10/4/2023 0 Comments Games like remnant from the ashesGeneral intelligence and all-round threat level from the enemy’s end far more prominent and persistent in what is a larger-scale sequel. The former providing foes with a greater variation in attack patterns, attack animations and those to-be-expected tricks that always seem ready to pounce if one isn’t careful.Įnemies that will duck, weave, flank and in some cases, take cover against incoming fire. Those prior complaints on a lack of enemy variety and boss design/delivery are fixed. If Subject 2923 was the basis with which Gunfire Games could follow with subsequent ideas, Remnant II more than satisfies that craving for a game that’s bigger, better, more expansive and crucially of all: challenging on top. That said, such is the scale to which the positives shine - new additions, improved iterations and even more lengthy spells of surprise investment - that the drawbacks, though present, are thankfully confined to a smaller pot. Cue the boldest and largest of all asterisks: but much like its predecessor, is not without some familiar, though lingering issues that just might prevent it from attaining dark-horse status come the end of the year. But if one wanted it distilled to its simplest and purest form: playing Remnant II has created some of the best, most satisfying feelings I’ve reveled in this year. Have Gunfire remedied issues on content variety, narrative appeal, technical performance and such, while at the same time looked at 2923 not as the fond send-off to the original, but rather a jumping-off point in curating a sequel that is quintessentially “better in every respect”? Naturally, it wouldn’t be a Remnant experience if the conclusion were that simple. Perhaps it’s such a compelling core to Gunfire’s design, or maybe just the fact the final DLC capped things off on a surprisingly-wonderful high point, that has made one’s anticipation for the sequel, Remnant II, all that more curious to finally receive answers to. Clocking in at close to 100 hours across the base 2019 game, as well as its two subsequent DLC offerings - Swamps of Corsus and Subject 2923 - Remnant’s core loop of procedural, dungeon-crawling, challenging gunplay has hooked me in a way few games have as of late, noted shortcomings included. On personal experience, that confidence in having found something inventive now carving out its own niche can’t really be denied, four years on. And after careful deliberation, it may well be that 2019’s Remnant: From the Ashes was the original progenitor of such a revelation, Gunfire Games’ flawed, but intriguing shooter-focused action RPG built on a creative-enough vision. Look past the rough edges and you’ll find a game with substance. Those of whom who acknowledge said release could falter on the technical details - the performance, the polish - but aren’t ready to write it off completely. The kind of game that may well not set the world on fire or find its place in the minds of a vast majority, but will no doubt gain its admirers. A game with a modest budget, size, scale, vision and development time, whose artistic and mechanical credentials are clear to spot, albeit with caveats to consider. A prevailing presence so often associated with the AA corner of the industry, without giving too much relevancy to its numeric name, 7/10s are often those types of releases whose occasional-though-noticeable faults are matched by that which it gets right. If there’s one category of a game that’s the most interesting to dissect, it’s the “7/10”-type game.
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