Hot on the heels of the success from Remnant: From the Ashes, Gunfire Games is back for another round of punishingly hard action-RPG shenanigans. Remnant 2 doubles up on the desperation and the almost insurmountable odds, featuring a world on the brink of extinction and a new cast of bosses and challenges to bring anyone down to their knees. A pure exercise in the Souls-like genre, this is a game of focus, timing, and teeth grinding, but not without its frustrations.

Outnumbered, Outgunned, Outsmarted?

Remnant 2 is the kind of game that you should set some time aside for. The grind can last for several weeks, maybe even more, and the lowest difficult setting provides enough challenge to all but the veterans of this very specific and appreciated genre. This sequel didn’t tone down on the adversities, quite on the contrary; it builds on them, introducing more imagination into its set pieces along with visual variety.

Don’t expect massive changes to the fundamentals of the franchise. The Remnant games are tough, the enemies are abundant, and the constant mix of heat-seeking projectiles – or whatever you want to call them – and ruthless melee pounding is precisely what it is about.

Exploration still plays a significant role in this sequel, with procedurally generated areas where you must scour every inch to discover the good loot and where your next objective is. Simple as it may sound, don’t be surprised if unearthing a particular dungeon turns out to be more demanding than expected, as crossing some wide-open locations is just inviting every monster in the region to take a shot at you. I have lost count of the times where this massively deformed blob of indefinable fleshy things has decided to show up and give me a hard time — these moments may be frustrating in the long run, as they end up feeling like filler between actual missions, no matter the experience and resources that you may end up earning from it. Was it worth it though? That’s the question you must pose yourself as you count the wasted ammo from every encounter.

You start this new adventure by making the toughest choice possible: the level of your challenge. Survivor is the easiest one, if that’s even the right term to use in Remnant 2 – it’s going to be hard in places, you can bet on that. The Veteran difficulty dials things up a notch, and Nightmare is the definite choice for those who live by Souls-like experiences with no holding back. The final mode, Apocalypse, is only unlocked when you finish the game in any other mode, so that’s the one for true champions.

A Medic, a Handler, and a Gunslinger Walk into a Ward…

Picking a class, or archetype, will be your next big move. There are five to choose from and while most of them lean on the familiar side, you may spot some interesting ploys here and there. The Handler, for example, brings their trusty dog companion into the fight, and despite the appeal, I ended up choosing the Gunslinger for its firearm and ammo abilities. But the starting classes are mere husks that you can customize in several ways, creating builds that require constant fiddling according to the type of threat you are facing at a given time.

Classes in Remnant 2 come with a myriad of possibilities to expand their limited starting stats. Through experience points, loot, and upgrades you will turn into a more effective post-apocalyptic world wanderer, creating a build that is deeply different from one devised by a friend. Traits play the bigger role here, as you discover new ones and upgrade them via books that you discover in your travels. Selecting vigor over endurance or footwork is always going to be a tough choice, but slowly and surely your character is going to become more resilient and more responsive to your demands.

Gear is something that you must regularly improve upon, from purchasing new armor to finding various types of rings that give you different buffs. Mods can be bought or crafted and slotted into your weapons, and you can buy new arsenal or upgrade the current loadout. Your relic can be upgraded with relic fragments, providing various boosts that you may change anytime to adapt to specific combat situations. Finally, leveling up your archetype unlocks new skills and perks, some of them being unique to each class.

Before going deep into the first world brimming with alien inspiration that could draw some comparisons to H. R. Giger’s work, albeit in a less detailed way, we get to know the location where the last bastion of humanity is gaining strength. Ward 13 is that place, a compound of debris, metal sheets, and rust, with containers serving as the crew quarters for everyone. A diverse cast of survivors welcome you as one of their own after your first struggles against the rot. Most of them are there for a purpose, a hub where you can trade your resources and scrap for upgrades, armor, weapons, and varied types of boosts.

