izigame.me

PROS:
+ awesomely amazing story
+ cool game soundtrack
+ great voice acting
+ original concept (for both story & gameplay)
+ challenging combat
+ boss fights (in SR1)
+ two realms - physical and spectral
+ puzzles
+ atmosphere of Nosgoth
+ new features added by the remaster
+ great on Steam Deck
CONS:
- a couple of graphical & camera glitches
- still inconsistent outro from SR1 into intro of SR2
- some gameplay changes in SR2 compared to SR1
- SR2 has an open ending hinting to LoK: Defiance (which isn't remastered yet)
Comment:
Soul Reaver 1 review
Original game review can be found HERE.
Remaster review - Just like then, I am biased towards this game as I love it so much. The moment I saw a remaster was coming I bought it. Because even if it turned out bad I could at least bash it for not being faithful. But there's nothing to outright bash. This game is made with a lot of love and with the community people involved!
There are some remaster irks I'll go through first. Glyphs are still meh, they lack much use. While they look much nicer, you don't need them, so don't worry about mana at all. Next, the SR1 outro to SR2 intro inconsistency. It is still there and more glaring when the games are back to back. But it may be a matter of needing a remake (not remaster) to fix this. Same probably goes for "fighting the camera" in tight or underwater areas. What I do hope a patch fixes is a couple graphical bugs and the new map working better (the collectibles parts do nothing).
But FINALLY a good PC version! The original was a PS1 game and a marvel what it did on that HW but booooy did the PC port suck. This time around it even works great on Steam Deck and here it actually blends well with the option to put it to sleep anytime (and resume later) so no more worrying about checkpoints!
Gameplay also seems much easier now that I didn't have to fight the controls and camera (as much). It's clear SR1 had the big changes done (map, compass, QoL like weapons in new places) and is the main attraction. It even has 2/3 of all the achievements. So, cash grab? No. The price of the bundle is worth just this game alone! 10/10 would want to get PTSD from the damn spiders in the damn cathedral 22 years later, again!
Soul Reaver 2 review
Original game review can be found HERE.
Remaster review - I like SR2 because of the characters and lore but don't love it like the first one. The graphics used to be better than SR1 but now they're sort of merged together (some textures are even better in SR1). The first game relied on block puzzles and vampire abilities to progress. Here it's mostly the different elements/flavours of the reaver...and lots of backtracking the same areas while fighting spongy enemies.
I have to say, playing it again did not spark joy like SR1. In the first game, if you were strategic, you could dispatch an enemy quickly. Here you just gotta whack away at their HP. The best results were in fact when I DIDN'T use the lock on but just flailed away. Or best to outright just ignore ALL enemies that don't have a gate trigger.
If it weren't for the achievements I would just zip through (in about four hours) for the story bits. Those I still love, just like the voice acting. The writing is still phenomenal and showcases a great time travel story. So not a total loss but clearly there wasn't enough time in the oven for this LoK entry...
End note:
It was great to revisit the story of these games and relive those childhood memories (and traumas...). Definitely good for LoK veterans but also a great jump point for new folks to come into the fold. Now let's hope Defiance gets remastered too and...dare I say...for the story to continue/finish with a new game? The first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion: hope...
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