Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I was only musing on the Soul Reaver remasters, that I reviewed just over a year ago, and this swoops in to FGHQ. It felt fitting to review Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered, like a continuation of the… well, legacy of the nostalgia these bring me.
The last in the main entries before its massive hiatus, Defiance was also the last on the PlayStation 2/original Xbox. Continuing the story of the eponymous Kain, the wraith Raziel and their machinations against Fate, it was a well-received single player adventure back in the day.
Has time been kind to this aging yet undying franchise? Will it renew hope and interest for the upcoming Ascendance? Sharpen those fangs and we’ll take a bite to see if this sucks or not.
No Fate But What We Un-Make
If you are new to the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver series then, and I mean this nicely, a lot of the plot won’t make sense to you here. There’s vampires, time travel, deep-voiced Elder gods and some sinister types, both antihero and antagonist.
The defiance in the title is twofold: Kain refusing to do the right thing sees him defying the natural order of things, whilst Raziel defies his fate by utilising his free will.
Kain seeks to manipulate Raziel, and thus restore glory to Nosgoth (well, vampiric rule glory, but still). Raziel, however, wishes to defy his fate of “joining” the Soul Reaver and losing his independence… despite being an undead wraith-thing.
Canonically, it carries on from the events of Soul Reaver 2. I realise my description doesn’t really do it justice, but as I said, if you’re not familiar already none of it will really make any sense.
The Need For Feed
In regards to gameplay, again very little has changed from both its original iteration and the Soul Reaver remasters. Honestly, this is going to be a short review as nothing has really changed.
Defiance is at its heart an action-adventure title, firmly routed in its time capsule. Being the earlier days of full 3D titles, the Legacy of Kain games were at the forefront of platforming and combat. So to that extent, expect a lot of jumping and climbing, as was the style at the time.
The combat is the meat to the platforming’s potatoes. It’s functional, with both characters having a host of attacks and special moves between them. Both characters need to feed, so it’s a game of tactics too. Enemies have to be weakened, so thought must be given when attacking to not just murder everything and leg it.
On A Swivel
What is an improvement over the original Legacy of Kain: Defiance is more than just a graphical overall. Players will now be able to rotate the camera… in full 360° directions. I know, hold your applause.
But as much as that sounds derisive, it’s actually a welcome addition. In its original state, Defiance was fixed camera (with a little bit of play from the right thumbstick). Now, if players choose to with a tap of the L2 button, the camera will switch on the fly to full rotation behind Kain or Raziel. Honestly, it’s a welcome addition, but it’s also nice to see how it used to be back in the day.
Another nice addition is being able to hold L2 and see where you’re meant to be heading. As I’m old, I can’t remember if it was in the original, forgive me. But given that old games were often without handholding, it is nice to not spend ages just dawdling aimlessly.
Death Becomes HD
As one would expect from any remaster, Legacy of Kain: Defiance has had a fresh lick of paint. All the characters and backgrounds have been upscaled and beautified. There’s more detail to Kain as his age would suggest, as well as Nosgoth in general. Draw distances are sharper, as well as dungeons looking more detailed yet still grim.
Yet for those purists who prefer the original styles, again it can be flicked back to by clicking the right thumbstick in. I have a quirk where I do it in cutscenes, just to see how the characters have changed. Weirdly, I feel that Moebius’ revised character model looks worse than the original.
The real jarring tone between Kain and Raziel’s different play styles is more apparent too. Kain is in the physical world, whilst Raziel is in the spectral realm, as seen above.
What did put me off was the spectral distortion effect, that adds a fuzzy blue tinge and orientation to the screen. Fortunately, that can be reduced or even turned off. I set it to one, so it’s there but not too intrusive.
Time Can Make Fools Of Us
Normally, it’s easy to pick a game apart if handles or plays badly. With Legacy of Kain: Defiance, however, it’s slightly different. By today’s standards, it can be seen as a bit janky because of the way it handles compared to say, Stellar Blade.
But having played the original, and then this version, I would say it still retains the magic it had twenty three years ago. However, the caveat is that if you haven’t played it originally, it’s a hard sell.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, if one is open minded to old remasters. It clearly shows the generational gap from Soul Reaver on the orignal PlayStation, and SR2’s jump to PS2/Xbox. At its core, it’s a great action-adventure from 2003. The problem is, to an outsider, it’s an action-adventure game from 2003.
So to conclude: if one is nostalgic for Nosgoth, raring for Raziel and craving some Kain, it’s a worthy remaster from original studio Crystal Dynamics. If you are looking for something to sink your teeth into, then this and the Soul Reaver remasters are worth your time. Just perhaps not so much if playing older games isn’t your style.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is available now on PlayStation 4 & 5 (reviewed on latter), Xbox One and Series S|X and PC via Steam.
Developer: PlayEverywhere
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics