Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2

Soul Reaver 2 opens with a cinema of some of the events of the original game. In the cinema, we see that Raziel has finally found Kain, but soon after, Kain escapes his clutches into a time portal. Still seeking revenge, Raziel follows his former master into the portal and comes to find himself located in Nosgoth’s past. Afterwards, Raziel continues his search for his former master, and soon comes to the realization that he and Kain alone control the future of Nosgoth.

As far as weaponry is concerned, in the original everyone loved wielding the mighty powerful Soul Reaver. However, unless your HP was completely full, you were unable to use it. Well, for the most part, inSoul Reaver 2, no matter what your HP, Raziel will be able to bare the Reaver. However, wielding the blade will consume the souls of the enemies you have defeated. And since Raziel still must consume the souls of his victims to survive, chances are you might have to occasionally disarm the Reaver in order to survive.

Soul Reaver 2 also features many of the same puzzle aspects of the original game. Like I said, there are the areas that can only be accessed by using the four elemental powers, but there are also some where Raziel will have to climb blocks, carry key items from one point to another, and many of the same ideas as the original, but with even more. Raziel will also be forced to go in and out of the spectral and material realm in order to finish some of these puzzles, but if you have played the original Soul Reaver, you shouldn’t have too many problems with that by now.

One of my biggest complaints about the original Soul Reaver was the amount of backtracking that you were forced to do. While you could save your game any time you wanted, once you would reload your save, Raziel would be located all the way down with the Elder and would have to walk back to where you were in the actual game. This became very annoying, especially if you didn’t have long periods of time to play the game. Luckily, in Soul Reaver 2, saving your game doesn’t mean that you have to back-track at all. Once you reload your game, you will be located in the exact location you saved at. However, you can no longer save wherever you want, but only at save points located in Nosgoth.

With a few changes, an interesting story, and a great presentation, Soul Reaver 2 carries on much of the same greatness of the original. Soul Reaver 2 is highly recommended to those fans that enjoyed the original game or to those who wish to start up with the series. Like I said earlier, it isn’t necessary to play the predecessors, but it will make it a little less confusing.