If someone asked you:
“What is the game you played as a child that you still remember today because, in some way, it shaped the person you became?” — What would your answer be?
There is an entire series of games, thankfully still remembered to this day, called Legacy of Kain. I was very young when I first accidentally came across one of the games from that series, Blood Omen 2. Its opening cinematic stayed with me forever because, above all else, it was terrifying for someone my age. Yet it completely held my attention, even though my dad often had to step in and help me through certain parts. Then, a few years later, I once again accidentally stumbled upon Soul Reaver 2 (even though it was released before Blood Omen 2).
The characters themselves and the atmosphere awakened a curiosity in me because, at that age, I couldn’t fully understand the story. However, I have a tradition of replaying certain games at least once every year, and Blood Omen 2 and Soul Reaver 2 are among them. Eventually, though, it became time for me to experience the rest of the series and truly understand its story.
The Legacy of Kain games deal with concepts such as fate, existential crisis, and time itself. In a land called Nosgoth, there exists the Wheel of Fate, which essentially represents the path every being follows from birth to death. This means that in Nosgoth, nobody truly possesses free will. The Wheel of Fate is a cycle created by a being known as the Elder God, every life begins, ends, and begins again in the exact same way.
In these games, we follow two characters named Kain and Raziel. Kain was once a nobleman who was brutally murdered and later resurrected, becoming a vampire who eventually rules over Nosgoth itself. Raziel was also once human, but after being killed in battle alongside several companions, Kain resurrects him as a vampire as well. At one point, Raziel develops wings, which sparks Kain’s jealousy. Kain tears those very wings from him and casts him into the abyss, where Raziel becomes a Wraith. However…the story is far deeper than that, and that “jealousy” is merely a mask for what truly lies ahead.
In the first game, Kain is faced with two choices, yet both only deepen his suffering. This is where one of the most memorable quotes people remember to this day appears and it’s about the “coin” metaphor. Imagine flipping a coin enough times. Normally, it lands on one side or the other. But what if, one day, the coin simply lands…on its edge? Within that quote lies hope, and within that hope lies the genius of these games.
This lengthy introduction had a purpose and that is to introduce you to Deadhaus Sonata, a game from the creator of Legacy of Kain and that alone was more than enough to capture my attention.
Deadhaus Sonata is a third person action RPG that can be played solo or with friends, offering co-op gameplay for up to six players.
The game is set in a world called Nogosaua, defined by gothic architecture and a Lovecraftian atmosphere. We already mentioned a being known as the Elder God, and here, a war between two such gods causes the dead to rise again and search for their purpose. Nogosaua is home to many different Houses, and much of the story revolves around the rivalry between them. Since the game is heavily narrative driven, expect an excellent story and an even better adventure within this dark fantasy setting.
First of all, the game can be played solo or with several other players. During the testing period for this review, I could only choose one class which was the Vampire, but the full game will feature classes such as Revenant, Lich, Ghoul, Wraith, Wight, and Banshee. Each of them will have their own skill tree and the ability to shape their playstyle through different attributes. Physical damage-focused classes will excel in close combat, magic-oriented classes will specialise in spellcasting, while some classes will revolve around artefacts, which are items empowered by supernatural beings. Personally, my definite choice will be the Wraith.
At the very beginning, the game introduces you to its combat system through a tutorial where you can immediately test your abilities against enemies. Combat is fairly simple, the Vampire uses a sword alongside several attacks. It would be fantastic to see a parry system added, as I believe it would make combat even more satisfying. You are then introduced to your abilities through tarot cards. Just like real tarot, there are Major and Minor Arcana. Major Arcana represent your abilities, while Minor Arcana can further enhance and strengthen them. Water is deadly to vampires, so early on you gain the Blur ability, which allows you to hover through the air and avoid water while reaching certain locations. Later, this same ability becomes useful for quickly closing the distance between you and an enemy before instantly impaling them. The more you play, the more abilities and Minor Arcana upgrades you unlock.
Some Vampire abilities include feeding on the blood of enemies to restore health, though enemies can still damage you during the animation, which isn’t ideal. Then there’s Exsanguinate, an ability that lets you drain blood from enemies at a distance, which is especially useful when surrounded by a bunch of them, since it affects multiple enemies at once. At times, you can lure an entire horde behind you, climb to a higher position, and use this ability on all of them, which is both hilarious and incredibly effective. There’s also Whirling Death, perfect for crowd control, allowing you to spin and slash every enemy around you. Finally, as the icing on the cake, you can execute enemies completely once their health bar turns yellow. It would be interesting to see more execution animations added in the future. The last ability I unlocked during my playthrough was Danse Macabre, which replaces your light attack with a faster and stronger version. You can equip up to five Arcana in one loadout, and loadouts are created within the HUB area.
