When a remaster of Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver II was released to great reception, it became just a matter of time until Legacy of Kain: Defiance received the same treatment. The final game in the series until Ascendance ( and I am of the opinion it should have stayed that way), Defiance was a bit of a mixed bag at the time due to trying to follow trends and not quite pulling it off, while retaining a high quality narrative. To be clear, the series was always borrowing from other games, such as The Legend of Zelda for the first game, and Tomb Raider for the Soul Reaver games, but attempting to emulate Devil May Cry required a certain touch that the developers did not quite manage to have…..at least at the time.
I will just put it simply and say that Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is hands down one of the best remasters I have played in recent years, thanks to PlayEveryWhere knowing what needed fixing and what should be left alone. This was partially due to the involvement of Legacy of Kain superfan Monika Erősová, who was also involved in the Soul Reaver remasters as well, and it is clear that lessons were learned from that experience. While still not a perfect game, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is the definitive version of the experience and the one that is worth playing.
For starters, the original release had a cinematic style fixed camera that worked against you as you tried to play, and would cause endless frustration. For Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered, a third person camera was added and it completely changes the experience, allowing for a better sense of play and improved platforming and combat. Furthermore, because the original Legacy of Kain: Defiance used fixed camera angles, there were parts of the levels that were left incomplete due to the fact that players could not see it anyways. Since the new camera lets you see the full area, PlayEveryWhere went in and filled in those missing areas and gaps to make sure everything remained consistent.
The result of this is that the combat now feels much more satisfying, while traversing the world of Nosgoth actually feels rewarding. It helps that the game now has proper maps and ways to help you figure out where to go next. It is also more rewarding in that there is a lot more to find, as while getting Arcane Tomes previously just got you some concept artwork, now you will unlock a new skin for every four you get.
These skins will also show up in all cutscenes as well, which can provide quite the interesting experience. Speaking of Arcane Tomes, while the original had 10 arcane tomes per character, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered has doubled that amount, which each giving you more to see this time. Don’t think you will just stumble upon these though, as the new tomes are well hidden, which is part of why exploration feels so much more rewarding.
PlayEveryWhere also did a massive overhaul with the visuals, with the lighting now matching the original concept art and the models being redone to match visual continuity. Notably, Kain and Raziel now more closely resemble their models from the Soul Reaver cinematic. They are not alone though, as other characters have had design alterations to match previous appearances.
The audio also received a touch up compared to the original, which just reused a few tracks from previous games with little musical diversity. PlayEveryWhere has added more music from previous games and this plays during both gameplay and cutscenes and this helps to enhance the experience in a big way. The sound also feels richer in general, with more depth to it, making it more satisfactory.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered previously only had a 2D status screen that showed collected collectibles, your current goal and your gathered Reavers and special moves. For Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered, there was a complete rework and now shows you Here it was completely redone and now it shows you your current location and your stats. It also lets you choose between local and global maps, and gives you an overview of all of your moves and Reavers complete with new, more informative descriptions, while showing your artifacts with their newly written descriptions, done in the style of writing in the original game.
PlayEveryWhere and Monika Erősová, once again added a trove of extra materials in the form of The History of Nosgoth and the Encyclopedia.You can now access all of the lore directly in the game, with the Encyclopedia in particular being incredibly faithful to the original and based off of what was seen in the games or in the original developers internal documents. There are also the inclusion of The Lost Levels, aka locations that never made it into the game but can now be accessed and played as an interesting piece of Legacy of Kain History.
The deluxe version of Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered has some additional content as well, such as bonus skins. But more importantly, it comes with a playable prototype of The Dark Prophecy, the cancelled followup to Defiance that would have continued on and addressed some of the cliffhangers at the end of the story. It is a nice inclusion, but I hope it is not a sign the game is back in development because I will be honest and admit that I do not want another Legacy of Kain game, after playing Legacy of Kain Ascendance and seeing what new games in the series would be like without Amy Hennig involved.
I would rather let Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered be the definitive end of the series, a perfect version of a classic game, that removes the flaws and makes everything better. And that is what I feel this is, the perfect send off to the Legacy of Kain series. It is a must play, and a fantastic experience for all. Now we just need wider releases for Blood Omen and Blood Omen 2.