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"Raziel...
Redeemer and destroyer.
Pawn and messiah.
Welcome, time-spanned soul.
Welcome... to your destiny."
Moebius[src]

Prologue is the introduction chapter to Soul Reaver 2, presented as a cinematic which recaps the concluding events of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The chapter shows a slightly altered version of the confrontation between Raziel and Kain at the Chronoplast and follows Raziel as he pursues Kain through a portal into the past and is met by Moebius.

Profile[]

Plot[]

In pursuit of his former master Kain, Raziel enters the Chronoplast - the long abandoned Time-streaming chamber of deceased Time Guardian, Moebius - to find Kain awaiting him in the main chamber. As Kain slowly activates the dials of the chamber, they two begin to debate the morality of their actions - of Raziel's murder of his brothers and of Kain's ordering Raziel's execution. Kain responds to Raziel's furious challenges by explaining his discovery and study of the Chronoplast, and his conclusion that Fate is predestined and Free will is an illusion. [Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]

SR2-Prologue-263

Raziel angrily changes the subject to Kain's blasphemous raising of Sarafan saints to be his lieutenants as he lunges at Kain, but Kain is easily able to rebuff Raziel's attack. Raziel once again praises the martyrs of the Sarafan succeeding in pinning Kain against a wall, but Kain denounces their agenda as merely lust for power and once again escapes Raziel's grasp, knocking him to the floor.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]

Mocking Raziel, Kain throws the last dial, activating a time portal and promises more dramatic turns before escaping through the portal. Raziel rushes across to the portal and - pausing only briefly to draw the Wraith Blade - he passes through the threshold. As the smoke clears a voice addresses Raziel by name and the figure of Moebius himself appears and welcomes Raziel to his destiny.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]

Conclusions[]

Behind the scenes[]

The Chronoplast confrontation between Kain and Raziel appears as the location of the final boss battle in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver in the final chapter Showdown With Kain, and this confrontation is revisited and recapped in GlyphX's Soul Reaver 2 opening video, with some minor dialogue edits and more cinematic action. Several other design changes were seen between the renditions of the chamber, though it essentially maintained the same structure:

