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It feels good to say that Legacy of Kain is back again. Even if it’s in a relatively small way, I adored my time revisiting Raziel’s adventures in last years Soul Reaver remasters. While those games will always be my favourite, Defiance, the game that came after, will no doubt have a slightly more complicated relationship with players. While its admittedly one of the weakest games in the Legacy of Kain franchise, this remaster is anything but. Not only does it replaced the notoriously hard to run PC version that’s been in circulation since 2003, but it offers the best of both worlds – an experience adjusted for the preferences of modern audiences and an experience that mirrors the original if not slightly flawed experience.
Defiance was originally released in 2003 and would eventually go on to become the unexpected swan song for the franchise. Continuing right where Soul Reaver 2 ended, Kain saves Raziel’s life. In doing so, he creates a time paradox that separates the two protagonists into separate timelines. Kain’s story follows him seeking out a guardian of time to help him track down Raziel. Raziel’s story has him trying to defy the timeline and escape his master. It’s an interesting plot and, much like the other Legacy of Kain games, is filled with some great moments that add more depth to the already strong mythos.
That being said, if you’re thinking of jumping into Defiance now. Don’t. You really need to have played the Soul Reaver games prior at least to properly get a grasp of what’s going on in Defiance. The game makes no apologies for beginning so abruptly after the events of the last game and never bogs itself down with catch-ups or exposition. I like this approach, it means the developers can tell the story they want to tell, unfettered, but newcomers would best seek to play the other games (or at least the Soul Reaver games) first.
As a game, Defiance marks the first and only time that both Kain and Raziel are playable. The game feels very of its time, for better or for worse. While the original Soul Reaver felt more open, Defiance is a lot more linear and feels like a smaller game as a result. You’ll switch between Kain and Raziel as the story dictates and while they technically have different move sets, both have a similar flow of combat. Outside of combat, Kain’s chapters feel closer to an action game, while Raziel has a more distinct focus on puzzle solving.
Combat itself feels like the kind you’d find in games like the original Devil May Cry or God of War games, though with slightly less flair. While the idea of Defiance is exciting on paper – playing as these two series stalwarts after so long – the similarity in their combat loops does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity. Shared abilities feel a bit too similar, and Raziel’s combat is only built around the Soul Reaver weapon. As a result, Defiance does feel like it has a bit of a mindless combat system for the majority of its twelve-hour runtime.
That’s not to say you won’t see some appeal in Defiance as you begin to play it. It is fun to play as both Kain and Raziel after so long – mixing their weapon-based abilities with telekinesis to impale enemies on the environment and such. But the distinct lack of variety in both the enemies and encounters does grow tiresome as the game progresses. Throw in a world-switching mechanic that was already done to death (and better) in the Soul Reaver games, and you can see why Defiance isn’t as revered as the games that came before it.
Despite this lack of reverence, it’s still encouraging to report that the remaster efforts here are incredibly thorough. The most obvious improvements are around the visual presentation. While some of the choices are bound to be divisive artistically amongst fans, every texture and every model has seen an upgrade in a significant way. The most obvious and most impressive is the new Kain and Raziel models, which bring their in-game appearance more in line with their appearance in the pre-rendered cinematics. Regardless of your opinion, both the original presentation and modern presentation can be switch between with the press of a button.
Beyond visuals, Defiance Remastered has had more significant changes made too. The original game sported a more distant, almost Resident Evil-esque static camera angle that framed every shot in an intentional way. It was a nice and cinematic approach to building every frame, but the controls suffered as a result. In Remastered, the camera has been pulled in closer and is fully controllable. For the most part, this works pretty well, though some later locations were clearly not designed for it and you can see the edge of textures and the like. While this might feel like an anachronistic change, if it means more people play Defiance, it’s only really a net positive. Thankfully, if you’re a purist, the original camera system is included here too, again, with a single button press.
Other features have been implemented that help bring Defiance in line with the remasters of the Soul Reaver games too. There’s now a map included as well as detailed lore readers to help you find your footing both physically in Nosgoth and narratively in the game. The maps in Defiance feel like a bit of a needless addition – the game itself is fairly linear – however. If you happen to get lost, there is a new system that can face Kain or Raziel in the direction you need to go. It’s the worst kind of hand-holding for me, but if you’re someone who gets lost in the samey corridors of Defiance regularly, it’s a godsend.
Of course, there’s a whole bunch of new supplementary material included here too. A whole bunch of skins are included for both Kain and Raziel which call back to the series history in a fun way. Levels that were previously cut from the game have been unearthed and restored, and while they’re not going to change your mind about Defiance in any way, they’re a cool new inclusion. There’s even a demo of the cancelled sequel, Dark Prophecy, though this is locked behind a $12AU deluxe upgrade which feels a little bit odd. Regardless, there’s heaps to sink your fangs into here, especially if you’re a fan of Legacy of Kain.
When all is said and done, it’s impossible to deny that the developers have done really good work in remastering Defiance for a modern group of players. But at the same time, there is only so much you can do with a game that was already quite troubled.
