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Sometimes if you toss the coin enough times...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

There are a handful of quoteable movies that just make someone seem so much cooler when they quote the movie, there aren't that many games like that, sadly because the emphases has always been on graphics, and ocassionally developers will work on Gameplay too. For those of us who play games for story we just seem so much cooler for knowing the dialogue of Legacy of Kain. Legacy of Kain can be for gamers, what Fight Club is for movie buffs. seriesly! These three games are the most quotable games in history! Nothing is more fun than running down the halls at work shouting "Vae Victus!" Not only is the dialogue sharp, and so well written it would blow shakespear out of the water, but Kain has had a history of incredably great gameplay, it's hard to get bored playing these games.
SR 1 (especially the dreamcast version) had it's bugs and was less than perfect. SR 2, however, has corrected absolutely every minor complaint I had with the first one. The camera work is better, the graphics and animation are solid and the best part is that the story is even deeper than SR 1, and is right up there with Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the original by Silicon Knights.
Eidos Interactive is listed as one of my least favorite devlopers for Tomb Raider and it's countless clones, and thier refusal to put an end to the crappy cameras and bad control. When I first heard that Eidos had nabbed Legacy of Kain I was in a state of dread, thankfully Legacy of Kain still manages to break the molds of corporate games and takes the gamer on a wild thrill ride throughout Nosgoth, past present and future, like it's predicassors the games focuses on art and story every bit as much as graphics and gameplay. I don't think there could possibly be a better horror title out there. Crystal D should really look into getting a verbatim film made of these games, as Legacy of Kain is second Only to Vampire The Masqerade (Tabletop) in it's gothic horror style storytelling.
Eidos should learn from this game. If the next Tomb Raider plays this well then maybe I'll buy it. Resident Evil may also want to learn from this.
Something else to boast about is the complex new method of puzzel solving. Gone are the insert block through slot throw switch puzzles, instead there is a lot of object placement, and setting things up. I'm stuck on the light mirror puzzle. This game was well worth the wait!
The DVD extras give the game a little kick. Something else I hope becomes industry standard. Kain breaks the mold of PS2 games here by giving the player a true DVD experience with DVD extras, backstory, soundtracks, making of featurett, even outtakes, though some of it must be unlocked. SR 2 is packed full of everything one would need to declair this game perfect, and hands down the best of the series thus far. The only complaint I have is that the opening FMV seemed a bit cartoony compared to SR 1's amazing FMV which just looked more realistic for some reason.
"Vae Victus!"
Buy this game, you know you want it!

Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is one those games that justifies the ($)you have to shell out for a PS2. The graphics are fluid and very detailed. No fog to hide details or anything. Also Raziel starts out with most of the powers from the first Soul Reaver which is cool. The voice work is good and the story is twisted but it flows pretty well. Beware, this game sucks you in and you'll spend several hours before you know it. The first night I played it, I ended up playing for about 5 hours. The puzzles are tricky, and it not just a series of block puzzles. To be honest there are only a few games that, in my opinion, are real stand-outs. This is the best of them. I haven't finished the game yet so I haven't seen everything. From what I've seen you can't go wrong getting this game. Finally a bunch good titles are coming out for PS2, but so far this the best you get on the PS2.

A fabulous, if short, game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I'm going to come right and point out the short comings of this game first, one being that anyone who thinks this game concludes the story begun in the first one has another thing coming. As many reviews have pointed out, the game probably opens more questions than it answers. But the game's biggest fault is that it's short. I finished it in a run of three days and probably spent at the most about ten hours in my first run. Understandably, this has and will disappoint a lot of people. But for me personally, I absolutly loved this game and don't regret buying it one bit. It's all about the story for me and the game delivers very well. The voice acting is really top notch, and soul reaver 2 is just a well rounded game in all aspects (length excluded). The music, the character and evironmental design, and cutscenes blend together for a very atmospheric experience and improved moves and tougher enemies make for more challenging battles over the the first soul reaver. This is the kind of game I enjoy replaying for sheer enjoyment, much like someone re-reads their favorite book. And if you own the original blood omen, it's fun to go back and see the bits of story that intertwine with soul reaver two, since the two take place around the same time period (for example, the images of the circle members slain in the beginning of blood omen, are memorialized in mobeuis's chamber in the beginning of soul reaver two). The added features, such as concept art and stills, and video recordings of the voice sessions are also very enjoyable.
Because of it's exceptional story, I can overlook the aforementioned flaws, though many people probably cannot. If you love the story, I absolutely reccomend the game, but if you're wary of the length, at least rent it or by it used.

