I liked how disempowered the player was. Combat was slow and clunky, but, considering you're playing as ordinary citizens, it makes sense that you'd not be a killing machine. They also added tension to situations where I'd not even really feel threatened in other games.
IMO, the GamePad integration really made this game. It's what tied the experience together, which is probably why it was so poorly received on other platforms.
I never finished my copy, though. Thanks for reviewing this. I might return to it soon and see if I can finish it.
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio demo (PC)
I played the PS4 version @crimsontadpoles... must've been three years or so ago as it was with PS Plus.
It was alright. The gamepad probably did add a nice layer of tension to the Wii U version. The PS4 version was quite servicable.
Don't think I died (I was on the normal difficulty I think) til I got to the boss before the tower of london? Wherever it was in the small arena it was a pain in the butt and I remember it took a few tries.
Don't think the PS4 version had any loading problems either.
Good review by the way!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
Two months after starting it and nearly 50 hours of gametime later, I’ve finally completed Valkyria Chronicles 4
🔚 I realize this is a long post and probably not of interest to most people, so I did a one paragraph summary at the bottom which you can jump to if you don’t want to get into the details of this niche title and are just curious about the big picture.
Small Disclaimer
{Also, although I played the entire story mode and all the Skirmishes, I didn’t do most of the Squad Stories — only opening up about 7 of the 14 total. They take some effort to unlock and I don’t know if I will go back to do the remainder. And I have not dabbled in post game content which is pretty fleshed out with some extra content.}
Intro
I’m going to find Valkyria Chronicles 4 a hard game to review because there aren’t other similar games that I can easily compare it too. It’s a pretty unique game and unlike any other games I usually play. I guess it’s categorized as a strategy game (actually ranked #1 on Push Square’s “Best Strategy Games on PS4”) and the fact is that I don’t play strategy games. So I really don’t know how Valkyria Chronicles compares to others in that genre but I get the feeling that it’s not really a typical strategy game either. Nevertheless, it’s all semantics I guess — I may not be able to break down it’s virtues as a typical strategy game, but I can certainly tell you what I liked and what I didn’t. I just won’t be able to say, “this such-and-such mechanic is not as good as game X’s version...”
Gameplay
Speaking of its gameplay, if you’ve played the first game, then you’ll be right at home with this one. So we do have that comparison to the predecessor game (I’m ignoring the PSP exclusive VC2 and the Japan exclusive VC3 for purposes of comparisons). Outside of a few additions like the new grenadier class and an all new cast of characters, the game looks, feels, and plays just like the original.
And that’s a good thing. The first game had a charm to it that this entry has definitely built upon and it really is an overall improvement over the already excellent original game.
The gameplay is indeed very strategy oriented — each battle is a large chess match of sorts as you move and position your troops around on the battle field, each class has its own limitations and advantages and so it requires tactical breakdown of the landscape, the enemy positioning, and the kind of troops on the field between you and your objective. However, added to the turn-based strategy, there is also an aspect of role playing, relationship building, equipment management, and a very heavy emphasis on story. A huge chunk of the experience is sitting through story sections of static images with voice acted text windows, a la a visual novel.
I guess all I’ll say is that the core gameplay is an additive mixture of different elements. And it’s fairly simple and easy to pick up, but each battle has an endless amount of variations you could take towards it. The last third of the game got a little challenging, with one mission in particular making me quite frustrated. But as a whole the game is not difficult. I was able to “A” rank all the missions I played.
And I never got sick of the gameplay parts. Each battle introduces varied terrain, new enemy types, and occasionally slightly different objectives. I do wish they had more variation in the end objectives, rather than “Get from point A to point B”, as the few missions where you have to do different things like send a message or find a hidden spot were too few.
Also, there is a mechanic in the game where squad member have others in the group that they like and so if you deploy them together they get a little boost in performance, but I found this not very helpful. And I want to use the characters I like, so I would prefer a system where relationships build over time and leaves it open to form your own likes amongst squad members. Just a thought. ...Maybe in Valkyria Chronicles 5.
