Reaving souls...IN GLORIOUS HD! - Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered

[@flophouseplays]

The cutscenes were completely REMADE? That's insane! Thanks for the clarification everyone!

[@blumoon131]

The intro to Soul Reaver was entirely remade using the original files, though Soul Reaver 2's intro got upscaled from that original, seemingly, due to a lack of original files at their disposal.

[@sonicsean34]

From what I’ve read the original devs had source files for the render and were able to just re-render most shots. There might be some recreations or upscale dog some shots/scenes tho (like the few SD shots in Star Trek TNG remaster)

[@deusvermiculus1072]

btw: its wasn't Aspire who made this or the Tomb raider remasters (they are just the Publishers). The real Heroes here are "Saber interactive"!

[@DarthSideous63]

I wished they included Blood Omen. I loved that game.

[@dashboots376]

Kinda wish you had found out on video, would have been fun to see the reaction to that

[@doclouis4236]

Kain: "Cast him in." Raziel: "Aw, shit. Here we go again."

[@Timestrider539]

The level of dry wit and sarcasm Raziel puts out in Soul Reaver 2 gives me life.

[@Ashurman666]

Especially when he talks to Mobius. He knows what the guy is about and isn't going to fall for any of his BS but will still humor him cause he is his best chance to find Kain

[@firehedgehog1446]

With that in mind, imagine Raziel & Death from Darksiders 2 together, arguably two of the kings of dry wit in video games

[@GeorgeSearsSolidusSnake]

Straight up calling the Elder God a giant squid.

[@blumoon131]

So fun fact about the section Raziel awakes in: it is the remnants of The Lost City from Blood Omen, and that was a big bonus dungeon that was only accessible when there was a full moon out in-game. The city was populated by werewolves in that game, but in Soul Reaver 2 we see that the architecture used for that city is very similar to Ancient Vampire architecture (The Wind Forge), which tells us that the Lost City was, at one point, a vampire territory. Now what makes that even cooler is *[MASSIVE SPOILERS]* which explains why we see the Elder God there in Soul Reaver! The lore building of this series (minus Blood Omen 2) was handled by writing gods.

[@augustjernberg2512]

Really? This is confirmed?

[@merryMellody]

They did not AI upscale those cutscenes! They actually redid those by hand using new models! Also worth noting that Aspyr may be on the tin, but this was headed, even directed by incredibly dedicated fans like Raina Audron.

[@blumoon131]

They redid the Soul Reaver 1 intro. Soul Reaver 2 got upscaled.

[@jackcoleman1784]

I actually realized that when I booted it up. I had a split second realization that what I was watching was actually IN engine. Color me impressed.

[@laserwizard2004]

Came here to mention this. The difference between passion and a cash grab and it shows.

[@Ashurman666]

These remasters are damn near perfect, especially Soul Reaver 1. I absolutely ADORED how they included a section to show off the bits of cut content they managed to restore. I also love that you can switch the graphics from the remastered to the original ones at the push of a button

[@jraulerson3081]

The bones they added for facial animations! THE BONES!

[@doclouis4236]

Makes you wonder what if Night Dive studios was given the opportunity to remaster the Soul Reaver games🤔

[@Ashurman666]

@@doclouis4236 What are they known for?

[@MJSpiderman7116]

Love seeing the graphic swapping option become a standard feature in these remasters since Halo Anniversary did it in 2011. Good shit

[@DavidKent94]

I think my only real complaint for the remaster is I feel the facial animations were a little more expressive in Soul Reaver 2's original cutscenes, like the subtle movement of the facial features. Either that or they were a bit easier to read in the older graphics.

[@Corpseplower]

That Golden Girls episode had Tony Jay's character, an artist, dating/romancing Blanche, Dorothy and Rose (I want to say Sophia as well but my memory is hazy on that one). He unveils a new sculpture that ends up incorporating aspects of all the women into it.

[@RGF91]

Rip Tony Jay

[@Collegedewdrop]

The man, the myth, the legend!

