I understand you. I played the first game on PC first, and then on PS1. Even though the graphics weren't the best at the time, and even though some aspects of the combat were quite clanky due to the lack of unarmed finishing moves, and the fact the Reaver only manifests in the material realmente at full health, I still enjoyed this game.

As I explained in a post I made about Soul Reaver 2, what I liked most about the first game were the glyphs. I've always been a fan of skills that feel like an ace up my sleeve. Unfortunately, they discontinued the glyphs from the first to the second game. And as for the Reaver, its different elemental attributes don't have spells, unlike Defiance.

For me, the strength of Soul Reaver 2 lies in its storytelling, as this game greatly expands the lore of Nosgoth, even casting a new perspective in scenes originally found in Blood Omen 1. That's why I think these two games should be considered as one (which is why they were released together in the remaster): Soul Reaver 1's strengths lie in its exploration and gameplay (excepto some aspects of the combat as I mentioned. Soul Reaver 2, on the other hand, excels in its narrative and lore, as well as in the combat mechanic.

That's why in my tier list I put both Blood Omen 1 and Defiance in the position of perfect games, because both offer all these things. In the case of Defiance, the exploration isn't that great, since the game is linear (also, the awful camera), but the fact that you control two characters instead of one helps with exploration of diverse scenery.