  • The combat and action of the scene is increased, with the former version depicting Kain simply shooting a Lightning-like attack at Raziel and progressively teleporting further up the chamber and Raziel striking Kain with the Wraith Blade three times. In the new version, Kain walks around the chamber activating dials as he debates with Raziel and the two actually come to physical blows, although Kain is able to repel Raziel's attacks fairly easily. Raziel does not use the wraith blade until he is about to pass through the portal.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The colour of the Chronoplast is changed from grey and purple tones to cream, brown and oranges, and the capping of the curved pillars is changed from a unusual face-like design to less frequent light crystal-like decorations. Several lamps can be seen lit around the chamber, perhaps accounting for the orange lighting of the room.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The design on the entrance doorway is altered from a brown design depicting the face of an elderly man (possibly Moebius himself and a texture originally intended to feature in the Human Citadel) on square double- doors to a more simplistic orange figure-of-eight/infinity sign design on an arched doorway. The entrance also gain a stairway down to the floor of the chamber where it was previously a ledge and the same is seen in the route to the time portal.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The complexity of the room is notably increased, with a lot more 'dials' added around the outside of the chamber and the symbols on the dials of the Chronoplast vary between depictions, with each dial now bearing ornate gold, green and bronze decorations and with several gearing mechanisms visible.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The claw-like ceiling mechanism is now lit internally, making it glow orange. The size of the piece is notably increased and more circular 'planet' structures orbit it. There is also one less claw arm, with the structure being reduced from four arms to three.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The floor of the chamber is changed from circular 'target' design created from dark green and grey circular bands with a blue health recharge in the center to a simpler two-tone target design with a dark green circle on the outside and a gold trimmed pale green or cream circle in the center with a golden infinity sign in the middle.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The activation sequence used by Kain to activate the Chronoplast is changed. In Soul Reaver Kain moves 3 dials, moving them all to the extreme right to point to an infinity sigil, whereas in Soul Reaver 2 The 3 dials activated are in different places in the more complex layout and the dials are only moved one space each - this time left-right-left to different runes, with infinity sigils no longer represented on the dials.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • The portal gains a gold trim, figure of eight/infinity sign top piece and side crystal decorations and the portal effect is completely reworked from a simple pulsing starry background in Soul Reaver to a 'flowing' waterfall-like effect which is initially blue and when properly activated provokes an 'explosion' of sorts, turning yellow and falling back into the portal - an effect not unlike the activation sequences seen in the Stargate franchsie.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
  • Much of the dialogue from the original battle is slightly rewritten or edited, though little of the tone is changed:
    • Kain's line "No – I had faith in you. In your ability to hate. In your self-righteous indignation." And Raziel's response "Lies. You cannot have foreseen all of this." are removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • Kain's question "Gazing out across the planes of possibility, do you not feel with all your soul how we have become like gods?" is trimmed to "do you not feel with all your soul how we have become like gods?" and his subsequent justification "That is why, when I must sacrifice my children to the void, I can do so with a clear heart..." is removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • Raziel's line "Very poetic, Kain – but in the end, you offer no more than a convenient rationalization for your crimes." is removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • Kain's declarations about the Chronoplast "These chambers offer insight for those patient enough to look – in your haste to find me, perhaps you have not gazed deeply enough. Our futures are predestined –" is trimmed down to "our futures are predestined" and his subsequent lines are slightly rewritten from "Moebius foretold mine a millennium ago. We each play out the parts fate has written for us. We are compelled ineluctably down pre-ordained paths. Free will is an illusion." To "Moebius foretold mine aeons ago. We each play out the parts fate has written for us.Free will is an illusion."[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • Raziel's line "I have been to the Tomb of Sarafan, Kain. Your dirty secret is exposed. How could you transform a Sarafan priest into a vampire?" is rewritten as "I found the Tomb of Sarafan, Kain. How could you profane a priest by turning him into a vampire?"[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • Kain's line "Can you grasp the absurd beauty of the paradox? We are the same – Sarafan and vampire. With our holy wars... our obsession with Nosgoth's domination..." is removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • Raziel's line "I will not applaud your clever blasphemy" is removed.
    • Both Raziel's line "You are lost in a maze of moral relativism, Kain. These apparitions and portents... what game are you playing now?" and Kain's return "Destiny is a game, is it not? And now you await my latest move..." – which led into the battle in Soul Reaver are removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • The Elder God's warning "Be warned, Raziel – once you cross this threshold, you are beyond my influence..." is removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]
    • The final epitaph read by Moebius "Where Time is but a Loop, A Loose Stitch in the Universal Cloth, A Streamer might Seize upon a Chance, a Fatal slip – And plunge the Fate of Planets into Chaos..." is removed.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue]

Ultimately whereas the Soul Reaver area was designed by Crystal Dynamics developers as a boss arena, the Soul Reaver 2 area was designed by GlyphX and was to be used purely for a cutscene full-motion video using the upgraded technologies of the Playstation 2 over the Playstation and thus the area was redesigned for more cinematic action.[Soul Reaver/15][Soul Reaver 2/Prologue] The production of the Soul Reaver 2 introductory Prologue also caused some conflict between the developer and animation studio centering on the amount of action and effects that should be present in the scene. One animator commented:

"Yeah we did the intro's for both Soul Reaver 1 and 2 actually. Both good projects... if it wasn't for the fact that working for other people really sucks sometimes. Soul Reaver 2 had such potential to be the coolest thing ever... except that the client kept getting in the way ("we want Kain to just stand there... don't let him do anything exciting"...) We tried to really make it dynamic, and they just kept making us re-do it until it was actionless, dull, and flat... not to mention that re-doing thing 7-8 times killed our deadline and forced to use half-assed animation that looked like crap. At least Moebius was cool."
[1][2]

Notes[]

  • The dialogue transcripts used in this article are, wherever possible, adapted directly from the Dark Chronicle summary transcripts available in game. Scenes not included in the Dark Chronicle feature are instead adapted from Tenaya's transcript of Soul Reaver 2 at Nosgothic Realm - itself derived from the Dark Chronicle and an official game script provided by Crystal Dynamics' Kyle Mannerberg.[Soul Reaver 2][3]

Gallery[]

 

See also[]

References[]

  1. SEF Soul Reaver 1, 2 and "3" - GlyphX / Sandman Studios rendered images at the Square Enix Forums, post #2 (by Divine Shadow)
  2. Icon Nosgothic Realm Soul Reaver 1, 2 and "3" - GlyphX / Sandman Studios rendered images at Nosgothic Realm post #2 (by Divine Shadow)
  3. Icon Nosgothic Realm Soul Reaver 2 - Dialogue at Nosgothic Realm (by Tenaya)
  4. Icon The Lost Worlds Turel at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)

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