Geek Review: Remnant 2

Sequels often represent excellent opportunities for studios to build on an existing product, refine rough edges and add new features to enhance the player experience. Of course, positive results are never a given, but for Gearbox Publishing and Gunfire Games’ Remnant 2, this is one third-person shooter that gets almost everything right for a tremendous sequel.

After the breakout success of the 2019 original, Remnant 2 sees the team successfully capture lightning in a bottle once more, delivering improved combat that ups the tension, creating loot and character builds that allow for almost infinite possibilities, all laid out across procedurally generated worlds that make everyone’s game more unique than it needs to be.  

Remnant 2 continues to live up to the series’ moniker of being Dark Souls with guns, where up to three players can attempt to outlive the gauntlet of challenging levels and dangerous enemies, all in search of better loot. These myriad worlds, thanks to the power of procedural generation, are often thrilling to explore and step into, with more involved tales that do a better job of making players care at the very moment. 

Every area is chocked full of distinct enemies and environments, forcing players to up their game and adapt to the threats at hand. Fighting killer robots is certainly different to squashing bugs and beasts, and it makes progression a fun and engaging expedition as more options arrive to expand the scope of things. 

It helps that the bosses in Remnant 2 are much more memorable this time around, forgoing their previous status as bullet sponges and turning into actual encounters that require tact and strategy to overcome. There might be a few standard boss fights every now and again, but the majority of big bads will test builds and skills to the limit, which is exactly what players would want out of a Dark Souls with guns.

The flexibility in how combat is approached in the sequel aligns perfectly with this direction for difficulty, where primary and secondary weapons are joined by melee options, all sorts of gear, mods, and archetypes that offers options galore. Players are given four archetypes to choose from at the start – Medic, Challenger, Hunter, and Handler – which all play differently. 

The Medic is great for supporting other characters, the Challenger is the beefy tank, the Hunter excels at long-range combat, and the Handler can call upon a dog companion to help with any trouble. By getting deeper into Remnant 2 and levelling up these archetypes, players will get more choices for perks and bonuses, leading to more options in kitting out a build.

That’s before the game goes even further by allowing the switching of archetypes at will to make experimentation that much more fuss-free. And should you suddenly find that certain archetypes are how you want to play, Remnant 2 eventually opens up the choice to equip two archetypes at once, paving the way for even more combat synergy.

The number of archetypes will only increase as players complete quests and explore the worlds, and the possibilities will only grow from there. Combine that with the randomised worlds that lie in wait, and this is one game with immense replay value from start to finish.

And we have not even touched on the breadth of loot that can be found, with weapons, rings, amulets, and armour all serving grand purposes in helping players stay alive and hit harder than before. For a looter-shooter, Remnant 2 gets everything right, from the loot chase to giving players the keys to the kingdom when it comes to builds, and will no doubt occupy players for hours on end.

Where the game falters is its storytelling, which isn’t as memorable as the rest of the sequel. The evil trees known as The Root return, and it is up to the players to save the multiverse from floral invasion. What could have been a journey of major significance rarely feels that way, even with returning and new faces populating the hub area of the game and being so tentative about fleshing out the lore. It can simply be hard to immerse oneself into this multiversal war unless you are truly in it just to blow stuff up.

Inevitably, players will see the end of Remnant 2 in about 20-25 hours, but that is hardly the end. The co-op nature of the game means jumping into a friend’s game can lead to an entirely different experience altogether, and even if you are playing solo, the rerolling mechanic that gets unlocked after beating the final boss will ensure that something new is always waiting on the horizon. 

In essence, Remnant 2 outperforms its predecessor in every single way, with its focus on procedural generation paying off handsomely. The action is satisfying on every level, the loot grind is anything but, and the sheer amount of possibilities when it comes to archetypes, skills, and gear means a fresh experience can be created almost instantly. While the main plot lacks impact, and the visuals can be subpar, the real meat of the action is juicy and succulent, and if you happen to have friends along for the ride, this is one new obsession that can be a mainstay for years to come.

Remnant 2 is available on the PSN Store for S$68.54.