Soul Reaver 2 continues Raziel's quest in a troubled Nosgoth. Action platforming with inspired puzzles, exceptional writing and time-loop plotting. A sequel worthy of the cult.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player16+
Description
A Crystal Dynamics and Eidos action-adventure released in 2001, the second Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver franchise entry. Raziel, a fallen vampire turned soul-devouring wraith, travels through Nosgoth's eras to confront Kain and discover the truths about his damnation. Real-time combat, environmental puzzles, Shakespearean narration. A worthy sequel to the PS1 masterpiece.
Soul Reaver 2 review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Here space reads like a mechanism. Blocks to slide, energy conduits to reroute, elemental forges that seal or open passages, each room is a physical puzzle whose architecture states its own solution. Exploration is less about scenery than about a machine to be taken apart, where reading the room's gears is worth any hint.
Sound punctuates the shifts between realms, a metallic gust and an icy chime mark every crossing from the material to the spectral, so the ear knows before the eye that the world has turned its face. The soul-devouring blade rings with a high, cold timbre, singing scrap-iron whose echo trails each blow struck.
Travelling back through the ages of Nosgoth, a fallen wraith hunts his creator while questioning the weight of fate and the chance to break it. The verbal duels, sumptuously written, raise revenge to the level of philosophical tragedy. This rare narrative density almost makes you forget it is an action game.
A sequel to Crystal Dynamics' action adventure in the Legacy of Kain universe, Soul Reaver 2 continues the spectre Raziel's quest for revenge through a sumptuous gothic Nosgoth, blending exploration, combat and puzzles based on shifting between material and spectral worlds. The richness of the writing, the chiselled dialogue and the desperate mood make it a striking narrative work. The repetitive puzzles and a dated camera weigh. An atmospheric adventure to recommend for fans of dark stories and detailed gothic worlds.
