An awesome conclusion to an awesome series!
So here we are, the conclusion of this epic saga, Legacy of Kain : Defiance. The gameplay in this fifth game was completely reworked ; the combat system is now fun, which is a first in the LoK games, the puzzles are far less frustrating and repetitive as in Blood Omen 2 or Soul Reaver 2 and the game is, in general, far more enjoyable than the already very fun other games in the series. However, the camera gets in the way much more often than it did before, since you can't control it manually like in Soul Reaver 2 ; the game shows you what you have to see, and nothing else. The combat system also takes a while to get used to, since the more advanced moves and techniques have some weird control which will make you miss your shot quite a lot of times at first. Everything eventually feels okay, but it can be a bit frustrating at start.
As I said earlier, the storyline in Defiance wraps almost everything up for the grand finale of the series ; Raziel disappears after being temporarily saved from the Soul Reaver blade by Kain, and tries to find a way to change his fate. The only person who could help him would be Janos, the creator of the Soul Reaver, but since he was killed by the Sarafan Raziel 500 years before, Raziel must find a way to resurrect him. Kain, on the other hand, wants to take advantage of the time paradox he created by saving Raziel to correct his youth mistakes ; to prevent the Hylden invasion started in Blood Omen 2, Janos must not be resurrected. This conflict between the two heroes will of course lead to the final confrontation.
In Defiance, you play as both Raziel and Kain, in separate chapters. The two characters play almost the same way, except for some of the special moves during combat, which have different animations, even if the result is the same. Kain fights a bit more than Raziel, who'll encounter more Reaver-based puzzles. The difficulty is well dosed ; the beginning is easy enough to learn the ropes, and the last levels are just hard enough to avoid being just plain frustrating. Defiance is long enough, with a 15-hour adventure or so. You'll most likely play the game twice, but not much more.
Legacy of Kain : Defiance is a great game overall, especially if you followed the storyline of the series and crave to know how it ends.