If there’s one category of a game that’s the most interesting to dissect, it’s the “7/10”-type game. A prevailing presence so often associated with the AA corner of the industry, without giving too much relevancy to its numeric name, 7/10s are often those types of releases whose occasional-though-noticeable faults are matched by that which it gets right. A game with a modest budget, size, scale, vision and development time, whose artistic and mechanical credentials are clear to spot, albeit with caveats to consider.
The kind of game that may well not set the world on fire or find its place in the minds of a vast majority, but will no doubt gain its admirers. Those of whom who acknowledge said release could falter on the technical details – the performance, the polish – but aren’t ready to write it off completely. Look past the rough edges and you’ll find a game with substance. And after careful deliberation, it may well be that 2019’sRemnant: From the Asheswas the original progenitor of such a revelation, Gunfire Games' flawed, but intriguing shooter-focused action RPG built on a creative-enough vision.
On personal experience, that confidence in having found something inventive now carving out its own niche can’t really be denied, four years on. Clocking in at close to 100 hours across the base 2019 game, as well as its two subsequent DLC offerings –Swamps of CorsusandSubject 2923– Remnant’s core loop of procedural, dungeon-crawling, challenging gunplay has hooked me in a way few games have as of late, noted shortcomings included. Perhaps it’s such a compelling core to Gunfire’s design, or maybe just the fact the final DLC capped things off on a surprisingly-wonderful high point, that has made one’s anticipation for the sequel, Remnant II, all that more curious to finally receive answers to.
Have Gunfire remedied issues on content variety, narrative appeal, technical performance and such, while at the same time looked at 2923 not as the fond send-off to the original, but rather a jumping-off point in curating a sequel that is quintessentially “better in every respect”? Naturally, it wouldn’t be a Remnant experience if the conclusion were that simple. But if one wanted it distilled to its simplest and purest form: playing Remnant II has created some of the best, most satisfying feelings I’ve reveled in this year. Cue the boldest and largest of all asterisks: but much like its predecessor, is not without some familiar, though lingering issues that just might prevent it from attaining dark-horse status come the end of the year.
That said, such is the scale to which the positives shine – new additions, improved iterations and even more lengthy spells of surprise investment – that the drawbacks, though present, are thankfully confined to a smaller pot. If Subject 2923 was the basis with which Gunfire Games could follow with subsequent ideas, Remnant II more than satisfies that craving for a game that’s bigger, better, more expansive and crucially of all: challenging on top. Those prior complaints on a lack of enemy variety and boss design/delivery are fixed. The former providing foes with a greater variation in attack patterns, attack animations and those to-be-expected tricks that always seem ready to pounce if one isn’t careful.
Enemies that will duck, weave, flank and in some cases, take cover against incoming fire. General intelligence and all-round threat level from the enemy’s end far more prominent and persistent in what is a larger-scale sequel. A worthy compliment in a sequel that at its best showcases wonderful flexibility in artistic design. The world of Losomn a notable stand-out with its alien-interpreted riff on gothic architecture. A world that most of all can trick you into believing these to be genuine, grand dungeons to explore and tackle, rather than the cleverly-disguised linear sequence of events that the overworlds can wind up feeling like.
But it’s the boss fights – minor and major alike – that have received the biggest overhaul. And while it may be disappointing to some to hear that the reliance on standard, fodder-like enemies thrown into the mix hasn’t changed, Remnant II’s justification for such inclusion feels more understandable. For one, enemies aren’t simply used as some temporary “wave” to clear before getting back to the dealing with the big-bad, but act far more integral to the risk and in some cases, the general gimmick or solution governing particular fights.
Overall, though, boss fights in Remnant II are fantastic. Even those that serve as little more than buffed-up versions of regular, overworld enemies bring with them with their own unique challenges, circumstances and apparatus that can both help and hinder your progression depending on how you use them. Needless to say – bold a comparison this might sound – Gunfire Games have managed to replicate almost the exact kind of evolutionary step that FromSoftware achieved inElden Ring. In that Gunfire and the boss fights of Remnant II have done their homework when it comes to understanding how their players' think/react to threats…and subsequently baiting them into making the wrong move. Resulting in attack patterns and overall multi-phase deliveries that prey on players' own assumptions, only to show yet again that this is a game you will die, die and die again. Rarely feeling like it’s throwing too much or bumping up the numbers too high to seem challenging. Playing through on Veteran difficulty – the second of four difficulty tiers – Remnant II is challenging in a way that offers up a surprising variety not only in the bosses themselves, but even the surroundings and “arenas” too. A situation in which one’s knowledge of the space they’re in can be just as crucial as to where a given foe’s weak spots are.
