A quarter of a century on from the first release included here (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, 1999), Aspyr continue their mission of updating vintage classics for a modern audience. With this title, they have created such a celebration of the Legacy of Kain series that is so rich with a treasure trove of historic goodies that it’s almost sure to please fans of the franchise, and it will certainly be an important release for a lot of people that hold the games dear.For those unaware of the series’ origins, the actual starting point was Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain back in 1996, a top-down action adventure title that kicked off the expansive story that feels like the heart of the games. The time-spanning majesty of which holds a lot of appeal for lore-hungry players, but it was the successive titles (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and Soul Reaver 2) that won the hearts of gamers. These 3rd-person gothic adventures feel like they pack novels’ worth of narrative and lore into the games, and this very much captured the public imagination, and still resonates today.When I first booted up the collection, I spent almost half an hour just reading the included texts and viewing the included historic videos, and there are many. From concept art, through to incredibly detailed lost levels, background information on the creation of the game, and - most enjoyable of all, to me – footage taken at the time in the recording studio of the voice actors not just delivering their lines live at the microphone, but also out-takes and musings on their characters and video games in general, it’s a joy to see these behind the scenes sections, and they were the highlight of the package for me, a great time capsule.
The games themselves still very much hold up - aside from some camera trickery during combat with multiple enemies – and I have to say that the music of the games (by Kurt Harland and Jim Hedges) is not to be trifled with, a score that brings the world of Nosgoth to life in all it’s trembling glory. Aspyr have also built in an incredibly addictive feature that allows you to switch between the original and remastered versions of the games through the simple pressing in of the right thumbstick, and it is seamless. Whilst I kept the game in the remastered mode for the vast majority of my time with it, I was literally switching modes every few seconds just to ogle at the work done by the developers.
In the in-game cutscenes, not only are the character models tasty, but every aspect of the environment is upgraded, and it becomes addictive to marvel at how everything in the game is touched-up, it’s a pleasure to see the detail in areas such the background stained-glass windows that would otherwise be fuzzed-out due to the hardware limitations of the time. SUMMARY
With well over twenty hours of gameplay, a rich amount of historical lore and a tasteful remastering, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is an absolute must for fans of this series.
There’s a sense of depth and world-building in the storytelling that still holds up even when certain gameplay aspects don’t.
Whilst the franchise was never as strong as this ever again, this is very much a celebration of the Legacy of Kain heyday, done by a team that know their onions.
I’ll see you in Nosgoth.
8.5/10
🆒COOL🆒
No comments:
Post a Comment
Like what you see in the Games Freezer?
Why not tell us what you think with a few well-chosen comments? :)
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.