The Highs: Remnant 2 offers an immersive experience with refined combat, enhanced loot systems, and procedurally generated levels that provide endless replayability.
That Was a Choice: Despite its strengths, the crafting system in Remnant 2 feels limited compared to other aspects of the game, leaving players wanting more depth and customization options.
The Pleasant Surprise: While the main storyline in Remnant 2 may seem straightforward, it offers unexpected twists and turns, keeping players engaged and eager to uncover its secrets.
The Lows: As players progress in Remnant 2, the grind for levelling up archetypes can become tedious and repetitive, detracting from the game's overall enjoyment.
Looking back at the past of new games and their follow-ups, it is often not until the second attempt at an innovative concept that things reach their peak. Drawing inspiration from successful sequels such as Borderlands 2 and Assassin's Creed 2, Remnant 2 builds upon its predecessor with remarkable success. The combat has been even more refined and satisfying. At the same time, the loot and crafting systems have been enhanced, providing an extended reason for the grind. Boss battles have moved to eliminate the over-use of bullet-sponge bosses and their endless minions, and each realm offers a diverse range of activities and secrets to discover. However, its standout feature remains its procedurally generated and highly replayable levels, which have been improved in numerous ways. It's straightforward to lose time as you return to the same area to explore new possibilities.
In 2019, many of us, including myself, affectionately called the first installment of Remnant: From the Ashes "Dark Souls with Guns." The second game appears to agree with this description, as you and a maximum of two comrades will brave dangerous environments filled with wicked foes who can easily defeat those lacking the ability or perseverance to conquer its purposely tricky stages.
The game features well-known soulslike concepts such as limited-use healing items and respawning enemies at checkpoints. However, unlike its predecessor, Remnant 2 goes beyond simply adding a science-fiction theme to a familiar formula. It effectively merges elements from other popular co-op looter shooters like Borderlands and Outriders, incorporating a deep loot grind and crafting while also introducing its unique twists, such as procedurally generated levels and a diverse range of worlds to explore with your team. The result is a one-of-a-kind mixture of fantastic concepts that complement each other perfectly, akin to the delicious combination of peanut butter and chocolate. However, this game involves many more shooting monsters and being defeated by blobs of sentient meat, making it an irresistible experience for any player.
In Remnant 2, the approach goes beyond simply adding a science-fiction element to a well-established formula.
The Story
Similar to its forerunner, the bizarre narrative centers on a character without a name trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overtaken by an evil species of trees known as The Root. This premise serves to justify your teleportation to various dimensions where you can engage in thrilling looter-shooter activities and save the day. However, it only offers a slightly more intriguing plot than the one-sentence summary. Along the way, you'll encounter familiar and new characters at your home base, Ward 13, who tend to talk a lot without revealing much helpful information. As you progress, you'll learn more about The Root and the ongoing multiversal war, leading to a climactic conclusion that is quickly reversed so that you can continue playing without facing the consequences of the finale.
The quality of the writing is not the issue. In truth, a portion of it is well-written, and there are undoubtedly intriguing ideas being explored that the community will analyze and discuss in the upcoming weeks and months. However, most of these elements have minimal effect on the character, essentially a blank canvas. Additionally, the overarching themes are often disconnected from the game's main focus, centring around battling extraterrestrial crustaceans.
The Setting
One positive aspect is that the various realms you encounter during your journey feature bite-sized anecdotes that are expertly narrated and much more captivating than your main objective. For instance, you may find yourself immersed in a high-fantasy world of elves trying to unravel a murder mystery or aboard a starship assisting a giant robot resembling Gundam Wing in retrieving its lost cargo. These tales surpass the main narrative and consume most of your time, leaving little room to focus on the primary storyline. It is regrettable, however, that whenever I returned to Earth or dealt with the central conflict, I would lose interest and tune out the rambling of characters I barely knew.
Regardless of the stage of the adventure you may be progressing through, each moment of its challenging gunplay is an absolute thrill. Every new location presents a dynamic performance of shooting, evading, utilizing abilities, and attempting to avoid being overwhelmed by the unrelenting enemies determined to harm and dismember you. What may start as a basic arsenal consisting of a primary and secondary weapon, a melee option, and one archetype skill rapidly evolves into a vast array of weapons, armour, customizable character classes, and modifications that have yet to grow monotonous even after several hours of gameplay.
The Gameplay
One of the main reasons why combat always feels refreshing is due to the constant switching between different worlds within the multiverse. Each world has a unique atmosphere and new enemies to face. For instance, N'Erud is a sci-fi dimension filled with aggressive robots, electronic gadgets, and laser weapons. At the same time, Losomn is a fantasy realm inhabited by cockney elves wearing bowler hats who will not hesitate to attack you amid their busy chimney-sweeping duties. The contrast between these worlds is so distinct that sometimes it is hard to believe they belong to the same game. The experience of transitioning from battling stone golems in a multiversal maze to hunting creatures in a vibrant, ancient forest is surprisingly jarring, but in a positive way that makes each shift memorable. It also helps that every area is packed with optional missions, hidden locations to discover, and, surprisingly, many challenging puzzles to solve.