Story
The game is fun, but there are times when it dragged for me during the story telling segments between battles. Nevertheless, if you stick with it, the story is actually better than expected and had a nice build up of tension, conflict, and moral dilemma. Despite it having plenty of fun juvenile goofy moments, the narrative does have some subtle depth and worthwhile messaging.
Unfortunately the dialogue has too much filler content with meaningless conversation, while the narrative will also make drastic jumps to conclusions without explanation or logic.
The topic and themes are an interesting mix, and a fine line to walk for the writers. On the one hand they are tackling a fantasy style retelling of WWII and its atrocities. Some of the subject matter is pretty heavy. Then on the other hand it’s a animated, funny, light-hearted coming of age tale about a bunch of childhood friends. I’ll also give the story some leeway because it’s a Japanese game and as such does a few things like this that Japanese writers do. Heck, even the now topical Kojima, the most Westernized of Japanese game developers, has a penchant for mixing into his games a bunch of silly out of place moments that have little to do with the plot. The Yakuza games come to mind also - where as fantastic and tragic as the core narrative is, there is a lot of stereotypical frivolous fodder scattered throughout to detract from the heavy drama and to add comedy relief. Persona does this too.
So as a Western gamer, you’ve got to be expecting a little of that Japanese fluff into the narrative. But the writers did well to keep one foot planted in each side of serious and playful, but for me the story just meanders a little too much. It is enjoyable to get to know all the different squad members, but the main characters drone on about nothing entirely too often and we run into some anime tropes and humor. The localization is quite well done though, most of the jokes translate over well, even if there is a few that just miss the mark.
Again, even though it overstays it’s welcome and meanders a bit too much in the delivery, the tale of Squad E and the Second Europa War was an interesting one. I was invested in the plight of the characters and the world and was satisfied with the climactic points and conclusion.
Voice Acting
The voice acting was on point for the most part. The main characters emote well and deliver lines with passion. There were a few misses on occasion, especially amongst the side characters and I thought Raz was a wee-bit annoying with his over exuberance.
I was impressed with the diversity among the cast, as there were regional American, British, French, and Asian style characters with accompanying voice accents.
>> [small side note] I’ve always wondered how a foreign accent translates into the Japanese language voice acting. For example, when done in Japanese, is there a distinction between how a character is voiced who is British vs one who is American? How does a French accent sound in Japanese? Or, for example, the character Stanley has a heavy American Southern drawl in the game like he’s from Texas or Georgia which fits his character personality and how do they convey that nuance in Japanese? Anyways.... I digress.
The voice acting is mostly good and at times exceptional. ...Except for the dogs Fenrir and Rags, whose growls are clearly voiced by a human actor. That was a little cringe-inducing, to be honest.
Graphics and Art
A word about the graphical presentation. With the anime-ish roots of the game the visuals are not particularly advanced or ground breaking. I played the first Valkyria Chronicles on PS3 which looked fantastic and I’m not sure how much better the remastered version looks on PS4, but VC4 looks pretty much like the first game graphically. The animation is relatively basic and limited, the vast majority of story scenes are isolated picture frames of the characters faces only as they talk back and forth with a handful of stock gestures. It’s a stylistic choice I suppose that is more in line with the storybook presentation, but it is graphically simplistic by today’s standards. There are full motion cutscenes also at the most important story points, and these are quite lovely, I just wish there were more of them or, better yet, that the whole story was full cutscenes rather than the text box depiction.
Despite not pushing the PS4’s graphical abilities, the art design is quite beautiful and I love the painted appearance of the game, the wonderful use of the color palette, and the interesting variation in each of the character designs. It’s lovely to look at. The storybook presentation is also nice to navigate and it works thematically.
Quick Summary
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a fun and addictive game, mostly for its unique take on strategy gameplay. Although the visuals and core concept have not strayed very far from the first game, it improves upon it in nearly every way. The story might drag a little and be off-putting at times due to its lack of cohesiveness and penchant for hit and miss humor, in the end it tells a pretty potent tale of love, loss, war and morality. Definitely recommended for fans of almost any genre, even for those who don’t usually like strategy games or visual novels.
I’ll go with roughly a 7.5 out of 10.
