Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (PlayStation 2)

Following the events in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Raziel discovers a way back through time and encounters one of the Circle of the Nine, Mobius the timestreamer. Mobius urges Raziel to continue his quest for revenge and destroy the vampire lord Kain. Raziel reluctantly agrees and heads off to discover the knowledge and weapons that will allow him to achieve his goal.

Soul Reaver 2 is a third-person action game with puzzle-solving and some platforming elements, similar to the previous installment. The game world is viewed from behind Raziel’s shoulder; the player can move him in any direction, climb, attack, swim, jump and use specific abilities. Raziel retains his special moves from the previous game, which include gripping onto the sides of ledges, climbing walls, and gliding downwards with his torn wings. Like in the predecessor, Raziel can travel between the material world and the spectral realm at will, gaining access to new areas by exploiting distortions that existing between the mirrored worlds. As before, he must drain the souls of his enemies to prolong his existence in the material realm.

Raziel no longer gains abilities from absorbing great souls and instead must imbue his Soul Reaver weapon by activating certain elemental temples. Once activated, various “elemental fonts” can be used to charge the Soul Reaver to specific attributes. Raziel can arm himself with a variety of other weapons including daggers, swords, axes, spears as well as the Soul Reaver and bare-handed claws.

Unlike the previous game, Soul Reaver 2 is linear and follows specific paths through different areas. Raziel cannot return to certain areas once he has left them behind. The game features diverse puzzles, often involving blocks or manipulation of different devices. One common theme is “light puzzles” where Raziel must reflect light, using mirrored objects, so that they touch switches or objects which require activation.