Review: Remnant 2

destructoid.com:

The souls-like genre has become extremely prevalent in recent years. Despite the increased popularity, few games have been able to pull off the formula and stand toe-to-toe with Demon Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Remnant: From the Ashes had a rather modest launch back in 2019, but in the years following acquired somewhat of a cult following. I loved the original, but definitely felt it had room for improvement. Thankfully, Remnant 2 improves on what made Remnant so much fun, while also fixing some of the more glaring flaws.

Oh yeah, and also like the original, Remnant 2 is hard.

Remnant 2 (PC [reviewed], PS5, Xbox Series X|S) Developer: Gunfire Games Publisher: Gearbox Publishing Release: July 25, 2023 MSRP: $49.99

After creating a character and going through a brief tutorial, Remnant 2 introduces you to a hub called Ward 13. You’ll be spending a lot of time here crafting mods, upgrading weapons, and stocking up on consumables. Here you will also encounter the first Red Crystal. These act as your checkpoints to heal, replenish ammo, and teleport between worlds. If you’ve played Dark Souls, this is essentially your bonfire. After exploring Ward 13 it’s time to visit your first world.

Almost everything in Remnant 2 is randomized. I made the mistake of choosing Hunter as the archetype for my first character. Don’t get me wrong, Hunter isn’t bad, but as a first-choice solo option, there are definitely better picks.

I’ll admit, I struggled a bit. I created a new character with the much more solo-friendly Challenger archetype and chose to skip the tutorial since I had already done it. To my surprise, the first and only world I could access from the Red Crystal was different than where I went with my Hunter.  Each world