[@emilysong2000]

I could never imagine Megabyte (from Reboot) or Frollo (from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame) without the voice of the late, great Tony Jay.

[@Boki_86]

the opening cut scene is iconic. They did not upscale it, they recreated the cutscene shoot for shoot but used the updated models and lighting engine.

[@shameryda]

I've always hated how his wings look after they get broken by Kain

[@jraulerson3081]

Redeem yourself. Or if you prefer, avenge yourself. Settle your dispute with Kain. Destroy him and your brethren. Free their souls and let the Wheel of fate churn again!

[@WillKeaton]

We miss you Tony Jay. People always bring up his role in this, Megabyte from _Reboot,_ and Count Frollo in _The Hunchback of Notre Dame,_ but I want to highlight his role as Virgil in _Mighty Max,_ where he acted alongside the equally awesome Tim Curry.

[@primepm8861]

What's really amazing is that Michael Bell, the voice of Raziel, has now outlived Tony Jay by over a decade and is still going. (please don't let me jinx this)

[@Corpseplower]

And the equally awesome Richard Moll, may he also rest in peace.

[@ELPapayapa]

SPACE !

[@grime-ndofficial9894]

You know what's crazy. I thought i was playing the original when i was because i remember the graphics being so awesome for their time. I clicked it over to the original... And wow. it honestly still holds up pretty well but it's so much smoother in the remaster

[@micheljavert5923]

I’ve noticed that with remasters too. They look how I _remember_ they looked. But then I’ll swap back to the original graphics or boot up the original only to see how awful it looks now. It’s interesting. Memory is a funny thing.

[@Kyderra]

@2:10 The creators mentioned that they remade that whole cutscene shot for shot but with the ingame models

[@MrFutago87]

20:50 Funny you say that Kain would block out the sun because the manual of SR reveales that's exactl what he did. He had giant smoke stacks built so the smoke blocks out the sun, that explains the low draw distance of the game.

[@Dragonsmana]

50/50? Would you say it is like a coin flip? I feel like this collection, landed *perfectly* on the edge.

[@MrFutago87]

Still wild to me that Raina Audron was the director of these remasters. Like that just fits way too well.

[@ReSF91]

And her Raziel cosplay was cool asf too, I love when game are show such respect and love by the developers.

[@blumoon131]

Any new LoK developments need Raina on board.

[@MrFutago87]

On the subject of sales, I don't know how meaningful it is but in the German PSStore this collection was, for a while, the number one preordered game. So it might be encouraging.

[@primepm8861]

3:27 You know, I've seen this cutscene so many times of Kain breaking Raziel's wings that i thought i saw everything to it. When i first started playing the remastered edition, i had no idea Kain also RIPPED OUT THE FUCKING BONE STRUCTURE! HOLY SHIT, HOW I LOVE THIS SERIES!

[@Prohass]

“My womb tomb!” Got a belly laugh out of me

[@brittanybecker170]

OMIGAWD, the have teh WEDDING cosplay!

[@augustjernberg2512]

Awww, hopefully it doesn't end like Kain & Umah did

[@NoExplosionsMcgee]

Really hope the rest of the series gets remastered as well.

[@DeadpoolNegative]

I’m STILLLLLLLLL in a DREEEEEEEAM… SOUL REAVAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

[@aethonz]

I have only 1 complaint about the remaster - no brightness control. Soul Reaver gets freaking dark, and I can't see some areas unless I'm playing at night.

[@crispin5741]

In many ways Soul reaver never left.

[@Collegedewdrop]

I've been dying for you to play this!! I hope we get a defiance remaster

[@theycallmejojo6090]

More lifebars need to be in swirls.

[@grime-ndofficial9894]

But also swirls with edges

[@Faction.Paradox]

".... Kain is deified"

[@josh-oo]

The clans tell tales of him.

[@nordinreecendo512]

Few know the truth.

[@brucebradley2735]

He was mortal once, as were we all.

