Correction: Couple images mistakenly flipped around the 3min mark. Should be obvious which is the remaster, unless youre editing at 3am :P Looking into "The Thing" next! Pretty cool so far, stay tuned :)
the games original Director Amy Hennig, Best known for writing and directing the first 3 uncharted games called Soul Reaver her "greatest achievement", its not hard to see why.
Interesting characters, great story, compelling mystery's. I love the Soul Reaver series! I only wished Defiance had better puzzle solving and wasn't as fixed camera, that was annoying.
@@Punisher6791 maybe it's a conspiracy theory from sicilon knights but i thought i heard somewhere that they had everything already written and amy kinda just got there with crystal dynamics and combined all the story in one. she did write defiance though. i will look it up later and see if i can find that again.
@@gerboog Soul Reaver is an adaptation from another source material. Raziel's story was rewritten to fit the narrative of Legacy of Kain, I can't remember who wrote the original.
couldn't agree more. Although its not DEMON"S SOULS level, its still great to see an upgrade. Hopefully it does well enough to give us a remake, remember they remastered Shadow of Colossus and then it got a remake..So time will tell, I just hope we wont have to wait as long
In my opinion, this upscale remaster is exactly what older games need. Nothing fancy which takes away from the original world building and aesthetics. Simply clean it up is sufficient. Also, I'm glad the original sound design is still in place.
As an old-school gamer, I totally agree with you. The problem is so many young like teenagers and early 20s absolutely hate on the basic remastered aspect. Like they want them to go further with it. It’s sad. Honestly, this is about as far as I personally want it to go when talking about remastered from 90s and early 2000s games
@@chiarosuburekeni9325 most of the time, just being able to play these old games again is already a treat for us (I'm 26 but always played games older than current year) having this kind of remaster is just a dream, didn't even ask for, yet came true😅, like you said, wouldn't even ask for more
on a CRT in 240p it looked similarly as the old TV managed to hide the imperfections (ps. in low detail textures especially, but as well as the polygons)
@GiuseppeAngelino95 the new hair looks like how his hair looked when he was a vampire. It stands to reason that Raziel's hair as the soul reaver would probably be a bit more messy.
@@nickelakon5369 Bro you don't have to argue with me, just look and the cover of both PS1/PS2 games. They intended it to be like that there's no other reason. The fact that they would/could be messy is something i can agree too, still don't change the fact that they wanted to follow the OG Games 🤣
@TheLastEldenking We're on the PS5 generation, that is no small claim. Best writing among all these various generations of gaming, really? I can give you leeway on PC games, cuz there's always been a ton of console exclusive players.)
@@windy3935yes, it is. This is an absolute masterpiece, storytelling is perfect, atmosphere is unreal good, musics, character design, narrative cycle, dialogues... everything is top notch. There is a reason that its director, after many years, still call it "her greatest achievement".
@@Shido19 No one talks about the dreamcast version that had near SR2 level graphics, way better than PC and PSX. I still have a copy of that one and a working dreamcast.
We are forgetting about how aspyr is still supporting Tomb Raider Remastered? It will surely improve based on user feedbacks...or at least i hope so. Because they can definitely improve lighting and effects.
I like the fact they didnt change much, its been a long time since i played these games. I just hope this isnt the last project in the legacy of kain series
I was just going to say the same thing. The sound is a smidge bit cleaner with a tiny bit more bass at times. I love the fact that it'll be like I remember with a few quality of life improvements.
I dislike the fact that they didn't change much. They should have made the game as it was originally intended with all the cut content! Soul Reaver Alpha is so much better than the release version
@@Robert-rl7rd Soul Reaver Alpha is essential an entirely different game from Soul Reaver. This is the game people wanted to play not the ideas which Crystal Dynamics were to ambitious with.
0:37 What?! The way I vividly remember that character is quite literally what the improved version looks like. I had no idea it looked that bad and that my mind was already remastering this in real time when I was a kid.
Looks like all the care and effort that seems lacking in the areas of lighting and such was pooled into the extra features and lore. A huge thing you forgot to cover with this remaster is that, especially for SR1, there is a ton of stuff they added in for lore purposes. They even added in the cut levels for people to explore.
@blumoon131 Whoa whoa hold up. Besides and outside the cut levels, they expanded the lore? And they just casually added a whole night and day cycle?? (BTW is that cycle included in classic mode or just for the modern mode?)
@@windy3935If I remember well, there were contents cut from the game due to the lack of space in disk: the territory of Turel's clan where is the furnace which appears in the opening cinematic; and a cult of vampire adorers in the Human Citadel, commanded by a Priestess. Defeating her would grant Raziel the power to posses his enemies.
