Remnant 2 Review – An Elevated Experience from its Prequel

Remnant 2 is the sequel to its predecessor, Remnant: From the Ashes developed by Gunfire Games. The first installment of the series brought a unique gameplay of Souls-like games mixed with third-person shooting mechanics that quickly grasped the interest of both genre-lovers gamers. Remnant: From the Ashes has great potential that was addressed by many players as it is the first of its kind game that came out but the players knew that the Gunfire Games had more potential to create a game with more immersive experience and well-crafted mechanics.

Well, the Gunfire Games didn’t disappoint and came out with the sequel, Remnant 2 with more immersive and unique worlds filled with various biomes that offer both horror and elevated gunplay experience. This is our review of Remnant 2 and its first DLC The Awakened King.

Storyline

The story for Remnant 2 picks up some decades after the original incident of ‘The Root’ in the prequel. The Root has been dealt with in the original game but as time passed, it has spread all over the multiverse again and tends to destroy both the reality and the multiverse. This time the character is up against something bigger than the last time as the scale of the threat has also been severely increased.

The main character in the storyline is no one but the custom character that players will get to create at the start of the game and an NPC named Clementine who will help them throughout the main course of the story.

Gameplay

The prequel of the game has low variety in the actual classes that limited the players to a certain type of gameplay but the Remnant 2 starts with 4 different Archetypes (Classes), 5 with the Deluxe Edition allowing players to start with their preferred class. Not only that but the game holds secret Archetypes that players will get to unlock by crafting their respective Engrams and placing them in the Archetype Slot in the menu. There are 11 Archetypes/Classes in Remnant 2 (Base Version) that players can choose to try throughout their playthrough and if players buy the new DLC: The Awakened King, they will get to unlock the 12th Archetype named Ritualist.

With that variety of classes, Remnant 2 does an exceptional job at providing players with such Items, Weapons, Mods, and Accessories that can enhance the potential of certain classes. Players have the freedom to choose any class from the start and as they progress further in the story and level up their selected class to Level 10, they will unlock the option to select a secondary class to use their unique abilities with the primary class. This takes the building of a class to a whole new level where players can take advantage of two classes at once. All the classes have certain starting stats and abilities in which players will get to invest as they progress in the game. Increasing the level of the classes also strengthens the overall stats of the character.

The gunplay has been improved drastically along with the rolling and dodging mechanics that greatly enhance the combat experience in the game. There are 3 weapons that players can hold at a time. Primary Weapon, Secondary Weapon, and Melee Weapon. Primary and Secondary Weapon focuses on gunplay whereas the Melee Weapon steps you in the shoes of a Souls-like experience especially, with the dashing and rolling mechanics. However, every enemy in the game has their own set of attacks and movements that cannot be tackled with Melee Weapons which is why players must use all of the weapons at their disposal to clear out the enemies. Gunplay is more preferred method for combat as the game is designed in such a way but there is an option for players who like to challenge themselves to defeat any enemy, boss, or even the whole campaign with only Melee Weapons.

The scale of the world is bigger than before as there are 6 different worlds that players will get to explore each filled with various areas, biomes, and dungeons. Players will get to start the game in the Ward 13 world which acts as a safe spot in the game. This area is filled with several NPCs who will assist you with your gear, weapons, engrams, relics, accessories, and much more. As players start the initial main quest, they will get a random roll that will take them to a random world (every time) and start the quests at a random area within that world. From there, they will get to explore the areas and dungeons to reach the required objective area to progress in the main story to unlock further worlds.

Exploring the worlds will often bring players to find a World Stone at least 1 in every area of the world. Players can interact with the World Stone to replenish their HP along with any status effects but also reset all the enemies, like at the bonfire in Souls games. Additionally, players can use the World Stone to travel between unlocked Worlds or back to Ward 13 to strengthen the gear at a cost of Scrap (Primary Currency) and various resources. Scraps and resources are earned from killing the enemies and finding the hidden chests around the area whereas, the special resources are obtained from specific enemies or completing specific puzzles. Puzzle-solving is one of the main aspects of the game as many of them are essential to progress in the main story whereas some of them will unlock new areas, reward you with unique weapons, and much more.

Apart from the main areas and dungeons inside the worlds, there are mirror versions of the area as well which are well crafted. The horrors of the mirror world are different from reality and will require you to solve its specific puzzle to either obtain a quest item which will lead to a new weapon of some kind or be used for solving the puzzle.

The overall gameplay of Remnant 2 is without a doubt an elevated and improved experience than its prequel as there is so much to explore in the worlds and many bosses to defeat by mastering the art of combat.

Sound and Visuals

The visuals of Remnant 2 are drastically improved than the original installment and the world designing in the game is one of the best in any action-adventure game this year. The level of world designing in Remnant 2 is exceptional work as players get to explore 6 different worlds filled with certain types of enemies and bosses. The theme of the world explains the difficulty and the horror that the world would unleash on players.

The audio design and the voice acting of the NPCs that players meet throughout the world are also decent which keeps the mystic plotline of the game intact. Nimue is one of the well-crafted NPCs in Remnant 2 as she offers various help to the main character as well as holds a secret weapon that players can get by solving a secret mystery to Nimue.

Remnant 2: The Awakened King

Remnant 2 base game came out in July and its first DLC: The Awakened King was released this very month It brings additional content for the players to experience in the newer areas introduced in Losomn World. This new expansion offers new weapons, armor sets, accessories, newer enemies, bosses, locations, and a new Ritualist Archetype. Players can get this first and new expansion for $9.99 to explore and experience the new horror in Losomn World.

The Awakened King is set in the areas within the Losomn World and the players who have purchased the expansion will be able to enter the new areas by selecting ‘The Awakened King’ location at the start. It will take players to a random new area of the expansion from where they will get to follow along the main quests of the Awakened King which will gradually take them to One True King, the final boss of the DLC.

There are 10 different bosses included in the DLC and the toughest boss without a doubt is the One True King. If any player has completed the base version before, we highly recommend that they take on this challenge to defeat the One True King.

Verdict – Score 9/10

Both Remnant 2 and its expansion, The Awakened King is a must-try for any player who loves and admires action games or Souls’ games. Remnant 2 without a doubt is a step up from its prequel in every aspect, the story is immersive, the characters are well-designed, the worlds are crafted exquisitely, the number of classes improves the variety of playthroughs for the players, and much more.

Remnant 2 and its DLC are now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and XBOX Series X|S.

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