PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, SWITCH, XBOX ONE/SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (SWITCH TBC)
As many retro game fans will be able to attest, being accustomed to modern gaming sensibilities can make revisiting older titles feel like a bit of a bugger, to put it politely. Uncooperative camera angles, unwieldy control schemes and a general lack of what we now know as “quality of life” features can often stand in the way of a good time, making revisiting retro classics feel more like a chore than a pleasure. 2003’s Legacy of Kain: Defiance is one such example – an excellent game marred by such an unfriendly fixed camera that even players at the time realised how much of a hindrance it was. This new remaster from PlayEveryWare seeks to address the original’s shortcomings and finish the journey that modern players might have embarked upon with previous remasters of earlier entries in the series in 2024.
Graphical upgrades offer the choice between classic or modern visuals and the ability to switch between the two at the press of a button, and the new control scheme feels much more in line with those found in today’s titles (so you won’t be fighting the urge to press familiar buttons only to find that you’ve performed a completely different action to the one you expected). The newly-introduced free camera allows players to move their viewpoint around whenever they want, making platforming and gliding sections much easier to navigate and allowing players to take in the surrounding gothic architecture and experience the game in ways that haven’t been possible until now. It’s easy to underestimate how much of a difference camera angles can make – just this enhancement alone elevates the game massively, making it a much stronger recommendation for returning players and newcomers alike.
Elsewhere, Defiance: Remastered includes a comprehensive compendium of series-related ephemera, including the opening movie from the 2003 original, an illustrated history of Nosgoth that traces the paths taken by the game’s dual protagonists, Kain and Raziel, concept art, alternate character skins, a music player, photo mode and countless other odds and ends from across the entire series. There are also nine “lost levels”, along with a playable section of Defiance‘s cancelled sequel, Dark Prophecy. The main game’s combat and level design are rather “of their time”, and the remastered characters maybe don’t quite have the same moody and menacing appearance as their 2003 predecessors but, other than that, this is an excellent remaster that deserves a place in any retro fan’s collection.