Regardless of what people think regarding the original vs remaster, im just glad that we got this 25 years later so that fans can relive the fun of playing as Raziel. To me, playing the game now since I've never been able to before makes me really happy and the designs looks great in both the 1st and 2nd games. So long as the story has me hooked, I'm really glad to play these games on PS5 at last! 🎉
The only thing I prefer in Raziel's old model is how his body parts appear more "dirty". Like, if you look at his torn wings, the colour darkens as it reaches the edge, not only making them look more damaged but also pops out more visually. The newer model's colour and textures are a little too "clean". Even some of the enemies like the vampire zombies' loincloths are no longer torn and super clean in the new version. 3:54 The new model has no blood when attacked and the mouth doesn't even move?
Yeah that was one thing that always stood out to me in the original. The grunginess and desolation of the world. Things were ragged, broken, worn, forlorn, forgotten. The world was ruined and simply decaying. The remasters models themselves appear very faithful to how they should appear, with the exception that they are too clean and neat. The image of Raziel gliding down on torn wings like an angelic predator as he descends upon some abominations to crucify them in fire and swallow their soul into an empty maw was iconic. Make Raziel's Wings Ragged Again!
And Melciah looks scarier in the original, as his colour is more light thus making him look like he's made out of human korpses. Where's the renewed one he's too grey and looks like an action figure.
I've been waiting super patiently for months, legacy of kain is the last series I care about in this world and this remaster looks exactly how my young mind interpreted the pixelated graphics in 1998, can't wait for tomorrow
@@mantraki Yep, great writing, great lore, the GREATEST acting ever conceived for a video game and the art direction.....the world and its architectures are just so gothic and beautiful to look at. This game just really sucks you into its atmosphere. Love getting lost in it.
TR Remastered was patched and optimized for months after release. I bet we can expect the same here. Details like these will be likely fixed not to late after launch.
Funnily enough this is actually a recording error, the classic shows Melchiah being damaged the second time, while the remastered shows him being damaged the first time. The bloodied texture is still there
10:27 Is the remaster also used to record the classic segments? The speed at which the soul disappears from the material world seems way too fast - I play all the LoK games once a year minimum it's not my nostalgia talking here
Yes, as I stated at the start, og graphics mode is being used. There's likely other small changes from the original ps1 release, but we're focusing more on the general art assets and design elements
SR1 on PSX had music dynamically changing depending on various circumstances, but the PC port had just one fixed track with multiple mixes for each area. How does it look on the PC now?
Looks worthy to me. Let hope for a physical release. Also so you know if control have been change it? And also the camera? I try to replay this on PS1 and the framerate/control/camera combination make this game very annoying, the camera work especially is a mess.
Don't forget the countless mods that will be created that will change sounds, textures, and so on. Look at Tomb Raider remaster collection. They added better braids, better faces to match the cutscenes more, different sound effect, even replaced Lara's voice with those from newer games. So I am pretty certain that in 7 days, you have some mods that change the footsteps, the growls from the monsters, textures, and so on. For those who want a bit more of a crisp feel. What I was missing in this was the controls. Are there newer controls like with Tomb Raider?
@@skeldare Yeah. And even though TR is way more reliant on the squared geometry for gameplay purposes than Soul Reaver, they even changed some surfaces of the game. I think that more than lighing, Soul Reaver team could easily have more freedom to update the enviroments than TR remasters had. Yet, all they did was improve the textures. I mean, this remaster is pretty good, but TR Remasters were way better(and they even made it more better with patch 2 and patch 4).
Great video, could have included a section with a rendering distance side by side, as that's one of the biggest things you can get from remasters like this, on top of the updated models and textures.
I think they could have done more to be honest, which is disappointing because the Legacy of Kain series are some of my favorite games. The biggest changes are the textures and models but everything else is exactly the same. When you look at how The Thing remaster turned out or even the Tomb Raider remaster you can see that way more effort was put into those.
@@Atrus999 The remaster looks beautiful!! Geez, some are just hard to please and I thought I was one of them. Guess not. This is exactly how it should look! The models look like their CG versions now.
@@CJTranceAddiction I never said it looked terrible or anything. I like how the models look too. But that's really all they updated which to me feels lazy. I'd rather just save the money and replay the originals which still look fine. And again, it hurts to say that as these are some of my favorite games but I'm not going to pretend these are the best remasters I've ever seen just because I'm a fan.
As for the sound, you're probably not aware of this, but on the PC the the first Soul Reaver did not have the dynamic switching of music it had on other platforms. That has been restored. The game also has bonuses hard-core fans will appreciate. So, there is more than just the base game remasters for the value. Not to mention, the entire opening cinematic intro to SR has been rerendered and remastered.
It’s a shame nobody has took the risk to properly remake and reboot the series. The problem with these minimal effort remasters is that they don’t attract new fans to the series, so ultimately they won’t over-perform in terms of sales and hence this is probably the last we see of the series now. Blows
@@coolmuzt well that’s exactly what this is… I’m not necessarily saying it’s bad but I am saying this is a pretty basic re-release using copious amounts of AI upscaling. It’s a cash grab and that’s okay, but don’t expect it to attract legions of new fans to the series.
The visual treatment seems overall quite nice since they have managed to mostly keep the original feel in tact while updating the fidelity (unlike for example the 343 Halo CE remaster which butchered the original art direction). It’s a bit of a shame that they didn’t do anything to improve the audio, but I’m still hyped about this. I don’t know a lot of people who played these games back in the day but I loved them so I’m glad to see an effort to preserve them. Definitely will buy this.
I'm a fan of that old school visual style. So for me, it looks excellent. I never played those games back in the day, so I might have to consider giving this a go.
I don't think we really need it. This remaster looks like they brought the graphics of the original games up to the same level as what they looked like in Defiance so there probably wouldn't be many changes, if any.
I think they’ve done a beautiful job of maintaining the exact same wonderful game with updated textures - literally what any remaster should be: don’t change anything about the actual GAME just change the detail so that they sit closer to the level we expect from games today. Old games are remembered fondly not because of their graphics but because of their gameplay and this remaster just upscales the graphics so modern audiences don’t have as big a hurdle playing such fantastic games 🥳
I heard they got this lady, Raina Audron, who has been involved in tons of mod projects for SR for years as well as researching about the original's tons of cut content, to work on this remaster Which is amazing when you think about it, working on some game out of pure fan interest and impressing the right people to get to work on it officially
This truly shows how far graphics have come (character topology)! Imagine getting a remastered version after 1 year of the game back then... UNREAL. Yet today people are analysing every small pixel in a DLSSR + Super Exkstra Multi Sampling Dingy Thingy AI resolution bumper scalier LOL. Games were games back then and I happily go back to my LoK
I'm glad there's an original graphics option still as in my opinion I just love PlayStation 1 3D when it comes to horror stuff As I feel your eyes fill in the blanks and things look even weirder because your brain is trying to process what you're actually looking at
I'm glad they didn't do a remake, but a faithful remaster. I loved everything I've seen here, except for some of those PS2 textures that were cleaned up a little bit.
We have to appreciate the animation work in this game. It's already difficult to animate satisfactorily using today's tools, imagine animating so well back then... There were no RUclips tutorials back then, you know? The animations in this game are better than many indie games nowadays.
looks very impressive it's unfortunate most remasters never go through such a transformation. Half the time barely even see much of a difference. This is how a remaster should always be done.
Is there a frame rate difference between classic and remaster like in Tomb Raider 1-3? I wish they had unlocked the classic mode to have 60fps as well as remaster mode
The Dreamcast version of Soul Reaver was far the best, and still actually looks pretty good. The intro was one of the best visuals around in my opinion
I found only one glitch with lack of textures in Melchiah's room. It's not a perfect remaster as I think but it is driving me crazy how Remaster devs still remember this game and hold it in our mind
Hi Nick930, you direct comparison is amazing, in fact I’m commenting you while I’m watching on my TV, but I gotta ask, is there anything you are hoping to see at The Game Awards this year?
Assuming Aspyr's revenue forecast for this (excellent) game - which is not a cult classic like Tomb Raider is outside of the video games sphere - was low, hence their budget for remastering it was most likely the same. So with a limited budget for a niche (but beloved) video game, we get the standard-but-expected average graphical updates and almost no sound & audio touch ups.
As long as the remaster doesn't change the phenomenal dialog and voice acting...I bought SR1 on Dreamcast in 1999 and haven't played a game since that's better in those respects.
I hope remasters like these are made for the first two Thief games, the first two Deus Ex games, the first two Medal Of Honor games, Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine, Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb, the first Unreal game, the second Kyle Katarn Star Wars game, the PS1-era Duke Nukem games, both Nightmare Creatures games and System Shock 2.
Would have loved a more refined remaster like the crash bandicoot n.sane trilogy : not remake but a Enhanced remaster . But still regardless i love this remaster
I think Activision with Crash bandicoot n.sane trilogy really confused people with terminology of remasters and remakes. Because the Crash games game were rebuilt from scratch, so they are REMAKES, not remasters.
My issue with this Remaster is that weordly enough the decided to go from ps1 to ps3, instead of a much modern remake. I know it was probably a budgetary reason, but still...those backgrounds and lighting seems very similar...but hd.
Yeah, the sound is exactly the same. depending on how they did the sound, voice actor recordings may be baked into other sounds and would take a lot to untangle as most of the voice acting cast are dead.
@@Nick930 I would like to point out when remastering this the lead produce stated the point of the remaster was to make it look how you thought it looked back in the day without changing its overall looks. Which is why they didnt go the full tomb raider remaster route.
While I do agree that they could have updated more of the game's visuals, I actually like how both games still have that PS2 feel, keeping the original atmosphere almost intact.
It's time to dust off my Raziel and Kain figures and exhibit them back on the shelf like I used to do in the 2000s. The difference is that the shelf is now in my office.
