Soul Reaver 2 is an interesting one, enjoyment of this game entirely hinges on how you felt about about the first Soul Reaver game. If you enjoyed it, then it's easy to view SR2 as a watered down, safe and boring version of it, but as someone who didn't really jive with most of SR1s design, I'm relieved at how simple SR2 is, so much so that I consider this to be my favourite of the series thus far.
Firstly, there's the structure, gone is the metroidvania layout of the first game and in its place is a linear set of hallways that you go through multiple times as you go through different points in time. I much prefer this approach since I don't have to get frustrated with getting lost every few steps but I wouldn't consider it good on its own merits. There's a lot of backtracking involved and the changes in decor as you go through these areas multiple times do little to alleviate how dull they end up being. Raziel does keep his abilities that he gained from beating his brothers in SR1 and they're now his innate abilities here, but with an environment that doesn't require exploration, I feel like these abilities feel sorta wasted here. Another aspect that was simplified was combat. Picking up and using weapons is now all done with the square button and killing enemies doesn't require picking them up and awkwardly carrying them, instead, hitting them with weapons is enough. This is fantastic and no longer having to jump through so many hoops to kill the most insignificant enemy was such a relief. But with the removal of exploration, there is now a greater emphasis on the combat and it's the one smear on what I'd otherwise consider to be a solid, inoffensive entry in the series. Fighting enemies here is just really brainless since you're best off equipping the wraith blade which now doesn't go away after being hit once and mashing the square button until the enemies are gone. Overusing the blade will now sap a portion of your health but it's a really minor amount and losing all your health means you get sent to the spirit realm and making your way back to the material world only takes like 10 seconds usually so it wasn't enough to deter me from having the wraith blade equipped at all times. It also doesn't help that blocking, the lock-on feature and especially dodging just don't seem reliable in this game. Sometimes I could dodge an attack just fine, other times I'd get clipped. Couple that with severely lacking sound design that makes the titular Soul Reaver feel like a limp pointy noodle and you get combat that is the definition of mindless, and with combat being the main thing you do in this game, well then that's a problem. I wouldn't say it's outright worse than in SR1, but the added emphasis on it and the fact that you can't run past pretty much every enemy here really makes it feel like it is inferior.
Luckily, combat isn't the only part of gameplay here, the other are the puzzle-focused forges that give the wraith blade a different elemental power. It's cool that the elemental powers are here since they were cut content from SR1 and the forges themselves are honestly the highlight of the gameplay for me, not just for this game, but for the series as a whole. They're all varied requiring you to do different puzzles from using shadows as platforms to manipulating light sources to using wind to propel yourself and almost none of them rely on block pushing and all of them are just right in terms of length, maybe except the fire forge that one is a bit short.
As for the story, I didn't really know what to expect since I wasn't as familiar with this game's plot as I was with BO1 and SR1s but after playing it, this to me is the best story the series has produced so far. I can't say too much without delving into spoilers but I will say that I think the way the game uses time travel to completely recontextualize events from the past games and completely change the dynamic between characters to be masterful. Another highlight of this story would be what it does with Raziel's character. Instead of being motivated purely by revenge, he starts to question his alliances and the world around him and it makes him much more compelling and 3-dimensional. As per usual with this series, the dialogue is still enthralling and the quality of the voice-acting to me is still unmatched for its time-period.
Overall, Soul Reaver 2 is a decent game that when sandwiched between SR1 and BO2, comes out looking like an absolute masterpiece to me. A lot of the enjoyment that I derived from this game stems from the disdain I had for SR1 and that won't be the case for most people. Perhaps the game is too standardized when compared to how ambitious it's predecessor was but to me, SR1 was a game that tried flying too close to the sun and got burnt, whereas SR2 walks along the ground just fine and it makes for a comfortable and enjoyable experience.
Firstly, there's the structure, gone is the metroidvania layout of the first game and in its place is a linear set of hallways that you go through multiple times as you go through different points in time. I much prefer this approach since I don't have to get frustrated with getting lost every few steps but I wouldn't consider it good on its own merits. There's a lot of backtracking involved and the changes in decor as you go through these areas multiple times do little to alleviate how dull they end up being. Raziel does keep his abilities that he gained from beating his brothers in SR1 and they're now his innate abilities here, but with an environment that doesn't require exploration, I feel like these abilities feel sorta wasted here. Another aspect that was simplified was combat. Picking up and using weapons is now all done with the square button and killing enemies doesn't require picking them up and awkwardly carrying them, instead, hitting them with weapons is enough. This is fantastic and no longer having to jump through so many hoops to kill the most insignificant enemy was such a relief. But with the removal of exploration, there is now a greater emphasis on the combat and it's the one smear on what I'd otherwise consider to be a solid, inoffensive entry in the series. Fighting enemies here is just really brainless since you're best off equipping the wraith blade which now doesn't go away after being hit once and mashing the square button until the enemies are gone. Overusing the blade will now sap a portion of your health but it's a really minor amount and losing all your health means you get sent to the spirit realm and making your way back to the material world only takes like 10 seconds usually so it wasn't enough to deter me from having the wraith blade equipped at all times. It also doesn't help that blocking, the lock-on feature and especially dodging just don't seem reliable in this game. Sometimes I could dodge an attack just fine, other times I'd get clipped. Couple that with severely lacking sound design that makes the titular Soul Reaver feel like a limp pointy noodle and you get combat that is the definition of mindless, and with combat being the main thing you do in this game, well then that's a problem. I wouldn't say it's outright worse than in SR1, but the added emphasis on it and the fact that you can't run past pretty much every enemy here really makes it feel like it is inferior.
Luckily, combat isn't the only part of gameplay here, the other are the puzzle-focused forges that give the wraith blade a different elemental power. It's cool that the elemental powers are here since they were cut content from SR1 and the forges themselves are honestly the highlight of the gameplay for me, not just for this game, but for the series as a whole. They're all varied requiring you to do different puzzles from using shadows as platforms to manipulating light sources to using wind to propel yourself and almost none of them rely on block pushing and all of them are just right in terms of length, maybe except the fire forge that one is a bit short.
As for the story, I didn't really know what to expect since I wasn't as familiar with this game's plot as I was with BO1 and SR1s but after playing it, this to me is the best story the series has produced so far. I can't say too much without delving into spoilers but I will say that I think the way the game uses time travel to completely recontextualize events from the past games and completely change the dynamic between characters to be masterful. Another highlight of this story would be what it does with Raziel's character. Instead of being motivated purely by revenge, he starts to question his alliances and the world around him and it makes him much more compelling and 3-dimensional. As per usual with this series, the dialogue is still enthralling and the quality of the voice-acting to me is still unmatched for its time-period.
Overall, Soul Reaver 2 is a decent game that when sandwiched between SR1 and BO2, comes out looking like an absolute masterpiece to me. A lot of the enjoyment that I derived from this game stems from the disdain I had for SR1 and that won't be the case for most people. Perhaps the game is too standardized when compared to how ambitious it's predecessor was but to me, SR1 was a game that tried flying too close to the sun and got burnt, whereas SR2 walks along the ground just fine and it makes for a comfortable and enjoyable experience.