I struggled to get into Soul Reaver initially. I wouldn't say I was wrong to, either. There's a lot of issues, and most stay for all of the game. The combat isn't terrible in theory but since you're almost always fighting vampires, who are immortal, you will have to pick them up and throw them into something that kills them (water, fire, spikes, etc), which is sluggish, unresponsive and very difficult to do while their friend is clawing your face in. There's some ways to mitigate that, such as remaining at full health to use the Soul Reaver or just bringing a spear into the fight, but they aren't always reliable, and overall the gimmick ends up making basically all fights a drag whenever it isn't just negated by one of the above.
Really though, I could get past that. I could also get past the block puzzles, which I honestly ended up enjoying a bit, and the platforming, which kinda sucked but I had save states so who cares. I was mostly confused by the exploration, and I think fairly so. Soul Reaver is an impressively open-ended game, and while you're always given vague directions on what to do next, they're difficult to interpret: the world is big, teleport points are infrequent and most damningly there is no map, which means I really barely had any idea where I was going for most of it. There were even whole completely optional areas, which while extremely impressive kept confusing me even more because I kept wandering around them without realizing that they weren't where I was supposed to be. Eventually, though, Soul Reaver began to click. The puzzles and exploration of the dungeons all fell into place, the bosses, while of mixed quality, were all at least interesting, and I started to get a hang of the game's structure. I'd say that the latter half of the game was definitely the most fun I had with it, overall.
That initial reaction, I think, is what most players will have, and that's a shame because under that layer of poor communication and confusion lack of direction lays a rather well-made 3D Metroidvania, not something you'd see often in this generation, or the next, really. Raziel constantly acquires new powers and the world expands as a result, which is quite great because every level's different atmosphere is absolutely Soul Reaver's greatest strength. The adaptive music (absent from the PC version, for some reason) is extremely well-realized, shifting between different instruments and vibes when Raziel enters a fight or switches to and from the spirit world. Unfortunately, exploration is somewhat discouraged by the awful combat and a complete lack of a map (I can make do without one in games with simple or extremely memorable layouts, but Soul Reaver doesn't really fit either description), which meant that I still mostly just made a beeline to the end, with the occasional help of a guide.
The story is perhaps a bit in the background compared to Blood Omen, unfortunately there isn't as much dialogue, and Raziel doesn't do the Kain thing of commenting at length about every single location he enters and ability he gets (which I loved), but I think he's still a great protagonist, maybe not quite as charismatic but very very fascinating, and I loved it every time he did speak. The final confrontation between him and Kain is great, but without getting into spoilers, I have to admit that the story doesn't really ever feel like it's... getting anywhere? Blood Omen had one hell of a climax, a pretty drawn-out one too. Soul Reaver just ends, and with a cliffhanger at that. Still, I had a good time. I would say that it's probably not worth it to play this game if you're not interested in the LoK series as a whole, which I am, but personally, I had a pretty good time, and am definitely looking forward to playing the next game, Soul Reaver 2.
Really though, I could get past that. I could also get past the block puzzles, which I honestly ended up enjoying a bit, and the platforming, which kinda sucked but I had save states so who cares. I was mostly confused by the exploration, and I think fairly so. Soul Reaver is an impressively open-ended game, and while you're always given vague directions on what to do next, they're difficult to interpret: the world is big, teleport points are infrequent and most damningly there is no map, which means I really barely had any idea where I was going for most of it. There were even whole completely optional areas, which while extremely impressive kept confusing me even more because I kept wandering around them without realizing that they weren't where I was supposed to be. Eventually, though, Soul Reaver began to click. The puzzles and exploration of the dungeons all fell into place, the bosses, while of mixed quality, were all at least interesting, and I started to get a hang of the game's structure. I'd say that the latter half of the game was definitely the most fun I had with it, overall.
That initial reaction, I think, is what most players will have, and that's a shame because under that layer of poor communication and confusion lack of direction lays a rather well-made 3D Metroidvania, not something you'd see often in this generation, or the next, really. Raziel constantly acquires new powers and the world expands as a result, which is quite great because every level's different atmosphere is absolutely Soul Reaver's greatest strength. The adaptive music (absent from the PC version, for some reason) is extremely well-realized, shifting between different instruments and vibes when Raziel enters a fight or switches to and from the spirit world. Unfortunately, exploration is somewhat discouraged by the awful combat and a complete lack of a map (I can make do without one in games with simple or extremely memorable layouts, but Soul Reaver doesn't really fit either description), which meant that I still mostly just made a beeline to the end, with the occasional help of a guide.
The story is perhaps a bit in the background compared to Blood Omen, unfortunately there isn't as much dialogue, and Raziel doesn't do the Kain thing of commenting at length about every single location he enters and ability he gets (which I loved), but I think he's still a great protagonist, maybe not quite as charismatic but very very fascinating, and I loved it every time he did speak. The final confrontation between him and Kain is great, but without getting into spoilers, I have to admit that the story doesn't really ever feel like it's... getting anywhere? Blood Omen had one hell of a climax, a pretty drawn-out one too. Soul Reaver just ends, and with a cliffhanger at that. Still, I had a good time. I would say that it's probably not worth it to play this game if you're not interested in the LoK series as a whole, which I am, but personally, I had a pretty good time, and am definitely looking forward to playing the next game, Soul Reaver 2.