Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered Review (PC): The Wheel of Fate Turns Again

Paranoia, betrayal, and revenge. Those are the cornerstones of the Nosgoth universe, a gothic center stage for the vampire lord Kain and the vengeful wraith Raziel to fight against fate and the ties that bind them. For the longest time, Legacy of Kain: Defiance served as a rushed conclusion to the series, but now it comes to modern platforms as part of its resurgence, helping give the franchise a second wind, and possibly laying the groundwork for more remasters looming over the horizon. 

Clearly inspired by other 6th-generation titles like Devil May Cry and God of War, Defiance opts for a mixture of hack-and-slash combat and exploration, splitting our playtime between Kain, whose sections have a more carefree power fantasy feel, and Raziel, who desperately fights for his survival at the hands of undead creatures and vampire hunters. The concept of merging both the Blood Omen and Soul Reaver games into one has always fascinated me, and while it did end up homogenizing its gameplay, it feels quite exciting to play as both Raziel and Kain at the same time, knowing that their paths are bound to converge at some point.

Sharpening Dulled Fangs

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered’s new coat of paint mostly comes from the added lighting and AI-upscaled textures, which help make the game look more HD by enhancing its environments and upgrading some of the game’s outdated low-resolution skyboxes. AI upscaling is nothing new in the world of remasters, being used by both modders and developers in the past, and while I don’t necessarily mind it as much as AI generation, I do think it has its own set of problems. Upscaled textures have always looked a bit garish in my opinion, especially when you add them to objects that have a laughable polygon count by modern standards, making the game look like it’s from two different eras at the same time. It’s also something that any fan could do, and if you search it on YouTube, you’ll find people who got pretty close to emulating the remaster’s look years ago by doing the exact same thing.

Initially, I also didn’t care for the remaster’s lighting, as it seemed to only add a simple fog effect to Kain’s sections, but it does make a world of difference when playing as Raziel, giving the spectral realm a much nicer and gloomier look. Maybe nostalgia blinded me on this one, but those flat colors are especially rough to look at without proper lighting, and being able to either lessen or completely turn off the spectral distortion effect is a game-changer. Raziel’s sections are also enhanced by the foresight feature, which straight up tells you where to go next. It’s definitely a filthy casual cheat that I feel bad for using, but sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether the game wants you in the material or spectral realm to progress, and backtracking to find a spot to switch can be a real time-waster.

Feeding the Reaver

Legacy of Kain: Defiance’s gameplay hasn’t been adjusted too much in this remaster, keeping its slower-paced hack-and-slash combat intact for the most part. Kain is still able to beast his way through enemies by either throwing them off of high places or decimating them with brutal sword slashes, while Raziel’s weakened state forces him to pick his battles carefully, having to constantly feed upon his enemy’s souls to tether himself to the material realm. Defiance doesn’t really need much fixing for the most part, as its combat system is simple but reasonably tight, although its many collision issues definitely could have been touched upon, as it is way too easy to get stuck on objects while exploring some of the game’s more open areas.

One of the remaster’s unique features is a new camera system, which follows your character from a closer perspective and gives you full control over your viewing angles. As much as I love a good fixed camera system and the power it has to make an area iconic, I can’t exactly pretend that Defiance’s framing is perfect, especially when it comes to platforming. The game is not overly punitive when it comes to deaths and platforming fails, but certain sections do become annoying to play through when the camera is zoomed out so far, so an alternate system is a welcome addition, even if you just consider it an optional accessibility setting.

An Extra Taste of Nosgoth

To make the Legacy of Kain: Defiance remaster a more attractive package overall, quite a few goodies have been added to the game’s deluxe edition, including multiple tie-in comics, a demo for an unfinished sequel, and skins for both Raziel and Kain, portraying the characters at different points in the series. The skins are definitely the type of fan service that a remaster benefits from, and the selection even includes their Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered appearances, while the comics are accessed through an immersive interactive reader that plays excerpts from the soundtrack depending on what’s currently happening on each page.

The Dark Prophecy demo, which seemed like the most appealing extra at first, turned out to be the most disappointing one, featuring a short and linear level with a couple of combat encounters that just ends unceremoniously. It’s understandable that it’s an unfinished area from a cancelled game that made it less than six months into development, but it’s just so uninteresting that it might as well not have been included.

Final Verdict

It’s surprising just how well Legacy of Kain: Defiance holds up, not only due to its slick combat system but also because of its impeccable writing. Amy Hennig’s work showcases an immense understanding of prose, dripping with a gothic moodiness that is further complemented by the game’s insanely talented cast of voice actors. Defiance itself remains a short and sweet experience that, unfortunately, served as the premature ending for a franchise with endless potential. Seeing it come back and be treated with this much care when it wasn’t even that well-received by critics in the first place warms my heart, and I can only hope that we manage to get a proper sequel someday.

PlayEveryWare’s remaster shows a lot of respect for Defiance’s tone, improving upon its atmosphere with new lighting and textures, while also allowing players to freely pick and choose between its quality-of-life features. Touching up a classic is never easy, and while I do wish fewer corners were cut, especially when it comes to AI upscaling, I can’t deny that it does look great for the most part. It’s very clear that all of the remaster’s changes are well-intentioned and aim to modernize the game in optional ways, respecting those who prefer the original experience while also attempting to sand down some of its rougher edges.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered was reviewed on PC with a code provided by PlayEveryWare. It is also available on PlayStation and Xbox.

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