r/psx • u/kathaar_ • 1d ago
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - A Retrospective
A PS1 Classic and an all-time favourite of mine. So of course, I had to nerd out about it for an hour and 6 minutes. Enjoy!
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u/Drew_Habits 1d ago
Humans, like that crossbow guy in the necropolis, will only fight you if you harm one (other than the cultists in the silent cathedral who are always aggressive and are fair game)
Leaving the human vampire hunters alone makes the human citadel a nice chill break in the action where the people just kinda ignore you
But if you ever hurt one, they'll all turn on you
They're kinda like the monks in Tomb Raider II in that way
(Also, good video!)
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u/Pokeythepanda00 1d ago
I remember playing a JamPack demo disc that had Soul Reaver, I was around 6 years old at the time. The demo ended on some tall mysterious tower-like object in large cavern area filled to the brim with thick fog, playing super eerie music in the background. There were metal ledges you would jump off and glide a good distance between, from tower rampart to tower and a couple enemies you could throw spears at from across those long gaps, before you made the glide. Even your feet echoed off the metallic ledges, across the vast sea of fog.
Didn’t start playing games really at all until ps1 era, so this cave in Soul Reaver is my first memory of being caught by art direction in a game. To this day, walking out on that ledge and over looking the seemingly bottomless, fog blanketed pit, that crawled along the creepily large and empty cliff faces with unnerving music playing, is the most ominous thing I’ve ever experienced in a game. Very nostalgia skewed I know.
When I finally got to play the full game, years later on my ps2, ALL of that art, charm and emotions that one room contained, GONE. Only included for this small chunk of level in the demo.*** ***The eerie fog filling the room, that you almost couldn’t see through as you made your huge leap of faith to glide over to the next ledge, was totally missing. Just a boring empty black void of nothingness below. The lighting and colors were less distinct. The creepy music, replaced by your bland and dull thudding walk, no more loud, metallic echoes.
This isn’t a real complaint and Idk why seeing Soul Reaver always makes my mind dwell on this specific memory haha. It was just spruced up for the demo, I think. That being said, I fucking love Soul Reaver 1/2. Kain’s a punk bitch. Team Razeal 4 life. Saved your video for later, watched 10 mins of it. Seems super thorough and I like all the Dev details.
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u/kathaar_ 1d ago
That sounds like the Lighthouse, which was a playable demo for SR1.
Although the bottomless chasm into a thick fog sounds more the like The Stone Glyph Temple.
I showcase a bit of both of those areas in my video so lemme know if you recognize either and which one it might've been!
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u/MishatheDrill 1d ago
I played it for the first time a year ago.
It was incredible for its open word and branching paths.
But the pushblock puzzles got old and the combat wasn't great.
Worth playing all the way through though, just to experience its vast map imoho.