This is one of those titles where even if you haven’t ever played it, you’ve known the name by reputation. I always sort of took it for granted that, given how many people I’d heard rave about it over the years, that it must have been pretty incredible. I don’t doubt that perhaps in its own time it truly may have been, but I’ll tell you now that the passage of time hasn’t been kind to its gameplay, even if this remaster may have at least made it more attractive for modern consoles and polished some of its rough edges.

What I will absolutely concede is that the saga’s story at least feels notable for the effort that was put into it. It’s a world with schemers all around you who spout their conspiracies and far-flung aspirations, all spiced up with a healthy dollop of betrayal for good measure. The story-driven sequences may run a little long by my ADHD-addled mind’s modern standards, but I can appreciate the work that’s been done. Somewhat in the same vein, I’m sure the variety of bloody and violent ways you could finish off your enemies would likely have been novel back in the day. Decapitation and burning your enemies alive were probably crowd pleasers at the time, though now they almost feel adorable in their simplicity.

The problem is that the bulk of your play time is spent in areas that would be next to impossible to address without radically altering the game from the ground up. These titles were made in the earlier days of 3D gaming, where the combination of limited horsepower and players still coming to grips with how to contend with everything not being on the same 2D plane were still very much a thing. Playing in these large empty spaces with only a few enemies walking about now makes it all feel extremely basic though, and no amount of graphical gussying up of everything can compensate for what’s ultimately pretty dull play.

Given that since the time Legacy of Kain originally came out you’ve, at a minimum, had the Darksiders series that is somewhat in the same general vein but filled with so much more variety and action (all of which are available on the Switch already)... it’s tough to go this far back in time. I have no doubt that people who loved the game when it originally came out, and would love to revisit it and have that wave of nostalgia flow over them, will still find something worthwhile here. Unfortunately, for anyone else I’d consider it to be a much tougher sell, outside of developing an appreciation for how far we’ve come since those early days.