It felt like a genuine surprise when I was offered the chance to review Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. Legacy of Kain was a series I had little time to experience due to my growing interest in Persona, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, Sly Cooper (R.I.P), and so on. My first exposure to this series would be a video featuring the series’ resident anti-hero vampire Kain in The Quarter Guy’s “Top Ten Vampires in Video Games”. With this new game entry, the folks at Crystal Dynamics and Bit Bot aimed to make an original title as a test to see if demand is there for more Legacy of Kain games.
From the research I was able to do, this game serves as an adaptation of The Dead Shall Rise comic, which apparently, no one liked. As I myself haven’t read the comic or played the games outside of this one and read up on Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered, I went into Ascendance with neutral expectations. Suffice to say…I walked away more impressed and satisfied with my experience, even if some of it was difficult and required external help. And, in addition, I was less confused and frustrated than arguably most of the longtime Legacy of Kain fans. But, let’s see what I think of this game, shall we?
What Is Legacy of Kain: Ascendance? A Frustrating and Confounding Mess!
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance has SOME good stuff going for it. It has 3 playable characters (Elaleth, Raziel, and Kain). Each character has some unique ability done via the X button. There’s a horseback sequence as Raziel, and a level where you play as Kain! There’s also a quiz where your knowledge on the backstory of the series is tested. That is nifty as well. Also, the quiz being rendered in 3D is a nice touch.
Now, with the good stuff – gameplay-wise, out of the way, let’s focus on the bad, because hoo boy, do I have a list!
Now, when I got to Vampiric Raziel’s level near the game’s end (it’s only 2.5 to 4 hours long, at most), he played as a stiffer version of Elaleth with the sluggishness of Kain. And the enemy variety doesn’t change much until the final level or two.
The game even includes a quiz where you must answer 8-9 questions about the history of this world. Nothing – not the game description, the screenshots, NONE OF IT! – prepared me for that quiz. I had to look up a video guide for that quiz segment on my phone because I’m CERTAINLY not gonna’ risk repeating them all again if I get one answer wrong somehow!
The game does try to be novel with three playable characters: Raziel, Elaleth, and Kain. Aside from different ways of finishing enemies, THEY FUNCTION THE SAME!!
Fleeting Variety in Gameplay
The horseback sequence with Raziel riding towards a castle is about 2.5 to 5 minutes at most in length. It’s a shame as it had amazing music and tested your timing with jumping over fallen trees and breaking ice walls. Also, speaking of navigation issues, there are a few loooong insta-kill poison ponds to accurately jump across with blue orbs to refill your magic meter. Problem: Enemies will most likely interrupt you from off the top of the screen. Also, knockback WILL likely knock you into the insta-death hazards below before you can recuperate your bearings! It took me 30 attempts (rough estimate) to clear one of these sections as Raziel’s vampiric form. Not fun! But, is the story worth putting up with this gameplay?
A Blood Omen Wreathed with Vengeance and Tragedy
Well, as a new fan of the series, the story did its job of getting me invested in the rest of the series’ lore. It’s a Shakespearean-esque tragedy of trying to overcome loss, find new purposes, and teaches a lesson. It’s Greek and Shakespearean in nature, and I love it for that.
As for the characters, well, Raziel was awesome for the 1-2 hours I got to play as him. Kain was present for all of 30 minutes but played a pivotal role in helping Elaleth with her machinations, setting up the events of the franchise as we know it. And speaking of Elaleth, she takes up most of the playtime and runtime of this game, and while her gameplay is very solid, it’s too damn easy up until the final boss fight. Now, the ending teases something more and all, but with how critical I and others have been about this game, this could be the end of the series for good, and it’d be well-earned.
A Bloody Visual Splendor
When defeating enemies in this game, they will offer their hands to be cut off in spoken dialogue. The pixel animations when tearing heads off enemies and human prisoners are both satisfying and disturbing. The animations flow so smoothly by 16-bit standards. The soundtrack is also incredible at points. As a detriment to this game, though, you’re not taught HOW to parry. As shown below, you CAN beat the game with NO parries. I did it, somehow, and it was ROUGH!!
The Final Word
This game is…disappointing and mixed, to say the least. Shame as I liked the soundtrack and fluid animations, as well as some of the boss fights. I also loved the fleeting horseback segment as Raziel. I loved the part where you play as Kain up to offering Kain’s blood to Raziel via a QTE. Those were some of the examples of variety in gameplay that I wished the game had more of. By adapting The Dead Shall Rise comic/graphic novel, they put focus on a character who’s journey leads Raziel and Kain on their journeys in the other games. Those are the overall thoughts of my time with Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. I can’t appreciate Elaleth’s actions as she’s now the puppetmaster of Kain and Raziel, and by extension, the WHOLE series. That’s unforgiveable.
As to whether I recommend this game or not… I don’t. Even as a fan of 2D platformers that are difficult, like Ninja Gaiden (NES), this game is disjointed, all over the place with gameplay styles left and right and three similar characters whose only differences are in their speed. Lastly, the bosses lack any challenge, aside from the last one. Despite the game having gorgeous graphics, a wonderful soundtrack, and beautifully animated cutscenes, the enemy variety and general schizophrenic difficulty throughout the platforming segments drag down the whole experience for me. I can’t, in good faith, recommend this game.
Developers: BitBot Media, FreakZone Games
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, Epic Games Store, GOG
Release Date: 31st March 2026
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Legacy of Kain: Ascendance was provided by the publisher.
