Remnant: From the Ashes

I’ve always admired good stories in games. For me, that’s what makes any game great special. From Kojima’s Snatcher series to Link’s journey in Windwaker, finding that sweet spot where you can connect your adventure to your audience, while at the same time motivating them to go on an extended journey with your gameplay design, is something to behold by the end of the gaming experience. Or at least it can be, given the right story.

Remnant has a story that hooks you, environments that put you in your character’s situation, and good gameplay mechanics and purpose to keep you moving forward. It also has plenty of grind and some PS3-esque graphics. The latter of those two sentences being the low points of the game, but definitely not deal breakers. In addition, there is a possibility to play with a friend, which makes the journey that much sweeter. Speaking of which, let’s discuss the story.

You play as a character trying to get to an island via boat. The island is a saving grace of sorts from what you find out to be an apocalyptic world that doesn’t have much going for it. As your character gets free of terrible things, mainly demon-like creatures that seem born from angry/fiery trees, he/she shoves off in a boat towards said island. Just when everything seems to be looking up, violent storms and waves push your character back and ensure that your journey to the island is impossible. While not making it to the island, which seems protected by some evil force, your character wakes on land with a group of people, your saviors, who are just barely surviving on their own in an abandoned reactor. You find out quickly that everyone at the reactor has tried to make it to that island with the same result as your attempt. As the journey unfolds in the game, more story details of what happened and what the hell the demonic enemies are begins to come into focus.

I love me some mysteries.

Remnant: From the Ashes does a lot to keep the player in the dark throughout the game. It does it intentionally and without apology. Through this gameplay construction, it gives you a reason to keep pushing forward and completing quests/missions in the game in order to see what the hell is truly happening behind the story curtain. It’s similar in story construction to a Horizon Zero Dawn, where you’re learning about the world as you go and uncovering how the world got the way it did through every mission you complete. This sort of storytelling isn’t new, but it’s still a way to hook players and keep them going, even through grinds.

To keep the story interesting, the game also does its best to throw really odd and mostly grotesque looking enemies in your path. Think of it as a lite version of Silent Hill, where the enemies are more disturbing than they are terrifying (there is a difference). While each quest might be filled with repeats of lesser enemies, the game also makes you earn the presence of big bosses and mid-bosses, which are uniquely styled and different from the usual. For example, as you progress through large levels, such as the first quest which needs you to find the ‘root’ of a particular problem with regard to enemies cropping up in the reactor’s vicinity, you will find a bunch of typical enemies with swords or energy attacks scattered through an abandoned cityscape, including underground. When you get to the end of the first part of the beginning level, you will come across a HUGE beast, armed with a large sword-like weapon, that is just slowly moving towards you. When it gets close enough, it charges, which will make you panic like nobody’s business. Seeing these monsters is something to behold, as they separate themselves from the repetitive pack. The bosses’ attacks are less patterned, and far more vicious in nature. This alone will keep you guessing in the game in some fights, which will also keep you interested in the gameplay.

Staying with quests and gameplay, quests will also randomly bring beasts that are dressed in religious gear during gameplay. Sometimes they are armed with energy weapons, sometimes they are armed with swords that block any sort of gunfire (you have to sword-up for this one). They are vicious as they are horrifying creatures that will reward you with special items, if you take care of business of the killing-them kind. The inclusion of random mid-bosses and unique big bosses add more motivation to the gameplay when players are looking to break away from what is a typical hack/slash grind in the game. And the game makes you grind a lot.

Taking a chapter from the likes of almost every good MMORPG out in the world (I’m looking at you FFIV), the game wants you to grind enemy kills, collect material, and upgrade your character’s equipment. The more you grind, the more you gather, the more you upgrade, then the more you progress in the game. You can’t simply go into the game not expecting the grind because you’re going to be incredibly disappointed with the results. Depending on how you feel about grinding (go ahead and snicker), will equal out to how you feel about the gameplay. One doesn’t exist without the other. It’s like good and evil. You have to continually kill enemies, collect materials from their dead body, which equal out to upgrades. You have to collect a lot of materials to prep your character for harder levels. The process of collection is thoughtless at times, and the results of upgrading help to keep selling you reasons to continue playing. The only issue I really have with the grinding part of this game is that you will run into small walls with quests that require your character to be much better before you can truly move onto to the next quest. Unlike any MMORPG or Skyrim, where you can go on smaller quests while you’re building your character to complete bigger quests, Remnant really wants you to stay focused on the task at hand without other distractions (at least at the beginning of the game). It’s a bit restrictive, but the game does loosen up later. I don’t like feeling trapped with gameplay design, because honest to God you need a break from gameplay, especially of the grinding type. Remnant does keep you trapped a bit.

If you can make it or at least take the grind, then you’re going to find a big world full of a lot of customizable options for your character. From clothing to weapons, there’s a lot of upgrades that you can add in your character’s life to make the entire game a lot more fun. Improving upon weapons helps, buying/making new equipment creates motivation to keep going. The complicated backbone of upgrades and improvements as you progress through the game really does help you forget you’ve been collecting material for the last two hours. It’s a balance, if not one that is made from trickery (respectfully).

The game does give you good checkpoints to help alleviate the grind a bit. You will run into crystals that will act as save spots, as well as transport devices. This is very Dark Souls in a way, where the game understands you’re going through a slow grind and wants to assure you that there is a way to a break as you continue. This is good because you can collect material, go back to the base, upgrade, then continue your journey. It doesn’t feel like one big chance is being taken, rather it’s a series of small chances that are safe bets thanks to this crystal transportation design. Again, the game does an admirable job of trying to balance out tough gameplay with rewarding you slowly for your grind. It helps quite a bit.

Ultimately, the gameplay in Remnant: From the Ashes is pushed forward through the story, fun big/mid-bosses, and a complicated, yet beautiful upgrade backbone, which includes character attributes. I mean, you can’t have a good time without improving your character’s way of living beyond just weapons and defense. For me, the story is the reason I enjoyed this game as much as I did. I wanted to know more about this world. I wanted Gunfire Games to show its hand on what it had in store for this bleak story as it unfolded. I wasn’t disappointed one bit.

Overall, I think the longevity of the gameplay might be a bit grind-y for a mainstream audience. If you can accept that grind, then you have a good story waiting for you with a beautifully woven tapestry led by leveling and a competent upgrade system, which helps keep the gamer motivated to continue. Is it a perfect game? No, but it’s a damn good one, especially with friends.