But never mind all that; the real highlight of Ward 13 is Mudtooth, the familiar old-timer with the tall tales that may steal a few laughs from you, such is his enthusiasm and way with words, not to mention the countless reasons for his nickname, as any good old geezer with noticeable memory problems would do. This is comedy gold in an otherwise serious and often depressing series filled with characters who barely amount to means for you to enhance your power level.

Two’s Company, Three’s a Remnant 2 Party

Remnant 2‘s gameplay will feel very familiar, from movement, pacing, and combat mechanisms, with melee and long-ranged clearly taking a page or two from the first game. But clunky is a word that occasionally comes to mind, as the slow and heavy characters often control like tanks, taking considerable time to chain one animation with the next, providing plenty of room for your foes to take you out as you try to start sprinting or dodge roll. Using a melee weapon such as a large hammer may prove rewarding when the hits count, but it feels like you’re walking with the weight of the world in your shoulders – and in a sense, you are.

Verticality is a welcome addition, spicing up the levels with all sorts of layers and providing added attack depth. Enemies come from various places, forcing you to be constantly aware of your surroundings, and learning the layout of the dungeons in a more thorough way. Elevators take you to new heights – literally – and to the endless bottom, also making part of world exploration just a little more demanding than before.

Other than that, it’s the same approach of making every bullet count, dodge rolling out of harm’s way, and taking one step at a time lest you become surrounded by enemies who may one-shot you. There’s this rewarding sense of achievement each time you take out one of the bosses, ingenious and ruthless creatures with attack patterns that were design to incredible detail, and in this area Remnant 2 never disappoints.

Beautiful Despair

Cooperative play is where the game truly shines, as up to three players take on the dungeons and bosses. A balanced party is crucial, as you fiddle with healing and buffs to maintain a well-rounded squad going through all adversities. Joining other games or getting a hand from players in your campaign is recommended, often vital in fact, as managing most bosses solo is the true definition of nightmare.

Resting at checkpoints restores your ammo and relics, but the tradeoff is that all basic enemies also return to the world, so consider this twice if you don’t want to face some familiar faces again. The upside is that it also respawns fallen companions, so this is a true lifesaver.

Some of the worlds offer quite ingenious sights as well, from alien inspirations to one that could be straight out of Bloodborne, in a flattering way. There’s no denying that the artistic style is a major achievement in this game, and it only lacks some added consistency and less empty and barren areas to be a complete triumph. Obviously, you need to make sure that you enjoy your drab tones, as the palette in Remnant 2 is mostly bland – a design choice for sure, but even a despairing world would have some finer colors here and there for the sake of variety.

Take some time if you can, to appreciate the fine details when you come across them. The high-tech factory with the robots and giant robot arm is going to be one of your first jaw-dropping moments, a sight that could originate from any high-budget sci-fi movie, but let’s not ignore the fact that these robots are attacking you from all sides. Or the death train ride, a vicious game with a time limit where for some reason you are toyed around by this entity, wasting wagon after wagon of enemies until you reach your destination.

Not everything is perfect though, and it seemed that some of my shotgun blasts didn’t register properly, even when it was a clear and direct hit. It was also frustrating to see that some stronger enemies were killed out of bounds and the precious loot was out of my reach, with no option but to sigh and move on.

A Surefire Shot

Remnant 2 isn’t trying to reinvent the post-apocalyptic, gloom wheel. Expanding on the concept via the traditional motto of “bigger, better, more” but somewhat ignoring the faster part, this is a solid Souls-like that fans of the original should love. It doesn’t come without a bit of clunkiness here and there, and can be demanding in terms of system requirements, hopefully something that is going to be improved before release, but the added combat and build possibilities offer you new ways to face another set of moody set pieces and impressive bosses.

As far as Souls-like go, this series is shaping up to be one of the household names. Just make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into, put some time aside for this adventure, and don’t forget to bring a couple of friends along for this exciting and brutal ride, unless you want to become boss pulp.

Score: 8/10

Pros:

• A bigger and world of punishing challenges
• Build options are interestingly diverse
• Verticality adds to combat possibilities
• Cooperative mode again shines

Cons:

• Occasionally clunky
• World may feel empty
• Playing solo becomes frustrating

Remnant 2 review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.