

There’s even a hidden character class in the game that players discovered and figured out the steps to unlocking only by combing through Remnant 2’s installation files on PC, which was, apparently, all part of the plan. That element of group discovery and participation is easily as big a draw for games like this as the act of playing it, and an extremely active Remnant 2 community is already coordinating and experimenting to solve its mysteries and discover its potential. Part of the appeal of Remnant 2 is that players around the world are working together to decipher the game’s secrets on forums and social media-it’s like a giant, open-source murder-mystery-meets-puzzle-box. You might find yourself unknowingly solving a puzzle-with terrifying enemies waiting to emerge once you do. All of its mysteries and secrets are more than any one person could hope to find or understand on their own. Aiming is responsive, the feedback on shooting is satisfying, characters are maneuverable and react quickly to the controller, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the pace of progress and development for my character and the challenges I’ve faced.īut what people really seem to love are the game’s many surprises.

Remnant 2 mixes a variety of genres and game elements together in a unique way-and unlike in many other games trying the same thing, the basic gameplay really works. And dying in Remnant 2 doesn’t penalize you, other than sending you back to your last checkpoint and respawning the enemies you may have previously defeated. Plus, your friends can join your game to take some of the load off, and the difficulty scales dynamically so that everyone should have fun, regardless of their skill level. Remnant 2 includes some basic exploration and platforming gameplay, too, so you’ll be jumping across gaps-carefully-and dropping into holes and pits to find new areas and to progress further into each world you visit.Īll of that sounds complicated, especially if you don’t play a lot of games, but Remnant 2 includes a number of difficulty settings that can help make the experience more accommodating for more people. As players juggle their weapons against the various enemies in each world, they also need to move around to avoid danger and stay alive. Holding the left trigger on the controller aims one of two ranged weapons, and the right trigger fires them. By default, pulling the right trigger swings a weapon, which can be a sword, flail, hammer, or axe, among other options.

To navigate the game’s various challenges, you move with one analog stick on the controller and aim with the other. If you’ve played action games at least casually in the past five years, Remnant 2 should feel comfortable enough to ease into, even if it gets difficult at points. Each playthrough has the chance to unfold very differently, which adds a lot of replayability. But which dimension you arrive in is up to chance behind the scenes, the game is “rolling” your path, deciding what worlds you’ll see and in what order, along with where you’ll start within them, and even which optional characters and quests might appear.

When you start a new game, after a brief tutorial section, you’re sucked into a giant red crystal and teleported to another dimension to battle the Root. The twist here is how large a part randomness plays in your Remnant 2 experience. And Remnant 2 allows three players to party up and explore together. You have multiple dimensions to explore, each with their own stories and lore to discover and interpret, along with unique enemies and challenges. Remnant 2 looks like a third-person shooter, similar to games such as the Gears of War series, but the levels you move through and the way the game unfolds feel much more like action role-playing games such as Dark Souls or Elden Ring.
