The second, bitter taste of that terrible illusion. Hope.
Following the blowout success of the collaboration between Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr Media last year with Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered, Crystal Dynamics has continued the trend with the final chapter in their legendary franchise: Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered. Having released originally in 2003, Defiance is a bit of a sore spot for many fans of the OG franchise (the game itself is a great entry) mainly because it represents the end of a story that was never finished and left to wither away by the wayside. The Remaster is a love letter to the original game, updating the graphical presentation (the new camera is arguably one of the best features) while leaving the core gameplay intact, and introducing a whole heap of lost levels and other bonus content to boot (including a demo to the cancelled Dark Prophecy sequel). Having released on 3rd March 2026 for both last gen and current gen platforms, I’ll be going over the time I’ve spent with the PlayStation 5 version of the game; deconstructing the good, detailing the bad, whilst ultimately concluding whether the game is worth your time and money at the £19.99 asking price (UK PSN Store).
If there is one franchise I’ve wrote at length about over the last decade with Game Hype, it’s Legacy of Kain. My formative love for horror and video games was cemented from watching my old man play Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain as a child. The dark, medieval-esque, gothic world of Nosgoth, the haunting, tubular-bell and marching drum laden soundtrack and a story that was in equal parts brutal and unforgiving; Blood Omen was an invigorating cocktail that was years ahead of it’s time, and remains one of my all time favourite games to this day (see my fanboyish ramblings on the title here). To anyone who is a fan of the franchise, I don’t need to highlight the fact that the series has been dead for well over 20 years at this point, with more cancelled sequels than I care to think about. It saw a brief resurgence at various points (most notably with the ill-fated MOBA: Nosgoth) but it wasn’t until 2017 that rumours of a suspected new entry in the franchise would hit the web, eventually resulting in the excellent Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered (check out my review for the games here) which released in December 2024. Following the blowout success of the remasters, as well as a new Kickstarter project for a prequel graphic novel called: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise (more on that later) it was obvious that there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes to revive the franchise. The trend continued with Sony’s State of Play on 12th Feb 2026, with a remaster of the final game in the franchise: Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered follows on from the events of Soul Reaver 2, and once again finds both Kain and Raziel in different timelines of Nosgoth’s distant past. For the first time in the franchise, Defiance was the one to let you play as both Raziel and Kain within the same game. Kain’s arc continues his quest to restore the fractured land of Nosgoth by attempting to change his own destiny as balance guardian; Raziel continues to unearth his own fate by exploring the past, uncovering a long-buried prophecy surrounding the ancient war between the vampires and their mortal enemy the Hylden. Their parallel paths intertwine and come full circle into Nosgoth’s history, with Raziel facing his inevitable demise of becoming the catalyst of the Soul Reaver, and Kain finally gaining the missing insight into the eldritch horror that has been manipulating historic events from the beginning of time. Without sugar coating it, playing through Defiance again after all these years was very emotional, as it represents the end of one of my favourite franchises that never again saw the light of day (quite fitting actually for a vampire game). Despite having arguably the best gameplay in the series, the narrative alone was one that was meant to be part of a larger conclusion to the franchise, which ultimately feels like we were cheated out of back in the early 2000’s. Ancient grudges aside, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is a love letter to the original game, not only bringing the game’s visuals and gameplay into a more modern, accessible format, but bringing with it a crazy amount of bonus content that is nothing short of impressive. From the outtakes of the timeless performances of Michael Bell and Simon Templeman, the soundtrack player, the lost levels, the additional outfits and even a demo for the cancelled sequel: Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy; the offerings here all works in tandem that feels like a perfectly wrapped farewell, a requiem if you will.
“Given the choice, whether to rule a corrupt and failing empire; or to challenge the fates for another throw – a better throw – against one’s destiny… what was a king to do?”
