First, I want to say that this is in no way a bad game. The story is fascinating, the characters are beautifully twisted in their journeys through time and space, the visual design is striking and finds a great balance between being „realistic“ and „stylized“ and the controls, battles and puzzles are great. Yet, I could not bring myself to play anymore after just a few hours. At some point, the game simply became a chore, not because the gameplay was suddenly any less fun or exiting, but simply because the overall progression seemed to slow down to a snail's pace. The entire narrative appeared to have fallen asleep, as it made me trudge back and forth through a variety of samey temples and ruins, forcing me to repeat the same stuff ad nauseum. So, after the game's request to visit one too many of the insanely boring and monotonous „forges“ with barely anything happening in the overall plot, I simply gave up. It is a shame really, as everything else was pretty compelling. I even liked the often criticised fixed camera as it seemed to keep the focus on the relevant things more than the old camera-system could. Also, the story was clearly shaping up to be something great, especially since the ability to see both Kain's and Raziel's points of view gave the series' storytelling another fresh spin. I will give this a recommendation, though it only applies if you are already a fan of all the other „Legacy of Kain“ games who has to see the conclusion to the story and if you have a tolerance for the times when the gameplay becomes extremely tedious. Everyone else should probably stay away from „Defiance“ as far as possible, as it quickly turns into a repetitive, padded mess. For anyone with an interest in this mythology, I'd recommend trying the excellent „Soul Reaver“ first.
