Throughout the last few decades, countless beloved gaming franchises have been left unfinished. While some are left to fade into history, others are lucky enough to get sequels that try to continue their story after years of waiting. But how does one even carry out the task of continuing a franchise that has lain dormant for over a decade? How do you make something new that satisfies the near-impossible expectations of fans, while also trying to appeal to newcomers?
Personally, while there have been many right and wrong answers to this question, the response that has irked me the most is the act of creating a prequel. To continue a narrative left incomplete by going backwards always felt like a copout. As such, when I first found out about Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, I was extremely concerned. Even though I was a relatively new fan of the franchise, the thought of a continuation to the cult classic series that opted to tell a story before the events of Soul Reaver in a 2D platformer format, rather than the 3D action-adventure experience of its predecessors, wasn’t all too appealing to me. That’s especially the case considering the core creative team of the original games is notably absent.
After playing and beating Legacy of Kain: Ascendance for myself, I’m sad to say that my fears were quickly proven correct. The narrative pales in comparison to the Shakespearean quality of previous entries, the gameplay is poorly designed, and overall, the game itself lacks a cohesive identity, making for one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had in a game in recent memory.
Something New, Something Old
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance takes place before the events of Soul Reaver, and primarily focuses on the perspective of a new character: Elaleth. Elaleth is a vampire seeking revenge against her brother, Raziel, the protagonist we’ve come to know and love from Soul Reaver all the way to Defiance. Elaleth’s rage against her brother, however, dates all the way back to his days as part of the vampire hunter faction known as the Sarafan.
As Elaleth seeks to restore the love of her life, Mathias, she begins to weave the threads of fate that lead to the events of the main series. This includes influencing Kain, the series’s other protagonist, to resurrect Raziel into a vampire. She soon returns to Raziel’s life to convince him to make amends and help her to accomplish her task. The results of this request will have far-reaching consequences for not just the lives of the three protagonists, but for the fate of Nosgoth itself.
At first, I thought the idea of Raziel having a secret sibling was compelling. However, there were several issues that quickly became apparent and diminished the narrative’s overall appeal. For starters, there’s the writing. The main games have always possessed a poetic quality to each line of dialogue, with conversations between Raziel and Kain becoming some of the most memorable in the medium. Without the lead writer and director, Amy Hennig, working on Ascendance, it was never going to have that same quality. Yet, the finished result still manages to fall short of expectations.
Dialogue between Elaleth and new character Ky’set’syk is chock-full of heavy-handed exposition and a casualness that doesn’t fit the dark gothic setting. This also applies to the dialogue that you hear in combat. At one point, I heard someone shout “they fly now?!” in response to Elaleth’s ability to fly. It was a strange reference to an infamous line from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and one that immediately broke my immersion. The quotes from Elaleth in particular feel like they’re from an entirely different franchise.
Thankfully, dialogue from Raziel and especially Kain often retains the same eloquent quality as prior games. The moments where the two of them talk feel closer to the experience of those titles, which is certainly helped by the fact that Michael Bell and Simon Templeman reprise their roles as both Raziel and Kain, respectively. Yet, something essential still feels like it’s missing. I soon realized that this was due to not just the writing of the story, but also the way that it plays out.
The Legacy of Kain series has always been a series driven by the concept of fate and powerful forces controlling the destinies of the main protagonists. Introducing Elaleth as the sister to Raziel isn’t a bad idea in theory. His past for a majority of the games is left as a mystery, and filling in the blanks for a new entry makes a lot of sense. The choice to make her responsible for Raziel’s fate and all of the events leading up to Soul Reaver, though, feels remarkably forced.
The continuous setup of Elaleth as a new protagonist that caused Raziel to undertake his climactic journey, which holds the power to defy death and influence fate, feels contrived. It removes any agency previously placed upon either Kain or Raziel, and downplays the core concept at the heart of the Legacy of Kain games: self-determinism. It doesn’t help that both characters are outplayed at every turn by Elaleth, which contradicts their ability to outsmart even Gods in later entries.
While there are a few moments towards the end where I was hooked back into the story, the abrupt final act immediately ended any and all interest. Elaleth’s motivations and goals change at the drop of a hat as she goes from wanting to destroy him to wanting to protect him. The change feels jarring and lacks any of the turmoil that her character goes through in the original comic. As such, by the time the credits rolled, I found myself wondering aloud: “Is that it?”
Ascendance adapts the story of the recent comic, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise. Many fans of the franchise aren’t too fond of the comic, and after reading both the comic and playing its adaptation, I understand why. I’m a relatively new fan of the Legacy of Kain series, and by the end of Ascendance, I found myself being disappointed.
I doubt this is the continuation many were hoping for, as not only does it go back to an era of the universe that has already been explored at length, but it also strays from the appeal of the original game with lackluster writing and characters. Most fans are primarily invested in the Legacy of Kain franchise due to its rich storytelling, rather than its gameplay. Yet, if the storytelling of Ascendance falls short, then what does that say for the new 2D platformer style? Unfortunately, my issues with the game only magnified tenfold as I played more of this strange game.