In terms of Gameplay, this is one of the biggest areas where the game is presented differently; gone are the days of the annoying fixed camera angles seen in the original (they work for Resident Evil, not for Legacy of Kain). The standout feature this time around is a true, native, third-person camera, which absolutely changes the framing of the game completely. Other improvements such as the Foresight mode (a button press that points the way) is a very handy feature, as Defiance is definitely guilty of reusing the same environments making the game sometimes hard to navigate (I swear all of the ancient vampire temples look the same). For those picking the game up for the first time, if you played the Soul Reaver remasters, you’ll be in familiar territory, as the game continues its trend of exploration and physics-based puzzles, with an emphasis on platforming. Much like its remaster predecessors, the original graphics and remastered ones can be switched on the fly by pressing R3, allowing you to compare where the work has gone into the Remaster, in terms of prettying the game up. The combat remains incredibly satisfying in my opinion; the early Arkham-esque, directional combat, making use of light and heavy attacks (including combos) coupled with the need to feed on blood/souls to stay alive is a wholly unique gameplay loop that Defiance mastered, expanded through exploration and an underbaked levelling system that unlocks new moves as you go through the game. Much like in my review for the Soul Reaver remasters (once again, you can read it here). you have to remember that this is a remake of a game from 2003, and the gameplay will feel ancient as a result, even with all of the latest bells and whistles pasted on top. I also think that when it comes to these sorts of reviews, you need to be fair to the source material, and not judge the game by today’s rigorous standards; you need to ultimately look at it through the lens of what it does on top of the existing game, not for the benefit of the average, casual gamer; because at the end of the day, this isn’t a title for players like that.
I’ve spoken at length before as to the ever-shifting definitions of what is considered a remaster vs. a remake; remasters in the PS4 era were the same game, albeit beefed up to 1080p/60fps. With the PS5, games such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Demon’s Souls and more recent examples such as The Last of Us Part I established that the original game completely remade with modern graphics was what defined a Remake, only for 2025’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered to completely throw those prior definitions out of the window. By the same definition, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is a remaster, not a remake (despite it falling into the same category as previous examples of remakes) and as such the meat of the new shiny packaging comes from the face that it’s made the 2003 game more visually appealing for modern systems. For starters, upscaled 4K is and 60fps (120fps if you have a monitor/TV that supports VRR) is what’s on offer here, and the solid performance isn’t exactly surprising given the games age. The main visual upgrades come from the game’s textures and environments, shadows and lighting, even the reworked cutscenes, all go together to present a package that is clearly lovingly crafted. As aforementioned, the amount of “Bonus Features” if you were, makes Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered feel like a 4K UHD release of a classic movie; the lost levels (which are stages cut from the original 2003 release) are a nice touch, with developer notes giving insight into what they were going to be and why they didn’t make the final cut. The most standout feature (which is unfortunately a paid, deluxe edition upgrade) is the demo of the cancelled sequel: Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy, which was binned in 2004, but would have seen Kain return to the role of a singular protagonist, following a storyline surrounding the Hylden, the demon dimension and the fate of the OG bloodsucker: Janos Audron, and ultimately what could have been a satisfying narrative conclusion to the series as a whole.
Grand Guignol: Defiance is the final bloody chapter in the doomed LOK franchise, with the remaster acting as the perfect love letter/requiem for fans of the long-forgotten series.
So, we’re three remasters in, (Blood Omen 2 will likely be next) where do we go from here? Well, the reveal of the Defiance remaster at Sony’s State of Play on 12th Feb 2026 also revealed a new entry in the franchise, Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, a 2D side-scrolling action platformer set before the events of Soul Reaver, which is due to release later this month on the 31st March 2026. You would think a new title in the franchise after all this time would be a gift from the heavens, however it’s been quite the controversial one, for a singular reason, the aforementioned tie-in graphic novel: The Dead Shall Rise. The Kickstarter and the novel were very much hyped up prior to it’s release; the first piece of tie-in media we’ve had since 2003, with some big names behind its production. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver on the hype, with a swath of problems from the quality of it’s writing, the art style and most importantly: lore inconsistencies, which left a significant portion of the fanbase more than a bit upset with something that is seen as little more than fan fiction. The biggest complaint comes from the character of Elaleth, Raziel’s sister, and how she effectively re-frames established, critical events of the series to fit the new narrative, which in and of itself isn’t fundamentally a bad thing. However, when you’re dealing with a franchise such as Legacy of Kain, which is known for it’s complex, Shakespearian, overarching narrative with a distinct morally ambiguous tone that has been carefully crafted from one game to the next, changing that up suddenly is going to ensure the blood pressure of the fan base rises in response. Criticisms of the graphic novel aside, the new game has both Simon Templeman and Michael Bell returning to reprise their legendary roles as Kain and Raziel, based on that alone, the game will be given it’s own fair trial once it releases at the end of March (check back here for full coverage). Overall, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is the love-letter to the swansong of a franchise long-forgotten, re-framed for the modern gamer. Featuring stellar presentation, updated graphics and gameplay, and a boatload of bonus content to boot, Defiance Remastered is a must play for fans of the franchise.
A PlayStation 5 review code was provided by Sandbox Strategies.
This review is featured on OpenCritic.
