poor souls he has consumed, and constructed himself from in detail. Lots of smaller details that were easy to miss can now be seen more clearly, making you appreciate the world and wonder in its awe, without removing that dark gothic charm and craftsmanship.

Now I love PS1 aesthetics, especially with horror games. With all that pixelated gore and nastiness, it was scarier when your mind filled in the blanks. Some small touches of horror and gore feel dampened with Soul Reaver 1, but much of the appeal and visual grace is untouched, and only enhanced for a stunning visual experience in the modern era. Soul Reaver 2 isn’t given much of an advancement, as this is a PS2 game and one that looked nice already back in 2001. But character models again have been tweaked and look brilliant, and the lighting is vastly better, making the world feel to have greater depth and dimension.

The big new addition comes in the form of a world map, which is excellent, but a little disappointing too. Soul Reaver (the first more so) is a Metroidvania game at its core, with backtracking, blocked paths you can only traverse with key items and skills, and branching paths that you can easily miss. The map gives an overview of Nosgoth, which is handy, but not anything finer or in-depth. And for a complex adventure game with hidden rooms, secret paths and places you need to venture back to again and again, no detailed map present makes utterly no sense … It’s a massive misfire.

And the camera for Soul Reaver 1 is still dreadful at times, when it comes to the tighter platforming sections combined with the smoother controls, it can be a little worse than I remembered playing back on the PS1. Yet we have saving graces with quick saves, interaction icons, and all the bonus material you can shake your clawed hands at! Everything from Soul Reaver 2, including the behind-the-scenes making, bloopers and much more is here and it’s fantastic! I love it.

I did wish the Tomb Raider 1 – 3 remaster had this kind of stuff, and maybe we will see it with the next Tomb Raider remaster, but Aspyr need to know this is the right move, and I love seeing the development of these great games, in a nice remastered package.


Kane refused the sacrifice!


I would best describe Soul Reaver as a vampiric Shakespear epic, akin to Hamlet but with vampires, dimensional shifting, and cosmic horrors.

Soul Reaver 1 and 2 bring us to the world of Nosgoth, where everything has gone to ruins since Kane decided to take over. You don’t need to have played the original Blood Omen, but it helps. But long story short, Nosgoth has nine Pillars with each one bringing balance and order. Those pillars were represented by guardians, who were killed by Kane as they became corrupted. Kane was meant to sacrifice himself to save Nosgoth, but decided not to, and raised an army of vampires to take over the land.

However, unknown to the vampires, there is an Elder God underneath Nosgoth who controls the Wheel of Fate, a cycle of reincarnation and damnation for the souls of Nosgoth. And as you might imagine, the balance is broken, or more so the Wheel of Fate cannot spin as Kane and his vampire offspring live their immortal existence. These actions slowly bring Nosgoth to total ruin by the time Soul Reaver’s story begins.

Raziel is a lieutenant in Kane’s army, who evolves before his master, by growing magnificent wings. Kane, angered by this, decides to cast Raziel into a lake of acid, to burn alive, a slow death, At the end of time, Raziel is resurrected by the Elder God and told to kill Kane, restore balance and save himself from damnation.

That’s a brief gist of the main plot, and it’s quite a mouthful, to say the least. What follows is an epic journey in Nosgoth through multiple timelines, restoring the balance, and exacting your revenge, but along the way much unfolds on Raziel’s past, and that of his future.

The story is quite compelling, to say the least, and comes from a time when a lot of people felt video games were utterly childish and no enthralling, or mature stories were told during this era. Yet many RPGs and adventure games told great stories, and Soul Reaver 1 and 2, did indeed tell us some of the greatest writing in video game history. Soul Reaver has an immense cast of characters, with compelling developments, engaging relationships, and all profoundly pushed forward by the stellar voice work.

Not to mention the cutscenes still live up to the exceptional standards of modern-day gaming. There are twists and turns, dramatic rising tensions, and a cliffhanger of an ending for Soul Reaver 2, that would make Halo 2 blush. It’s amazing stuff, and truly some of Amy Hennig’s best work in her career.

While both games are story-driven, the sequel does indeed make the most of the PS2 tech at the time, delivering dozens of cutscenes, all full motion captured, with lots of engaging exchanges, and gravitas-inducing moments. There is a lot of dialogue, to the point where the voice actors in a behind-the-scenes video mentioned they never had so much dialogue while working in video games before! And it is impressive to see the amount of care and passion behind the writing and voice work that truly brought Soul Reaver to life.

