Recent reviews by Onikage

It's been 25 years since the first Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver released on the PlayStation. Now finally, we have both Soul Reaver 1 & 2 available as a remastered version on the PC.

The graphical fidelity upgrade for the most part looks excellent on most models, save for maybe Moebius the Time-Streamer. He just looks a bit off and the expressions don't seem to translate well over to his updated model for some reason. Otherwise, I think they did a fantastic job with touching up the environments, especially in Soul Reaver 1, its not as noticeable in Soul Reaver 2's environments, but the models look nice there as well.

In the game play department, the controls are about the same, although they did add a camera control function which is a really nice addition to be able to control the camera around Raziel. They added a nice map to Soul Reaver 1 with the associated symbols for the clans and areas that you can warp to, and not have to look them up or guess which ones are which, really handy.

To me, Soul Reaver 1 was a masterpiece in gaming from an exploration, platforming, and puzzle standpoint. While the meat of the game is not focused on combat, it does have some strategy in how to take out enemies. Sunlight, fire, impaling, water - these are all possible ways to eliminate the enemy vampires in Nosgoth. I like that about this game. Same with the bosses, they are not traditional fights, each one has a specific strategy to defeating them.

Soul Reaver 2 on the whole is a bit less impressive, the game focuses more on combat, but the tactile nature of the first game is lost upon it. I don't like the changes made specifically to how the reaver works. Also Raziel faces mostly human enemies in the first parts of the game, and the other enemies I mostly ended up running past because it was more frustrating than satisfying to fight them. The presentation and overall world looks better in Soul Reaver 2, as well as the story being more fleshed out with more cinematic scenes. But I feel overall I liked Soul Reaver 1 more by comparison.

At the end of the day, it is absolutely worth the $30 price tag. You get 2 excellent games of their time. A worthy collection for any Soul Reaver fan for around $15 bucks a piece. A good price point for new players entering into the series as well.

New players may initially be turned off by a lack of directions or waypoints, but that is part of the charm of these games. Figuring them out as you go along, the sense of satisfaction for finally solving a puzzle, navigating a platforming section, finding a secret area, discovering how to beat the bosses. To me Soul Reaver 1 is a masterpiece, not because it is perfect, but because of what it brought to the table in its time. Most games today don't offer the same degree of storytelling, exploration, puzzle solving, and just enough unique combat to keep it fun and amusing. Switching between the material realm and the spectral realm as the world around you shifts to open up new possibilities for navigation and exploration. Games to this day don't offer this kind of unique game play and interactivity.

Some critiques would be I really wish they would have included Legacy of Kain: Defiance in the remaster. First time players will be left wondering who the Hylden are, and will not get an answer to that lingering question at the end of Soul Reaver 2. Defiance to me wraps up both arcs.

Here is hoping we eventually get a Defiance remaster and I would like to see the Blood Omen games get some love too, but that may be just wishful thinking on my part.

In any event, I fully recommend this remaster if you are okay with puzzle solving, platforming, and exploration that does not directly tell you where to go next. The combat while fun, is not the focus of these games, yet I find the unique approach to it fun, your mileage may vary there.

I'd like to preface this review by saying I am a huge Tenchu fan. In particular Tenchu: Stealth Assassin's, and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. Tenchu is the game series that got me into the stealth genre, which opened the door for games like MGS, Splinter Cell, Dishonored, etc.

Over the course of the past few decades we've had games like Ninja Gaiden which brought a more combat and magic oriented focus over the stealth approach. While this is a popular gaming style it did not scratch the itch for stealth that the previously mentioned Tenchu games delivered. Mark of the Ninja brought it's own flavor and style of stealth into the side scrolling 2D and was an excellent title, but it lacked the open level design that only 3 dimensional games can offer.

When the first Aragami released it granted players a unique way of navigating the 3D maps. Using the shadows to leap from one shadow area to the next, both horizontally and vertically. There was no jumping in the original game. Combat was also shunned in favor of a more pure stealth approach offering players ways of both assassinating or ghosting levels without killing or being spotted.

Enter Aragami 2. The biggest deviation from the original game was the necessity of having to use the shadows to navigate, that is no longer the case. Instead, in Aragami 2 there is a dedicated jump button in conjunction with Shadow Leap (think grappling hook from the Tenchu games) that allows players to jump and dash around the games environment, regardless of whether there is a shadow present or not.

The combat has also drastically improved, whereas in the original Aragami combat was a death sentence. In Aragami 2 the game offers a more robust combat experience by comparison. Parrying, light attacks, heavy attacks, along with specific tools and powers to help augment the player if they want to engage in combat rather than having to flee. It is still far from having great combat encounters though, but at least the option is there for players that want to actively fight rather than escape when the occasion arises.

