Remnant II Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · August 9, 2023

For this Remnant II Review, where we play the sequel to the best-selling game Remnant: From the Ashes which pits survivors of humanity against new deadly creatures and god-like bosses across terrifying worlds. Play solo or co-op with two other friends to explore the depths of the unknown to stop evil from destroying reality itself. To succeed, players will need to rely on their own skills and those of their team to overcome the toughest challenges and stave off humanity’s extinction.

Remnant II Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
69.86GB download size.
Steam achievements.
Full controller support.
Action RPG gameplay.
Graphics settings – display mode, resolution, brightness, motion blur, v-sync, framerate, more upscale, more upscale quality, graphics preset, shadow quality, post-processing, foliage quality, effects quality, view distance quality, fov modifier, and minimize input latency.
Hud settings – Hud size, Hud opacity, minimap size, minimap opacity, enable minimap pitch, hit indicators, and advanced reticle.
Controller settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, deadzone sliders, and gamepad aim snap.
Allow auto-equip setting.
Five character slots.
Game join settings – offline, friends, and public.
Skip tutorial choice.
Hardcore one life character choice.
Four difficulties – survivor, veteran, nightmare, and apocalypse.
Five archetypes each with unique weapons, abilities, and gear – medic, hunter, Challenger, handler, and gunslinger.
3rd person perspective.
A full 3D game world with 360-degree camera control.
Disgusting yet oddly beautiful locations.
Checkpoints allow you to rest, fast travel, level up, respawn and heal up.
Earn EXP and level up to get trait points to put into stats.
Plays like the old game.
The tutorial is well-paced and adds all relevant information.
Ward 13 is the main hub of the game where all survivors live and here you can buy/sell/upgrade weapons and items.
The map locations fill in as you play with the main objective markers.
Multiple choice encounters.
Find and earn materials and resources for upgrading gear.
You get to see what an upgrade would do before you commit.
Equip any found/earned mods and add to your weapon like healing shots.
Favorite weapons for quick selection.
Play how you want.
Possible to just go out and farm enemies for materials or level up a chunk.
Hitting crystal checkpoints reloads/respawns enemies.
General load out is ranged, melee, and an ability that is usually tied to your archetype, you get more as you play and build a character build.
Relic fragments enhance and change how stats work and abilities go.
The re-roll campaign option resets and changes the dungeon/world roll you have, you lose all progress but keep items.
You can revive each other, if you are playing the handler archetype then your dog will revive you.
Hidden voice notes to find and listen to.
The mini-map shows red areas as u discovered and uncovers as you move through it.
Breakable objects.
The worlds are huge.
Ridiculously addictive.

Remnant II Review Cons:

Cannot rebind controls.
Have to unlock the apocalypse difficulty.
A lot to take in.
Takes a fair while to have everything click into place.
Very easy to die as the feedback on damage isn’t great.
Feels like you have to always go back to the hub just in case you can do an upgrade.
I got lost and did a whole area I thought was moving me forward but it turned out it wasn’t.
The marking of mission directives is not great.
No real pause button even when playing offline.
Due to the 3D nature of the mini-map/map, it can make knowing where to go tricky or hard to see.

Related Post: OXENFREE II: Lost Signals Review (Steam)

Remnant II:

Official website.

Publisher: Gunfire Games

Developer: gearboxpublishing.com

Store Links –

Steam

8/10
Graphics - 8/10
8/10
Sound - 8/10
8/10
Accessibility - 8/10
9/10
Length - 9/10
9/10
Fun Factor - 9/10

8.4/10

Summary

I was a huge fan of the first game and recently went back and tried the Nintendo Switch version (review is on the site) so coming in here I had a preset checklist of what I would like to see. Remnant 2 took that list, ripped it up, and gave me even more! The world is full of Dread but also open to exploration, I mean the game worlds crafted here are much bigger and deep than the first game so you feel more freedom to do what you want and go wherever. I mean I was sure I was doing the main path to do my first boss encounter but it turns out I zigged when I should have zagged it’s all good as I got crazy good loot, a whole area to explore, and learned a lot of tricks that helped me with the boss when I finally found him. Character-wise it’s still the same deal where you pick an archetype and the ones from the last game are in there except the new dog handler class which I ran, this is cool as I now have a canine buddy who attacks enemies and can revive me when I play solo! Having a little helper is a big deal to me especially as the new enemy types can spring up anywhere, it helps to have another pair of eyes. Gameplay wise it’s still the Dark Souls like Looter Shooter with more emphasis on loot which in turn means you can kind of build out your own character build and even if you have a posse of the same archetype, you can all behave in unique ways. The bosses are as gross as last time, maybe a bit more, the locations are much more varied and the main hun allows you to meet some familiar faces, explore a recent location, and generally get to know the wide variety of characters that inhabit the world. The game is enjoyable in both solo and Co-op play, the Co-op system is open and robust to allow random or friend groupings and does mix it up with the difficulty and enemy numbers. Overall I found Remnant 2 to be an absolute game changer and a monumental stride forward for the series and well worth buying.