[@solidspiderznake8100]

L'Oréal, you're worth it...

[@scotch4985]

@36:54 For these lost levels, they state that you can enter the Material Realm without the need of portals. There may have been enemies, NPCs, or other stuff to see. You only explored the levels in the Spectral Realm. You can tell by Raziel's life bar (its an angular spiral instead of a round one) and by how the Soul Reaver is green instead of blue.

[@Frakag]

They found the original files for the SR1 intro, intro was re-rendered. But they lost Rs2 intro.

[@kammhia397gaming9]

No THIS! is how you do a Remaster collection.

[@BetaRayBenX10]

I couldn't be MORE pleased with this remaster! THANK YOU for showcasing it! It's everything I never asked for, a surprise present behind the Christmas tree, its absolutely wonderful. Up-scaled, re-textured, and you can flip-flop between the New and Old graphics. Its just damn good to have, and I hope....yes, I hope Blood Omen 2 gets a remaster, or, if anything, completely remake Defiance. (thats the best-case scenario, imo, the SR1/2 remaster profits going to a remake or just a complete re-do of the final chapter)

[@Houldey]

God, Raziel is so cool - I would love for the series to come back for real, and also for Mortal Kombat to git gud again, then have him as a guest - he'd be such a great fit.

[@Masamune84]

Blood Omen is essential to know why the hell things are the way they are, dated as that game is.

[@fillerbunny9]

I did a playthrough of it last year on PC and it has not aged well at all. combat in particular was a massive headache, and navigating the world was extremely frustrating at times, but the story was great, and the extensive use of voice acting was WAY ahead of its time as the primary storytelling device. it also helped that it didn't take ~10 seconds to load the "pause" menu to change weapons/armor like on the PS1. I really wish the original could be revisited and polished up, because there is a gem in there.

[@madengineerkyouma]

I imagined you'd be here sooner.

[@reignfire85]

Man, I still remember a good friend from college buying me one of the Soul Reaver games on PS1 years ago out of the bargain bin at GameStop (this was probably more than 15 years back). I never did get around to playing any of the franchise, either because I never had any of the games or because I just got sidetracked with life, but seeing the news of the remasters being announced was amazing and now I can finally play these in better-than-original glory.

[@Valiantcorgi]

Tony Jay was also in kings quest 6 as captain Saladin and the gate keeper to the lord of the dead had the game bundled with my families first IBM

[@indyscribable]

Now that LoK is in the spotlight again, I wanna start seeing some random Raziel & Kain cameos 👀

[@Dragonsmana]

I'd love to see either cameos or cosmetics based on them in V Rising. They already got Simon Belmont as an optional boss. Raziel and/or Kain would be pretty great for that kind of thing too.

[@blumoon131]

Would be the perfect time to announce Soul Calibur VII.... Just sayin'...

[@CrowsofAcheron]

They were in Astrobot.

[@austinmeghu]

Legacy of Kain fans are the only fans I think are more unfortunate than Jak and Daxter fans. There's like no hope for sequels and it bums me out.

[@blumoon131]

There is the _slimmest_ hope for a sequel to Defiance... Jak and Daxter are just flat-out boned.

[@austinmeghu]

@blumoon131 You're right. Kain fans have had a longer wait than Jak fans but I do think it has a better chance than Jak and Daxter because a gritty reboot for Kain would work and Jak and Daxter are so tied to the kind of creative stylistic games that just aren't at the AAA level anymore.

[@Ashurman666]

The story is pretty much played out, there's no way to take it further. The only thing they could do would be a prequel

[@danhectic5629]

i've been waiting nearly 25 years for MDK 3.

[@kamenrangerzeo8251]

“I am Raziel, first born of his lieutenants. I served with Kain at the dawn of the millennium over time my brethren became much more than human and more divine. Kain would undergo a change and we soon after until had the honor of surpassing mylord. And for my transgressions I suffered another kind of reward.. Agony.” The best game in the PlayStation era even the main theme still rocks after all these years. Which is interesting is that this whole story is one giant paradox. With different outcomes that can converge on themselves.