I’ve always wondered how a foreign accent translates into the Japanese language voice acting. For example, when done in Japanese, is there a distinction between how a character is voiced who is British vs one who is American? How does a French accent sound in Japanese? Or, for example, the character Stanley has a heavy American Southern drawl in the game like he’s from Texas or Georgia which fits his character personality and how do they convey that nuance in Japanese? Anyways.... I digress.
Labrys from Persona 4 Arena supposedly has a Kansai Dialect in the japanese version @Th3solution and it's a key plot point that she has a notable accent ... So in the english dub she gains a brooklyn accent.
Only notable instance I can think of
As for the rest of your review... Very nice!
I've only played one strategy game myeelf. Disgaea 4 which is bursting with content and completely on the wacky japan express train. Was delightful though and the comedic tone was all the way through it.
I have given Valkyria Chronicles remastered and this entry a look or two and contemplated getting it. Trying the demo for it certainly made it more tempting.
Good to hear it's a rather solid title overall... especially the part on it keeping itself relatively well grounded in the story (with some light hearted stuff as well)
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks! And it’s interesting to hear the example of P4 Arena. I suppose Japan has regional accents, some of which are the stereotyped as prim and proper (British equivalent), simple and rural (Southern US), or blue collar hard working (Mid Western), etc ... so I guess it translates well.
But yes, I would recommend giving one of them a try. Probably the original Valkyria Chronicles Remastered first, although the story of VC4 does not depend upon having played VC. But you can pick up VC Remastered for pretty cheap and despite VC4 being a better overall game, it’s not that huge of a jump. Honestly I don’t remember much about the story of the first game other than the setting and the cute romantic side story. I recall it being pretty decent though.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Yeah I know it wasn't quite what you asked @Th3solution but it's the best I could do with what I know.
Seeing as the UK has a vast number of regional dialects for such a tiny spit of land and japan being a collection of islands... I've no doubt they have plenty of regional accents too that they use for such a thing.
I'm sure I've heard of an anime that anthropomorphises various countries so I assume that might be worth taking a look at in the native japanese for something more of what your original question was asking (Though assuming you're not fluent in japanese it'd be a bit hard to tell) of course if Valkyria Chronicles IV has the japanese dub as well as an option you could always try that to see?
I'll add them both to the list! It'll probably be a while before I act on them though as there's a bunch of games I'd like to play first... Unless I get a REALLY good deal on them
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Th3solution Glad you enjoyed VC4. Still one of my favorite games this gen. Its improvements from VC1 are subtle, but had a big impact on my enjoyment of the game.
You're right that the game hardly looks different from the PS3 original, which is a testament, I think, to how well the watercolor-esque art style holds up.
Unsure how foreign accents are localized in Japan, if at all, but I do know that people with kansai dialects in anime/games are often localized with strong Southern drawls (that is, Americans with southern accents; often texan accents, in particular). They're not really the same thing at all, but it's the easiest way to localize a situation where a character from another part of the country speaks in a noticeably different way.
Now you get to play the post-game, where you're basically a necromancer who can revive the people who died during the course of the game; even Minerva's slain girlfriend Cristel, which is highly disturbing, when you think about how much that traumatized Minerva. Of course, the game doesn't address the fact that you're basically having your living soldiers live and fight alongside resurrected zombies. Except for Raz, which the game won't allow you to revive, lol.
Not only are there other main story squad stories you're missing, there are also post-game squad stories, more story cutscenes, a harder version of the final boss fight, a raised level cap, an unlockable True Ending, etc.
And then you get the DLC!
I'm slightly annoyed that people who bought the game at launch don't get cheaper access to the DLC now that the complete edition is out, though. At least, not on Switch. I think Steam purchasers got upgraded to the complete edition for free.
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio demo (PC)
@Ralizah Ah yeah, it was a good time. I think it’s a great mishmash of game genres and I just love the combat.
The part I struggled with was the mission where you have to take on the Vulcan and Crymaria at the same time. And the AI was so much more aggressive and nearly impossible to take down, even from the high vantage point. I think it was Ch. 14.