Correction:
Couple images mistakenly flipped around the 3min mark. Should be obvious which is the remaster, unless youre editing at 3am :P
Looking into "The Thing" next! Pretty cool so far, stay tuned :)
Look man, i was watching this at 3 am so it's nice of you to clarify cause i got confused! (jk)
Same, it's amazing how my younger self filled the blanks with my imagination.
I USED TO BE AN EDITOR. AT 3AM YOU END UP MAKING EDITS WITH YOUR NOSE. SORRY FOR ALL CAPS. BAD EYESIGHT. MAYBE FROM LOOKING AT SCREENS MY WHOLE LIFE.
The remaster is how i saw the classic in that time hahaha
Seriously as a kid seeing the game, i was stoked
Not for me, LOL. I loved the game but it's one of the few games that I thought over from time to time about how much better it could have looked.
Exactly what I was going to say!! 😄 May be noticable now but back then to me the graphics looked like the remastered graphics. 😄
The remastered Raziel is how I remember him looking in Soul Reaver 2.
Funnily enough that's what the development team said they were aiming for. Not how it was but how you remember it.
the games original Director Amy Hennig, Best known for writing and directing the first 3 uncharted games called Soul Reaver her "greatest achievement", its not hard to see why.
hmm..did she though??
@gerboog she did, look it up
Interesting characters, great story, compelling mystery's. I love the Soul Reaver series! I only wished Defiance had better puzzle solving and wasn't as fixed camera, that was annoying.
@@Punisher6791 maybe it's a conspiracy theory from sicilon knights but i thought i heard somewhere that they had everything already written and amy kinda just got there with crystal dynamics and combined all the story in one. she did write defiance though. i will look it up later and see if i can find that again.
@@gerboog Soul Reaver is an adaptation from another source material. Raziel's story was rewritten to fit the narrative of Legacy of Kain, I can't remember who wrote the original.
The amazing part about this remaster is that it at least exists, good or bad is so great to see this series brought back to life.
Looks like the IP got bought out by Embracer Group frorm Square Enix. Square Enix probably did nothing with it's Western IP and sold to them.
Absolutely, I'm in tears! Never thought that this gem of a series would have seen a remastered edition!
couldn't agree more. Although its not DEMON"S SOULS level, its still great to see an upgrade. Hopefully it does well enough to give us a remake, remember they remastered Shadow of Colossus and then it got a remake..So time will tell, I just hope we wont have to wait as long
that is a very defeatist sad and depressed way of looking at things
@@ichigokiller47demon’s souls is a REMAKE!!!! JEEZ! Learn the difference… nonsense to compare to DMS…
"Eyes gave him too naïve and simple appearance"? Brother my whole life I read those eyes as being angry at the whole situation he's in :D
In my opinion, this upscale remaster is exactly what older games need. Nothing fancy which takes away from the original world building and aesthetics. Simply clean it up is sufficient. Also, I'm glad the original sound design is still in place.
Doesn't even look like an upscale, some models look completely redone with details
As an old-school gamer, I totally agree with you. The problem is so many young like teenagers and early 20s absolutely hate on the basic remastered aspect. Like they want them to go further with it. It’s sad. Honestly, this is about as far as I personally want it to go when talking about remastered from 90s and early 2000s games
@@chiarosuburekeni9325 most of the time, just being able to play these old games again is already a treat for us (I'm 26 but always played games older than current year) having this kind of remaster is just a dream, didn't even ask for, yet came true😅, like you said, wouldn't even ask for more
It is impressive how the remaster looks how you remember the classic looking
@@RicochetForce No doubt as much as I would like it to look higher poly this remaster isnt for me its for fans of the original
That’s because most folks played it on ps1 but it looked extremely close to this on dream cast
@@RyanTaylor-v5b not at all
No... Soul Reaver 1 always looks ugly
on a CRT in 240p it looked similarly as the old TV managed to hide the imperfections (ps. in low detail textures especially, but as well as the polygons)
There's a couple moments where you put the wrong images in the remaster/original position...
Whoops
@@Nick930 waos
I noticed that.
He is testing his viewer if we notice anything lol
that tells a lot about remaster)))
Raziel’s new hair looks like he just got out of a salon
The "new" hair is how he was meant to be in the original Crystal Dynamic's vision 😂
@GiuseppeAngelino95 the new hair looks like how his hair looked when he was a vampire. It stands to reason that Raziel's hair as the soul reaver would probably be a bit more messy.
@@nickelakon5369 His hair is the same style as in soul reaver 2 and defiance tho?
@@nickelakon5369 Bro you don't have to argue with me, just look and the cover of both PS1/PS2 games. They intended it to be like that there's no other reason. The fact that they would/could be messy is something i can agree too, still don't change the fact that they wanted to follow the OG Games 🤣
😂
Best story writing I have ever seen in a videogame!!! I love this franchise sooo much!
better than Halo 1/2/3?