The game offers character customization in a variety of ways too. From armor sets that can be mixed and matched to various swords. They even have an assortment of dyes to color your character with as well. The game provides runes which can be purchased via the blacksmith vendor in Kakurega Village (which is like your home area in between missions). These allow to further customize your character by augmenting your stats like stealth, armor, stamina, attack, etc. There is also a variety of tools and potions at your disposal before each mission that you can purchase and stock up on.

There are a total of 50+ missions in Aragami 2, however maps are revisited repeatedly which can get repetitive by the end of the game. The mission objectives do get tougher though as the game progresses into it's later stages, challenging the player not to be detected and to not kill anyone. This is obtainable by the abilities you gain as you level through the ability tree. There is a good selection of abilities to add to your growing array of skills to allow you to approach mission objectives in the best way that suits you.

Overall the story was cool. Nothing mind blowing but I enjoy this type of setting and way of story telling for this particular type of game. I had a lot of fun playing Aragami 2 and it brought back a lot of fond memories of playing the older Tenchu games while also simultaneously forging new ones for this game.

I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a ninja stealth game that is trying to "scratch that itch" of older Tenchu titles. In summary, the best way I could describe Aragami 2 is like Tenchu with shadow powers. Not to take anything away from this game. I think the developers did an outstanding job with the atmosphere and the music too is spot on. I am currently working on finishing up collectibles and maybe even try my hand at the hard difficulty.

That reminds me, the devs have even added a "classic" mode, which allows the player to play Aragami 2 similarly to the original game. Sticking to the shadows and shadow leaping via the shadows. It just goes to show that the developers have listened to player feedback and incorporated a feature that the fans asked for. I think that is noteworthy & worth mentioning in this day and age when a lot of requests fall on deaf ears.

In any event, it's been a fun ride and I hope to see an Aragami 3 in the works down the line.

I was skeptical going into ACIV: Black Flag after the disappointment that was ACIII. Furthermore, I feared the poor ship controls of ACIII would return and be a burden in this game, Finally, I initially thought playing a pirate was stupid and just out of character for an AC game. I thought Ubisoft was running out of ideas and this was just a thrown together effort since this game was released about a year later than ACIII. I didn't have high hopes for this game, I'll admit that right off the bat.

I was compleley wrong on all fronts. This is one of the best AC games in the series, if not the best.

I'll start off with Edward Kenway himself. He is so much different and fresh from the other AC characters. I'd say he is on par with Ezio in terms of characterization, but perhaps not as humorous. Definitely heads and shoulders above the stagnant Connor of ACIII. Even Edward's look is more distinguishable from past AC characters whom all appear to look like clones of each other with subtle changes. Edward Kenway has his own look, and a fresh take on how he "joins" the assassin order. I'll just say this - Edward Kenway is not the typical assassin we've become accustomed to in prior games of the series. It's refreshing and a welcome change.

The Jackdaw, the open sea, and the missions and side missions that go along with it are all outstanding. I thought I'd dread the open sea, I figured I'd loathe the controls of the ship Jackdaw. Again, I was wrong, and surprised at how well the controls were improved upon and refined since ACIII. I had more fun out at sea messing around pirating and plundering other ships then I did on land. That's not to say the more standard Assassin's Creed game play is bad, far from it. I was just so engaged with the open sea that I lost myself for hours at a time. Boarding ships, harpooning, deep sea diving for treasures, and exploring little islands out at sea really took me by surprise how much attention to detail was put into the game. The sea, weather dynamics, and all the nuances that go along with it, makes you feel like a pirate. The atmosphere, the dialect, language, etc are all top notch and really draws you into the world. The graphics and visuals as well are the best in the series to date.

The lands and Island's themselves are much more refreshing as well. Exploration of coves for treasures makes sense because you're a pirate looking for wealth. The foliage has nice visual fidelity and is also a fantastic place to hide as well. Edward will automatically crouch and you can lure enemies in with a whistle for optional stealth kills.

There are some older mechanics from previous AC games that have retuned here. The old "trail and follow while staying out of sight" missions are back, and just becomes a matter of trial and error until you figure it out. The counter kills have become even simpler, for better or worse depending on your outlook. The animations look mostly solid although there a few hiccups here and there. It's worth mentioning that this is the first AC game that I used my swords more than my hidden blades for counter kills, the animations with the swords are pretty wicked, save for a couple borrowed animations from Connor.

I'll conclude my review with mentioning the story. I personally feel this installment of the series had a better story element over some of ther previous titles. It easily trumps ACIII's storyline and doesnt take itself too seriously, but enough for you to care about Edward, his comrades, and his plight. Even the Abstergo stuff is handled well and answers some questions regarding Desmond death and gives us some idea where the franchise may be heading. I liked the antogonist templar characters in this game as well. There is even some twists in the plot as well. Overall a great AC game and anybody who may have been disappointed in the last installment of the series deserves to give this game a chance. You won't regret it.