absolutely hypnotic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have plenty of games where it's all slashing, shooting, punching smacking and killing. Very rarely is a game as story-driven and focused as Soul Reaver 2. The new installment of Raziel's story is mesmerizing. The graphics are flat-out gorgeous, and the voice actors are talents unlike anything I've ever heard (and how funny is it to hear Raziel's amazing chasm voice scoff about giant squids). Movies today wish they could concoct plots as gripping as this game's. If video games are the new prominent artistic medium, Soul Reaver 2 is near the head of the list of dazzlers.

Well made sequal

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

For those who are unfamiliar with this series: The Legacy of Kain series began with the game Blood Omen, which revolved around the vampire Kain. Since then, the series has divided into two parts, Blood Omen and Soul Reaver. The Soul Reaver was the second game in the Legacy of Kain series. It revolves around the vampire Raziel. Raziel is the firstborn of Kain's 6 vampire luitenants in his parasitic empire. However, at the beginning of the first Soul Reaver game, Kain, apparently out of jealousy of Raziel's newly evolved wings, has Raziel cast into the Lake of a the Dead (water burns vampires like acid). Centuries later, Raziel is resurrected by a mysterious being known as the Elder to destroy his former brethren and take revenge on Kain. Resurrected, Raziel can shift between the material and spectral realms. He is also no longer the blood sucking vampire he once was. Now he feeds upon the souls of his fallen enemies - he is a soul reaver.

Soul Reaver 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 starts where the first Soul Reaver, which has a cliff hanger ending, leaves off. Raziel has gone back in time. He now continues to hunt Kain - but soon his quest for revenge becomes a journey through time to discover his own destiny.
What's new?
The soul reaver, once the sword of Kain and now Raziel's symbiotic weapon, plays a much more central part in Soul Reaver 2, then in the first. It is often required for solving puzzles, and it has a greater role in the story line. In the first game, the reaver would only manifiest it's self in the material realm when Raziel had full health, and then sustain Raziel's health. This meant that this powerful couldn't simply be used at anytime any where (a good thing, which made the game more challenging). However, I must say I prefer this game's improved use of the reaver. In Soul Reaver 2, the reaver can now be summoned at will regardless of Raziel's health. However, it is now more powerful and has more of a parasitic than a symbiotic relationship with Raziel. If Raziel uses the reaver too much, it will become over aroused and begin to drain energy from him. Furthermore, if it is used to kill an enemy, the soul reaver will due as it's name implies, meaning Raziel won't be able to feed of that opponent. This means that Raziel must limit his use of the reaver and resort to other weapons sometimes - even his bare claws.
Through the game, Raziel gains access to elemental forges. Once he has solved the puzzle at each forge, various elemental fonts throughout Nosgoth are activated. Raziel can use these fonts to imbue the reaver with elemental power, which gives the reaver special abilities, which are ussualy used in solving puzzles. There are four elemental upgrades: The Dark Reaver, the Light Reaver, the Air Reaver, and the Fire Reaver. The elemental glyphs which were optional side quests in the first game are not to be found, which I would consider neither a pro nor a con.
There are no bosses in this game. I do not particularly mind this, though some games might view it as a bad point of the game.
The puzzles in this game are greatly improved. In Soul Reaver, games tended to be very repetative and became more of a hassle, as they tended to block puzzles - involving pushing, pulling, stacking, and climbing on blocks. Puzzles are much more interesting in this game, less repetative, and acctualy enjoyable. In the first game, you were happy to have solved a block puzzle because that particular puzzle was finished and done with - in this game you are happy to have solved a puzzle because you've solved the puzzle.
Combat also seems to be improved. Enemies are much more challenging and intelligent in the way they fight as they will duck and block Raziel's attacks, and perform formidable attacks upon him.
Exploring Nosgoth, however, can sometimes get repetative because it often involves going over the same areas several times (where this would have been a problem in the first game, it was overcome with warp gates, allowing Raziel to jump from place to place). This is not as bad as it could be as often times they are in various time eras, however it is still rather a con.
Scattared throught out Nosgoth are checkpoints which, when he dies on the spectral plane, he revives at. In the original game, he would return to the den of the Elder.
I am not pleased with the game-saving. You can not save anywhere within the gae, but only at special monoliths found throughout Nosgoth. This can be very annoying when you want to save and have to find you way back to one of the monoliths.
In the first game, Raziel gains the "constrict ability" which allowed him to constrict his opponents with a band of energy as well as revolve certain puzzle objects. This power is gone in this game. While I don't nessecarily mind not having the ability, I'd like to know where it went.
Finaly, I'd say the game could have been longer.
Overall
Pros:
Graphics