In every world, boss battles have been improved based on community feedback from the first Remnant game. Previously, these boss fights lacked individuality and would often have forgettable enemies with an excessive number of henchmen to increase the difficulty. However, in Remnant 2, this weakness has been addressed, and the boss fights are now considered one of the game's strengths.
Although there are some unimpressive battles, such as a woman randomly throwing Molotov cocktails at you and a larger version of an already familiar enemy, most fights are challenging tests of your abilities and character's development and feature exciting mechanics. One fight causes your character to go wild and die if you look at the boss for too long, forcing you to turn away and compose yourself quickly. Another encounter involves a ghost trapping you in a haunted house, appearing out of the walls to attack you. My favourite is a memorable encounter where you find yourself trapped in a maze and must physically battle the labyrinth to avoid being crushed by giant cubes. This encounter may be my new favourite boss fight in any game - it's that impressive. But I do need to say this was not my favourite co-op moment. Almost every time people came into the boss fight with me, in the first 30 seconds, both other members would die, leaving me to deal with the boss alone. Now, it isn't a hard fight, but you can't get complacent or end up crushed.
To stay ahead of the formidable enemies and boss fights in Remnant 2, it is crucial to spend time optimizing your build. The most important decision to make and continuously improve upon is your archetype (class). Initially, there are four core archetypes, including a supportive Medic, a powerful close-combat tank known as the Challenger, a long-range sniper and scout called the Hunter, and the Handler, which grants you a valuable dog companion. For instance, the Hunter can highlight enemies on the battlefield and a passive perk that increases the duration of any equipped skills with critical hits. On the other hand, the Challenger can perform a war stomp in a specified area and automatically resurrect after taking fatal damage. Advancing in your archetype also unlocks new opportunities, such as perks that impact both you and your teammates and bonuses that activate temporarily after using your relic - a healing item similar to Elden Ring's Flask of Crimson Tears.
Class System
The game Remnant 2 offers the feature of switching archetypes at any time, giving players the freedom to try out and level up different roles on one character rather than starting over. However, the excitement begins when you can equip a second archetype during the campaign, allowing for even more possibilities. For instance, combining The Handler and The Hunter archetypes creates a strong synergy where you can use your animal companion to distract and hinder enemies. At the same time, you take them out with a sniper rifle from afar.
Not only that but numerous other archetypes can be obtained by completing specific quests hidden within the shattered realms you will traverse. For instance, wandering N'Erude after using the explorer archetype, I found something in the death mist. Picking up the two items in the mist, I got great armour from an alien body and the engineer archetype. This powerful archetype gives you access to a turret you can pick up and use as a heavy weapon. It's an absolute game changer, and you can make one of the invincible builds to take on apocalypse difficulty. In another area, I pursued an elusive foe. I was rewarded with the Alchemist archetype, which focused on consumables and allowed me to control the battlefield with potent thrown concoctions. It took me a considerable amount of time to uncover just a few of the archetypes I encountered, and many more remain undiscovered. The search for these game-changing abilities has me eagerly anticipating what else is in store.
Crafting
Aside from traditional archetypes, a vast array of weapons, rings, amulets, and armour are available to enhance your character's abilities. Additionally, multiple methods exist to customize and improve your equipment to suit your preferences. This feature is a dream come true for those who enjoy crafting their builds. Most of these items are scattered throughout the game world, some unlocked through complex puzzles and quests. In contrast, others are obtained by defeating powerful enemies. This adds an incentive to explore and revisit areas. The combat in this game is mesmerizing, especially regarding looter-shooters. I spent countless hours experimenting with various load-outs and searching for new tools to add to my arsenal. In fact, I had already acquired over 70 rings by the end of my time with the game, and I was still discovering new rings on my final run before the Platinum.
One aspect of Remnant 2's construction mechanics that falls short is the lacklustre armour options. Despite the availability of various armour sets to discover or buy from vendors, there are no methods for enhancing or personalizing them like you can with weapons, mods, and nearly every other aspect. This is a notably unexpected absence, considering that Remnant: From The Ashes offers an armour upgrading feature that allows you to invest in preferred sets and enhance your resistance and armour. I find myself yearning for that in this game.
The Long and Short of Playing the Game
Despite completing Remnant 2 in just 20 hours, I stayed with it for an extra 25 hours to try and get everything done. The series stands out from others in its genre due to its use of procedurally generated levels, storylines, and side quests, which create a unique experience each time. Its well-structured design balances this unpredictability, making it seem as if every aspect was meticulously crafted. However, when rerolling after your first playthrough, you quickly realize that no two campaigns are alike. The game offers multiple storylines and choices, resulting in different worlds, bosses, and quests. This is made possible by including two storylines in each world, offering diverse outcomes. It goes beyond simply stitching together rooms for the sake of diversity, as the differences between each run can be so significant that they hardly feel connected to the same world.
It is unnecessary to begin a new campaign to experience these possibilities. Once you have defeated the final boss in your first playthrough of each world, you can infinitely reroll that area anytime, providing new opportunities and quests to complete. It would require at least two playthroughs of each world to see all the significant features. Even if you encounter the same sidequests multiple times, you can make different choices to see the alternate outcomes and rewards. The utilization of procedural generation in this manner is highly effective and innovative, making Remnant 2 incredibly replayable.
One exciting aspect of this game is that it offers a cooperative multiplayer experience where players can join their friend's world or jump into the drop-in drop-out co-op experience based on matchmaking. Honestly, I wish Destiny 2 had this kind of co-op experience. It may have made end-game content more enjoyable for someone who only had one other friend who played the game.
While playing Remnant 2, I always created games public or found games to join. It was so much more enjoyable to play the game with others. It added more challenges and could lead to finding areas you'd never thought to explore. Overall, it seems like respect for other player's matches is the norm in this community, which is great to see. In the full 40+ hours I spent on the game, never once did I have someone come into one of my games and try and rush me through a section. It goes so far as players waiting for the game's owner to initiate each story event, main cinematic, or boss area. It was probably some of the most respectful co-op gaming I have ever participated in, and I was in for it.
For Trophy Hunters
I found the best way to obtain the Platinum trophy is to play and enjoy the game, as almost all trophies will unlock naturally as you play. If you play the game with a friend, know that Campaign progress is not shared. This means that whoever invites you for the first time must continue to do so for an entire campaign. In other words, if your friend joins you the first time you play together, your friend will have to do so until you've completed an entire Campaign once. It's a bit of a knock on the game. However, it allows you to reroll your campaign or start Adventure mode without losing Archetype progress or general items you obtained.
You will be missing several boss-related trophies after finishing the campaign once. To get the remaining ones, you must either reroll a new Campaign or start playing in Adventure Mode from the World Stone at Ward 13 to look for particular bosses or quests. As you play through either mode, you are not guaranteed to find the bosses, areas, or dungeons you missed on the first try, so if this happens, keep rerolling Adventure Mode until you find the bosses you need. This step to the Platinum is entirely luck-based. Specifically, if you know that the bosses you're missing are from one specific world only, keep rerolling Adventure Mode until you find the worlds and areas you need.
Overall, it took me about 45 hours to finish the Platinum; I wasted time in there just messing around and getting some rotten luck. With the RNG, you need to contend with a lot of the time. I found it frustrating when certain conditions refused to line up to help me finish my trophies. While there is some tedious grinding you'll have to do (unless you can unlock the secret unlockable traits and skip levelling up your archetypes), overall, it was one of the more fun Platinum's I have had the opportunity to finish.
Is it worth buying
Without a shadow of a doubt, Remnant 2 is a game that demands attention. It stands as a testament to the evolution of the gaming industry, seamlessly blending elements from various genres to create an experience that is as unique as it is captivating.
If you're a fan of soulslike games, Remnant 2 will feel like a breath of fresh air. It takes the challenging combat and intense atmosphere that defines the genre and adds depth with its co-op looter-shooter mechanics. Every battle tests skill and strategy, keeping you on the edge of your seat as you face off against formidable foes. While this may sound a bit over the top, it is, but I want to impress how much I enjoyed the game.
But Remnant 2 is more than just a soulslike game. It's also a masterclass in world-building and has surprisingly good storytelling if you let some of the more cringe-filled dialog go. The multiversal concept allows for a wide range of settings and scenarios, each more intriguing than the last. From high-fantasy realms to sci-fi dimensions, there's no shortage of adventures to be had.
And let's not forget about the customization options. With a vast array of weapons, armour, and abilities to choose from, you can tailor your playstyle to suit your preferences. Whether you prefer to charge into battle with guns blazing or take a more strategic approach, Remnant 2 has you covered.
However, perhaps the most compelling reason to invest in Remnant 2 is its replayability. No two playthroughs are the same, thanks to its semi-procedurally generated levels and branching storylines. You'll find yourself returning repeatedly, eager to uncover new secrets and conquer new challenges.
Final Thoughts
Remnant 2 emerges as a standout title in the gaming landscape, blending elements from various genres to deliver an unforgettable experience. With its seamless integration of soulslike combat, co-op looter-shooter mechanics, and rich storytelling, it offers a gaming experience that is both familiar and fresh.
From its engrossing combat encounters to its meticulously crafted worlds, Remnant 2 excels in every aspect. The game's procedurally generated levels and branching storylines ensure that no two playthroughs are ever the same, adding to its replayability and longevity.
With its deep customization options and challenging gameplay, Remnant 2 offers something for every type of gamer. Whether you're a fan of intense action or immersive storytelling, you'll find plenty to love in this game.
In conclusion, Remnant 2 is a triumph of game design and a must-play for any gaming enthusiast. With its blend of innovative mechanics, captivating storytelling, and replayability, it earns a final rating of 8.5/10, solidifying its place as one of the year's standout titles.
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