Yeah, I am tempted to do the post game and extra squad stories. And now that you mention, I’d like to see Minerva reunited with Cristel and play through their story
In a way I’m already craving more of the game, but in a way, I feel the need to move to the next game. Fortunately this game is not twitch muscle memory dependent and can be picked back up after a break and easily back in the groove. I just loaded my clear save and looked over the post game menu and the Cenotaph but I didn’t really get into or understand how to approach it. Talking about it makes me want to try it eventually. We’ll see.
The game certainly did not skimp on content. There is a load to do here.
How many hours did you devote to the game, including doing all the post game?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution VC4 still has a number of issues. The physics in the real time movement sections are wonky, to say the least (I always get a kick out of trying to run my tank into characters). The boss battles... well... they suck. Sort of like with Fire Emblem games and side-scrolling brawlers, the well-tuned gameplay kind of breaks down into unfairness or tedium when you're faced by one or two really overpowered units. Some chapters still do this annoying thing where something happens partway through that COMPLETELY changes the calculus of the battle, and can often lead to you losing through no fault of your own, just because you didn't prepare for the scenario changing completely. The story... isn't bad, but it's tropey. Same goes for a lot of the characters. The game's treatment of sexual harassment is... not great. Worst of all, though, is that you can still basically scout rush huge chunks of the game, for the most part.
Despite all that, I still love the game to bits. There's really nothing else quite like it.
There's easily 100+ hours of gameplay in VC4. Probably more if you want to max out characters levels. Not including the DLC, of course.
I think, on my next playthrough, I'll do a 100% run with Japanese audio + all DLC.
@Ralizah Yeah, like we’ve said on these forums before — some games are greater than a sum of their parts. Most of us have favorites that can be dissected and critiqued harshly on a granular level, but when you take the experience as a whole, they just resonate as fantastic experiences.
An example for me is MGS5. I can’t argue that the game has its faults. But I just loved it besides all that.
I feel like VC4 is a great game, but I personally wouldn’t put it over Detroit Become Human or Red Dead Redemption 2 for GOTY 2018. But for you it clicked and transcended above all its little weaknesses to be your favorite. And that’s okay. I can’t argue with that.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Detroit was extremely decent. Glad I played it. Not sure when I'll get to RDR2, though. I'm swamped in games right now, and after March my 2020 is pretty much booked.
Any idea what you're playing next?
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio demo (PC)
@Ralizah My last two games to complete have been Concrete Genie and VC4, both extremely unique and peerless games; then I started The Last Guardian, another very artistic game with a novel and distinctive style. After a couple hours of it I decided I want to take a break from the unorthodox and spend time in something familiar. I do enjoy games that trailblaze or are creative and different, but I kind of just feel like something conventional now, so I started Assassin’s Creed Origins, a game and a series I’ve been meaning to get into for a while. It doesn’t hurt that I was reviewing my 2019 gaming goals and one of them was to try out one of the new AC games. After playing the first 6 games in the AC series, it definitely grew a little stale and I haven’t spent time in an AC game in several years. Origins has been a ‘reinvention’ of the series supposedly so I needed to give it another chance.
Well, my first impressions after a few hours are mixed. My preconceived ideas of the experience are pretty accurate; the game is very familiar to what is popular now in the post-Witcher 3, Skyrim, Fallout, Dragon Age era of Western RPGs — that is, a large open world action stealth title with copious map markers, side quests, exploration, and character progression. A time sink to waste dozens of hours running around in and advancing a story at a snail’s pace whilst killing progressively harder baddies with progressively better equipment and skills.
In fact, in the opening hours I feel like I’m just playing a re-skinned version of The Witcher 3. I’m not sure how I’ll do with this. The reason I stalled on W3 was because it overwhelmed me with its sheer volume and for some reason I just couldn’t get into any momentum. AC Origins does have the benefit of having come out a few years later, so it has an extra coat of polish and quality of life improvements that might make things more palatable.
I’m extremely early, but I really like the falcon or eagle or whatever that bird is. I forget its name ... Senu or Samu or some-such. Anyways, that’s a great way to quickly explore and prep an area to visit or infiltrate. It’s a borrowed version of the buddies from MGS5, akin to what D-dog and Quiet can do for you in that game, although so far a little less useful since it doesn’t attack (at least not yet).
The game is graphically and technically solid so far. Even the map is beautiful. I think it helps the immersion that the game looks so good, so we’ll see.
As opposed to The Witcher 3, I have a history with the gaming universe of Assassin’s Creed so I feel I might be able to stick with this since I ‘get’ this world better, narratively. Still, one of my early complaints about the game is how it drops you into the world so quickly without any exposition. The training is pretty streamlined and the foundation for who the characters and enemies are is lacking. So far the big antagonist I’m supposed to be trying to kill is just some priest guy who this random NPC friend of the protagonist basically says, “He’s a really bad guy, trust me. He needs to die.” and that’s about the extent of it. I don’t feel any animosity toward the bad guys, its just a little paint-by-numbers so far. I understand the desire to get players into the meat of gameplay quickly, but I really don’t feel attached to Bayek at all and the first town seems a little like a demo that exists in a vacuum. I’m sure it will crystallize at some point and I’ll care about what’s going on in the world, but I just hope it happens in the next 2-3 hours or I’m going to have trouble continuing. I guess I’m a guy that just needs a solid enticing story to compliment the gameplay.
Being a history buff, I feel like this might help me stick with the game too, although ancient Egypt is not one of my strong suits.
It’s a long response to your question, but I’d been meaning to drop an early impression post about ACO anyways 😅. If anyone has any encouragement or advice about ACO, then I’m all ears.
Thought I would try my hand at a quick review on my lunch break:
For this, I'll pick Afterparty which I played on XB1 (but is available cross platform).
Afterparty is the follow up game from Night School Studio's, the creators of Oxenfree, a mauch lauded and very enjoyable narrative game from 2016. I was excited by Afterparty because of Oxenfree, which told a very interesting horror/sci fi thriller within a branching narrative that offered wildly different stories depending on the choices you made.
Afterparty loosely follows this template, in that the game is another narrative story with limited user interaction. The plot focuses on Milo and Lola, two lifelong best friends with social issues who find themselves dead and sent to Hell. There they find that Hell is largely made up of bars and heavy drinking and set about trying to challenge Satan to a drinking competition in a loophole that would allow them to return to their lives on earth.
I won't say more because this is a heavy narrative game. From a gameplay stance, the game is very basic. You control the characters and mainly navigate them around very linear worlds where you only real interactive is dialog choices and occasionally drinking. There is a drinking mechanic which means that depending on the type of drink, you can get different dialog options if you chug the drink during conversations and interactions.
If you don't like narrative games with minimal gameplay, obviously the game won't be for you. If you do like narrative games, I wish I could say that this was up there with the best but I'm afraid I had a few issues with the game.
Firstly, there are some points to the game that are just stellar. The voice cast is diverse and fantastic throughout. There are some interesting characters and some story mechanics that are very funny - including the concept of a personal demon that is created just for your personal torment that provides both laughs and drama. The dialog is very good and does an excellent job of conveying the characters. The soundtrack by Oxenfree alum scntfc is great, pulling on demonic elements with a beaty rythmn that has some great background tracks. The art design is also really nice and Hell has an interesting look.
On the bad side, at time of playing, there were some serious performance problems. Regular stuttering, items and NPC's popping in and out and some delays with speech or so on. For a not graphically sophisticated title, this is disappointing and I am not normally someone who minds a few slowdowns but it was very very noticeable for me.
Worst though, I am not sure how the branching narrative worked. I wasn't sure that my choices had really mattered in the same way they seemed to - I have only done one playthrough so not sure but from what I could, these make minor changes to the story and not massive divergent branches depending on what I did. From a story point of view, it felt a little predictable in places once you go the rhythm.
Overall, I liked the game but, for a title I was very much looking forward to, it was not as good as I had hoped. At approx 4-5 hours long, you aren't looking at a huge time investment. I enjoyed it for the characters, voice acting, music and world - all of which are very very good. However, technical issues marred it and I think the branching narrative was possibly too limited to make it a classic of the genre. 7/10.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@RogerRoger Hmm good question (and thanks for reading). I may well give it another go through as I know that there is at least one variation from a brief google but it is just a little too long for me to give it that quick play through. I am more likely to play Oxenfree again because I have spoken to a few friends who finished that game and all of us had different paths.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Th3solution I was talking about that with a colleague yesterday - I just struggle to do be a jerk in these games. Something about wanting to be a good person maybe!
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
I'll admit I quite liked the art style/direction of this even if it's not particularly my cup of tea. Shame the drinking mechanic sounds good in practice but doesn't seem to add up to much overall regarding the narrative
Seeing as it's such a narrative heavy game I could do quite happily watch someone play this to enjoy the story... Only problem is finding someone who I like lol
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@RogerRoger Same here - I've already googled a bit of Afterparty after reading your message. I think if it comes to Switch and is on sale I may give it another go.
For Life Is Strange, I'd still play that the same as those were the answers I identified with and for me, that is part of the fun of the game. The answers should resonate with how you want to play.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I would recommend it if you like narrative games and realistically, a couple of evenings would see it through but equally I could see this being popular with let's players. Oh and thanks for the kind words!
As for my next review... well I am not sure. I may do AC: Odyssey or God Of War: Ascension on PS3 because I have nearly run through that... because there is one thing any forum needs and that is an amateur review of a 7 year old game on a previous gen system.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Rudy_Manchego Thanks for the review of Afterparty, I loved Oxenfree so will give that a go at some point. Usually I would wait until it comes down in price, but I felt a bit guilty after how much I enjoyed Oxenfree so I pony'd up for extra content. So I don't mind pay a bit extra than I normally would to support the devs.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver for PS1, Dreamcast, PC and PS3 (Via the PS1 Classics range (Which is the version I played))
I played it for over 12 hours (Maybe 13) over the course of a week.
I ended up leaping at the oppurtunity to play something completely new and had always wanted to try (I'll get back to you Witcher 3... and Dark Souls 2... I promise!)
A Little Background
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is bizzarely both a sequel and a new beginning for the franchise it's a part of.
Why's that?
Well the previous game was called Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain for starts. Made by the developer Silicon Knights.
And whilst Soul Reaver (by Crystal Dynamics) is a sequel... It doesn't really require any prior knowledge to play. I didn't know anything about the series when I started and found it made perfect sense.
Soul Reaver is also 3D action adventure game rather then Blood Omen and it's 2D stylings so there was a complete gameplay and presentational shift as well.
Things however do take a slightly confusing turn later in the series when there's an actual related sequel to the first title on PS2 (The rights of the series firmly in Eidos' hands by this point after the dispute was settled out of court towards the end of Soul Reaver's development) that was titled Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 made by a team other then Crystal Dynamics that buggers continutity up a bit according to fans and the last game in the series, Legacy Of Kain: Defiance, had to try and fix!
... Confusing much? I certainly think so 😅
Personally I find Legacy Of Kain a much nicer title for the series, Blood Omen sounds a bit generic...
Story & Characters
For this I really could just put the opening cinematic here and call it a day.
Here.
... I mean I won't just do that.
But there's not much more I really can say as it covers it really well.
Plus fairly decent 1999 CGI, great voice acting and crude polygonal PS1 models surely beats reading text from a 38 year old British woman doesn't it?
You play as Raziel. A vampire, and clan leader, whom has served Kain (the "protagonist" of the first game) for countless years in the world of Nosgoth.
Raziel however, upsets the balance of power by "evolving" before his master Kain. The head vampire only allowing his loyal underlings to do so after he has.
Kain, in a seeming fit of jealousy, rips the bat like wings Raziel has gained to shreads by channeling his inner "Mortal Kombat Kombatant" and tears the bones out from them in a single strike.
Raziel is then thrown in the Lake Of The Dead by his "brothers" on Kain's command, where apparently weaklings and traitors go (Water burns them like acid), to be tortured for all eternity for his transgression.
Fortunately for Raziel he finds there is actually a bottom to the lake after countless millennia of agony and torment...
The Elder God (He's not given a name in game), a swirling mass of tentacles and the spinner of souls, saves Raziel from the precipice of destruction and madness.
He sends Raziel on his way with new purpose and power. To kill every last vampire, as souls can apparently no longer be spun anew into the wheel of fate thanks to the immortal vampires and their reign of terror.
So with vengence in his heart, Raziel heads off into Nosgoth once more to kill Kain and restore balance to the world...
And that's seriously all you need to know.
Really.
In fact despite there being a whopping 9 characters... You only need to know Kain, Raziel and The Elder God.
Ok there's a character who's important... Only at the end and undoubtedly more so for the sequel
And a spirit who's introduced and completely forgotten about who might be important in the sequel too?
And the four "brothers" (Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab & Dumah) of Raziel's you fight? I think the Crash bosses have more depth and personality!
Let's... just get on with the next section... I'll come back to my thoughts on the story in more detail later.
Gameplay & Design
Certainly an iconic look!
Soul Reaver (Made with an updated Gex 3 engine) is an Action/Adventure game in all it's vague genre defining glory.
There's a smidge of Legend Of Zelda thrown in there regarding how abilities are gained, a nice helping of old school Tomb Raider with puzzles, some cumbersome and dated PS1 era combat for good measure, L2 and R2 for camera control & finished with a vampire apocalypse coat of paint.
Plus it almost feels a bit Dark Soulsy (I'm a professional reviewer now bringing DS up in completely irrelvant games!) with how there is no death fail state.
There's a lot of grey and brown (Or blue if you're in the shadow spirit realm). For the time it no doubt was quite different and unique looking... But it's fairly drab nowadays. Post apocalypse is sooooooo last year.
(As KalOfKrypton told me though and upon taking a look at a few videos, the Dreamcast version is THE version you want to play with better graphics, 60fps... But this review is about the PS1 version emulated via PS3 sadly!)
The fact the game doesn't have a map doesn't help with it's overly complex and labyrinthine like layout.
Plus when you save the game and quit, you return to the very start of the game in the underworld and have to travel back to where you were.
Thankfully the game A. has no loading screens baring the initial boot up thanks to some particularly genius coding and B. There's a warp gate system that'll allow you to hopefully get back to the closest area you were at.
Only the game gives each warp gate a symbol for reference. No text or anything to help you remember where you were. So good luck on that.
Luckily none of the puzzles, block platforms, or even weapon items are reset once you save & quit... so you should be able to make it back to where you were fairly easy.
... So long as you actually found a warp gate.
The game is a bit stingy at placing these down at times (some are even hidden in very weird places) and you could end up having to replay a section for a good 10 - 20 mins.
Oh and when in the physical realm you very slowly lose health... so you need to beat enemies and consume their souls.
Losing all your health sends you to the spirit realm where you slowly recover health. But if you end up "dying" there you'll be sent back to the game's very first room.
Despite being rather clunky, the combat isn't that hard though.
Plus... none of the powers you get are particularly well used.
Melchiah's "walk through iron bars whilst in the spirit realm" ability is almost purely for gating player progress.
Zephon's "wall climb" is only really used twice for the main story and again only really to gate progress.
Don't even get me started on Rahab's swimming ability that's ultimately used once to progress the story.
Dumah's abilty to trace "circles" round very particular objects and cosmically move them (You can also bind enemies but why would you?) is unbelievbly naff (Couldn't have a switch or lever do that?)
They're just not cleverly used or in a meaningful way unfortunately.
In fact the only mechanic used well for puzzles is the shifting planes one. Ya know the ability you start with.
Even then it's usually to impede progress as you can only shift back to the physical realm at certain designated places (and the reasoning for it is... I'm not sure it really even gives one).
Only a handful of times does the potentially shifting architecture really come into play... it's usually just this platform shifts from a spike, this platform will raise up/down a few inches, or this pipe bends and becomes a ramp.
There's a grand total of one physic puzzle in Melchiah's area and one timing puzzle in Zephon's that's kinda clever using the shifting planes (The spiritual realm freezes time, makes you weightless and allows you to walk through water)
Bit more on this later on too.
Sound
The voice acting is sooooooooo gooooood!
Raziel is voiced by Michael Bell (whom was 60 at the time!)
Kain is voiced by Simon Templeman
& The Elder God is voiced by Tony Jay (Count Frollo from Disney's Hunchback Of Notre Dame & MegaByte from Reboot)
The trio really lend themselves to the roles, going in all on the voice work. They're really great!
Raziel usually has a little monologue to each new area he comes across.
The Elder god having an almost delightful sneer of something far beyond mere mortals and knowing more then he lets on...
and Kain has some great lines when you see him
The soundtrack by Kurt Harland on the other hand has nothing I'd reccomend you listen to... But it's wonderfully atomospheric and suits the dying world of Nosgoth and Raizel's lone journey through it to a T.
The sound effects are what you expect... Nothing else really to say!
Spoilers regarding the Story & Design
Ok so I don't feel my above reflections will quite do the game justice on why or how I'll eventually score it.
So this section has my extended thoughts on the Story and Design in full spoilery glory
With tags of course so people can skip over it if they so choose
The Story
The game ends on a cliffhanger and unfortunately nothing of import is really done over the course of the game in my opinion. Sure you beat Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab & Dumah. But that hardly feels like any accomplishment. They're woefully easy puzzle bosses that you learn nothing about and Raziel learns his human body was originally from a religious faction in the past.
That's it.
Ok sure Kain escapes into the void of time and the rest of the franchise has now been turned into a time travel plot. But honestly it feels like you can watch a youtube edit of just the "cutscenes" or skip this entry. Nothing of value is particularly lost.
Really the only thing that holds this game together is Raziel. He's an interestingly written, well designed and amazingly voiced protagonist. Kain's also a nice villian in the woefully short amount of time you see him and the Elder God is a great disembodied voice... But Raziel (Or rather Michael Bell's performance) is the glue that binds the game together
A picture of the in game graphics while you scroll through
As for the design
The fact that upon reading about the development of the game I learnt that whole chunks of the game were hacked off... I wasn't surprised in the slightest. I had my suspiscions when Zephon's area felt about twice as long as Melchiah's and upon getting to the third area it was painfully short in comparison and the fourth brother's area wasn't that long either
It definitely feels like it'd been rushed out to release. I don't know if the lawsuit caused any problems with what they were allowed to put in the game though, which could explain a bit.
However... the fact that there's a cheat code that allows you to shift planes at will (with no problems at all seemingly, I only tried it after I beat the game) makes the game seem designed to be a LOT longer then it needed to be.
The magical glyphs you can get to learn new spells are all hidden... But pointless. I found only two. The first by complete chance and the second was in an entirely new and completely optional area that ended on another motherploughing block puzzle.
The combat is never hard enough to need them and you have to really go out your way to get them anyway. In fact I used another cheat code for infinite magic and the other glyphs too once I finished the game to test them out and they aren't even that great either! Can't use them against bosses either! S'really not worth the effort!
Final score and thoughts
Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver is a game that unfortunately started off strong, exceptionally so in fact, only to take a wrong turn and end up swan diving off a mountain.
It hit every rock on the way down and yet somehow managed to crawl it's mangled mess of a body across the finish line somehow and was still breathing.
low 5 bordering a very high 4 out of 10 for me personally
A very low 6/10 (Possibly a high 5/10) overall for my more objective score.
Despite my low score... I am actually looking to at least try Soul Reaver 2 to see if it's improved/holds up better then this.
I quite like the lore and most of Soul Reaver's faults are more so on the passage of time and gameplay changes over the years... baring those other points I mentioned.
Pro's
Great, dare I say near flawless?, voice acting
A very unique and atmospheric soundtrack
For it's time a graphical powerhouse and made great technical strides and milestones with it having no loading past boot up...
Con's
... But the game looks terribly drab even in context for the most part. Combat is very middling too.
Puzzle bosses are all very easy and the usage of their powers is very uninspired.
The narrative, for all the dialogue's grandioscity, (unfortunately) has the depth of a puddle.
Bonus spells are utterly useless.
Block Puzzles are bad and you should feel bad Crystal Dynamics!
Much longer then it needs to be, possibly underdeveloped
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