Whether or not you can consider the changes to player progression and customization, a similar evolution, will vary. In Remnant II’s case, the former case of reaching level milestones to invest points into particular traits has been tweaked to accommodate what the game dubs Archetypes. Essentially boiling down to a class-based, tailored form of progression in which players will excel in one particular region to start off, but can slowly branch out from as new levels are reached and that starting class is improved on. What’s more, reach Level 10 of any Archetype and the unique perks and bonuses of that class can then be applied outside of that Archetype. Add to this the option to equip a second Archetype and it’s hard to deny the possibilities to min-max your options based on play-style aren’t being served.
Even weapons benefit from a more broader wealth of customization. While mods return from the previous game – allowing you to equip built-up buffs/abilities to your two equipped guns and accompanying melee weapon (or at least to those weapons not already tied to a mod to begin with) – Remnant II goes further in that regard. Even the ability to add minor stat buffs to your Relic, Remnant’s primary healing item, pops up here though admittedly this area feels like Remnant II’s least-appealing area of investment. Primarily because the benefits employed are so inconsequential, something like a two or three percent improvement to one or a handful of stats, feels relatively unnoticeable.
What isn’t unnoticeable is, in keeping with the themes here, how this year’s sequel manages to constantly have you reconsider how the weapons you wield and the play-style you want to employ affect one another. This is where the return of Remnant’s more exotic, other-worldly weapons – crafted by way of unique drops acquired after beating one of the major bosses – comes into play. And in a game crammed full of surprisingly-lengthy fine-tuning one’s build to their ideal way, it’s another thing to remark on how fundamental the dynamics shift upon acquisition of such weapons. Take, for instance, in my case what the game comically dubs the “Cube Gun.” A relatively, simple-looking energy-based side-arm with infinite ammo but only six rounds. Now consider that said weapon’s fire-rate varies depending on the range with which you use it: fire it at longer-distanced foes and the gun’s way of having its bullet-fire return back to you takes longer. By contrast use it up close and you may turn almost into a make-shift SMG with the trade-off being its heat meter is quicker to fill up.
All this, coming from one gun – one of many weapons to uncover in Remnant II – just shows how wild a tangent one can be thrown on. In a game whose dungeons too can offer up a surprise turn of events in that the end goal may not be a boss fight, but some ordeal or objective to meet that is just as grueling, just as four-letter swear-word inducing when it all goes pear-shaped. But crucially of all, nails that balance of difficulty and tempting appeal. The cherry on top being that the items and loot one finds, much like boss-attuned weapons, can fundamentally change how you approach the game thereafter. In a game primarily revolving around procedural runs and seeing just what new quests, dungeons, encounters and outcomes have been set, Remnant II’s assortment of content is both fulfilling in its challenge and for the most part rewarding in what it gives back.
Such is the wealth of content to get stuck into that it’s easy to pass off the sequel’s otherwise lack of improvements in other regards as not that detrimental. Even if the main campaign’s narrative and means of storytelling – specifically that tied to the key events taking place – remain Remnant’s weakest part. And while world-specific quests and lore to uncover does bring it back to a level of modest intrigue, it’s hard to care about what the game wants you to focus on and who specifically moreso.
And while it too may wind up fleeting in its presence, it’s disappointing to report that as far as technical performance goes, Remnant II sadly replicates much of what the original suffered from at launch. In some cases, procuring a few more noticeable bugs and issues on performance that have the potential to sour but far from ruin a player’s experience. The most troublesome of these issues is naturally the framerate and how all over the place it can get. No amount of tweaking with one’s settings or resolution appearing to remedy these issues. The in-game setting of Yaesha being the primary culprit; at worst, cutting one’s average frame-rate in half to around the mid-30s, regardless of resolution.
Other issues like stutters, the game freezing for a few seconds in an attempt to trigger the next, story-critical, in-engine cutscene also pop up throughout one’s time. At worst, a ordinary transition from interior to exterior resulting in a complete crash. And while not the biggest deal-breaker, a frequent bug in the world select menu forcing me to interact with a world-stone or associated checkpoint twice or even three times just to get the proper selections back on-screen. This is nowhere near the state of recent infamous PC ports, but even without that prior reputation, Remnant II on PC does unfortunately come with a modest list of issues. Issues that scale from mildly annoying to in the rarest of spots, abruptly session-ending.
Closing Comments:
Building on everything that was great about the original – from enemy variety to boss design to the means by which one can customize their play-style – Remnant II just about scrapes by with a follow-up that befits the mantle of “bigger, better, bolder” in numerous ways. The dangling and unfortunately noted caveat is the current performance at launch. The almighty saving grace however – and one that ultimately comes to frame Remnant II in more flattering colors – is just how significantly more rewarding the sequel feels compared to the 2019 original. Superb execution on art-style, level design and simply how one approaches the onslaught before them, though flawed in its more technical aspects, Remnant II’s wealth of content, fulfilling challenge and broad expanding on the template it established more than makes up for its shortcomings.
