Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered Reviews
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is a nostalgic return to a beloved series. While some elements have aged and the occasional bug dampens the experience, the remaster’s updates breathe fresh life into these classics. For newcomers, it’s a fantastic way to dive into Raziel and Kain’s epic saga, while longtime fans will relish revisiting Nosgoth in enhanced detail. With its mix of timeless storytelling, engaging exploration, and thoughtful updates, this collection is well worth a look for both new and returning players. Let’s hope it paves the way for a new entry in this iconic series.
fans of the originals will be delighted to go back, but for those of us who are new to the franchise (or close enough to it), there’s plenty here to enjoy about both games.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered allows us to get our hands on two gems from the past, embellished with numerous technical and content enhancements that are cleverly amalgamated and in no way distort the original work. The most demanding gamers will have to turn a blind eye to some of the mechanics stemming from the years when the two games were conceived, but they remain two video game milestones to be tried without hesitation.
Review in Italian | Read full review
For me, this remaster is a greedy release that exploits, without much effort, the nostalgia of fans of the original games, to profit from a title that has been for a long time, unfairly, at the bottom of Crystal Dynamics' chest. Despite my frustration presented here, both games are excellent. If you never played it, you can play without fear. Especially the first one. The focus here, however, is the relevance of this collection, not the games themselves. And, in that sense, I can clearly say that I was expecting more.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1 - 2 Remastered brings together two classic action-adventure games, allowing modern gamers to experience Raziel's quest for revenge with updated visuals and refined systems. The remaster preserves the rich narrative, cinematic storytelling, and intricate lore that made the originals unforgettable, while adding accessibility features like highlighted interactable items and a map. While some cryptic gameplay elements and unchanged textures may challenge newcomers, this collection is a must-play for fans of narrative-driven adventures and a brilliant way to revisit Nosgoth.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered brings two neglected classics back to the center of attention. With limitations of the time and improvements that were very welcome, this return is a great reminder of the potential of this franchise, which has charismatic characters and a very well-crafted narrative.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered successfully revives two classic titles that remain hallmarks of storytelling and atmospheric world design to this day. I had a lot of fun playing, whilst the narrative, voice acting, and world-building shine as brightly as ever. While the remasters don’t overhaul every aspect of each title, they do more than enough to ensure the source material stands the test of time and remains entertaining over twenty-years on. It’s all supported by improved visuals and thoughtful quality-of-life updates that genuinely make each title as enjoyable to play now as they were when they originally released, and hey, who knows… maybe this will be just what the series needs to see a REAL revival?
The Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered bring a cult classic game back with enhanced graphics and features, while retaining the original version's gameplay. There being so few changes can cause some frustrations from clunky interactions, but these are still great games and an excellent way to introduce players to the Legacy of Kain series.
I wish this collection had retained other Legacy of Kain titles, as jumping straight onto the second game in the series can be quite confusing for newcomers. But even then, I can’t complain much about Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered. Both games in this collection have aged quite a bit, but still feel shockingly modern in some regards. They look just a tad bit better, control and perform just a tad bit better, and are wrapped in a neat little package full of extras and bonus features.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remastered is an impeccable remaster collection. While it has a few flaws, the narrative, world-building, soundtrack, and voice acting make the games a gratifying experience.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered does more than just bring classic dark fantasy adventures under a new spotlight. It is a love letter to a beloved series of the 2000s that blends QoL features so perfectly that it is highly approachable to new and old fans alike.
As someone who never played the original releases, the clunky controls have little precision, and the lack of quality-of-life features is clear, but overall, the game is still an eye-opening odyssey through the twisted hellscape of Nosgoth. Dismemberment and other animations are well done, and many cool gameplay elements really shine with this new coat of paint.
I am glad to say that they did a good job with this collection and added a lot of bonus content making this the definitive version of the game you can buy.
The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remasters should scratch that nostalgic itch you have for these games, but if you didn't play them when they were new, you might want to give these games a miss. They're products of their time and don't hold up too well with antiquated gameplay, lack of quality-of-life features we've come to expect nowadays, and visuals that still belong 20 years ago. However, the games perform flawlessly on the Steam Deck. They require very little power draw to achieve 60 FPS and have good controller support. The only flaw I found was that the map is too far zoomed in on the first game's map screen, but aside from that, everything works as you would hope.
Fans of the games have waited patiently for this series to return, or even to have the original games available on modern hardware. While this collection does a respectful job of preserving the original two games, I do wish more work had been done to make the environments really stand out as much as the vastly improved character models do. Still, the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered Collection is a great attempt to improve these games, even if they never really played that well in the first place. While they are clearly dated in their design and feel, there is nonetheless something special about Raziel’s journey, and the technical might those games presented way back when.
The Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered feels barebones. You get these titles with a few new bells & whistles and not much else. It is thoroughly disappointing for a game that was in more need of a full gameplay remake than just a graphical uplift. With so many great remaster/collection packages hitting, I wish this one had been given a little more love.
A solid remaster mostly focused on improving the first Soul Reaver. It leaves the weaker sequel further behind, resulting in an uneven package.
Review in German | Read full review
The Legacy of Kain series has long been missed, and it’s fantastic to get a chance to return to them on modern systems. Unfortunately, many of the gameplay systems feel dated, and there are a few bugs in Soul Reaver 2 that holds this collection back a little.