Gameplay
Improved Reaver usage
Elemental Reaver upgrades
Improved combat
Improved puzzles
Storyline
Cons:
Sometimes repetative exploring
Bad game-save design
Leinth of game - too short
Constrict ability is gone without explanation

Great Story - Horrible Gameplay

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Soul Reaver 2, is an excellent sequel to Soul Reaver, as far as the Story is concerned.. it has some wonderful plot twists, and the ending is fantastic and unexpected...

However, the Gameplay is what makes this games Value, drop like a brick.

First, there is a serious bug in the first "forge" that keeps you from exiting. If the bug occures, and threw normal game play, it does, you have to reset, and go threw the whole dungeon again. ( took me 3 trys to find a way arround this. )

Second, the combat system is lame. The best way to fight anything, is to run arround in circle mashing the attack button, and even this tactic is ruined due to constantly picking up items that deactivate your main weapon. ( the same button to attack, is the one that picks things up. )

Third, All the picked up weapons in this game stink. You have your best weapon from the very beginning of the game, there is no reason to pick up others.. and yet, you end up doing this time and time again, without wanting to.

Over all, I rate this game a Low 2. The Story is the ONLY redeeming quality.

EIDOS really screwed the pooch on this one.

Fricken awesome sequal!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't understand why you are all whining about the gameplay, there is enough gameplay, there are just a lot of long cinematics! I like this one alot, because it actually has the greatest vampire mood, this one is the darkest, has some dark music, some demonic enemies from hell, and some deadly weapons, that's what I look for in a vampire game! So go out and buy this, but only if you're a big fan of the serires.

A mixed bag, but generally positive

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The graphics (at that time) and storyline (convoluted though it may well be) set this apart from a lot of games on the market and lend it an epic and ominous feel.

This is a game that could (and should) never be subjected to the "let's make a movie out of it" phenomenon because it manages to be both maddeningly non-linear on one hand such a huge cinematic experience unto itself

The voice acting, as has been the case throughout the LoK series (even the disappointing "Blood Omen 2"), is top-notch and the game itself positively drips with atmosphere with only a few glitches and a few rather weak gameplay elements keeping this game from being very nearly perfect

The climactic showdown of the game turns into a real mind-twister which you will either love for being cruel and clever or hate for being hokey and obtuse

Personally, after i unkinked my brain from the implications of it, i rather enjoyed it.

a soul reaver fan

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

i am a die hard soul reaver fan. when the first one came out on the playstation it was my favourate game and i enjoyed playing it over and over again.As for soul reaver 2 it started off very well but then it started to bore the hell out of me because all you do in the game is go back and forth back and forth over and over again with nothing new to discover other than to change your reaver into a different colour.another thing that really pissed me off is that it had no bosses at all through the whole game and there are no spells that you get like in the first soul reaver.I beat the game in a day and a half which makes it much much shorter than the first game so i returned it and got resident evil code varonica x which is 10 times better.If you are looking for a good game similar to sould reaver 2 then get DEVIL MAY CRY because that game is seriously the greatest game i have ever played in my entire life.

What a dissappointment!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love SR1, and I've been waiting for this ever since. What a dissapointment. The graphics are good, and the voice acting remains the best in the business, but the actual game play is repetitive and linear. You basically engage in the same fight over, and over, and over again, to go from cutscene to cutscene (not that the cutscenes aren't great). There are no true boss fights, nothing to discover, and the puzzles, while more varied than SR1, are still pretty basic. I would make this a weekend rental, b/c you won't need more than that to finish it. The DVD extras are fun, but unless you are a complete Legacy of Kain fanatic, this game will dissappoint you.

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