Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered

A masterful rebuild from the ground up, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is not only everything you could want in a remaster, it fixes multiple long-standing critical issues with controls, cameras, audio, and so much more. Yes, it's a product of its time, in design and execution, but what PlayEveryWare has delivered is incredible, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Defiance remastered is a triumph, even if an obvious one. Unlike the Angel of Darkness remaster, a game so broken that no amount of rework could turn it fully playable, Defiance was always the simplest and most obvious of vision tweaks away from brilliance. One can only imagine how much of a splash it could’ve made way back in ‘03 if released in proper form. Here’s hoping this excellent rework will find enough of a new player base to get the wheel of fate turning in its favor once more.

A solid remaster that improves the camera and navigation while preserving everything that worked and some of the original’s rough edges. The combat system feels somewhat dated by modern standards, but remains enjoyable. The game is still carried by its excellent voice acting, music, and story, which delivers a satisfying conclusion that unifies the events of Soul Reaver and the original Legacy of Kain into a cohesive whole.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is the latest in Crystal Dynamics' efforts to bring the franchise back from the dead. It is packed to the brim with content, including deleted levels and a playable demo of one of the franchise's most compelling canceled entries. If you've been exploring the series for the first time thanks to the remasters, you're getting one of the most outstanding mainline titles in the franchise, and a deep dive into what made this game so special to begin with.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered does a good job overall of modernizing a video game from over twenty years ago. The narrative charm of the saga remains intact, and the "quality of life" options—most notably the fully 3D camera—help to at least partially freshen up a gameplay afflicted by severe repetitiveness. It is a pity about some overly invasive aesthetic tweaks, primarily regarding the lighting, which ruin the decadent gothic atmosphere of the original. An original that, fortunately, is always right there: you just need to press two buttons to switch to the 2003 release, which has remained almost entirely intact, for better or worse.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is the definitive edition of a seminal platformer, and my personal favorite from this series. Seeing this game’s new HD graphics, refined controls and great camera update made me very happy, because this is the best way to play an amazing classic. It’s also great that they added photo mode, alternative skins and lost levels from the original. As a complete package, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is worth considering for everyone who enjoys 3D platformers or who played the originals. Newcomers to the series will find some elements like platforming or swimming to be a tad difficult. Then again, the game is backed by an amazing story and exceptional lore, so it’s worth enduring those mishaps.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered delivers a stronger version of the series’ ambitious finale, polishing camera controls and character models while preserving the dark, fate-driven story of Kain and Raziel. Though its linear level design, uneven pacing, and simplified combat show their age, the remaster enhances playability enough to make this a worthwhile return to Nosgoth for longtime fans and a solid entry point for committed newcomers willing to catch up on the lore.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered offers slight visual enhancements, but the real upgrade is the new camera system and controls, which make the game much easier to play. Whether such a small change is worth the release of an entirely new game is up for debate, but series fans will probably want to check out the "best" version of Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

I’m not trying to judge an old game by modern standards, but it’s still worth remembering that the original is 22 years old, and it probably would’ve benefited more from a full remake than a remaster. So before jumping into a classic like this, it’s important to keep its age and quirks in mind. That said, on a purely personal level, I still enjoy the gameplay of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver much more than what Legacy of Kain: Defiance offers.

Regardless of which version you own, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is an excellent remaster of a flawed but decent game. The story is the main event, concluding the Soul Reaver saga with one of the best-written, acted, and scored games of all time. The addition of a free-flowing camera and enhanced navigation improves upon the original experience and makes it more playable for a modern audience, while the sheer amount of archival, behind-the-scenes content is a boon for fans. Some notable flaws still persist, but if you have any reverence for the original game or have recently played through Soul Reaver 1&2 for the first time, adding Defiance to the collection is a no-brainer.

The Legacy of Kain series has sadly been one whose gameplay shortcomings have always kept it down, never truly escaping the confines of the world of cult classics. The same happened with the culmination of the franchise, which once again offered a story worth paying attention to…while everything else occasionally felt like an afterthought. Bad? Not even close. It was a thoroughly enjoyable action-adventure - just one that never quite reached its towering potential. That said, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered does a fine job at giving it a striking visual upgrade, as well as some much-needed tweaks and refinements, making it the best way to experience the finale(?) of Kain and Raziel’s dark saga.

Built on the foundation of a PlayStation 2-era classic, the work done on Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is simply not as impressive as it was when we saw it in the remaster of 1999’s Soul Reaver. Even so, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is far from a terrible remaster of the original and is definitely the most modern way to experience the game until a full remake comes along.

Despite all of these complaints, I had fun with Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered. Does it feel exactly the same as the original? Of course not. But it’s a fun trip back to Nosgoth, even if a few puzzles sent me scrambling for a guide.

It's undeniably great to be back in Nosgoth, and Defiance Remastered is generous and celebratory with its host of extra content, but it misses out on making changes where they really would have counted, and takes some baffling artistic liberties.