Legacy of Kain: Defiance has an outstanding premise, but it's ultimately a disappointment. It certainly isn't a bad game, and fans of its main characters should play it just to see more of Kain's and Raziel's interactions with each other and the rest of the Legacy of Kain cast. Unfortunately, though, the gameplay itself just isn't particularly entertaining, thanks to the one-two punch of the constantly shifting camera angles and the lack of a map. The challenge here primarily comes from having to memorize a lot of same-looking passageways and compensate for a camera perspective that impairs fluid gameplay, rather than from sophisticated puzzles or tough opponents. This is one of those rare games whose characters and story to some extent supersede the problems in the gameplay, but not to such an extent that this game can be fully recommended.

The long-standing Legacy of Kain series finally hits paydirt with one of the best stories in the series and without a doubt, one of the best combat systems in an action-adventure series. But does anyone care anymore? Did Blood Omen 2 and Soul Reaver 2 push everyone away for good? I don't know, but despite its problems and the still difficult-to-relate-to stylized universe, this is a must-have in the series.

And I was ready to just give up on old Kain too. But like I said earlier, Crystal Dynamics gets right to the heart of all matters in this episode. When you're not gawking at the superb visuals or learning how Kain and Raziel will settle their scores, you'll be deeply involved in combat or solving some ridiculously elaborate physical puzzle in the spectral world. In many ways, this is the same basic game that Crystal D showed us in Soul Reaver, just highly evolved. And believe it or not, an enormous amount of stuff happens. The story is outrageously good. You won't believe what happens. So, is it the last game in the series? It very well could be. But I'm not telling. Go play it yourself. It's finally worth it.

One last note: Looking back on the scoring of Soul Reaver 2 (which at 9.0, was way too high), all I can say is that hindsight proves to be 20-20. That game told a great story, but just didn't deserve that score. With LOK: Defiance I scored it just as I would if no other scores had been given to the series.