Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered gives a classic game a solid makeover in terms of visuals and performance, and also offers fans the chance to indulge themselves in some lost levels and more. The gameplay at the heart of the experience hasn't stood the test of time very well, though.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is finally playable on modern consoles in a faithful to the original way, flaws and all.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is a great re-release for a game that has aged quite poorly. You can now toggle a third-person perspective instead of the original fixed-camera, yet there are still major issues with the combat and some significant glitches scattered throughout the game. That said, the new quality-of-life features and the addition of cut content and lost media make this a must-buy for fans of the franchise, regardless of any shortcomings.

The game’s most frustrating moments for me came when it prompted me to do something without including the button. I got very confused when asked to use the darkness spell to go invisible, for example. And the platforming puzzles became exponentially more frustrating as they got more complicated. The swimming physics are also dreadful by modern standards.

I love the Legacy of Kain. The original RPG, Blood Omen, was one of the games I bought alongside my PlayStation (from Toys “R” Us to give it nostalgic context) and I replay it every few years. The Soul Reaver games, also recently remastered, still stand up as excellent 3D search adventure games. Kain’s forays into 3D, however, are not quite as fondly remembered, as his relative lack of agility and the more linear level design of the games haven’t aged quite as well. Defiance was always the narrative and gameplay climax of the series, so the announcement that it was getting a remaster was a wel...

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered brings the concluding instalment of Crystal Dynamic's gothic, operatic vampire story to the modern gamer.

What is the purpose of remastering an old game? Is it to preserve as much of the original product as possible? Should the team simply look to upscale the game so it plays on modern platforms, or is it important to make something new, to expand on something potentially missed?