Ever since Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver stalked onto the scene 1 / 4 of a century in the past, it’s honest to say that the trials and tribulations of its spectral protagonist, Raziel, have lingered lengthy within the reminiscences of those that have been fortunate sufficient to play it again within the day. With an entire new technology of avid gamers having now both not performed Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, or don’t even know what it’s in any respect, it’s on the twenty fifth anniversary of Crystal Dynamic’s most interesting hour that we imagine a remaster is lengthy overdue. Right here’s why.
A Genuinely Fascinating Narrative
For the uninitiated, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is definitely a sequel of types to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, a grisly top-down motion RPG which launched for the PC and PSOne consoles earlier in 1996. Happening roughly 1500 years after the occasions of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Soul Reaver exhibits us a world devastated by the corrupted Pillars of Nosgoth. A set of pillars which might be important to the stability of life on the planet, their guardians have been killed by Kain just for Kain to refuse to sacrifice himself to avoid wasting them, damning all the world of Nosgoth in consequence. What a beautiful fellow.
As a substitute of merely simply letting gamers proceed to take management of that sport’s vampiric protagonist Kain, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver as a substitute shifted focus to Raziel, considered one of Kain’s most trusted vampire lieutenants. Naturally, with older vampires being a reasonably evil and paranoid type, Raziel finds himself subsequently betrayed by Kain earlier than being ‘reborn’ as a wraith courtesy of the Elder God, a hidden deity that controls the Wheel of Destiny, an ethereal mechanism by which souls are reincarnated. With nothing however a burning vengeance in his soul (or no matter is left of it), Raziel turns into hellbent on killing Kain and in doing so we see themes of redemption, ethical ambiguity and extra all turn out to be woven into the grand tapestry of Soul Reaver’s narrative.
A World Of Opulent Devastation
There may be maybe no higher avenue to turn out to be absolutely immersed within the blood-soaked plight of Raziel than to soak up the environments which encompass him. Soul Reaver invitations the participant to discover the depths of Nosgoth, a totally destroyed world the place the opulence of its previous has been summarily changed by a darkish gothic nightmarish labyrinth of sprawling ruins, twisted steel and infinite chasms. Exploring this gothic hellscape can also be pleasingly rather more attention-grabbing than simply traipsing about within the conventional sense, as Raziel isn’t simply able to all the same old working and leaping one would normally anticipate, he may use his large wings to glide across the setting in methods that may solely be described as being tremendously satisfying.
As such, a completely remastered Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver would show to be an arresting prospect, to say the least, as Raziel’s world would discover itself splendidly embellished by larger decision, improved framerates and a better consideration to element than was potential when the sport launched all the best way again in 1999.
Two Realms For The Value Of One
With Raziel discovering himself newly reborn as a wraith, he additionally will get the added ‘bonus’ of having the ability to hop from the bodily realm right into a extra incorporeal, spectral realm on command. It’s right here the place Soul Reaver’s dedication to environmental storytelling comes into play because the world twists and turns itself into an alternate imaginative and prescient of the bodily realm, although right here Raziel’s skill to bodily work together with the setting is tremendously restricted. Rather more than only a fancy gimmick, the dual-realm system is arguably the centrepiece of Soul Reaver’s motion journey design and sport director Amy Hennig, who would later go on to work on the Uncharted video games and subsequent 12 months’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra completely made probably the most of it too.
Think about the situation – you’ve reached the top of an extended path which concludes into an enormous room the place all method of destroyed partitions and rubble block the best way to your vacation spot and Raziel seemingly has no different path to take. By switching to the spectral realm, our ghostly protagonist might proceed his tortured journey simply by merely strolling by way of it. When shifting into the spectral realm, although Raziel can not work together with any bodily objects such because the array of blocks and switches which type the idea of Soul Reaver’s puzzle-solving foundations, he can stroll by way of water and different such parts of the setting that might in any other case show to be impassible within the bodily realm and it’s using this twin realm mechanic which give rise to some actually fiendish puzzles which have completely stood the take a look at of time.
Completely Judged Development And Fight
The kicker to all of Raziel’s funky, realm-shifting powers is that he must earn them by defeating every of Kain’s vampire lieutenants earlier than having a showdown with the large dangerous himself, including a very satisfying feeling of development to the entire affair. Bringing Soul Reaver’s fight system into sharp focus and beginning off with simply his trusty claws, Raziel can inflict an inexpensive quantity of harm on the varied vampiric foes and spine-chilling horrors that he encounters throughout his otherworldly odyssey, although he may make use of varied weapons laying about within the bodily realm too resembling spears, staves, torches and extra.
Past such violent functions, Raziel may dispatch his enemies by throwing them into environmental hazards resembling flaming pits, infinite chasms, spike-adorned partitions and even simply common outdated daylight in case your foe occurs to be of the vampiric persuasion. The twin realm mechanic additionally has fight functions, with sure enemies solely in a position to be broken within the spectral realm, whereas Raziel himself will merely change to the spectral realm slightly than current gamers with a sport over display screen if he suffers an excessive amount of harm within the bodily realm, cleverly side-stepping the same old zero well being fail state. This is only one extra instance exhibiting how Soul Reaver didn’t do issues in any respect by the guide and was all the higher for it.
There’s Simply Nothing Like It
It’s maybe telling that within the twenty-five years since Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver stole itself into our hearts and minds, there’s not solely been a gaping gap within the medium for a non secular successor of some type however so too has a full-fat, full-sugar re-release been conspicuously absent all of that point. With its fantastically darkish story of vengeance and twisted morality underscored by an intoxicatingly grim world destroyed by corruption, plus a twin realm system that allows a artistic latitude of degree design that different titles wrestle to match, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is totally overdue a remaster – particularly as this masterpiece celebrates its momentous twenty fifth anniversary.