A Small, Remaining Quantity of Something
Remnant 2 for PS5
P.S. — I’ll never review a game that I bought and think sucks. Unless you ask me to. Or I' think it sucks and I’m horribly obsessed with it (Fifa & Ultimate Team)…
This is an interesting review to write. Because I enjoy Remnant 2 85% of the time and am sick of it the other 15%. I’m a huge gamer, and over the past few weeks, I kept reading posts about the magic that is Remnant 2. Now, I did not play the first one, so I was coming into this experience fresh. I enjoy Soulslike games, appreciate a bit of a challenge, and enjoy shooter ARPGs – so, I figured I’d give Remnant 2 a shot (pun obviously intended).
Title screen. This is a photo from my TV. I’m obsessed with the quality of both this dope OLED as well as the game itself. Graphics in-game are solid as well. Not the best I’ve seen next-gen, but good.
When I first jumped in – the creep factor smacked me in the face. It’s not a horror game per se, but there are certain elements (whether it is the occasional enemy attack from behind or the biomes themselves – cordyceps anyone?) that sent out major creep vibes. This threw me off a bit because that vibe is not my cup of tea. Once I got used to it, the setting was much more appealing. At first, I took things slowly, and as I geared up, the creep factor sort of faded away as I started melting enemies. It’s much less unsettling when you’re fearlessly running into a horde of monsters and eliminate them in seconds as opposed to rolling away in terror from every single enemy on the map. If you’re like me and hate being alone, one of the starting archetypes comes with a dog to keep you company – but really help with aggro (it’s awesome, I love dogs). It makes the game feel less lonely.
From a difficulty standpoint, I started my first run on the Veteran setting – the second easiest choice. I absolutely do not regret this. Any easier, I’d have probably burnt out – and harder, I’d have probably rage quit. Now that I’m geared, like I mentioned previously, enemies are much easier to burn down. However, earlier in the first Biome (I started on Losomn and the Sanitorium story-line), there was a pretty gnarly gear-check boss encounter that drove me bananas. I tweaked a few things with my build and overcame the challenge, but I probably wiped 25 times. If you’re comfortable learning attack patterns and have some patience, you’ll be able to beat most boss encounters – it’s just a bit of a grind. Enemies hit hard, but I’ve noticed your weapons do as well – damage output and defense feel well balanced.
Choose the Handler archetype and run around with a little dog like me. Remnant 2 is way more fun co-op or with Fido here.
Remnant 2 isn’t for everyone – if you don’t enjoy repeating content, the weird Annihilation vibes, and are easily frustrated when facing bullet-sponge bosses with annoying attack mechanics, this game probably isn’t for you. Similar to Elden Ring, your only defensive maneuver, outside of abilities, is a roll – which you’ll use often. It works, but this type of defense is a bit redundant. Run, run, run, roll, roll, roll (rinse, repeat). Speaking of Elden Ring – this game did give me Elden Ring gameplay vibes – Remnant 2 is loaded with secrets (which is a good and a bad thing) and the depth is pretty astounding. Elden Ring is still one of my favorite gaming experiences. Remnant 2 isn’t quite there (obviously), but it’s a solid game.
My biggest gripe so far is that there are a hell of a lot of mechanics or secrets that are either critical for or required to progress the game. Without hours and hours to scour every inch a map (which can suck with load times and checkpoint mechanics), some of these secrets end up being a bit too tedious (I won’t spoil anything, but if you want – check it out here) and absolutely require a Youtube walkthrough (LINK SPOILER).
Overall, Remnant 2 is a great game, and for anyone that loves the genre, I highly recommend it. While this is the first game review you’ll see from me – I’ll give it an 8 of 10. Excellent.
-Him