@TheLastEldenking We're on the PS5 generation, that is no small claim. Best writing among all these various generations of gaming, really? I can give you leeway on PC games, cuz there's always been a ton of console exclusive players.)
@@windy3935yes, it is. This is an absolute masterpiece, storytelling is perfect, atmosphere is unreal good, musics, character design, narrative cycle, dialogues... everything is top notch. There is a reason that its director, after many years, still call it "her greatest achievement".
@@SixSioux Yes.
@@SixSioux Halo 1/2/3 had mediocre writing.
I LOVE the original's sound design, so I'm not that mad that wasn't a major focus for the remaster.
It was likely an "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation, which I agree with you on.
guess images got flipped a bit haha 3:40
Noticed lol
I am glad that these two classics are remastered. The first one on Dreamcast was awesome.
THIS
@@Shido19 No one talks about the dreamcast version that had near SR2 level graphics, way better than PC and PSX. I still have a copy of that one and a working dreamcast.
We are forgetting about how aspyr is still supporting Tomb Raider Remastered? It will surely improve based on user feedbacks...or at least i hope so. Because they can definitely improve lighting and effects.
I like the fact they didnt change much, its been a long time since i played these games. I just hope this isnt the last project in the legacy of kain series
I was just going to say the same thing. The sound is a smidge bit cleaner with a tiny bit more bass at times. I love the fact that it'll be like I remember with a few quality of life improvements.
I dislike the fact that they didn't change much. They should have made the game as it was originally intended with all the cut content! Soul Reaver Alpha is so much better than the release version
How has blood omen not been remastered yet
@@Robert-rl7rdi disagree with you
@@Robert-rl7rd Soul Reaver Alpha is essential an entirely different game from Soul Reaver. This is the game people wanted to play not the ideas which Crystal Dynamics were to ambitious with.
0:37 What?! The way I vividly remember that character is quite literally what the improved version looks like. I had no idea it looked that bad and that my mind was already remastering this in real time when I was a kid.
That’s not really that drastic of a difference
@@dominiquewilson I beg to differ.
Maybe you played on the Dreamcast?
You probably played on a CRT TV which does a great job at smoothing things out
The dreamcast had different models in many cases. Especially raziel and kain
Looks like all the care and effort that seems lacking in the areas of lighting and such was pooled into the extra features and lore. A huge thing you forgot to cover with this remaster is that, especially for SR1, there is a ton of stuff they added in for lore purposes. They even added in the cut levels for people to explore.
They also added a day-night cycle that was to be included in the original.
It's easy to poo poo something your heart wasn't in to begin with.
@blumoon131 Whoa whoa hold up. Besides and outside the cut levels, they expanded the lore? And they just casually added a whole night and day cycle?? (BTW is that cycle included in classic mode or just for the modern mode?)
Nawa o
@@windy3935If I remember well, there were contents cut from the game due to the lack of space in disk: the territory of Turel's clan where is the furnace which appears in the opening cinematic; and a cult of vampire adorers in the Human Citadel, commanded by a Priestess. Defeating her would grant Raziel the power to posses his enemies.
Regardless of what people think regarding the original vs remaster, im just glad that we got this 25 years later so that fans can relive the fun of playing as Raziel.
To me, playing the game now since I've never been able to before makes me really happy and the designs looks great in both the 1st and 2nd games.
So long as the story has me hooked, I'm really glad to play these games on PS5 at last! 🎉
Impressive how they kept his original models chuckyness while updating it
Fingers crossed this remaster means that a new game or maybe full remakes will be on the way.
been looking forward to this for over 20 years i cant believe its finally here
The only thing I prefer in Raziel's old model is how his body parts appear more "dirty". Like, if you look at his torn wings, the colour darkens as it reaches the edge, not only making them look more damaged but also pops out more visually. The newer model's colour and textures are a little too "clean". Even some of the enemies like the vampire zombies' loincloths are no longer torn and super clean in the new version.
3:54 The new model has no blood when attacked and the mouth doesn't even move?
Yeah when the gate comes down on the character there is no blood like the Original version.
Yeah that was one thing that always stood out to me in the original. The grunginess and desolation of the world. Things were ragged, broken, worn, forlorn, forgotten. The world was ruined and simply decaying.
The remasters models themselves appear very faithful to how they should appear, with the exception that they are too clean and neat. The image of Raziel gliding down on torn wings like an angelic predator as he descends upon some abominations to crucify them in fire and swallow their soul into an empty maw was iconic. Make Raziel's Wings Ragged Again!
Yeah the wings are a disappointment
And Melciah looks scarier in the original, as his colour is more light thus making him look like he's made out of human korpses. Where's the renewed one he's too grey and looks like an action figure.
I was worried they would recast the VAs, but thankfully they kept it. RIP Tony Jay.
