I finished Soul Reaver this morning. Incredible game, highly recommended. Even though I played the Dreamcast port, I feel confident saying it might be the best 3D game on the Playstation.
It's certainly not without its flaws--eventually I realized that it's better to just skip combat where you can and enemies tend not to give chase, and most of the boss fights, while thematically great, are pretty plain--but the sheer commitment to its themes and atmosphere without resignation kept me hooked.
Wandering the desolate wastes of Nosgoth in its apocalyptic death throes gave me the same feelings of loneliness of two games I love, like Ecco the Dolphin and Metroid Prime. Much like Tallon IV, most of Nosgoth's history had already transpired prior to Raziel taking his first steps as a wraith. He is a lonely wanderer, forced to cut down the children of his once beloved brothers, and his brothers themselves, who have evolved beyond recognition to cope with the dying world that Kain was so proud yet so distraught to have created. For his part, Kain seems to have set all of the events of Soul Reaver in motion intentionally--for once, the antagonist of a game saying "I've been expecting you" and laughing when defeated actually seems to want to lead somewhere, rather than just be trite dialogue intended to fill dead air.
Speaking of the dialogue, I'd already praised the voicework, but the script was great too. Kain and Raziel speak with the flowery language of once-proud noblemen, and even Raziel's mutated brothers continue putting on airs despite their monstrous forms. Not once does the game pull you aside to lark at how self-serious it is, which I know must be a groan-inducing complaint these days as the Whedonization of media continues, but I really appreciated it, especially as Raziel really leaned into his lines and let the criticisms he had for Kain drip with venom. Kain, meanwhile, kept his arrogant and haughty tone from Blood Omen, but now there's an air of regret and determination about him. Metal Gear Solid has nothing on these performances.
Anyway, the game ending on a literal TO BE CONTINUED... screen means I'm already acquiring Soul Reaver 2.