Introduction

A part of the Legacy of Kain series which I keep saying should be in one big thread but then say "ah, to Hell with it" and make separate threads for no obvious reason.

Blood Omen: thread/playlist/archive
Soul Reaver: thread/playlist/archive

A shoutout to Myprotein Impact Whey (mocha flavor), Glenmorangie 10, and bananas, which with their powers combined fueled me during recording the commentary for the first video and writing up the OP. Not in a single shake, that would be disgusting.

Soul Reaver 2



1. This right here is the sequel to Soul Reaver, and the Legacy of Kain game. SR2 picks up immediately where SR rather abruptly and anticlimactically ended. Few regret that we never saw the "Raziel kills Kain and wipes out the vampires" storyline that was intended to be the conclusion of Soul Reaver. The game is filled with story and dialogue to the point where it sometimes feels more like an animated movie (and a damn spectacular one) with occasional interactive intermissions. Where Soul Reaver had the character interactions and Raziel's monologues as an addition to the meh gameplay, Soul Reaver 2 has it the other way around: the story is the main, if only, focus of the game. Where Soul Reaver has an occasional optional reference to the events of Blood Omen, Soul Reaver 2 ties everything together and makes throwbacks every two minutes. Combine that with the gameplay that is now actually okay in and of itself and some of the most fantastic scenes in any media ever (and this is not an exaggeration, just wait until the coin scene if you disagree), a new main theme that is just as memorable as Ozar Midrashim (Ariel's Lament), and you get what is for most the favorite installment in the LoK series.

2. Block puzzles are gone.

3. This is a PS2 title, and the engine has aged remarkably well (this is also applicable to Defiance, which is made with the same engine). This is half the reason why SR2 scenes are so great: while the delivery by voice actors was equally great in BO and SR, SR2 actually has the visuals to match (just remember how in the SR showdown between Kain and Raziel both were essentially just standing still in place). Combined with a fantastic art style and massive attention to detail, this makes for quite an eyecandy even without the Unreal Engine 3 polygon count.

Editing?

No.
I mean, yes, in that I will still be using annotations, as well as pretty graphics that no one except myself cares about, but I won't be cutting the gameplay.
That said, due to popular demand I will do something I originally didn't plan to do and include the possibility to skip larger puzzles (even though, unlike SR, SR2 has legit actual puzzles). Depending on the logistics of a specific puzzle, this is implemented through either the "Skip" button familiar to those who followed my SR LP, or through the timestamps in the description of the video on Youtube.

Extras?

Yes, but first I'll get the ones for Soul Reaver done, so don't think I abandonded them like I did with the Blood Omen secrets! Also, the ones here are likely to be more trivial than the ones for Soul Reaver, and will be more along the lines of something like putting Raziel's idle animations into a single video or recording an extra creepy Spectral Realm music track (the SR2 ones are by far the most disturbing of all three Soul Reav... I mean, of both Soul Reavers and Defiance).

Spoilers?

Please keep them tagged. THAT INCLUDES THE IMMORTALITY CURSE, that isn't revealed until Defiance.

Also
1. The pacing of the updates probably won't be as fast as SR (but then again, who knows), but it won't take half a year like BO did, either. Still, at least one update per week is guaranteed.
2. When I'm done with this I won't be going into BO2 immediately, I'll have a non-LoK LP in between.
3. Whoever wants to co-commentate, feel free to shoot me a PM, I'm open, just be aware that I live in Europe and scheduling is thus usually a pain

Videos

The best of the thread:

1:

2: