Review: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered

The Legacy Of Kain series has finally risen from its tomb once again after 20 years of slumber. True vampire behavior, sure, albeit not the one originally intended by its creators.

Crystal Dynamics tried to follow up on 2003’s Legacy Of Kain: Defiance with the spectacular-looking Legacy Of Kain: Dead Sun, but it ended up being canceled for what I must believe were dark reasons. What we now have is not the full-fledged continuation of the story, or even the now classic soft reboot.

It’s a remaster of the two classic Soul Reaver titles by Aspyr, the same studio behind the damn good Tomb Raider original trilogy remasters, and it does not disappoint!

Screenshot via Destructoid

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered (PC [Reviewed])
Developer: Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Aspir
Released: December 10, 2024
MSRP: $29.99

Looks-wise, Aspyr once again makes fans an offer they cannot refuse. You can swap between the remastered graphics mode and the classic ones on the fly. If you’re only here for the newer graphics, you will be very happy as both games — especially the original — got a very respectful glow-up.

This is not a remake, rather seemingly Aspyr’s attempt at making the original games look as good as they ever could. As a longtime fan of the series, I’m quite satisfied by the approach. The only possible downside is how it might fail to capture the attention of new players for not featuring current gen graphics.

I wasn’t too keen on the first trailer Aspyr showed. Some of the enemies — Melchiah, the first boss, especially — looked a bit too colorful for the monstrous pile of decrepit flesh he was supposed to be. I’m very happy to announce that Aspyr saw it as well and ended up doing a welcome glow down to the game’s enemies. The first Soul Reaver is now just a bit more light and colorful than it once was, but it sure does remain by far the most beautifully foul-looking of the two.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Screenshot by Destructoid

If you just want a modern way to replay the classic one, this is also the game for you, as you can now enjoy the original graphics in never-before-seen high-res. On PC, at least, this remaster surpasses even that of the Tomb Raider trilogy. Even though the Tomb Raider PS5 remaster’s classic graphics mode introduced higher res, it forced players to “enjoy” the game at the original PlayStation’s choppy framerate. Not here, though. Both games run silky smooth on either graphics mode even on far-from-prime PC hardware.

Quality of life improvements are aplenty, as well. Whereas the gameplay of either Soul Reaver has aged far more gracefully than that of the Tomb Raider‘s OT, it could still do with a revamp — and it sure did get one. The camera is now fully modernized, allowing players to control it with the right thumbstick, providing much more intuitive controls, and leaving the shoulder buttons free for other functionalities. There are also graphical indicators popping up whenever you come close to an item that you can interact with. It might strike some as too much hand-holding, but, at least in the original format, some of the game’s important visual elements could prove a little too difficult to tell from mere scenery.

If you look at the screens above, you’ll also notice the presence of a compass. That’s also an addition made by the remaster. I originally laughed at the idea, as the compass in Tomb Raider has always been one of the most clowned-on useless features in the history of gaming, but I didn’t have the full picture. That compass actually works pretty well when combined with the map, which is another new feature. It had only recently come to my attention that some players found the world of the original game to be a bit labyrinthian, so this is sure to help create a smoother experience.

Another thing playing in the remaster’s favor is the story — one of the elements you can’t really change much — because it remains as fantastic and engrossing as ever. Ditto is responsible for the game’s voice performances and music. All the most important and less-fixable features of this series have truly aged like good old blood — of the kind you need not fear.

This remaster also has a lot of extra stuff that fans will absolutely love to dive into. Whereas Soul Reaver 2 had a less-troubled development cycle, courtesy of following-up on one of the original PlayStation’s best games, the development of the original was famously chaotic.

Screenshot via Destructoid

While you’d never tell from just playing the game, the original game was the result of a very rushed development cycle. It was never meant to spawn a series but to tell a one-and-done story. Though I’m glad in ended up growing into something bigger and better, I — and so many others — spent years wishing I could visit the vast amount of material that ended up cut.

Now, on top of a lot of cool concept art, fan art, a lot of written lore to help guide players through this world, players can also access a bunch of cut levels for the first time. These areas aren’t available with the remastered graphics and don’t have enemies or functioning puzzles, but fans will understand just how great it is to finally visit places that had gone down in history as myths.

Aspyr is showing their craft and care, which fills me with hopes that studio truly is the one to finally make the upcoming remaster of the second — and wonkier- Tomb Raider trilogy work.

_{[This review is based on a press build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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