Remnant II

Remnant II has no business being as phenomenal as it is.

The same could have been said about its predecessor, Remnant: From the Ashes in 2019.

My vague recollection of the buzz for the original Remnant swirled around the idea it was “Dark Souls but guns.” Are you as tired of that throwaway sentiment as I am?

Remnant: From the Ashes was not a wholly original ambition. From small-time developer Gunfire Games, a third-person shooter with difficult combat wouldn’t have been an entirely taxing product. Players would die and retain all their experience and gear, merely have to fight through mobs again. Lore was attached to items, hinting at a complex ecosystem of storied faraway planets and timelines. Action was less about bombastic moments and more about escalating tension.

Yet there was something about Remnant that begged for attention. Our review of the first game hinted at a product that was perhaps not completely exceptional. But something special was there. Perhaps a chunky, dated exterior detracted from viewing it at a higher quality. Perhaps no one wanted to sword-and-board their way through more exotic locales, let alone shoot their way through them. But the dozen or so hours I plunged into Remnant: From the Ashes stuck, to the point a sequel announcement surprised and delighted me.

Remnant II has the advantage of being a third-person action game at its foundation, a genre that begets a slew of modern classics. Thankfully for Gunfire Games, it is one of the most malleable constructs to work with. What makes the game special is not due to one particular aspect shining into the forefront, it’s the synergy that is created from a multitude of careful, smart decisions meant to reward players nearly every step of the way.

Pluck any number of moments or scenes from Remnant II and players may be reminded of a recent favorite. Walking through a dilapidated, overgrown American town echoes The Last of Us. Cramped hallways flooding with eldritch horrors evoke the tension of Resident Evil 4. A towering monster bursting forth from the ground instills dread like the Locust from Gears of War. Familiarity and nostalgia are empowering tools to use when creating any product but Remnant II forges its own identity. It reminds of us of great moments from those great games because this too is a great game.

Having not completed Remnant: From the Ashes and forgetting large parts of its story, I was apprehensive about Remnant II being a near direct continuation. Taking place in the broken remains of America after being taken over by an evil force known as the Root, Remnant: From the Ashes involved players traveling to distant, alien worlds to untangle the Root’s mystery and ultimately defeat it. Peppered throughout the narrative were characters to meet and a wealth of world-building that showed careful consideration in asking players to constantly investigate and learn more to further appreciate its complexity.

Daunting as it seems, Remnant II is entirely comfortable with the fact that not everyone will have played the first. While the sequel opens with a new player character, fans of the first game will recognize they are searching for Ward 13, the safe haven of Remnant: From the Ashes. Soon after, the player is tasked with a rescue mission to find Ward 13’s leader by following them through a World Stone, an artifact capable of transporting people across worlds and dimensions, also acting as the game’s checkpoints that replenish armor, health, and previously defeated minor enemies.

In the moments before players complete the prologue and are given the freedom to fight interdimensional monsters, various characters across Ward 13 can be spoken to that offer up an exhaustive amount of conversation meant to excavate what’s going on in the universe and deepen the connection to it. Not only will players get squared up on the state of the world in Remnant II, they will meet a few characters with intimate knowledge of what happened in the first game.

I deeply appreciated the strategy of speaking to the older members around Ward 13 who were able to catch me up on the events of the first game. While many of these characters also act as merchants, its indicative of Gunfire Games’ appreciation for this world. Voice acting and, surprisingly, character animation really shine through, infusing life where the first game was lacking. Attention was given to providing many of the supporting cast with personality, from an old-timey grandpa that mispronounces everything to an alien creature with an odd dialect to a man incapable of speech that still communicates by writing on a small chalkboard. Without barely any knowledge of these people and a passing remembrance of the first game, I was taken aback by how fast I became invested in the survival of Ward 13.

Despite the main narrative not being overly complex, Remnant II‘s density manages to do some heavy lifting.

Not only are the hundreds of discovered pieces of items and equipment rife with fascinating tidbits, the environments ooze with history. A planet housing a society of fawn-like aliens is nothing akin to the dead, poisoned planet infested with robots and toxic insects. Looking into the skyboxes of these detailed worlds and trawling their dungeons invites a sense of wonder… or dread.

But Remnant II also houses a secret weapon that bleeds into each part of its structure.

Players will come to realize that Remnant II contains procedurally-generated worlds. Yet this isn’t a matter of each world being a patchwork quilt of a handful of predetermined corridors and rooms. No, Gunfire Games took the concept to the extreme in which players will encounter different stories and different content throughout the game.

The onset of your specific journey is likely to start entirely different from a friend. It’s a thematic throughline considering the Remnant series speaks to different worlds and different timelines. Unlike a dungeon crawler such as Binding of Isaac or Diablo 4, players undoubtedly won’t be able to see the seams in these worlds.

Knowing that a dungeon in one playthrough might be replaced by another in the next or a new story will unfold to present a larger picture is an enticing, intoxicating spin on the genre. Not only will players be surprised the first time it happens, they will want to further explore a world they thought they had a firm grasp on.