[@redpyramid6843]

Now we need Blood Omen.

[@solidspiderznake8100]

I don't know about you all, but Raziel's whole epic adventure is quite literally *jaw-dropping*

[@pavlotverdokhlib7627]

The model for Raziel in both games was made consistent with the one in Defiance. Overall, the remasters are quite good. The one thing that annoys me is that I can't remap movement to the arrow keys in options, I need to use my keyboard's software to do it manually. Other than that, having the camera movement on the mouse is a godsend. Made the platforming sections in SR infinitely easier. Oh, and the Soul Reaver is clearly cribbed from Stormbringer, the soul-sucking sword of Elric, written by Michael Moorcock.

[@HazzardousEco]

A fan that I am of the LoK series, I don't feel this series getting the AAA treatment would work for it; I would prefer it get the AA treatment like Darksiders 1 or The Surge 1

[@scotch4985]

@12:30 Except for certain situations, you could always rotate the camera in Soul Reaver. I would often rotate the camera around Raziel while he was gliding or sucking souls.

[@arx3516]

No one ever mentions how in the SR1 intro cinematic Raziel's wings are situated too low on his back? They're basically sitting on the back of his pants.

[@RobSabey-u4l]

I played this with my dad who is now sick this game holds good memories

[@fallstin2000]

Vae victis

[@phoboswhiplash]

I know the inteo monologue in borh english and spanish like the palm of my hand, I use it to warm up my voice when im gonna sing of do some dubs, this game is so important to me and im so happy how they remastered everything

[@paraptorkeetcreations434]

Those "jobber" vampires are Turel and Dumah and yeah regular human beings were able kill Dumah and imprison Turel so yeah, maybe they are Jobbers.

[@Boki_86]

you may think those are the Og cgi cut scenes but they are not. they literally re made them and made them look like the og cut scenes.

[@KetchR]

I've been hoping for at least five years that you and Liam would LP this

[@DemonSnakeBd]

Didn't know this was out yet, definitely gotta pick this up.

[@Carls493]

15:20 - *HEY! PHRASING!*

[@christopheraustin5915]

I want a sequel to Defiance to clear up the cliffhanger and have elder Kain reckon with what a little shit his past self was.

[@Valiantcorgi]

Prince Alexander of daventry...become my soul reaver. 😂

[@Jordan83709]

This, makes me happy! I hope they do a remaster of Deus Ex Human Revolution!

[@thomaskraan1497]

Been looking forward to this, glad it seems decent. Loved the original games. Also thumbnail Raziel looks angrier than ever. "I find no nobility in the remaster you rudely forced on my unwilling corpse!"

[@Valiantcorgi]

KAIN AND RAZIEL IN SOUL CALIBUR GOD DAMN IT.......also Hercules and xena. Even though I'm done buying new games and had a fall out with fighting games but this comment is less for me and more for all of you!!!

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

I'd be interested in seeing Flophouse Play further into Soul Reaver. The opening chapter is by far the part of the game I've played the most, and I never saw past the first boss

[@tomazf]

I tried looking on Steam to see if they might possibly give a discount on the remaster if you owned the previous games, when I noticed the first Soul Reaver was not popping up. I didn't know they the game was removed from Steam and GOG.

[@BallotBoxer]

We used to call the pathetic Sluagh "the Skivvies"

[@micheljavert5923]

I love how a leitmotif of this series (even these two games that are ostensibly Raziel’s story) is that Kain was either a f&ckin’ lunatic or a genius strategist. And it really could go either way. Kain’s plan to undo all the things he messed up (and the things that were broke before he even got there) was to throw Raziel into a pit of (the equivalent of) fire to suffer “eternal” torment. And if/when he crawled out, that he would _agree_ with Kain. Or at least be driven in a direction that was amenable to Kain. Edit on the subject of reviving the franchise: God no. I hate that series ended on a cliffhanger. But too many voice actors are dead. And who would even come back to write it properly? Besides, I’ve heard a few people treating V: Rising as the unofficial/spiritual successor.

