Remnant II Review
Remnant 2 has easily become one of my favorite games of all time. Here’s some reasons as to why…
Remnant 2 has easily become one of my favorite games of all time. Here’s the short version as to why:
Exceptionally fun tactical gunplay, mechanically fun and unique spectacle-style boss encounters, secrets galore, weapons, and loot that are beyond cool and fun to collect, all with a really great skill and level system to make you always feel like you’re making progress somewhere. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s some of the most fun I’ve had with a game in years, and I hope more people get the chance to appreciate it.
The long version: It’s surprising even to me that I’m singing such high praises. I never played the original Remnant, and haven’t heard of Gunfire Games either. Perhaps more interesting, is that I am not the biggest fan of FromSoftware’s souls-like formula. I don’t particularly seek out punishingly difficult games. To come from that background and enjoy Remnant 2 this much, as a game that’s marketed as ‘Souls-like with guns’, I think that’s worthy of including right at the beginning here.
To get some of the weaker points of the game out of the way, some of the narrative is a bit uninteresting. Some of the art direction is a little bland and uninspired. Maybe some of the music is lacking character. Definitely hated the puking in N’Erud. Some other negligible nitpicks not worth mentioning. But those are my only complaints.
I’ve technically played through the game almost 3 times over and I’m still having a blast. I can’t stress enough how important it is to go in with the expectation that you will have to “replay” the game and when doing so you will SEE some similar things as this game is lightly procedurally generated. There are 3 main areas, each can generate one of two different world bosses. Within those areas, you have a certain number of dungeons, that are also randomized in their inclusion. Then within the dungeons themselves, the tileset is scrambled to a degree. So in my 3 playthroughs of the game, it feels like over 70% of all the content I’m seeing is new dungeons. New bosses. Always new mini-bosses. It’s always fresh! A mechanic that is done super super well. Because it’s all randomized if you want to play with a friend, it’s likely that you’ll see or experience something you’ve never seen before making this (what I presume to be) a really cool multiplayer experience).
So let me be even clearer — You’re going to want to beat this game twice. But understand: more than 80% of everything you’ll see on your second time through will have different paths, leading to different dungeons, bosses, and different loot, with a different overarching story for each. Even beyond the two playthroughs I recommend, there are multiple ways to kill bosses or complete areas, which also determines the loot you get so you may find yourself as I am now, meticulously searching the game for the coolest weapons in the most hidden of secrets, and doing the alternative boss killing methods.
I think what really made a huge difference for me in making the Souls formula bearable is you don’t lose anything when you die other than progress since your last checkpoint. There’s no crap mechanic where you have to go grab the currency you accumulated through the whole dungeon after you die to a cheap boss move, or fall off a cliff or whatever. It was a constant relief to have that area of my brain available to focus on the boss encounters and have more unabated fun.
What glues it all together is certainly the gunplay and the light RPG systems. I did have to fiddle with my DPS to get it just right, but once I got comfortable with aiming, the rest of the game felt so good to play! Weapons feel excellent to use, and some pack a wallop of a punch, visibly staggering or even knocking over weaker enemies. The animations in this game sell the vigor of combat as your bullets penetrate your foes, especially as you hit weak spots. In that sense, the gunslinging you do can really fulfill some great power fantasies. But the guns, ESPECIALLY the ones hidden away in secrets are SO cool, some overpowered in their own right, and everyone is fun to use in their own right.
I also loved the level-up system in conjunction with the skill and perks. Besides your two guns, and single melee, your character class (or classes as you equip a second class later in the game) has 3 variations of an ultimate ability that you can use to spice up combat. Each character class has 10 levels as well, and all have passive bonuses that you accumulate. The skill tree is a little more vast, with a total of 65 levels (at the time of writing) that you can attribute to various little bonuses here and there. But it all comes together and makes you feel like every encounter, every action has meaningful consequences helping you advance and progress through the game.
I need a paragraph for the secrets in this game. There are many. Some are hiding behind methods so far beyond the normal human understanding it is insane. My advice? Beat the game once through blind. In your second playthrough, try and hit all the world bosses you missed the first time and while you’re at it, look up a guide on how to unlock all the character classes. Archon alone will probably add another 20 hours to your playtime. Then really open your third eye and watch some YouTube videos on how to get the best weapons. See how far the rabbit hole goes. There was a minute where I kept getting recommended Remnant 2 videos on my TikTok for you page, and out of the 15 videos I found, they were all different weapons, behind different secrets, that I had never seen before. There is so much that any average player just won’t find it all. Don’t feel bad about watching or reading how to find some of this stuff! I promise it is still a challenge to get to, even if you know where you’re going.
And one little section about the boss encounters. Some of the most interesting and variated I’ve ever played in a game. Period. Some of them had attacks and moves that made me have audible yells, and many prompted shouts of victory after I finally had defeated them. They are truly some of the best parts of this entire game.
Overall, Remnant 2 is an incredible package of a game. Even at full price, which is cheaper than your average AAA game, it’s a compelling package that makes every second of your time within it worth it. You always feel like you’re progressing in one way or another, and it’s always fun. I can’t wait for more people to play it, and experience the depth of its secrets, and exceptional combat. Thanks, Gunfire Games!
Originally published at https://www.backloggd.com.