The latest Legacy of Kain game takes the 2D route to try and tell its tale, but trips over itself in every way
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance isn’t a game for anybody. It surely can’t create new fans and if we’re already a fan of the franchise then we’ll find nothing but frustration.
The story that the developers have concocted is full of series retcons and just blatant disregard for canon. The gameplay is mostly just a repetitious slog that attempts to disguise its mundane platforming and action. It uses some visual flourish depending on who we’re playing as at any particular moment in this extremely linear 4 hour adventure.
Sure, it’s exciting to have the series’ cast return for the project but by and large the performances carry very little weight. At times they sound like they just don’t even care about the performances, either, fitting in weirdly in the relation to what’s happening on screen. It does have a decent soundtrack though; I guess I really liked that part of it.
It’s just bad. A bad game built on the bones of a bad Kickstarter comic.
We can’t help but be frustrated about it because the failure of intent becomes the problem of the fans who won’t be buying it. It won’t be due to lack of interest — they aren’t and shouldn’t buy it because the studio made a bad product that is probably going to nail these vampires back into their coffins for another few console generations.
In the end, I honestly can’t think of many sequels that just miss the target this profoundly.
This review is based on a Switch eShop code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. This video first appeared on The SideQuest Live for April 16, 2026.
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