Before playing Soul Reaver 2, an adventure game for Sony's Playstation 2, I highly suggest you play SR1. Both games are story-intensive, and your overall experience will be much better if you play them in succession. Take a look at Soul Reaver.

With that said, let me get into why this game is so great. When I first started, I was alienated by the changes made in the game. I was expecting more of the same, which, as I can't say enough, wouldn't have been a dissapointment. But then I started to realize that many people wanted something new, and I could even see how the variations made sense.

For one thing, much of the destitute feel of the first installment is gone. While I loved this atmosphere in Soul Reaver 1, I came to realize that because this game deals with time, the atmosphere of the same region is ephemeral. As I thought further, the aura emitted by SR1 was enhanced, because that same desolate feel coincides with the events of the era in which the game plays out. Once you leave that time period in the sequal, you see how terribly the world of Nosgoth had degraded since the land was tainted by Kain.

Without question, the battle system utilized in SR2 is better. I can imagine the myriad of critical mail the team got in response to the original. Where the old system was uncomfortable, bulky, and frustrating; the new system feels natural, graceful, and even allows for a lot of experimentation.

The story in this game continues to please, with great language, and excellent twists... You'll just have to play it to see them. My favorite of said twists is foreshadowed throughout the whole game, and finally revealed at the very end. This makes the ending all the better. While I was going to describe it right here, I think it warrants its own paragraph.

Unlike the ending of the last installment, this ending is not a huge cliffhanger. It is, in my opinion, amazing. The end has so much suspense and has you on the edge of your seat, or coach, or beanbag chair, or what-have-you. (Scratch the beanbag, now that I think of it; they have no edges.) Then, the game is over, and leaves the player in silent awe, to comprehend the events of the next game, and those of the game just finished. I have never felt an ending left you with such a feeling as this game does... so far that it may give you a greater love for the game in itself once all is said and done. I'm sorry if this last paragraph seems incoherent, but I can't explain it fully without ruining anything... except to say:

History abhors a paradox.

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