Incoherent and Frustrating in Equal Measure
The gameplay and presentation of Legacy of Kain: Ascendance are odd, to say the least. Previous games have had platforming elements, but for the most part, the core mechanics emphasized puzzle-solving and combat just as much as jumping from one area of the map to another. This latest entry instead switches genres to a 2D action platformer, a change that feels remarkably random. This strangeness persists in the game’s visual style.
As you explore the world of Nosgoth, characters are rendered in a pixelated art style, similar to a game like Celeste. However, there are segments where the game suddenly switches to PS1-esque visuals. There are also fully animated cutscenes, while others are still images. These different visual elements, while aesthetically pleasing, often clash, making for an art style that often lacks any cohesive identity.
The platforming itself is often extremely frustrating. Enemies act inconsistently, with some staying completely stationary even after several attacks, while others dart around the screen like they’re from a Soulslike. I sometimes found myself struggling to react to their attacks due to their tendency to overwhelm my player character. Others fly at slow speeds, yet due to their small stature and high damage capabilities, they were quickly able to knock my health down to zero. It certainly didn’t help that they’d frequently attack me while I was jumping from one platform to another, halting my momentum.
Moreover, there is also an overabundance of obstacles, such as cannons that constantly fire projectiles. These are often placed on every platform, leading to moments where I had finally gotten past a difficult platforming challenge, only to be greeted by something that quickly set me back to the last save point. The fact that these projectiles could go through walls only heightened my frustrations, as there were several points where I died in ways that were borderline unfair, even by the genre’s standards.
These problems, by themselves, would be bad enough. Worse still, though, are the abundance of technical issues. For one, the constant frequency of opponents on screen at a time would often cause frame drops. Sometimes, when I’d press a button to jump or dash, the input would be delayed significantly. Furthermore, in some cases, they wouldn’t even register at all, which would often mean the difference between life and death.
There are smaller issues, too, that only compounded with the rest of the game’s problems. While some games allow you to freely pause and adjust your experience via the options, Ascendance will only let you change your settings in the main menu. Once you go to the main menu, though, your progress on the level you’re currently on completely resets. Additionally, while the soundtrack from Celldweller sounds fantastic, it doesn’t really fit the gameplay loop.
When trying to slowly traverse a dark cave and outmaneuver the different enemies and obstacles, the constantly looping heavy metal anthem would only distract me from fulfilling my goal. Even something as innocuous as the collectibles lacks any meaningful incentive. Having to overcome some of the hardest platforming challenges in the entire game, only to get a lore codex that offers no meaningful reward and provides worldbuilding that I already knew from the other games, quickly made me stop going after the collectibles altogether.
As a whole, Legacy of Kain: Ascendance‘s gameplay and presentation are deeply irritating and rife with flaws that undermine the few good ideas present. While I’ve had my frustrations with previous entries in the franchise and other platformers in general, this was the first experience in a while where I quickly realized that I wasn’t having fun at all. That, to me, is the most depressing part of the entire Ascendance experience.
The Coin Falls Flat
Not that long ago, I became invested in the Legacy of Kain franchise for the first time. What started as a series that I had barely heard of quickly became one that I was genuinely fascinated by, thanks to its captivating story and a fairly fun gameplay loop. After playing the remake of Defiance, I was genuinely excited to see where Legacy of Kain would go next. However, with the release of Ascendance, all of that enthusiasm has come crashing down.
The narrative barely reaches the quality of the previous entries, thanks to poorly written dialogue, characters that are messily forced into the world, arcs of the previous protagonists, and retcons that retroactively ruin the series’ themes. The gameplay is polluted by frustrating design choices, an incoherent presentation, and numerous smaller issues that only heighten the aforementioned low points. Both key aspects are messily handled and contributed to one of the infuriating experiences I’ve ever had in a game, let alone a platformer.
Yes, there are a few bright spots that I noticed throughout the short runtime of Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. The different visual styles all look great, with the PS1-esque format in particular looking fantastic. The writing of both Kain and Raziel in particular still manages to capture the eloquent quality of the previous entries, and the fact that most of the original voice cast reprise their roles is a nice touch. However, these few high moments are overshadowed by the rest of the game’s low points.
I really wanted to enjoy Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. Having to return to a series that hasn’t had a new entry in years is a near-impossible task, as you have to satisfy both new and old audiences alike. There is no possible way to please everyone, and someone is always going to be left disappointed. Yet, even with those low expectations in mind, this is categorically one of the more disappointing attempts I’ve seen at continuing a comatose franchise. While I was once hopeful for the future of the Legacy of Kain series, if Ascendance is any indication of where it could go next, maybe it’s better if it stays in the past, unfinished and untouched.
Disclaimer: Crystal Dynamics provided a PlayStation 5 copy of Legacy of Kain: Ascendance for review purposes.
