I didn't imply any of what you're inferring, thanks for putting words in my mouth, though. To elaborate:

The LoK series of games features multiple games with divergent styles of gameplay and gameplay mechanics, and there's differences between the overall quality and enjoyment of the gameplay between titles. As I was referring to the series as a whole, I omitted commenting on the gameplay, and instead focused on commenting on some of the more key elements of the gameplay experience when it comes to this series - the storyline, narration, and general tone and theme.

If you're talking about the "Soul Reaver" games, where you play as Raziel, the gameplay is pretty great, actually, not "stodgy" at all. Movement is fluid, combat has an interesting spin on it, and is fun and satisfying to engage in. The puzzles in the games are fun and satisfying to solve, and the way they're tied in to progression through the world and story is also memorable. The bosses in the games are extremely cool in their design and what part they play in the story and lore, they're interesting to fight against, and they feel satisfying to defeat - especially considering the great way they're presented (and who they are).

Then there's the older Blood Omen game. Entirely different gameplay, but also very enjoyable (if you like old style RPGs). And you've also got Blood Omen 2, which was a somewhat more lacklustre version of the Soul Reaver titles, although it had some interesting mechanics using your "Dark Gift" that allowed you to sneak by enemies and solve puzzles.

In general, gameplay throughout this series has been up to snuff, always bringing at the very least solid gameplay, and at times bringing very satisfying set-pieces that take skill and practise to get through. This is all - by the way - coming from someone who played through all games. How many of the games have you finished / how far did you progress through the game(s)? If you've not progressed very far, that would partly explain your stance, as you unlock new abilities and pretty big new parts of the world only later in your journey, across all games.

Here's what some of the games press has to say about the series:

• GameSpot's Greg Kasavin was critical of Blood Omen 2, but praised the Soul Reaver games as "great" for their "innovation and surprising drama", voice acting and technical feats
• Matt Clemens of Computer and Video Games said that the series had engaging narrative, impressive cinematic sequences and fluid combat, calling Soul Reaver an "absolute classic"
• The Houston Press described Legacy of Kain's voice cast as "the greatest unrecognized brilliance in video game acting", and compared the dialogue of the series to plays by William Shakespeare
• Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar said that "known for nuanced storytelling, unconventional protagonists, amazing boss fights and rich Shakespearean baritones, the series raised the bar for writing and acting in games"

Even if the gameplay was mediocre (which it isn't), it would still be worth it to play through the games, get to know the rich and deep lore and characters (and their history), and experience playing through the story, yourself.