Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is a 1999 Action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics, written and directed by Uncharted creator Amy Hennig. It is a sequel to the 1996 video game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and puts the Player in the role of Raziel, a Vampire turned Wraith by the villainous Kain, the protagonist of the previous game, who seeks vengeance against his former leader.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Amazing graphics for it's time that rival even Metal Gear Solid.
 * 2) Raziel is an interesting protagonist, being different enough from Kain to be his own character.
 * 3) Kain is an interesting villain.
 * 4) Interesting story, the plot takes place after the bad ending of the previous game (the canonical one), and takes place in a ruined Nosgoth that's falling apart where vampires rule but are slowly becoming feral. It also has better pacing than it's predecessor.
 * 5) Raziel can go between the Material Realm (the real world) and the Spectral Realm (the wraith's world), and to stay in the material world, requires devouring souls over time. You can go to the spectral realm at any time, but need a certain amount of souls to go to the material world. It also helps with puzzle solving, as you may need to go to the spectral realm then back to the material realm to go to the next area.
 * 6) Many different ways to kill enemies (typically mutated vampires), either by fighting with Raziel's claws and throwing weakened enemies into water, sunlight, spikes on the wall, or firepits, or using spears or torches found throughout to instantly kill enemies. Vampires heal from physical wounds quickly, which forces you to be more creative.
 * 7) Different enemies in the Material and Spectral Realms, in the material world, there's vampires and some humans, while the spectral world has other, more feral wraiths of vampires, devourers of souls, and other such creatures. In the spectral realm, you also have to eat their souls to kill them.
 * 8) A sort of fast travel portal throughout the game that lets you instantly go to certain areas.
 * 9) Amazing voice acting for it's time that even rivals some of today's games, particularly from Kain and Raziel.
 * 10) Interesting platforming mechanics mixed with combat, another improvement from it's predecessor.
 * 11) One of the first games that let's you move the camera.
 * 12) Great cutscenes, and there aren't too many or too few.
 * 13) Created by the same creator of Uncharted (only 8 years before that game), and it has plenty of similarities to it, only it's more open as well.
 * 14) Although Raziel can't fly, he can glide somewhat.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Somewhat limited difficulty, it's pretty easy to avoid dying for the most part.
 * 2) Limited enemy variety, namely of the vampires, as they can often be killed pretty easily