[@JHarlow329]

I hope they patch in a brightness slider, its pretty dark on ps5 even with hdr turned off. The Silenced Cathedral is crazy dark.

[@ramMKfan]

it's made by Saber interactive. Aspyr is just a publisher

[@MrGlasses94]

Worth? To try to get into this series?

[@jraulerson3081]

If you love a good story and you don't mind a little bit of 90's/ early 2000's jank, absolutely.

[@Collegedewdrop]

Worth it! Definitely a great time and really gets you thinking about life

[@agrippa2012]

Yes, but you need to play or at the very least watch a playthrough of Blood Omen 1 before playing the Soul Reaver games

[@CrowsofAcheron]

Only you know what games you like. Though I will say the combat is very janky compared to action games today. The story is excellent however.

[@TheBitishDragon]

Im hoping they patch Soul Reaver 2's CG intro to be higher quality closer to the redone SR1 CG intro.

[@pariah076]

Glad these games got remastered,, but still wish we could get a full reboot. By modern standards, the game plays a little clunky, particularly the combat. But who could possibly replace Tony's voice

[@ducdashot1239]

the intro cutscene didnt use ai, they remade it from scratch with the new models

[@ghostmutton]

I always wondered how they would continue the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver series if they made a modern game. Its greatest draw is its story, so how do you pick up where it left off? Or do you start something completely new? In any case, I hope this sells well.

[@Ashurman666]

I don't think they could continue the story. Both Blood Omen 2 and LOK Defiance wrap everything up and tie up all the loose ends. The only possible thing they could do would be a prequel where you explore the conflict between the ancient vampires and the Hylden

[@fedupN]

Yesssss!

[@loveandpeace3345]

48fps?

[@NewMateo]

The dude who does the commentary voice over sounds like megabyte from Reboot.

[@erazor825]

we got tombi now we got soul reaver if we get dark savior from the saturn remastered my wish list is complete

[@phoenixlich]

I absolutely could not play the Kain games. they are way too hard, and way too cryptic, and way too complex, and way too long. I watched a speedrun and got BORED. no way teen me could have EVER beaten blood omen. But the soul reaver games were my JAM!

[@DSMTheEditor]

Remake this but instead of Raziel, it's Rahzel, the MC from SSX Tricky

[@primepm8861]

I've been clamoring for an animated adaptation of the Legacy of Kain games for awhile now, ala Castlevania (and not that dumbass Tomb Raider one). Even had it partially penned out. First season covers Blood Omen, nine episodes (nine Pillars), second season goes through the first Soul Reaver while incorporating cut content. Sadly but ultimately, it would require recasting all the characters with new voice actors, as many of the OG's are either retired or passed on (i count the death toll at three thus far unless I'm missing someone). I wouldn't mind guest voiceovers from Simon Templeman &/or Michael Bell though.

[@Paax2]

Megabyte!

[@Endocrom]

Raziel, why are you making pudding at 4 AM?

[@OpenDoorEnglish]

The platforming is HORRIBLE but still great to revisit Nosgoth.

[@RobSabey-u4l]

Let's wait... He ll be in fortnite 😂

[@dcpunisher4781]

It's kind of odd how they didn't remake the first game Blood Omen first. It was an overhead action RPG, so that shouldn't take too long and too much resources to remake. That should be pretty easy and inexpensive to remake or just remaster . I've always been driven on narrative and great memorable characters, so if you don't know the first game, the opening of how Kain betrayed his son because of paranoia that he would overthrow him some day...that doesn't matter if you don't know the first game when you played as Kain. It's like the Metal Gear Solid games; I've been a fan since the first one from 1998 so and I played on the games as they were released, but I would be confused as to which order to play them if I just came into MGS today.