Writing this up as I go into my final leg of Solo Nightmare, but I really was not expecting to like this game at all. However, I'd heard good things so I decided to try it.
For the first 20 minutes of the game, walking through "we have the Last of Us at home," I was sure I'd made a mistake. Then, I found a big-ass rock and was transported to a new world full of crazy things trying to kill me, and I was hooked.
It felt like a fascinating journey through a harsh alien planet. The worlds of Remnant II are amazing in both art design and lore. Seriously, each one of these worlds with the stories they tell could be their own game, and each one is infinitely better than the main story. The planets are full to the brim of secrets and things to discover, and Remnant II is one of the few games that truly makes most exploration absolutely worth it when it comes to the rewards.
Every secret has another ring, set of armor, an entirely new class, new weapon, etc., and it's all made meaningful through having just a massive amount of builds and ways to play the game. Some of these secrets are hidden pretty deep and can only be obtained through re-rolling worlds to get certain dungeons, or even re-rolling an entire campaign to get certain orders for the worlds. There's a ton to discover.
I think it does fall apart a bit when it comes to the RNG nature of finding things when you are looking for a specific item or placement, as it can require re-rolling many, many times, but overall I think the RNG part comes out actually on-top rather than a mark against the game. Which is rare, in my experience. The other issue is that the leveling system does actually somewhat encourage you to not level up your weapons to max, as the enemies will level up with you. That's a whole other can of worms, but suffice to say, I think it's a pretty big miss.
Still, I think these are relatively minor issues in the grand scheme of the game. The biggest knock would be the main quest and all of its c-tier MCU writing which seems so strangely divorced from the rest of the game's interests and storytelling. N'Erud has one of my favorite stories and world-building lore in any game, and yet that sits in the same game as one of the most generic and trope-ridden main quests I've seen.
I honestly just pretended the main quest does not exist, while roaming the isolating and harsh environments of the game's other worlds. Despite being marketed as a co-op game, Remnant II does evoke that broken world melancholy that souls is known for and that soulslikes often fail to capture. It's a beautiful game, and I was completely surprised by it.
For the first 20 minutes of the game, walking through "we have the Last of Us at home," I was sure I'd made a mistake. Then, I found a big-ass rock and was transported to a new world full of crazy things trying to kill me, and I was hooked.
It felt like a fascinating journey through a harsh alien planet. The worlds of Remnant II are amazing in both art design and lore. Seriously, each one of these worlds with the stories they tell could be their own game, and each one is infinitely better than the main story. The planets are full to the brim of secrets and things to discover, and Remnant II is one of the few games that truly makes most exploration absolutely worth it when it comes to the rewards.
Every secret has another ring, set of armor, an entirely new class, new weapon, etc., and it's all made meaningful through having just a massive amount of builds and ways to play the game. Some of these secrets are hidden pretty deep and can only be obtained through re-rolling worlds to get certain dungeons, or even re-rolling an entire campaign to get certain orders for the worlds. There's a ton to discover.
I think it does fall apart a bit when it comes to the RNG nature of finding things when you are looking for a specific item or placement, as it can require re-rolling many, many times, but overall I think the RNG part comes out actually on-top rather than a mark against the game. Which is rare, in my experience. The other issue is that the leveling system does actually somewhat encourage you to not level up your weapons to max, as the enemies will level up with you. That's a whole other can of worms, but suffice to say, I think it's a pretty big miss.
Still, I think these are relatively minor issues in the grand scheme of the game. The biggest knock would be the main quest and all of its c-tier MCU writing which seems so strangely divorced from the rest of the game's interests and storytelling. N'Erud has one of my favorite stories and world-building lore in any game, and yet that sits in the same game as one of the most generic and trope-ridden main quests I've seen.
I honestly just pretended the main quest does not exist, while roaming the isolating and harsh environments of the game's other worlds. Despite being marketed as a co-op game, Remnant II does evoke that broken world melancholy that souls is known for and that soulslikes often fail to capture. It's a beautiful game, and I was completely surprised by it.
Momoka
8 months ago