After waiting 25 years, we really deserved a full remake or re-imagined version. Better than nothing though.
@RicochetForce Well they can play the Dreamcast version and emulation.
@@D-NastyNoise That is signficantly harder than just paying X amount of money and playing it on Steam.
I've been waiting super patiently for months, legacy of kain is the last series I care about in this world and this remaster looks exactly how my young mind interpreted the pixelated graphics in 1998, can't wait for tomorrow
Whats with this series that people love it so much, could you describe it, so i see if its worth it checking it out
@@mantraki great writing, dark lore.
@@mantraki Yep, great writing, great lore, the GREATEST acting ever conceived for a video game and the art direction.....the world and its architectures are just so gothic and beautiful to look at. This game just really sucks you into its atmosphere. Love getting lost in it.
I'm an hour into this game after watching the intro 3 times.
anyone else notice on the first boss he put the remaster where the classic goes and vise versa a few times?
Melchiah easily got the biggest glow up. In the OG, Rahab was my favorite. But in the remaster, its definitely Melchiah
Glad someone remembered his name 😅
i know i'm being nitpicky here, but why remove the blood at 3:54
TR Remastered was patched and optimized for months after release. I bet we can expect the same here. Details like these will be likely fixed not to late after launch.
@@CoconutChriss Damn hope so it looks censored and sucky.
He's also missing the way his mouth expands when he screams.
don't count on an update. these decisions were made knowingly to censore the og
Funnily enough this is actually a recording error, the classic shows Melchiah being damaged the second time, while the remastered shows him being damaged the first time. The bloodied texture is still there
I have no access to the original versions, so 10/10 👍
very low bar. or are you a bot?
@dannyd4339 SR1&2 are bucket list games for me, so that puffs up the score a bit. I will keep you guessing on the bot question.
@@zettor47 yeah def a bot. wether you reside in a computer or you are just a living breathing bot makes no difference.
@@dannyd4339 😂😂😂 were you dropped as baby?
@@sheepfly nope, unlike you i had a father to catch me.
100% deserving of a REMAKE.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s perfect. Huge W
10:27 Is the remaster also used to record the classic segments? The speed at which the soul disappears from the material world seems way too fast - I play all the LoK games once a year minimum it's not my nostalgia talking here
Yes, as I stated at the start, og graphics mode is being used. There's likely other small changes from the original ps1 release, but we're focusing more on the general art assets and design elements
SR1 on PSX had music dynamically changing depending on various circumstances, but the PC port had just one fixed track with multiple mixes for each area. How does it look on the PC now?
They fixed this on PC, according to some interview from the devs.
Looks worthy to me. Let hope for a physical release. Also so you know if control have been change it? And also the camera? I try to replay this on PS1 and the framerate/control/camera combination make this game very annoying, the camera work especially is a mess.
Anyone else see a face on Raziel's flag on the classic graphics? 1:04
Don't forget the countless mods that will be created that will change sounds, textures, and so on. Look at Tomb Raider remaster collection. They added better braids, better faces to match the cutscenes more, different sound effect, even replaced Lara's voice with those from newer games. So I am pretty certain that in 7 days, you have some mods that change the footsteps, the growls from the monsters, textures, and so on. For those who want a bit more of a crisp feel.
What I was missing in this was the controls. Are there newer controls like with Tomb Raider?
Yea the writing and voice acting is still insane and the new models are cool
Seems kinda lacking in other areas though, we will see
One thing i disliked on this remaster is the footsteps sound of the first game that didn't change. The sound of the second game is so satisfying.
This just shows how much the Tomb Raider remasters spoiled us.
What do you mean?
@@mrnecromancer2005 in regards to updates to lighting and certain environmental items
@@skeldare Yeah. And even though TR is way more reliant on the squared geometry for gameplay purposes than Soul Reaver, they even changed some surfaces of the game. I think that more than lighing, Soul Reaver team could easily have more freedom to update the enviroments than TR remasters had. Yet, all they did was improve the textures.
I mean, this remaster is pretty good, but TR Remasters were way better(and they even made it more better with patch 2 and patch 4).
@@filipe7851 exactly!!
@@filipe7851The thing with Soul Reaver is that the geometry works a certain way to pull off the realm shifting.
Great video, could have included a section with a rendering distance side by side, as that's one of the biggest things you can get from remasters like this, on top of the updated models and textures.
I first played this on the Sega Dreamcast. I'll have to get this after I clear more of my backlog of games, lol 😆
This is how you make a remaster, well done
I think they could have done more to be honest, which is disappointing because the Legacy of Kain series are some of my favorite games. The biggest changes are the textures and models but everything else is exactly the same. When you look at how The Thing remaster turned out or even the Tomb Raider remaster you can see that way more effort was put into those.
@@Atrus999we get to run through lost levels that were cut. That is the coolest thing I've ever seen in a remaster but to each their own.
