Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered

One of the best games in history !!!

An incredible adventure game. Peak story telling. The remaster has a lot to offer if you are a Legacy Of Kain fan.

Having just recently played through the SR1 and SR2 remasters and wanting more of the story, I bought this fairly immediately and continued my journey through Nosgoth to see what fate had in store for Kain and Raziel. At the very least, the game's narrative exhibits a similar level of quality from its predecessors even if I felt some parts were a bit slow. The conclusion was a bit bittersweet given that the likelihood a sequel will be made is near zero. I really felt that the execution of [spoiler] uniting Raziel and Kain by cleansing the soul reaver by absorbing Ariel and then later on, Raziel willingly gives his life to cleanse Kain's corruption and allow him to finally complete his destiny with the completed reaver [/spoiler] was so well done. I did not really expect this turn of events. Other points like [spoiler] Moebius being shown the true form of the Elder God in the spectral realm by Raziel or Janos being possessed by the Hylden Lord. Or the fight with Turel who threw Raziel into the pit at the beginning of SR1 but was noticeably absent in SR1[/spoiler]. The game really does a great job at weaving all these seemingly disconnected events throughout the series and showing you how they connect and influence subsequent events in the timeline. I felt that storytelling really rewarded you when you paid attention. Now, we come to the part that I did not like much. The gameplay... While it was in most respects leagues better than SR1 and 2, it was still pretty lackluster. I think some of this is due in part to the control scheme, where it felt really difficult to pull off anything other than your standard 3 button combo or using a launcher ala DMC to do some air combo. The telekinesis for both was nice but it was difficult to push enemies onto objects to instantly kill them because the control scheme goes against what you'd naturally expect in this game. I never quite got used to it which made combat more annoying than it might have been. It was also more annoying in the case of Raziel to switch to the spectral realm. I would often prime a switch and then it would be nullified because I was used to just pressing the button rather than holding it like it was here. The other part about the combat and gameplay that was annoying was certain groups of enemies (the demons for example) just hit way too hard and are obnoxious as hell when a group of them come at you. Ultimately, I think this is still worth playing because the story really is that good but like I mentioned in my SR1/SR2 review, if its exhausting to play, just watch a Youtube cutscene compilation as opposed to playing this. I also don't think I would recommend this at full price either. Definitely with a discount.

A true classic remastered! The free camera is such a blessing. If you played the original, grab this one!

It's hard giving a classic Legacy of Kain game a negative review, and man... I really appreciate that this was remastered to help push this IP into the modern era. However, this was one of my least beloved of the original games - and now, I think I can see why, much more clearly. Despite bringing Kain and Raziel together as co-protagonists for the first time, it just isn't fun. It's a rehash of previous games without much new to offer in regards to mechanics, gameplay, or even lore, really. It's just more of the same and merging the two characters into one game is more of a gimmick than anything else. And maybe, this is my own sad realization that this series was best left in the past.

I really loved playing through these games ! Was just really nice to fill in a gap in knowledge regarding narritive within vidya-games. This was really nice and just a perfect conclusion to the franchise. It felt very definitive in its conclusion. I would haev been super curios to see whatever that cancelled 2014 Soul Reaver game would haev been like? Feel like if this franchise was to come back i'd like to see it set centuries after this games time-line and have fresh new characters that pay reference to this franchise. I would love to see a very unique different Nosgoth. Maybe with a Souls-like gameplay structure with empahsis on exploration?? Loved this! I think it's got more gameplay issues then narritive. A bit tedious the hack n slash combast system to the arkahic exploritive adventure elements of the previous. Eh ! Games are cool.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered was a much more interesting experience than I expected. The first thing that stood out to me was how much certain parts of Kain reminded me of Kratos. There’s a similar physical presence, the pale skin, imposing build, aggressive personality and that general feeling of playing as someone powerful enough to challenge forces far beyond a normal human. The stories also share some similar themes involving gods, destiny, betrayal, revenge and characters trying to fight against a fate that has effectively already been written for them. What makes that comparison even more interesting is that the original Defiance actually came out before the first God of War, so it’s not really a case of Legacy of Kain borrowing from Kratos. If anything, playing it today makes you realise how many ideas that later became common in dark fantasy action games were already being explored here. The biggest strength of the game for me is easily the story. Kain and Raziel are both genuinely interesting protagonists, and switching between their perspectives keeps things moving while gradually bringing both sides of the story together. Neither character feels like a traditional hero either. They both have their own motivations, flaws and interpretations of what is happening, which makes the story feel much more mature than the usual good-versus-evil setup. The atmosphere is another huge positive. Nosgoth has this dark, gothic and almost hopeless feeling throughout the entire game. The environments, architecture, music and voice acting all work together incredibly well. Even when the graphics naturally show their age underneath the remaster, the art direction still gives the game far more personality than a lot of modern releases. The voice acting deserves particular praise. A lot of older games have dialogue that has aged terribly, but Defiance is almost the opposite. The characters speak in this dramatic, theatrical way that fits the world perfectly. Kain especially has an incredible presence whenever he speaks. Combat is enjoyable, although you can definitely feel the age of the original game underneath it. It can become repetitive, and some encounters rely more on constantly throwing enemies at you rather than doing anything particularly clever. The camera and movement were probably some of the biggest weaknesses of the original, so the improvements in the remaster make the game significantly easier to enjoy today. The puzzles and exploration also help break up the combat. They’re generally straightforward, but they suit the pacing well and give you a reason to actually pay attention to the environments rather than simply running from one fight to another. Overall, this is one of those games where the story, characters and atmosphere are far more memorable than the actual combat mechanics. Kain and Raziel are excellent protagonists, the writing is surprisingly strong, and the entire game has a distinctive identity that you just don’t see very often anymore. If you enjoy the darker mythology and anti-hero side of games like God of War, I think there’s a lot to appreciate here. Just remember that Legacy of Kain was doing a lot of this before Kratos had even picked up the Blades of Chaos. Definitely worth playing, especially if you enjoy story-heavy action games with dark fantasy, vampires and genuinely memorable characters.