Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2. A world like never before

Direct sequel to Soul Reaver, this title comes out after "only" two years from the previous one (2001).

It seemed like a lot more than two years to me. I remember that when I finished the first title that "Continues…" in the end it left a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted to know how that story was going. I was literally kidnapped and those "two" years seemed like an eternity to me.

I found out about the release of this sequel from a dear friend of mine, Giuseppe, who is also a huge fan of the saga of Legacy of Kain.
I remember that the first parts of this game he told me but I lived them as in first person. At the time, I did not yet own a Playstation2 (Those were different years and this "appliance" cost a lot for a boy of my age), but, in the end, I put aside some savings and I too secure this console ... and here we are at that "Continue ..." which lasted two years.

This is the title that excited me the most of all and the credit goes to its landscapes. You will be deeply impressed by it too you are sure, as you will not help but perceive that aura of "Sacredness"That permeates the whole story and, therefore, can only be associated with the emotion ofEcstasy. Why yes, this title is one Ecstasy continue, you want for the contents, you want for the dialogues, you want for the characters, you want for the graphics (of the time).

The story begins exactly where we left it, indeed, just before actually.
The introductory video is a complete remake of the final battle between Kain and Raziel while they exchange jokes that to define "courtly" is almost an understatement (I reported their dialogue in my article dedicated to Soul Reaver, look for it if you want the details) and continues with the our "first" meeting with Moebius, the Guardian of the Pillar of Time. And he will explain to us that more important than "Where we are" is the "When we are".

Kain has in fact set the time portal to take us back in time, up to a moment in which the Pillars of Nosgoth they are still intact and soar towards the sky as far as the eye can see.
But also the "Where" has its importance. We are inside the Sarafan stronghold and we can only stop for a moment to admire the majesty of its architecture.

Gothic High Times follow each other ad Large and bright windows. Everything is extended towards the sky, to represent the Majesty of this place and of what it represents: the Power of the Sarafan. Along the walls we immediately notice the "Sacred Votive Images"Dedicated to the precedents Guardians killed by vorator (a clear reference to the beginning of Blood Omen) and we cannot fail to notice how each of it has the Closed eyes, symbolism of being deceased, and has placed one around his own head Aura.

Power of images. The Church knows this and there too CRYSTAL DYNAMIC.

Moebius immediately puts us on the alert: the soldiers present in the stronghold will not understand why we are here and will attack us like any invading vampire. It goes without saying that along our way we will easily be right about each of them and we will arrive in no time at all in the great central nave and the chapel annexed there.

Exploring it you cannot fail to have another blow to the heart. We are ahead of history, gentlemen. Large stained glass windows depicting the Clash between Kain and Wiliam the Righteous adorn what is in effect a chapel dedicated to the late king.

And in fact it is there, on a large base carved in the shape of William the Righteous, that we find it. He holds her in his hands: la Reaper Of Souls, now broken, that William was holding when we defeated him in Blood Omen.
Why it is there is simple. Kain faced him in the past and broke his weapon during the fight (a similar thing also happens in Soul Reaver when Kain hit us). It is therefore obvious that she was placed here, right? Where others should be otherwise.

The emotion is great. The world begins to whirl around us. The times get higher and higher and instinct prevails. We caress the sword and it begins to come together. The ghostly version, inextricably linked to us, wraps around it, regenerating it and making it whole again.
We will come out of this process exhausted, stunned and confused but, fortunately, still alive.
What's going on? No, too many questions and few answers. The time has come to understand how this world works and so let's immediately go to the only individual who can know something: the ancient vampire Vorador, fortunately still alive in this era.

The journey will be long, we will meet many enemies along the way and we will understand how difficult life is for a vampire. We will not find any alive but only dead, impaled and left along the road as a warning to the survivors. The Moebius crusade born of Kain's actions in the first title is in motion and at its peak, but for once, trust me, don't stop at this subtlety, rather stop and admire the landscapes and the amount of detail scattered along the landscape.

From the backdrops in the distance to the pillars that still stand majestically towards infinity, even to the simplest crows that will disappear in singular green puffs as you walk. A feast for the eyes, especially for those who remembered a "pixelated" Raziel like that of Soul Reaver (not to mention Kain in Blood Omen) and now they find him "in the round".

We will also meet Kain, but unlike when we left him last time he seems calmer, more serene, more meditative to reflection. Seraphic.
We will find him in the most hypocritical place in all of his history, in front of the Pillars he destroyed. Ironically, we will arrive at the very moment when these are corrupted for the first time, losing their characteristic color to make way for a grayish version of their corruption, yet still intact, as we had known them in Blood Omen.

This is the precise moment in which the human Kain is born, and is born already corrupted by the madness of Guardian of the Pillar of Mind Nupraptor, made mad by having discovered just killed his beloved Ariel, the Guardian of the Pillar of Balance.
Kain, almost as much as a new Jesus, is also born with the weight of a original sin and the possibility of redeeming himself by sacrificing himself for the good of the world: theEcstasy in Cain!
We obviously won't believe a word of what Kain will tell us.

Tze, it goes down the drain. I will never let you put my feet on my head again, you dirty liars: I will never be your pawn again. I'll never be anyone's pawn again. I am a big boy now and I am master of my actions. "I have free will, me!"

Our meeting with Vorador, unfortunately, will prove to be unsuccessful. The only person who knows the answers to our questions died centuries ago, killed by the Sarafans. We just have to abandon this pitiful creature that by now Vorador has become, since the crusade against vampires carried out by Moebius's men began.
Our only chance to meet him seems to reside in the Sarafan Stronghold and in using a time portal to reach the age in which this mysterious individual is.