@@frigidartist5732 We should have gotten the lost levels AND better effects and lighting but like you said, to each their own.
@@Atrus999 The remaster looks beautiful!! Geez, some are just hard to please and I thought I was one of them. Guess not. This is exactly how it should look! The models look like their CG versions now.
@@CJTranceAddiction I never said it looked terrible or anything. I like how the models look too. But that's really all they updated which to me feels lazy. I'd rather just save the money and replay the originals which still look fine. And again, it hurts to say that as these are some of my favorite games but I'm not going to pretend these are the best remasters I've ever seen just because I'm a fan.
Technical limitations were a thing in the old days young blood. We were SO lucky to have this way back when.
Agreed the PS1 and the PS2 era were both incredible
I never thought this remaster would happen after so many years. Glad to see this actually release in a decent state.
As for the sound, you're probably not aware of this, but on the PC the the first Soul Reaver did not have the dynamic switching of music it had on other platforms. That has been restored. The game also has bonuses hard-core fans will appreciate. So, there is more than just the base game remasters for the value. Not to mention, the entire opening cinematic intro to SR has been rerendered and remastered.
and error at 3:23
It’s a shame nobody has took the risk to properly remake and reboot the series. The problem with these minimal effort remasters is that they don’t attract new fans to the series, so ultimately they won’t over-perform in terms of sales and hence this is probably the last we see of the series now. Blows
Minimal effort remaster? What are you on about?
@@coolmuzt well that’s exactly what this is… I’m not necessarily saying it’s bad but I am saying this is a pretty basic re-release using copious amounts of AI upscaling. It’s a cash grab and that’s okay, but don’t expect it to attract legions of new fans to the series.
@@bollywongaloid "using AI upscaling"
Okay, but how effectively is it being used? That's what matters.
The visual treatment seems overall quite nice since they have managed to mostly keep the original feel in tact while updating the fidelity (unlike for example the 343 Halo CE remaster which butchered the original art direction). It’s a bit of a shame that they didn’t do anything to improve the audio, but I’m still hyped about this. I don’t know a lot of people who played these games back in the day but I loved them so I’m glad to see an effort to preserve them. Definitely will buy this.
Its crazy how well animated the original was compared to other titles of the time.
I'm a fan of that old school visual style. So for me, it looks excellent. I never played those games back in the day, so I might have to consider giving this a go.
I hope we will get remaster of Defiance.
I don't think we really need it. This remaster looks like they brought the graphics of the original games up to the same level as what they looked like in Defiance so there probably wouldn't be many changes, if any.
It had pretty decent graphics as i remember
@@Atrus999 Yeah I realized how much this remaster actually reminds me of Defiance
@@Brkchey hope add the other games to a pack.
I think they are testing the water with this release, to see if it sells well. If so, we may get a new Soul reaver game. So buy it everyone!
I think they’ve done a beautiful job of maintaining the exact same wonderful game with updated textures - literally what any remaster should be: don’t change anything about the actual GAME just change the detail so that they sit closer to the level we expect from games today. Old games are remembered fondly not because of their graphics but because of their gameplay and this remaster just upscales the graphics so modern audiences don’t have as big a hurdle playing such fantastic games 🥳
I heard they got this lady, Raina Audron, who has been involved in tons of mod projects for SR for years as well as researching about the original's tons of cut content, to work on this remaster
Which is amazing when you think about it, working on some game out of pure fan interest and impressing the right people to get to work on it officially
This truly shows how far graphics have come (character topology)! Imagine getting a remastered version after 1 year of the game back then... UNREAL. Yet today people are analysing every small pixel in a DLSSR + Super Exkstra Multi Sampling Dingy Thingy AI resolution bumper scalier LOL. Games were games back then and I happily go back to my LoK
I'm glad there's an original graphics option still as in my opinion I just love PlayStation 1 3D when it comes to horror stuff As I feel your eyes fill in the blanks and things look even weirder because your brain is trying to process what you're actually looking at
I'm glad they didn't do a remake, but a faithful remaster. I loved everything I've seen here, except for some of those PS2 textures that were cleaned up a little bit.
We have to appreciate the animation work in this game. It's already difficult to animate satisfactorily using today's tools, imagine animating so well back then... There were no RUclips tutorials back then, you know? The animations in this game are better than many indie games nowadays.
time for the thing remaster comparison!
The best part imo, is the lighting looks mostly the same as the original. Helps keep the same feels alive.
looks very impressive it's unfortunate most remasters never go through such a transformation. Half the time barely even see much of a difference. This is how a remaster should always be done.
Is there a frame rate difference between classic and remaster like in Tomb Raider 1-3? I wish they had unlocked the classic mode to have 60fps as well as remaster mode
Understood. Never played SR 1, played SR 2 for 5 or more min. but finished LOK: Defiance many times. Would like to see that game being remastered.
