Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 and 2 are getting a glossed-up remaster

Get ready to act surprised, a listing on PSN has revealed (thanks Wario64) that a remaster of the Soul Reaver games is on the way from Aspyr and will probably be announced in full tonight during the State of Play stream. It will appropriately be called Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is a 1999 sequel to 1996’s Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It stars a new protagonist, Raziel, and changes the gameplay significantly from its 2D top-down roots. It was a turning point for the series, with the games following it leaning heavily on the standards it set. In 2001, it got a sequel, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, that continued the story.

The series found an enthusiastic cult audience. The last game in the series was 2015’s Nosgoth, a free-to-play shooter that didn’t even make it out of beta. It was canceled before its full release, so maybe don’t count it. In that case, Legacy of Kain: Defiance was the last title in 2003. The loyal fanbase has been hungry for more since then, and there have been signs of life from the dormant franchise. A survey back in 2022 hinted at the return, while an exhibit at the San Diego Comic Con had a placard that said Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver I & II Remastered. However, there was a bit of misdirection, as Evercade released a collection featuring Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered features upgraded models and textures, which look kind of amusing over the same PS1-era animations. The high-definition models over old assets approach is kind of my least favorite way of remastering, but, if nothing else, at least it gets the games back on the storefront. Aspyr themselves have a spotty record when it comes to remasters, with some being decent and others being poorly received.

I’m not among the cult fanbase here, however. I own Soul Reaver on Dreamcast, and even though it was one of the first games I grabbed when I bought the system, I couldn’t have played more than an hour of it. It might be time to catch up.

According to the listing, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered is coming December 10, 2024. PlayStation is the only confirmed platform so far but the story is still developing and we should know more soon.