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Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 is a video game that consists of 1 release
Soul Reaver 2 was the 3rd installment in the Legacy of Kain franchise. In pursuit of Kain, Raziel travels back in time to different eras in Nosgoth's past. Through history, Raziel begins to piece together his intended destiny, or his inevitable fate.
Overview
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 is the third Legacy of Kain game in the series and the second that tells the tale of Raziel. The game was developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos. It received moderate critical acclaim but also had many flaws. The game began right where Soul Reaver left off, meaning fans hoped this game would answer all their questions, but in this regard they were disapointed. The game left many open ends for future games to pick up on. The gameplay was more linear then past games but it had a wider array of puzzles and the environments were far more detailed.
Plot
Raziel emerges from the Chronoplast time portal to find himself in the Sarafan Stronghold, in the company of Moebius the Time Streamer. Although aware of Moebius' reputation for deceit, Raziel allows the Time Guardian to introduce him to this unfamiliar era he now inhabits, thirty years before the events of Blood Omen. Raziel must go back and forth through Nosgoth's history in order to uncover Kain's hidden agenda and also discover if he himself truly has any free will.Over the course of his journey, he unearths the mysteries of Nosgoth's ancient races, and exposes the secrets behind the corruption of the Pillars and the vampire genocide. Confronting the shadows of his unremembered past, he discovers a web of destiny stretching eons into Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history. As his destiny comes full circle, Raziel finds his personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey, with the fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.
Full Synopsis
*Spoiler Warning*
Raziel inside the timestreaming chamber
This hunt finally ends when he meets Kain at the Pillars. Fatalistic as ever, Kain convinces Raziel to give him one more chance to explain his actions. They bear witness to a crucial moment, as Ariel is murdered by dark forces bent on overthrowing the Circle. A young Kain is born to take her place as, Ariel's former love - Nuptraptor, descends into madness which spreads to all the other Guardians – who are symbiotically bound, rendering Kain incapable of fulfilling his destiny as the Scion of Balance at the time of his very birth. Kain continues the tale and reiterates the events of Blood Omen, how he was tricked into slaying King William and the ultimate choice at the end, which would shape his and Nosgoth's entire history. Kain is adamant that the Pillars belong to their makers - the vampires. He urges Raziel to discover his destiny by exploring the landscape further. To his own surprise, Raziel actually begins listening to Kain's advice and allows him to escape.
As he explores the ancient vampire structures around the Pillars, he meets the old vampire Vorador. Cynical and reclusive, Vorador questions the wraith's motives and his origin. Raziel denies having anything to do with the Pillar's recent corruption and continues on his quest to learn more about his destiny. He comes across a room full of murals beneath the Pillars. And, at the heart of this chamber, he finds the Elder God. The giant creature is not pleased by Raziel's decision to let Kain go. Bored with the constant demands to kill Kain, Raziel ignores him. The murals around the place, however, intrigue him. They tell the story of the war between the Ancients and the Hylden, how the Hylden cursed the Ancients with the bloodthirst as a revenge for their banishment.
Janos Audron's retreat
He forces Moebius to transport him to Nosgoth's past, to a time when the Reaver's architect - Janos Audron - was still alive. But scared by his recent actions and determined to foil his attempts, Moebius sends Raziel a hundred years into the future. There, Raziel is horrified by the image of a decaying Nosgoth, as Kain's vampire army conquers the land. Kain follows Raziel to this timeline and advises him that Janos is, in fact, the key to unlocking his destiny. Raziel trusts in fate and uses the timestreaming device without knowing where it will take him. As it turns out, he is taken to the exact time and place that his need requires. When he meets Janos, he is told how the Reaver was forged to be wielded by the champion of the vampire race, and Janos believes Raziel is this champion. They are ambushed in the middle of their conversation and Janos teleports Raziel away to safety. On his return, Raziel finds his former Sarafan self ripping out Janos's heart and making away with the Soul Reaver.
Raziel impales his Sarafan self
As he is standing over his human corpse, Raziel's wraith blade leaves him and coils itself around its corporeal twin. Having exhausted all possible enemies, the conjoined blades turn on their wielder – Raziel himself. At this very moment, a terrible revelation dawns on Raziel. The Reaver was never meant to be a soul devouring weapon, the ravenous entity trapped inside the blade was and always had bee - him. As Raziel's soul is hovering both inside and outside the blade, Kain intervenes and pulls the blade out. This act saves Raziel, but changes the course of history. Kain is flooded with new memories as he realizes they walked into a Hyldren trap. Too weak to sustain himself, Raziel slips into the spectral realm as Kain warns him that Janos must not be raised.
Gameplay
In Soul Reaver 2 Raziel had to locate four different forges, created by the Ancient Vampires. Each one was "purpose-built to enhance the Reaver with [an] elemental power". Each forge was an elaborate puzzle, which Raziel had to solve to earn the elemental upgrade. Once the Reaver had been imbued with an element, it retained that power until Raziel entered the Spectral Realm. However, he could re-imbue the blade at any time by bathing it in an elemental font. Each elemental Reaver (Dark, Light, Air and Fire) had different strengths and characteristics.The game involved a lot of environmental puzzles as you are continuously forced to find unique ways around obstacles. The puzzle's still involve shifting back and forth between the material and spectral realms but they no longer involve tedious block pushing and flipping although those elements do pop up from time to time. The combat was still straightforward hack and slash with simple combos. One change from the last game was the role of different elemental Reavers - each of them had a different effect on enemies and could be used to unleash some devastating combos.
Environment
The game still takes place in Nosgoth but this time you get to see the world from different moments in time. No longer does the entire game take place in a land destroyed by time and neglect. You now get to see what Nosgoth looked like before the Vampires dominated the land. You also get to view the Pillars before their complete destruction.
Due to jumping around in time the game doesn't have a defining look like the post apocalyptic Soul Reaver. You get to see multiple areas at different stages of growth and destruction. The concept gives the world a whole new edge and drives home how just a few decisions can change everything for the worse...or better depending on your end goals.
| Game Name | Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 |
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| Original US Release |
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| ESRB |
ESRB: M
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Trivia
in Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 2 which phrase did Raziel utter at the end of the game, and this phrase was also used by Kain to explain how he is able to affect the timeline
- HISTORY ABHORS A PARADOX
- FATE DEMANDS A PARADOX
- HISTORY DEMANDS A PARADOX
- DESTINY ABHORS A PARADOX
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