Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered

something feels off. The visuals, while great for the most part, feel a bit off every now and then. Maybe it's a weird camera angle, or a weird movement. Something in the background that throws you off, a texture that doesn't quite look right. I can't shake off the feeling that AI did some heavy lifting when it came to improving the game visuals. The controls are flawless and smooth though, I have no idea what some people are non about when they say they are jittery or even worse than the original. I'm assuming they haven't PLAYED the original on PC, because those controls are unplayable. What definitely stands out is that there are no Graphic Settings unfortunately. Now I don't mean there aren't enough. I don't mean "I can't adjust the Framerate" or "Why can't I increase the Draw Distance". I mean there are no Graphic Settings. None. Not even for the Resolution. And I'm sorry, that's not really acceptable. That is the absolute bare minimum. In short: Even though I'm having fun and it seems to be "okay" for the price tag, I can't help but feel like they really, really saved some cost here and made some poor / lazy choices. I might update the review after I finished the games.

Let's begin with Soul Reaver. The graphics have been significantly revamped and seem to be more in line with Lok: Defiance's models. The textures are a much higher definiton as well. The FMVs are also of a substantially higher resolution along with having a motion smoothing effect. The gameplay is exactly the same as it has ever been with the music being as good as ever. Unfortunately, it is not G-sync compatible and locked to 60fps atm. There is also an issue where playing with the original graphics causes the camera to be jittery while rotating. This is not an issue with the original using Wrace's patch which is smooth and runs at high fps. As for controls...they are far better than the original PC port's release being both responsive and remappable. Actually, very little has been changed from console. Instead of using the direct-input Z axis (L2-R2) to rotate the camera, it is now exclusive to the analog stick. We also have a dedicated look button. All in all, Id recommend the Remastered version for the graphics and better controls. However, if you want the original graphics, use Wrace's patch with the original title. It's much smoother. SR2, while enhanced also, was already quite graphically ahead of the original to begin with. So, again...the models have been updated and retouched to look closer to the models from Defiance. The textures have been redone as well with some nice additions. However, I feel that some of the texture choices are actual downgrades imho. The same can be said of the new facial "animations" or lack therof. The Same can be said of SR2 as was said for SR1 in terms of music, controls, etc. In the end, i'd recommend the Remastered version of SR2 simply for the ability to switch graphics on the fly, the better controls, and the fact that the original PC port requires too many third party apps and fixes to be reasonably playable. Last but not least almost complete BONUS CONTENT.

I waited for a new game in this series for twenty one years, and its finally here. After such a long wait, I have to say that I'm loving it, even if I've never actually stopped playing the original versions of each game throughout the years (literally have half the script memorized by now). It plays just like the console ports and it's smooth as butter. I have one major complain though, which affects Soul Reaver 2 especially: characters facial animations. The original Soul Reaver 2 had great face animations, even when compared to games a generation further. This is replicated here, but only in the classic mode. The new character models barely has any expression. This affects all the characters, but is especially noticable in Moebius, Kain and Raziel, which is really, really sad. Vorador, Ariel and J.A. are also affected by this. I'm also not particularly fan of Ariel's new look and really didn't like Moebius'face change. Vorador's eyes appear to be out of place as well. For all this, I feel I should take some stars out, since the story, the voice acting, the characters and their deliveries are the soul of this game (that is my favorite ever), but I love it so much that I'll only take one star. I really hope Aspyr consider this for future updates. Other than this, I'm loving it so far, and it's great that we can appreciate both the classic and the new look, even if the later leaves quite a bit to be desired right now. And thank you for not remaking these games and sticking with the remaster. I don't think these games could be remade from scratch nowadays, especially for the voice actors that are so missed. I'm looking forward to the modding scene in these games as well and hope we get an official Blood Omen 1 + Defiance remaster next. Feel free to remake Blood Omen 2 or replace it enterily with Dark Prophecy. And please bring all the new Legacy of Kain merchandise to Brazil, cause I'm jumping for it!!! Now let's go play some more! Vae Victus!

I did not want to buy the remaster. The old versions of Soul Reaver 1&2 dont run on my PC. Probably because i got them on Steam and not GOG. I had to buy the remaster in order to finish some unbeaten games. The remaster looks really nice and played really well. I am happy, that i bought it. Didnt finish the games as a kid, didnt finish the old versions on steam when i could last play them so I hope this is my time to shine :D

I do enjoy the improved graphics, though many textures retain the old angular geometries. The changes to gamepad controls are, however, a total disaster. The camera work is much worse and jittery. The total control one had on the Playstation version, which allowed perfectly aiming projectiles in all directions, and smoothing placing the camera behind the character for excellent navigation, is now gone. A self-inflicted gameplay tragedy by the lastest "innovative" developers.