Combat can become genuinely exciting with all the different abilities at your disposal, even though they operate on cooldowns. For example, while fighting multiple enemies, I would wait until enough surrounded me before activating Whirling Death, feeding on their blood, and if things became overwhelming, Blur or Exsanguinate were always there to save me. Exsanguinate even allows you to hover in air while draining blood, which feels amazing, at least until someone starts shooting arrows at you. In short, the combat allows you to feel powerful.
The missions themselves are fairly straightforward. In the first one, the game tasked me with hunting down and killing three enemies to earn a reward and progress further. Later, inside the catacombs, I had to extinguish four fires to remove the enemies fire buff, which was dealing additional damage to me, before finally reaching a mini boss. The mini boss itself wasn’t particularly difficult. It looked incredible and genuinely intimidating, especially once it started hurling explosive fireballs at me, which immediately sent me into panic mode, however, the enemies surrounding it proved to be a far greater challenge than the boss itself. The second part of that mission involved fleeing from a wall of fire chasing me before facing the same mini boss once again.
The next mission introduced a far more interesting and significantly more difficult boss fight. At first, I wasn’t entirely sure how to damage him or what exactly I was supposed to do. Before reaching him, however, you go through several smaller objectives that slowly build up toward the encounter, which I think works wonderfully as preparation for the boss fight. That said, I would have preferred fewer surrounding enemies so the battle could feel more like a true duel between myself and the boss. It would have felt far more epic.
For me, the Northern Province region was unlocked on the map. Since a friend and I were playing the game simultaneously, it didn’t take us long to realize that the catacombs are procedurally generated. While he quickly extinguished all the fires, I struggled because I got completely lost. When he tried explaining where the next fire was located, we realized our maps were entirely different. I do think this feature is fantastic because it prevents levels from becoming repetitive. In the top left corner, there’s an option that lets blood guide you toward your objective, though I couldn’t always use it, and when I could, it sometimes directed me toward fires I had already extinguished. In situations like that, a mini-map would be extremely useful, or at least making the “guidance” feature permanently available.
Aside from the levels themselves, there’s also the HUB area called Corpsehold. It would be incredibly creative and immersive if every class had its own unique HUB. Still, Corpsehold is filled with interesting details.
At the center stands the map used to access missions. In front of you lies a book containing lore about the world and its creatures, narrated by a voice that sounds like an overly enthusiastic librarian! To the left is an altar with tarot cards where you create and upgrade your loadouts. On the right stands a pillar displaying statistics such as kills, executions, damage dealt, damage received, etc.
Currently, the basement serves no purpose, but it could become a fantastic place for combat or training challenges where players could test their abilities. Upstairs, one room contains your journal with quests and objectives, while another allows you to manage inventory items, (at the moment I own a sword, spear, and axe), and on the first floor, opposite the basement entrance, there is a massive mirror where you can purchase voice skins, weapons, cloaks, armor, and even symbols for your cloak using Platinum currency. Platinum is purchased with real money.
As mentioned earlier, the game’s visual style fully embraces its dark gothic atmosphere. Stone architecture, gargoyles, and cold color palettes create a constant sense of unease that perfectly fits the genre. Meanwhile, torchlight and the blood left behind after killing enemies create a striking contrast that further emphasizes the horror elements. So far, I have only seen one character which was my Vampire whose design resembles the classic interpretation of vampires with pale skin, red eyes, and a long cloak which is simple, yet elegant. I believe players will receive many more skins as the game evolves.
The soundtrack sounds genuinely haunted and elevates the atmosphere to another level altogether. Accompanying everything is the cold yet pleasant voice of the narrator, who not only explains mechanics but also provides lore about certain locations whenever you encounter glowing green pillars scattered throughout the world.
It could be said that Deadhaus Sonata feels like it has the potential to become something far greater than just another game – something resembling a collaborative project between players and developers. Even now, it’s easy to feel just how much love, care, and genuine passion have been poured into every part of it. It’s rare these days to come across a project that so clearly shows the people behind it truly care about the community, about gamers, and about creating something that won’t simply fade away after release.
Deadhaus Sonata aims to become the kind of game players return to for years, not only because of its gameplay or atmosphere, but because of the feeling that both the game and its community are growing together. That, to me, is where its greatest potential lies. This does not feel like another project destined to be quickly forgotten, but rather like a world capable of evolving, living, and becoming something truly special for the people who fall in love with it.
We would like to thank Apocalypse Studios for providing us with copies of the game for review purposes.
