Legacy of Kain Wiki:Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (Official UK PlayStation Tips)

Take a look at the average game world and you'd need a few hours to visit it all. Take a trip round the world of Nosgoth and you'd need a few days. Here then, is our suitably massive guide. Good hunting.

When it comes to action adventure games you can't really get much better than Soul Reaver. What other game can offer up a video game character who chows down on the souls of witless characters, foolish enough to stumble into his way? None, we reckon.

As you play a game like Soul Reaver you're going to need some help. Okay, it's not in the same league of downright difficulty of Tomb Raider III but you will get stuck. To make sure this is as painless as possible we've compiled this rather nifty guide. As if this wasn't handy enough we've split the walkthrough into sections so you can dive straight into the problem area without ruining the rest of the game. For even greater ease we've also separated the main walkthrough from the Glyph guide. Now if only we'd include cheats for the first Kain game then... oh... we have done. Fantastic!

Now, allow us to guide you through this hellish world, safe in the knowledge that we're not going to let you down. Don't forget to keep a cushion handy mind, this does get rather scary.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christopher Patrick Bruno, the resident hippie of Crystal Dynamics, has been writing hints and walk-throughs of all Crystal Dynamics' games for the last four or five years. He takes care of all the consumer service, puts together hints for the Crystal Dynamic phone line and tests all the games from start to finish. He currently lives in Santa Cruz, California and when not putting in a 12-hour day whipping the games into shape, loves to drive his VW bus to the beach and get away from video games.

WHAT IS GOING ON? A millennium has passed since Lord Kain set his capital in the ruins of the Pillars of Nosgoth and began his conquest of the world. His first act was to recruit a cadre. Dipping into the underworld, Kain snared six souls and thus birthed his lieutenants, of which I, Raziel, was one. We, in turn, prowled the twilight of purgatory building six legions of vampires to pillage Nosgoth.

The destruction of the major human Kingdoms was inevitable. Within a century, humanity had been almost entirely domesticated. Sure, there remained some feral humans scattered across the hinterlands, clinging to their hopeless holy war to rid Nosgoth of 'the vampire scourge'. They were tolerated. They made existence for the fledglings more challenging.

After the taming of the humans, our real work began; shaping Nosgoth to our will. Slaves constructed about the Pillars a shrine worthy of our new age, worthy of our dark renaissance. Huge furnaces were constructed to belch smoke into the sky, shielding the land from the poisonous effects of the sun. Never had the world known such a time of beauty. However, we grew bored.

We allowed the lesser vampires, the remains of the legions, their intrigues. They provided amusement and spice to an increasingly uninspiring court. As faction fell against faction we betted upon the outcome. We helped and foiled plots at our whim. We were the Council and Lord Kain, our only master.

Raziel The humans think it is a poison of the blood that makes us what we are. Fools, the blood only feeds the bodies we live in. To create a vampire, one must steal a soul from the abyss to reanimate the corpse. It is the body that demands the blood sacrifice; our souls gain their power from the underworld. As we matured, our earthly bodies evolved into a higher form. We assumed the powers and nobility of the Dark Gods. With each change, the trivial affairs of vampire and man held less interest. Eventually, Lord Kain took us to a distant retreat and left the bickering of the court to the lesser tribes.

Always, it was Kain who would change first. After the master had experienced a new gift, one of us would follow in a decade or so. That is, until I had the 'audacity' to evolve before my master. I was gifted with wings. And for my impertinence I was damned.

The Elder I was cast into the bottomless vortex. As my brethren heaved me into the air I could see the bemused expressions on their faces. The transitory thrill of something new. Then the pain began. Melting, twisting, burning, falling. A new experience indeed. Time. I have no concept of how long I fell. Only that there was an end to the fall and through the pain I heard the voice. At first I thought it merely the echoes of my own tortured mind, but I grew to understand that it was more. Something primal. Something angry. Something righteous. Something ancient.

The Elder explained much to me. It told me of creation, of death, of souls and of hunger. For eons the Elder fed upon the souls of Nosgoth. Then Kain's empire of vampires deprived the Elder of sustenance. For centuries his hunger grew and festered in this place.

Now, I serve a new master. A demanding master. A master that must be fed, with souls.

