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!
As a lover of great stories, characters and voice acting, I can say with certainty that there is nothing better than the Legacy of Kain series when combining these aspects, and this is the very first in the series. A world of magic and dark forces, where vampires pray on the defenseless villagers of Nosgoth while ancient beings twist the balance of the world in an endless cycle of death and revenge. This is the kind of work of art that makes me love what the gaming world can do. The game is very hard indeed. In fact, the controls were never the selling point of this entire series. What is though is the excellent plot and dialogues with all their conflicts and machinations, very deep, interesting and memorable characters, and second to none voice acting. Names like Simon Templeman, Richard Doyle, Tony Jay and much more bring life to the players in a game of power, fate and free will. I cannot recommend this game enough, or the entire series for that matter! It really is that great! And now, thanks to GOG resurrecting this first installment that has long been waiting in the desert of lost licenses, you too can experience this amazing story as a whole! To add to your enjoyment, there is an OpenGL patch that makes the game even better, with additional graphical features and languages, just to name a few. It's not necessary for the game to run as it plays great right out of the box, but if you find it too dated for your taste, give this patch a try and I'm sure you'll change your mind. As of now, GOG is the only place you can get this masterpiece outside of the original PlayStation 1, but I hope that as more people and a new generation gets to know this series, that it can finally be more regarded, as it certainly deserve. To quote Kain himself: "I marveled that such beauty should grace our dying world!"