And here it is. The moment we've all been waiting for. The falling coin.
Kain had told us, after all, "Moebius revealed his fate to him a millennium ago"And in fact it is where it needs to be. He awaits us in the chapel dedicated to Prince William, the place of his end. The same feeling of helplessness and premeditation assails us. Those tall spiers writhe over us. Everything pushes us to fulfill our destiny. Insistently, from the beginning of his existence, everyone had always kept hammering the same thing at Raziel "UCCIDI KAIN!”.

In one of the best moments of the entire Saga, Raziel takes possession of the Reaper Of Souls rebuilt and placed again on the tomb of William the Righteous and, once again, his ghostly version wraps around him, literally taking control of our arm as it shoots faster and faster towards Kain with the intent of killing him. Our will is opposed. We can't hold back the flow of destiny. But something happens: the coin falls in denomination. Philosophy comes to our rescue. "Imagine tossing a coin in the air. The only possible outcomes will be either heads or tails. But imagine throwing it an infinite number of times. The coin, sooner or later, could fall in denomination! "
Raziel defies his destiny and for the first time he is truly free. Under angelic choruses that play in the background, Raziel deflects the blow destined to end Kain's life with his willpower alone and destroys the tomb of William the Righteous in a thunderous explosion.
Kain is safe and outside the box of time.
Raziel is free.
Thanks Hume.

Il Drama continues! Raziel will be able to use another time portal but will not end up in the designated location. Moebius, with a deception, will send him forward in time. In a place devastated by Kain's choice to destroy the portals. Demons haunt this world and this world too is prey to one Apocalypse, but not the Apocalypse that Raziel proceeded to create with his brothers. No, external forces have taken control of the world and are now ravaging it.

The tones are dark, the incessant rain, human life banned. Nobody seems to live in this place and we must hurry to escape from it. Our mysterious individual awaits us and we are tired of playing. There it is, another time portal long since abandoned. Let's take it, any place will be better than this.

And so it is: we find ourselves in the same place but at a different time, of course. The snow speaks clearly and does not lie. Candid as never before, this covers everything and gives an unnatural aura of well-being and religious silence. It is clear that we are in a different time, yes, but when? Going to i Pillars everything will be clearer to us. They are intact, candid, magnificent. We are in a time before Kain's corruption, before Moebius starts his crusade. We can do it. We know where our target is, Vorador revealed it to us. To the north, past the town of Uschtenheim.
So: "quick to dine that I'll take you to the cinema! "

The place we reach is unique. A winged angel-like creature holds up a terrace out of our reach. The place seems inhabited. We absolutely have to find out where he is. Here too the landscapes are breathtaking and the white snow only increases its beauty and sacredness. The place where we will reach the end of our race will be welcoming, calm, serene. A winged figure welcomes us with kindness and a smile. Coma occurs Jaons Audron. The father of all vampires and we don't know what to say .... all that run run, kill kill and we're stunned to have finally reached our goal.
Unfortunately, a Sarafan raid will awaken us from our torpor.

They followed us, we let ourselves be fooled by our recklessness. We took them where they wanted to go. Janos Audron will reveal to us that he is the tenth Guardian, the Guardian of the Soul Reaper and having to pass this task on to a new individual, us. He will not have time to deliver the Reaper to us, it is imperative that we survive first. Janos will take us to safety, sending us to a place that will forge our soul and our ghostly weapon, baptizing us in the fire for the impending battle. Unfortunately, outside, the Sarafan will capture and kill him and steal the reaper. The scene is brutal, worthy of the worst Spanish Inquisition. Two hold Janos while another uses Moebius's magic rod to deprive him of strength, a fifth breaks through his chest and rips out his heart: the Heart of Darkness.

We will be back too late, there will be nothing for Janos to do.

Invested in the title of new Guardian of the Reaper of Souls and in duty to avenge that pure creature brutally tortured and executed, we plunge with all our anger and rage into the Sarafan Stronghold and here, again: "History has a horror of Paradoxes".
To stop us will be the bravest Sarafan knights, the saviors of humanity, our brothers. Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab, Dumah, Turel still human. One by one we will kill them all, but not before we have come into possession of what is rightfully ours, the Anime harvester which, curiously, we will find along our way after being further mocked by Moebius and Malek, Guardian of the Pillar of War, the one who arrived too late to save the council while being slain by Vorador.

Yes, we are at the same time that, in a different area of ​​the stronghold, Vorador is slaughtering the Council of Guardians and from which only Moebius, Malek and Mortanius will survive. to stop us, goods more dangerous than him).

We come to the final battle, the nightmare before us. In a room with a snake eating the thing by itself we face nothing but ourselves, the Santo Raziel Sarafan still human is in front of us and wants to kill us. Although immortal, getting the better of him will be difficult and only when we kill him and devour his soul will everything become clear. The Reaper, now sated, will take control over us and sink into our chest, draining us and devouring us in turn.

“The sentient entity that housed within the Soul Reaper was me. It was always me! "
That's why it shattered when Kain hit us with his. That Reaper couldn't devour the very soul of hers.

The cycle of death and rebirth is the backbone of this masterpiece which, with its sacred character, places it with full marks in the emotion ofEcstasy.
It's Ecstasy in all its parts, but above all it is theEcstasy final in seeing gradually all the pieces of history that go into place, building a fresco of undoubted beauty that the Storytellers of CRYSTAL DYNAMIC have managed to fit with sublime mastery.
Congratulations on giving us a two year long emotion, but do you think it ended here? Wrong.

Keep it going…