UNDERWORLD The Underworld is a training area, with on-screen prompts to teach you how to control Raziel. It requires you to perform tasks to dissipate Elder God gates to continue on in the game. You start off in the Elder God's chamber and in the next area will be your first Warp Gate. This is where, as you continue, you'll learn how to suck souls and find enemies of the underworld. Soon you will find the first Plane Portal to shift to the Material Realm, move on to the first Material enemies. After defeating the first Vampires, move the stone block under the passageway high up on the left wall, and use it to jump high enough to continue on. When you reach the Pillars building continue through the only open passageway to the cliff where the Vortex lies. Listen to the voiceover and follow the passageway towards Raziel's clan area which is to the left.

RAZIEL'S CLAN AREA Move down the passageway through the first door and fight the two Dumahim vampires to open the closed gate. Go through the gate, the doorway to the right leads to a Warp Gate, and the door to the left continues on. Take the passageway to the right and move through the next door/gate. Find the room with the raised circular platform, climb the stairs, and pull the switch at the top to lower a drawbridge. Cross the drawbridge and follow the passageway to an outside courtyard. Climb the steps to trigger the puppet show that introduces the next Vampire clan, the Melchahim.

MELCHAHIM CLAN AREA Move through the gate/door and up through the cemetery. In the room to the right, push the stone block to the left to jump up to the passageway to the left. Pass through more of the cemetery and move up either walkway to enter the building. Go through the gate/door on the left, down the spiral staircase, and through a Warp Gate room. The next area is outdoors with a large area of water. Jump across the stone pillars to reach the far side of the water and go in the gate/door.

Pass through this crypt room, through the door on the far side, and down the slanted passageway. This leads to a room with a gate to the right. Face the opposite way to the gate, shift to the Spectral Realm, and platforms will come out of the wall allowing Raziel to reach the upper part of this room. At the top of the room use the Portal Plane to shift back to the Material Realm. Push the stone block into the hole to the right of the block to open the gate here at the top of the room and go through it. In this next room, jump and glide to either of the small moving platforms on the right side of the left wall and ride it downwards. Now cross to the far side of the room and pull the stone block out of the wall. Push the block across the pit in the centre of the room and place it in the hole to the right of the lower gate. Move through the gate, shift to the Spectral Realm, and climb back to the top of the room.

Move through the doorway where the top gate was, jump to the beam above, and glide to the platform that Raziel did not ride downwards before. Now you can jump and glide to the doorway at the far side of the room. In this next room with the gate, move the two stone blocks into the two holes in the walls, and the gate will open. Run up the slanted passageway to the outdoors and push the stone block off the cliff. Jump down, stack the two blocks on top of each other, and push them against the wall to the right of the rightmost pillar. Jump to the top of the blocks and then to the ledge above. Go through the doorway and follow the passageway to another large body of water. Follow the path around the water to the right and enter the building here.

Follow the long passageway upwards to a large room. Cross to the far side of the room, hit the wall switch to activate the elevator, and ride it downwards. At the bottom, step off the elevator and follow either the left or right passageway. Go through the door at the end of either passageway into a large room with a bunch of gears. Flip the switch on the wall between the doors to push the gears together. Now cross to the opposite side of the room and turn the crank to activate the gears. Go back to the elevator, ride it to the top, and hit the floor switch directly in front of the elevator to lower the floor. Jump in the newly created pit and find the hole in the wall that is not a dead end. Follow this passageway until it opens up into a bigger room. Now jump to the upper part of this room and push the four lit blocks on their tracks so they burn the wooden struts in the ceiling above. This will drop the centre part of the ceiling. Move the blocks along their tracks so a block is against all four corners of the recently dropped ceiling. The floor drops again. Drop down yourself and follow the passage that leads past a now open gate into the Melchiah Boss Room.

Melchiah Boss Fight Defeating Melchiah requires impaling him with the two side gates and then smashing him with the masher in the centre of the room. First, go to one of the two side gates in the room then jump up and through one of the windows above the gate to enter a side room. Move to the switch in the side room and activate it, holding it to raise the gate. Wait until Melchiah moves partially through the doorway and release the switch, causing the gate to drop and impale him. Now move to the other side room and repeat the process. After impaling Melchiah with the two side gates he will become very weak, only having one more pass through barriers ability. Lure him into the centre of the room, within the circular cage, move to the throne area and pull the floor switch to activate the masher, destroying the boss. Raziel will now receive the Pass Through barriers ability and can return to any gate and pass through.

THE PILLARS On the way out of the Melchahim clan area a voice-over will tell you to go to see Kain. Return to the big building with all the Clan flags out front, near the Vortex, where Kain can be found. Use the new Pass Through ability to go through the gate on the right side of the building. The next room will have a bridge over some water, defeat the two Ronins to open the door on the far side. Now go through the doorway, turn either left or right, follow either passageway to a gate, and shift to the Spectral Realm. Pass through the gate and find the doorway to the room with the Pillars. Kain will appear, so prepare to fight.