Puzzles also feature prominently over the course of Remnant II, much like in the previous game. Simply investigating a pod after it belched out a decaying humanoid triggered a cutscene that dropped me into a platform covered in black ichor and assaulted by a named monster. After clearing the room I ran up a hallway only to realize I was in a section that was previously inaccessible. While there are quickly solvable mysteries in the game, players should expect truly complex brain teasers that aren’t easy to solve but reap massive rewards.

Remnant II being able to juggle diverse content at a consistent rate is an impressive feat. But the stunt is more astounding considering its actual quality. At no time did I tire of the levels I was exploring or the lament returning to a previously discovered world because I knew some exciting find was potentially around the corner.

This logic applies to Remnant II‘s exceptional boss fights, as well. Knowing that a room-filling monstrosity lies at one end of the game while a puzzle-based encounter is somewhere else shows how Gunfire Games has grown as a developer. There are certainly encounters in which players will tussle with a main enemy that is flanked by trash. But there are also situations where players are meant to feel overwhelmed, only sussing out the best way to dispatch a boss by keeping a cool head and watching the environment.

An early boss had me square off against a glowing blue parasite. The only problem was that it hitched a ride on massive Lovecraftian flies that spit out blobs of poison or smaller arachnids that would cling to me, injecting their venom. Pumping the fly with enough bullets would cause it to burst, ejecting the target parasite who would erratically skit across the ground before lunging at me. I realized the best method was to ignore the flies altogether and attack the parasite while it was attached because it was stationary.

The act of shooting in Remnant II is satisfying and rewarding. Players are able to equip a long gun such as a rifle or automatic weapon, a melee weapon, and a small gun like a pistol. Aiming and firing are snappy and responsive and there was never a time I felt as if my shots were not making appropriate contact.

Players build out their arsenal by using items found or earned to craft modifications and “mutators” that compliment specific builds and playstyles. Guns can shoot out healing fields, fire off elemental damage, or doing melee damage can grant ammunition.

While I wouldn’t say Remnant II is a pure action game, I can’t deny the adrenaline rush caused by its survival horror elements clashing with tense, thrilling encounters. Countless times a musical sting would indicate looming or rushing enemies, only for me to grip the controller in anticipation with my finger hovering over the trigger. Remnant II is careful when to blitz players will semi-weak enemies in cramped corridors or toss in a harder mini-boss that might require more than a few bullets.

There’s likely to be issue with how frequently the player character expresses exasperation at an encounter being over with a handful of voice lines. But I can’t deny there were multiple times I laughed in agreement because they said exactly what I was thinking.

And Remnant II is by no means a cakewalk. Enemies are punishing and hit hard. I spent my time on the second difficulty setting out of four (there’s also a hardcore, permadeath option) and found the damage dealt and received to be appropriate. But the gradual feed of loot inspired patience and the push for success. In the first dungeon of the game I fought two “big” enemies that didn’t reset and two named bosses that weren’t actually main threats. After clearing it in one sitting, I walked away for a few minutes literally sweating and buzzing from relief–it was amazing.

Providing players with options is one of the best methods for a looter shooter to survive. I look to Destiny or The Division or the recent Outriders as successful interpretations of the genre. While Remnant II does not shower the player with guns and armor of incremental power buffs, it captures the idea of a class system with its archetypes.

Four archetypes are available at the game’s start: Challenger, Handler, Hunter, and Medic. Each provides an extension to the game’s shooter base. The Medic increases survival with healing skills. The Challenger is a tank capable of AoE attacks and reviving once after death. The Hunter can mark enemies and do massive weakpoint damage. And the Handler brings a dog into the fray that can distract enemies and also provide healing.

Archetypes have a base perk unique to them and three different skills that are activated on a cooldown. Once a player gets an archetype to level 10, they can equip a second archetype to then level up. Remnant II smartly stretches out the time players take to get comfortable with one archetype and then allowing them to test out new synergies to either change a playstyle or further enhance a current build.

Balancing and juggling the various moving parts of Remnant II is an absolute thrill-ride because there’s always options for players to grow their skills. Want to play solo but need help? Be the Handler and have your dog dole out damage. But guess what? The game has hidden archetypes and weapons as well! I managed to find one that allowed me to summon creatures to aid me. Secrets like this will have the community thriving in Remnant II for months to come.

And, of course, there’s the cooperative factor. Players can join up with friends or pop into a random world and hope to survive. With friendly fire enabled and enemies getting a boost, don’t expect it to be easy.

Remnant II is a rare sequel that makes everything great about the first game even more exceptional. Gunfire Games had a sleeper hit with Remnant: From the Ashes but this genre-defying entry has expounded upon what makes third-person action games so special. Remnant II is a treasure trove of inventive choices. From its rewarding variety, tight shooting, and groundbreaking procedural content, this unexpected gem has become one of 2023’s must-play games.