The Legacy of Kain series began in 1996 as Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and continued until 2003 with Legacy of Kain: Defiance. It has been 22 years since the last game, and although we have yet to see a sequel, the most recognised games in the franchise have been remastered thanks to Aspyr, which is working under Embracer Group, which purchased the rights to the franchise in 2023. 1999’s Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and 2001’s Soul Reaver 2 are the most in-demand games and are finally available to play on modern consoles.

Longtime fans and newcomers will take control of the main protagonist, Raziel, in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered, now slaying monsters and collecting souls on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4|5 and Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver takes place 1500 years after the events of Blood Omen and chronicles the journey of the vampire-turned-wraith Raziel, lieutenant to the vampire lord Kain. Raziel is killed by Kain, but is revived by the Elder God to become his “Soul Reaver” and to exact revenge. In the sequel, Soul Reaver 2, Raziel emerges from the Chronoplast time portal and returns to Nosgoth’s past in his relentless pursuit of Kain. Moebius, the leader of a vampire-hunting crusade in this age, coerces Raziel to re-embrace his former heritage as a Sarafan vampire hunter by killing Kain.

Both games play much like they did on their original hardware, but now with various quality-of-life updates. The new control layout is reflective of most modern games, which greatly improves the gameplay, especially the camera. In the 1999 game, the camera was often an issue as players didn’t have much control over it, making things more difficult than necessary.

Now, players can control the camera using the right stick, so anyone accustomed to a modern control layout will feel right at home. However, there is also an option to switch back to the original controls for those who prefer a nostalgic experience.

In the original games, occasionally players might get themselves lost while trying to proceed to the next part of the game, as there wasn’t a guide or an onscreen map to point them in the right direction. Sadly, this remaster didn’t include a feature to fix that issue. It doesn’t ruin the game, but it would still be a handy feature, especially for newcomers.

Another big update is the graphics. The two Soul Reaver games looked great back in the day, but were products of their times and haven’t aged the best by today’s standards. In this remaster, they have undergone a significant graphics overhaul, and everything now looks crisp and clear. The original graphics are also included, and with the press of a button, players can instantly switch between the old and new graphics with no loading times at all. Even the menu screens will change when switching between the two graphic styles.

It works much like the remastered Tomb Raider games, and it’s interesting to see what the old pixelated graphics were like compared to how clean they look now. The environments certainly look better, but are more in line with the graphics of the PS2/Xbox/GameCube era, while the character models appear much better, resembling those of a game from the PS3/Xbox 360 era.

There are now many more details visible up close, such as Raziel’s skin texture and the cotton of his scarf. Most importantly, the updated graphics retain the dark, atmospheric, and brooding tone.

All the original 3D animated and fully voiced cutscenes from the two games are included and remain unchanged, but now have full HD upgrades. The old cutscenes do look outdated, but they still hold up well. Thanks to the HD upgrades, they look clearer than ever. The voice acting in the original versions was already brilliant and now sounds even better. The remaster also includes widescreen support for both games, and the Nintendo Switch version (also playable on Nintendo Switch 2) looks fantastic in both docked and handheld mode.

Aside from the two full remastered games, there is also loads of Bonus Content for fans to enjoy. In the gallery, players can browse images of fan art, cosplays, concept art, renders, storyboards, thank-you notes, and old photographs of the development team from Crystal Dynamics who worked on Soul Reaver 2. Unfortunately, there is no zoom-in feature to see all the details up close, but there is so much to look at and appreciate, including the hard work behind the scenes and the dedicated fan base.

There are also biographies of the voice actors, a timeline detailing major events in chronological order, and additional stories to read that delve deeper into the game’s lore. The entire soundtrack from both games is available to listen to, and various videos of the openings, a trailer, gameplay demos, and even outtakes of the voice actors can be seen as they mess up their lines, goof around, and just have a good time.

Also included in the bonus content are the Lost Levels, with locations that were cut from the final games. These are playable, and although there isn’t much to do other than explore, there is quite a lot to look at.

The original demo, used at E3 in 1998, is also available to play, providing players with a sample of what to expect in the full game and attracting more people to consider the game. All the Lost Levels and the E3 demo can only be played in the original graphics, but it’s still interesting to see the unused content, even if they’re unfinished and have some graphical glitches.

The Legacy of Kain franchise hasn’t seen a new game in 22 years. There is a graphic novel titled Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise that serves as a prequel to the 1999 game. It began as a Kickstarter campaign in 2024 and exceeded its goal in a short time. It was due for release earlier this year, but it appears to have been delayed. However, based on recent updates and comments on their Kickstarter page, it seems it should finally be released in the near future. As for a new game, nothing has been announced yet. However, the reason for this remaster was to gauge interest in a sequel, and that possibility is now looking more realistic. Only time will tell if we will finally see the next Legacy of Kain game.

The two Soul Reaver games were renowned for their combat and puzzle-solving gameplay, with a greater emphasis on the latter, largely due to their dark and creepy aesthetics. Now, both can be enjoyed on modern consoles. The quality of life updates do a great deal to enhance the experience for both longtime fans and those interested in getting into the franchise. It plays and looks better than before, but also offers options to restore the original experience. The Bonus Content is filled with numerous extras to enjoy. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is the ideal way to play two all-time classic games.

Written by: Sammy Hanson