Zephon Boss Fight This is a very easy fight. Kain will appear at certain places around the arena and power-up the Soul Reaver to shoot at Raziel. When he appears, get to him quickly and attack until he disappears. You must attack him three times to finish the fight. Kain will break the Soul Reaver over Raziel's head and disappear. At this point switch to the Spectral Realm and pick up the Soul Reaver. Ariel will appear, talk to you, and tell you to head to the Silenced Cathedral. Make note that you can always return to the Pillars for more info from Ariel and to stock up on health and Glyph energy. To leave this room open the main door by swinging the Soul Reaver at it.

SILENCED CATHEDRAL: ZEPHONIM CLAN AREA Leave the Pillars the way you came in and move back to the training area where you came across the first Plane Portal. Take the pathway that leads to a gate and pass through it in the Spectral Realm. Follow the path past the gate to the Cathedral moat. To the right is the bridge that leads to the front door. Swing the Soul Reaver at the door to open it, shift to Spectral and pass through the gate beyond the door. Move to the right, use the portal plane to shift back to Material, then move to the passageway to the left. Follow this passageway and pass through the next gate in Spectral. Go straight ahead across this courtyard to a Portal Plane in an alcove and shift to material.

Move back to the gate and there will be large platform steps to the left of the gate, climb up them to the rooftop. Turn to the right and glide to the doorway to the right. Don't follow this passageway, instead, glide to the rooftop platform on the right. Jump up and climb to the higher rooftop platform connected to the one Raziel is on. Turn around and glide to the main entrance of the Cathedral and go in. Go through the passageway, drop down into a room with the first Zephonim Vampire, and climb up the other side of the room. Follow the next passageway to a large room with a central pit and pipes branching out from the pit.

Shift to Spectral, climb the far left pipe to the platform with the portal plane, and shift to the Material Realm. Jump up to the platform above and follow the platforms around the top of the room to a ledge near a doorway. Move past the doorway to the right along the ledge to a wall switch and activate it. Go right past the switch, through the doorway at the end of the ledge, and into the passageway. Move along the passageway to a gate and pass through it in Spectral. Find the portal plane in the corner of the room and shift back to the Material Realm. Use the blocks in this room to complete the pictures on the walls, each block has a picture on one side. This will push out a platform in the passageway you passed on the way to the switch.

Go back through the gate, move up the passageway, and go down the passageway you first passed in the main room. At the end will be a switch on the wall. Activate it and return to the main room. Step on each of the platforms that were lowered with the switches to turn on the air in the pit below. Jump into

GLYTH GUIDE Force Glyph After defeating Melchiah and receiving the Pass Through Barriers ability, you can go after the Force Glyph. After entering the Melchiah clan building by the cemetery, go down the spiral staircase, and past the warp gate room to the first outdoor area. Jump into the water and take the underwater passageway to the right. At the end of the passageway, it opens up into a lake-like area. Follow the left wall to a gate and pass through it in Spectral. Move up the passageway past the gate to a portal plane and shift to Material. Move forward into the circular room with the three pillars. Stand next to each pillar and push it over so the three pillars fall into the centre of the room, creating the Force Glyph symbol on the floor. You will be rewarded with the Force Glyph.

Stone Glyph After defeating Zephon and receiving the Wall Climbing ability, you can go after the Stone Glyph. After entering the Melchiah clan building by the cemetery, go down the spiral staircase, and past the warp gate room to the first outdoor area. Jump into the water and take the underwater passageway to the left. At the end of the passageway, use the ledges to climb up out of the water and shift to Material with the portal plane here. Climb the wall directly behind the portal plane to the ledge above. Follow the passageway past the ledge to an outdoor area and move to a giant skull which is the remains of Nupraptor's Retreat. Jump through the left eye of the skull and follow the passageway to a climbable wall. Climb up the wall to the ledge above and then climb the wall on the right. At the top of the wall is a thin wooden platform in the air, jump onto it and then to the ledge on the left. Turn Raziel away from the wall and shift to the Spectral Realm. A second thin wooden platform will lower to a reachable height, jump onto it. Walk along this wooden platform to the ledge above, turn to the left and there will be a third thin wooden platform. Jump onto this wooden platform and follow it until it ends and jump down to a ledge with a portal plane. Shift to Material and jump back onto the wooden platform above. Directly above the end of this wooden platform is a