PixlBit

The PixlBit staff loves HD and wants to see some of their favorite franchises get the treatment.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Collection

The Legacy of Kain series is one of those franchises that hit a certain level of fame, has its rabid fanbase, and yet never quite reached that next level. It now sits almost forgotten. You can read Jesse’s excellent MIA on the game here, but I feel that this series is ripe not just for a comeback, but a deluxe HD Collection. 

I’ve narrowed it down to three excellent games: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. I feel that these games best show off what made the Legacy of Kain series so special -- satisfying combat, brain-teasing puzzles, and top-notch voice acting and story. Soul Reaver was released on the PlayStation but also got a slight graphical upgrade on the Dreamcast. Now, I’m of the mind that the games of the PlayStation generation are pretty much beyond the HD re-release. Much more work needs to be done to make these games look nice on newer televisions, and as such, I would recommend a complete remake of this one. There could be a work-around by inserting the Soul Reaver 2 character models into the game, but that would probably create enough problems that a remake would be needed anyway. I wouldn’t change any of the combat, puzzles, or story. One of the major voice actors, Tony Jay, has since died, so recording new dialogue would be pointless. Soul Reaver was a great game that did things with the PSX hardware that seemed impossible at the time, so I really think the only thing it needs are new graphics. 

Soul Reaver 2 would need a lot less work. Games that were made for the PlayStation 2 hold up a lot better when it comes to polygon counts and character models. The problem here is a simple matter of the game being made for SD televisions. Soul Reaver 2 also did some absolutely amazing things with facial animations. I remember clearly the first time I saw Moebius the Timestreamer talking in the opening scene and marveling at the fact that he had a tongue. Soul Reaver 2 was a great looking game, and it’s hard to believe that October 31 was its tenth anniversary. Soul Reaver 2 would benefit from being bumped up to 60 frames per second like God of War was, but at least getting the game to run at a steady 30 fps would be great. The enemies could use a new coat of paint, but I’m really of the mind that these re-releases should be kept as close to the original incarnations as possible.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance is also a fine-looking game in its own right, and wouldn’t need much work in the HD department. It could benefit from a better camera, but I really feel that the more you tinker with a game beyond its aesthetics the further you get from what the game was intended to be. One thing that I would love is for the pre-rendered cutscenes for each of the games to be remade from the ground up, or at least special care taken to bring them up to 720p resolution. The CG in God of War Collection was jarring, to say the least. 

Let’s talk special features. I would want this HD collection (and all others, really) to be the equivalent of the Criterion Collection for movies. Soul Reaver 2 was one of the first games I can remember that had a special behind-the-scenes bonus feature after completing the game. You got to watch a fascinating video that showed the voice recording sessions for the game. Seeing Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, and Tony Jay in the same room playing off of each other was amazing. That would need to be on the disc for sure, but how about an interview with Templeman and Bell today? I’d love a talk with Uncharted superstar Amy Hennig, who was the driving force between the post-Silicon Knights games. And let’s see some cutting room floor stuff. Legacy of Kain fan site The Lost Worlds is dedicated to preserving some of the deleted content from the series, and it would be great to see some of that material make an appearance in a special feature somewhere.

I want to return to Nosgoth, and I know I’m not the only person out there. The Legacy of Kain series currently resides with Square Enix, so it’s hard to say if this is something that will ever happen. But a guy can dream…