The Dreamcast version of Soul Reaver was far the best, and still actually looks pretty good. The intro was one of the best visuals around in my opinion
The remaster is simply excellent. But I can't explain it that way, there is some charm in those old graphics and that classic look.
I found only one glitch with lack of textures in Melchiah's room. It's not a perfect remaster as I think but it is driving me crazy how Remaster devs still remember this game and hold it in our mind
Please, Dreamcast Hd texture versión Vs Remastered.
Hi Nick930, you direct comparison is amazing, in fact I’m commenting you while I’m watching on my TV, but I gotta ask, is there anything you are hoping to see at The Game Awards this year?
Not really. I typically dont watch the game awards
Oh, Ok 👍 , then what would you like to see for gaming in 2025?
Assuming Aspyr's revenue forecast for this (excellent) game - which is not a cult classic like Tomb Raider is outside of the video games sphere - was low, hence their budget for remastering it was most likely the same. So with a limited budget for a niche (but beloved) video game, we get the standard-but-expected average graphical updates and almost no sound & audio touch ups.
Я из России и просто обожаю Legacy of Kain с самого первого появления Разиэля так, что ремастер просто моё почтение.
Dude I wasn't even aware of this remaster until I saw this video pop up in my feed!!
As long as the remaster doesn't change the phenomenal dialog and voice acting...I bought SR1 on Dreamcast in 1999 and haven't played a game since that's better in those respects.
His color is better in the classic. He's definitely way more bright purple-ish in the classic. But the remastered looks awesome! I want this game 🎮🎮
I hope remasters like these are made for the first two Thief games, the first two Deus Ex games, the first two Medal Of Honor games, Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine, Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb, the first Unreal game, the second Kyle Katarn Star Wars game, the PS1-era Duke Nukem games, both Nightmare Creatures games and System Shock 2.
Would have loved a more refined remaster like the crash bandicoot n.sane trilogy : not remake but a Enhanced remaster .
But still regardless i love this remaster
I think Activision with Crash bandicoot n.sane trilogy really confused people with terminology of remasters and remakes. Because the Crash games game were rebuilt from scratch, so they are REMAKES, not remasters.
The modding community is either going to do great work or nothing at all cause this game just looks beautiful
@@afkmh2392The modding community should add the cut content
I remember playing 1 and never beat it. Got lost. But now with the remaster and walk thrus. I’ll have to check it out
Crazy how good the dialogue of this game still is.
I still play the Dreamcast version occasionally and it holds up.
My issue with this Remaster is that weordly enough the decided to go from ps1 to ps3, instead of a much modern remake. I know it was probably a budgetary reason, but still...those backgrounds and lighting seems very similar...but hd.
Its amazing how much easier SR1 is when you can see things. The real challenge of the 1999 version is 420p and 3D controls with no analog sticks.
I loved that freakin' game. Thanks for the comparison, Nick!
I like how he still does the early 3d character constantly moving things lol
I am happy the they just updated the graphics and kept the majority of the game true to the originals.
Thank you for your video,
Im just thankful for the remaster
Gonna look past the flaws and just play it
Kinda glad the sound design is almost exactly the same. That’s a lot of the nostalgia for me.
Every time I started the game, it always felt like I was at the start like it never felt like I was saving it and continuing it
Now if they remaster blood omen 1&2 and defiance I’ll be even more stoked. Love this.
Yeah, the sound is exactly the same. depending on how they did the sound, voice actor recordings may be baked into other sounds and would take a lot to untangle as most of the voice acting cast are dead.
I wish they re-animated the characters and at least increased the polygon count on the environment… along with effects…😢
That's why it's called a remaster and not a remake.
Very good price on launch, will be picking this classic up that is for certain. I want more Legacy of Kain games in the future.
Aspyr did not remaster this. It was Saber. Same as the Tomb Raider trilogy
Actually no. Saber was sold by embracer. This was aspyr.
@@Nick930 I would like to point out when remastering this the lead produce stated the point of the remaster was to make it look how you thought it looked back in the day without changing its overall looks. Which is why they didnt go the full tomb raider remaster route.
This is exactly what I want from remasters of old games.
At the end of the day, even if the remaster is a bit hit n miss, I'm just happy to be playing these games again.
Now if we get a remaster of Oogie's Revenge, I'm set for life!
It looks just like the Sega Dreamcast version do the comparison with that
Yeah I'd be interested to see that version as well
While I do agree that they could have updated more of the game's visuals, I actually like how both games still have that PS2 feel, keeping the original atmosphere almost intact.
I’ve wondered how they’d improve Soul Reaver 2. 23 year old PS2 game or not, it still looks gorgeous
I wish GTA the definitive edition had that graphic toggle thing
It's time to dust off my Raziel and Kain figures and exhibit them back on the shelf like I used to do in the 2000s. The difference is that the shelf is now in my office.