We deserve better than Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. At Digital Tech Explorer, our team spends countless hours diving into the heart of every release to ensure you get the full story on hardware and software alike. We believe in transparency and real-world testing, and unfortunately, this latest journey into Nosgoth fails to meet the standard of its legendary predecessors.
Our Verdict on Legacy of Kain: Ascendance
| What is it? | A short sidescroller full of vampires and disappointment. |
| Expect to pay: | $20 / £16 |
| Developer: | Bit Bot Media |
| Publisher: | Crystal Dynamics |
| Reviewed on: | RTX 4090, Intel i9-13900k, 32GB RAM |
| Multiplayer? | No |
| Steam Deck: | Verified |
| Link: | Official Steam Page |
A Disappointing Return to Nosgoth
Legacy of Kain is the kind of series where you need a deep breath and perhaps a timeline map before unpacking its lore. Time travel, alternate realities, paradoxes, and the weight of the Soul Reaver—it’s a wonderful, tangled mess woven across five largely fantastic games. TechTalesLeo has always appreciated the narrative depth of this universe, but unfortunately, this sixth entry is a tangle for all the wrong reasons.
I tried to get onboard with Legacy of Kain: Ascendance. A pixel-art sidescroller was never going to give die-hard fans the grand revival they craved, but the series has a history of evolution. Between 1996 and 2003, we saw shifts in protagonists, mechanics, and perspectives. So, a 2D action-platformer isn’t a total deviation in theory, and at least it avoids the pitfalls of previous failed multiplayer spin-offs.
Elaleth: A Controversial New Protagonist
However, that optimism was short-lived. Ascendance is based on the poorly received comic, The Dead Shall Rise, which retconned significant portions of the series’ history to introduce Elaleth, Raziel’s sister. While new characters like Raziel once revitalized the franchise, Elaleth feels like a disruption rather than an addition.
In a mere four hours, this new narrative manages to undermine an entire established universe.
The game establishes Elaleth as the most important person in the universe, effectively removing agency from the icons we’ve followed for decades. Developer Bit Bot Media has contorted a long-running story to fit a character that feels more like an overpowered fan-fiction creation than a nuanced anti-hero. With limitless power and mind control abilities added on a whim, she lacks the struggle that made Kain and Raziel so compelling.
Unbalanced Gameplay Mechanics
The mechanical disparity is jarring. You’ll spend the majority of your time as Elaleth, who is fundamentally broken. In the first level, you’re dashing, flying, and slaughtering enemies with zero friction. The checkpoints are absurdly generous, and her blood-thirst mechanic—the classic vampiric limitation—is negligible because healing opportunities are constant.
When the game finally hands you the reins of human Raziel, the experience becomes brutal for the wrong reasons. Checkpoints vanish, enemies spawn off-screen, and the lack of mobility makes the difficulty spike feel cheap rather than rewarding. Even as vampire Raziel, you face overwhelming odds that lack the “flow” found in Elaleth’s sections. It’s a disjointed experience that never finds its rhythm.
And then there is Kain. After 23 years of waiting, the legendary vampire is relegated to a roughly 30-minute cameo. While Simon Templeman’s voice acting remains top-tier, Kain feels underpowered compared to his newcomer sister. For a character of his godlike status, the brief, single-mechanic boss fight he participates in is a letdown.
Visuals and Story: A Muddled Experience
The aesthetic choices in Ascendance lack a cohesive identity. The pixel art is serviceable at best, but it frequently clashes with a different art style used for dialogue. Occasionally, the game switches to PS1-era 3D visuals—a move that only serves to remind the player of the superior titles of the past. From static flashback images to high-quality animated cutscenes at the very end, the visual direction is all over the map.
The level design remains uninspired, and enemy AI frequently bugs out, making it difficult to distinguish between intended behavior and technical errors. While the dialogue manages to capture some of the series’ signature flair, it can’t save a story that feels fundamentally flawed.
The Future of Legacy of Kain
Ascendance leaves me in a difficult position. As a fan of digital innovation and deep tech stories, I want to see this franchise thrive. However, if this is the direction of the narrative, it might be kinder to let Kain and Raziel remain in their coffins. We hope for better from future 2024 releases and beyond.
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