When you think back on the Soul Reaver games, you think about their atmosphere, their tone, and that often immaculate voice acting. What you don’t necessarily think about, is how awkward and clumsy they were to actually play — and ultimately, those same ups and downs apply to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered.
To be clear, both Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2 are deserving of the remaster treatment. Even now, they stand out as unique journeys through a memorable dark fantasy setting, complete with great characters and some fantastic storytelling.
In particular, the original Soul Reaver helped define a console generation. At the time of its release in 1999, it was intriguing and mature in ways that few other action adventures were.
Player character Raziel is cast down and killed by his master, the all-powerful Kain, in the game’s opening cutscene. He’s then resurrected hundreds of years later, coaxed into a quest for revenge through the honeyed words of an ominous power.
Even by today’s narrative standards, it’s a superb setup, and as alluded, the storytelling does some very heavy lifting in carrying the entire experience. Soul Reaver’s script remains elegant and compelling; the writing can appear overly dramatic, but it’s brought to life by some truly excellent performances. The game was ahead of its time in this department, and it still holds up exceptionally well.
Structurally, Soul Reaver consists of mostly linear environments that connect to one another and loop back upon themselves, not unlike the design in a classic Metroidvania. What’s more, Raziel unlocks new abilities that pave the way to additional areas and secrets as you progress.
In the original release, backtracking could be a source of frustration — even with the inclusion of locations that you can fast travel between. But in this remaster, the introduction of a map screen helps you maintain a better sense of direction. You’ll still need to make a mental note of previously inaccessible areas and collectibles — which does feel like a bit of a chore as the game opens up — but the map means that you’ll spend a lot less time trying to remember which locales neighbour each other.
So the remaster gives you a map, but beyond that, developer Aspyr has decided against any gameplay adjustments. Soul Reaver’s mix of action combat, puzzle solving, and platforming still works as a whole, but individual parts are really showing their age.
In particular, combat is annoyingly unwieldy here in 2024 — an oddity, given how basic the system is at its core.
Many of the foes that Raziel fights are vampiric in nature, and can’t be killed unless they’re submerged in water, shoved into sunlight, or impaled. As such, battles can feel more like puzzles than skirmishes, as you’ll need to utilise your surroundings in order to achieve victory.
Conceptually, combat is engaging and interesting, but in practice, jittery controls and stiff animations make fights feel weightless and imprecise. Soul Reaver isn’t a difficult game, but its more demanding encounters may have you cursing Raziel’s stubby slashes, a dodge that doesn’t always register properly, and opponents that barely telegraph their attacks.
Soul Reaver 2 does improve upon its predecessor in this regard; combat is a touch more in-depth, with better defined enemy types and an expanded selection of weapons for Raziel to experiment with.
But despite launching two years later — on a new generation of hardware, no less — the sequel plays very similarly, to the point where it still feels like a PS1 release, just wrapped up in PS2-era visuals.
Soul Reaver 2 is also a shorter game on average, although you could argue that this is because it spends less time on lengthy puzzle sections. Indeed, the sequel takes what Soul Reaver was praised for — the story, the characters, the atmosphere — and attempts to double down.
The result is, unfortunately, a less impactful narrative due to how self-indulgent the title becomes. An often overwrought script slows the story’s momentum — a key strength of the first game — and it’s all just a bit too clever for its own good.
That said, there’s still enjoyment to be found in how the sequel elaborates on the surrounding lore and motivations of its main characters. Soul Reaver 2’s storytelling may not be as tightly constructed, but it is a well-meaning escalation — and that’s probably enough for players who are already invested in the series’ world.
In summary, then, Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2 hit the same kinds of pros and cons that they did over two decades ago — it’s just that those cons are even more prevalent when viewed through the lens of modern gaming.
But we’d be lying if we said that these flaws drag the remasters down to any disastrous degree — and that’s because, as mentioned, the atmosphere and tone of Soul Reaver is still so strong and unique. Those with nostalgia for the series — like ourselves — will relish the opportunity to relive Raziel’s journey, warts and all.
Which brings us to the remaster itself. Both games have received a pretty significant graphical overhaul, and for the most part, they look great. Assets and textures have obviously been enhanced, but these visual improvements don’t diminish the gothic stylings that made the original titles so recognisable.
You can swap between the original and remastered graphics with a click of R3, too, which is always an appreciated feature.
However, the remaster does seem to introduce a few minor graphical bugs. The camera clips through certain models in cutscenes, for example, and we came across some weird, out-of-place lighting effects in select environments.
As for extras, Remastered throws a ‘Bonus’ menu into the deal, which houses all sorts of cool insight into the development of both games. There’s a gallery stuffed with art, a full soundtrack player, and even a newly-crafted ‘Lore of Nosgoth’ collection which recaps key information.
But most impressively, you can explore cut Soul Reaver content through the ‘Lost Levels’ option. Now, these aren’t fully playable locations, but checking them out is still great fun, if only to unravel the team’s approach to level design.
