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When you think of Crystal Dynamics and PS2 games, you probably think of Tomb Raider games, which is fair enough; this is the franchise the studio is best known for. Many don’t know that during this same era, it was making the Legacy of Kain games. Included in this is Legacy of Kain: Defiance, which just got remastered and released on the PlayStation Store and other digital storefronts last month. The original game posted a Metacritic range of 70 to 75. This new remaster has posted a very similar range of 70 to 77. Yet, if you were around in 2003, you would know the series had a cult-like following that was very passionate about it. Two decades later, this clearly has not changed, because the remaster has a nearly perfect user review score on the PlayStation Store, and currently it is one of the highest-rated PS5 games on the digital storefront.
A 23-Year-Old Classic PS2 Game
For those unfamiliar with the original game and the series, Legacy of Kain got its start in 1996 via the release of PS1 exclusive, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The game was jointly made by Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics, but after a legal battle between the two, the latter took over the IP. What followed was Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver in 1999, Soul Reaver 2 in 2001, Blood Omen 2 in 2002, and then the five-game series concluded in 2003 with the release of Legacy of Kain: Defiance on PS2 and Xbox.
Fast-forward to 2024, and the series returned with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered, and now it’s continued with Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered. Meanwhile, it’s a good time to get into the series because a new game in it, Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, has just been released.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.