The world-building, character designs, and lore are all brilliant, having shown no sign of age, thanks to its many timeless qualities. If I were to nit-pick what didn’t pan out so well upon replaying is the feeling something was missing at times in Soul Reaver 1, which is understandable as the original story was heavily cut back. But still manages to flow quite nicely. But mainly is the pacing of Soul Reaver 2…

When they say this is a story-driven game, it well and truly is with lots of dialogue and back and forth which amounts to simply “Lore-Porn”. I do understand there is a fair chunk to explain, but the first game did it much better, in shorter, snippier moments. In Soul Reaver 2, there’s just a lot of chatter, and compared to another PlayStation 2 game at the time, Primal, which had better-acted cutscenes and variety, Soul Reaver 2 feels a little flat in the visual delivery, aside from some facial animations which are good for the time, and of course, the amazing voice work.  

But honestly, this is kind of minor considering the scale and breadth of the plot across the two games, which is handled fantastically well and is enjoyable from start to finish.


Raziel... the Abyss has been unkind


Okay, so I will admit that some elements of Soul Reaver 1 and 2’s gameplay have not aged all that well, along with the funky camera in Soul Reaver 1. And this is true for a lot of old games. But some points have aged like a fine wine and then some.

Soul Reaver is Metroidvania at its core, where players control the resurrected vampire corpse Raziel and guide them through Nosgoth, exploring the ruins of his home, gathering clues on his past, and defeating his brothers one by one to build strength to destroy his maker Kane. There are plenty of gameplay elements which are incredibly fleshed out, some never evolving much over time, but all are solid and engaging from start to finish.

Raziel must consume souls to live, and his enemies being in vampiric form, can only die from sunlight, fire, water, or a sharp stab through the heart. Combat is simple in principle, you hack and slash, and use clubs and spears to do damage, but then finish off your enemies with one of the methods from above makes it all so much more methodical and strategic. This elevates the combat so much, and while bosses are more akin to a puzzle (trick bosses like in Demon Souls), they are fun and enjoyably varied. The world has several domains, each with its dangers and secrets which you’ll unravel over time, and some which you can miss, even after many years.

There’s a spell mechanic so well hidden, that I only learned of it a few years ago. It requires a long side quest but changes up the combat towards the end game so massively, that it’s unreal they make it so secret. But that’s something I love. Platforming is decent, if not a little clunky in the original game, yet the Metroidvania elements enhance the backtracking and overall adventure vibes as you unlock new abilities and perks to reach places you couldn’t before. It all stacks together nicely, like block puzzles … Now I know what you’re thinking.

There are block puzzles, but they’re so much better than Tomb Raider. For one, Raziel wastes no time pushing them, but you can alter them by rotation, and this changes up many of the puzzles throughout the game. And these block puzzles are never overly long or annoying but are usually fun to figure out. The main dynamic mechanic here is the “Shifting” where Raziel can shift between the material and spectral planes of existence, allowing him to bypass obstacles and manipulate the environment.

This was the big selling point, it’s an incredible mechanic that has only been seen in a handful of games, but never used so effectively. And in the first game, it’s handled fine. It’s nothing major for the most part, and only a handful of puzzles make the most of it…

Now the sequel!

So, I generally do favour the sequel a little more but for one big reason. Now the combat is much smoother, but not as deep, and the secrets and Metroidvania elements are stripped back considerably. But the shifting between material and spectral planes is utilised here so much more, being implemented on a grander scale where whole dungeon environments become puzzles. It’s so good, being some of the best lateral challenges at the time and even now holds up incredibly well. I get it, the first game has a lot more depth all around, but the sequel having smooth controls, a better camera, and a better use of the shifting mechanic elevates it for me. I’m more a puzzle guy, and Soul Reaver 2 nailed that lateral ich for me.

Both games still hold up as well as the old Resident Evil games. They do have a little jank and can be clunky at times, but their concepts, design, and thought processes are truly phenomenal and timeless.


Overall?


I’m so thrilled to see more classic games get the remaster treatment, and this ear of gaming is showing more love to classic franchises and their roots. From Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and cult classic games such as Soul Reaver and Live Again. While the format still needs some ironing out in places, Aspyr are getting there, and have their way of handling remasters, which works incredibly well, and offers the best possible way to play these brilliant games.

While the map could have been better, the camera work tweaked, and some more quality-of-life inclusions needed, Soul Reaver 1 and 2 have been lovingly brought back and restored to a near impeccable standard. Plus, we get bonus content, which is amazing and needs to be done more in any remaster. If you’re a fan of Soul Reaver, then … why are you reading this? Go and buy.

And those who’ve never played Soul Reaver … why are you reading this, go and buy.

As a profound Australian man once said “Remake Soul Reaver, you cowards!” But in the meantime, you can play this wonderful remaster.

++ Looks and sounds amazing, nice visual upgrade and revamping
++ Solid mechanics, interesting world design and immense lateral gameplay
++ Still has some of the best writing in gaming
++ Lots of bonuses and nice quality-of-life additions

- The camera in Soul Reaver 1 can still be a nightmare
- The map feature is disappointing
- Doesn’t include Defiance or Blood Omen


The publisher kindly provided a review copy of Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered