I guess we are currently living in bittersweet days for fans of the Legacy of Kain games. After two decades without any kind of new entry or re-release, the remasters of the Soul Reaver games arrived like a torpedo of joy, bringing two of the most impressive gothic action games of their time to a newer audience, in their best shape ever. That was followed by the release of the first new iteration of the franchise in two decades, Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, which, well, sucks, fully retconning part of the series’ canon in favor of new characters that simply feel like fanfic originals. As such, revisiting other games in the series, such as the latest remaster of Legacy of Kain: Defiance, feels a bit odd. On one hand, Defiance is readily available on new systems… but is it even canon now? What to believe in at this point?

Aw Kain, you’re so romantic.

Theoretically speaking, Legacy of Kain: Defiance is the last canonical entry in the series (I have no damn clue of where Ascendance fits in, but I will just pretend it doesn’t exist for now), being the culmination of the franchise’s many games, and ridiculously convoluted plot. It is the only game in the series where you can play as both Kain and Raziel (the protagonist of the Soul Reaver subseries), and one which favors narrative over gameplay and exploration. There is still a lot of combat (when playing as Kain) and puzzle solving / platforming (when you’re Raziel), but Defiance acts more as a conclusion, not a gameplay innovator. If you’re new to the franchise, make sure to find a way to play both Blood Omen games before it as well. I still have no damn clue as to why they still haven’t been ported to modern systems, but that’s besides the point.

That post-processing effect on the Spectral Realm is just… annoying.

This remaster of Legacy of Kain: Defiance gets the job done when it comes to the basics, but I don’t think it wowed me as much as the care put into the Soul Reaver titles. There is a sizeable amount of AI-fed upscaling, which is quite distracting, I suffered a handful of game crashing bugs during some sections, and the visuals when playing as Raziel insde the Spectral Realm nearly gave me a migraine. Whatever post-processing filter used to create that underworld aesthetic just made things excessively bright, bloomy, and hard to look at. Elsewhere, the visual enhancements were quite decent: new character models, improved resolution and framerates, one or two lighting enhancements, the usual. Nothing fancy, but still good enough. Furthermore, you can still toggle between old and new visuals with a button press.

There weren’t many enhancements to the controls and sound department, but that wasn’t something I was expecting, either. The former is a bit dated, sure, but still serviceable: the combat is quite mindless, but quite fun when you unlock a few new moves and combos. Furthermore, pushing enemies off platforms with a telekinetic blast is still tons of fun, especially when you hear their screams whilst falling. The latter is something that simply did not need any enhancements. The voice acting is still sublime, with Kain and Raziel’s actors delivering magnificent, well-written performances. Secondary characters, such as Ariel (voiced by Breaking Bad‘s Anna Gunn) show up briefly, but are also impactful.

It kinda reminded me of a simpler version of the Arkham combat system… even though this originally came out in 2003.

As obvious as it may sound, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is the kind of re-release that will feel like a godsend to fans of the franchise (again, if they decide to ignore the mess caused by Ascendance), but one that won’t be a mandatory playthrough for those who aren’t well-versed in the franchise’s sizeable lore. It’s a competent, safe remaster, one that doesn’t impress, but rarely annoys. Make sure to play all other games preceding it before committing to a purchase; as the conclusion to a series that lives and dies by its story, it’s still an impressive tale to witness, but make sure to do your homework before jumping into it.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Xbox Series S.

A copy of Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered was provided by the publisher.