Summary
The highly-anticipated sequel to the ‘Souslike-with-guns’ classic,Remnant: From the Ashes,is out now in the form ofRemnant 2. And, while the philosophy behind the sequel seems to be something similar to ‘like the first game, but with even more content’, that’s still a bit of an understatement.
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It’s clear that the developers at Gunfire Games really tried to take everything that worked (and didn’t work) in the first game and either improve upon it or fix it. So, let’s go over some of the smallest things overall they improved upon betweenRemnant: From the Ashes andRemnant 2.
8Unlimited Stamina Outside Of Combat
First up is likely one of the smallest changes on here that has one of the most massive impacts on a player’s experience with the game overall, sprinting. InRemnant: From the Ashes, players were always sprinting while exploring the multiple ‘Realms’ of this game, even more so because they knew they’d be exploring these areas multiple times.
And, one constant gripe most players had while doing this was the fact that they had to also manage their stamina while sprinting around looking for loot, even if there weren’t any enemies around. Thankfully,Remnant 2has completely fixed this issue, and as long as the game doesn’t determine that the player is ‘in combat’, anything that costs stamina is entirely free instead.
7Focus On Quantity Over Quality With Boss Fights
While a lot of the bosses inRemnant: From the Asheswere great (and there were plenty of bosses overall), more than half of them could be described as boss fights that were more wave survival than they were a typical Soulslike one-on-one battle. Some of these fights even felt like they were 80 percent dealing with mobs of regular enemies and only 20 percent of an actual boss fight.
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InRemnant 2,this still happens from time to time, but for the most part, it’s very clear the developers put a lot of effort into giving bosses specific gimmicks rather than just having them summon mobs at specific thresholds. Two very early bosses who are perfect examples of this new design mentality are the Corrupter/Pan Guardian in Yaesha (a reference to their previous game,Chronos: Before the Ashes) and the Labyrinth Sentinel.
6Secrets Are Even More Secretive
One of the best parts ofRemnant: From the Asheswas the sheer amount of replayability the game had. The number of different Random Events thateach Realm would procedurally generatewas mind-boggling, and it usually took 5-10+ rerolls of these Realms to see most everything they had to offer, which is not even including the puzzles players would have to solve to obtain hidden items.
This is another aspect ofRemnant 2that Gunfire Games absolutely improved upon, as there seems to be even more content to uncover, and the puzzles that players find in-game are even more complex (and by extension, more rewarding) than they were in any of their previous titles.The Archon Archetype secret and unlock methodalone are leaps and bounds above most of the other puzzles in the first game.
5They Made A Starting Class With A Dog
There were a ton of players in the firstRemnantgame that almost exclusively used the Very Good Boy Weapon Mod since it gave them an almost constant canine companion in the form of a Stinkhound from Rhom. And, there were also plenty of players who went for the ‘summoner’ route for their build by using mods like Seed Caller, Beckon, or Iron Sentinel.
Well, in the sequel game, not only have they made it so that players can have a dog with them at all times using the Handler Archetype, but there’s also a way to dive even deeper into the Summoner playstyle as well. Essentially, the summon-based playstyle that players would ‘make work’ in the previous game is now much more viable and, honestly a bit overpowered, in the sequel.
4Removing Armor Set Bonuses For More Fashion
Next up is another change that is almost universally beloved, and that’s the change of removing Set Bonuses from Armor in the sequel. InRemnant 2, Armor Sets still exist, and each Armor Piece has different defenses, resistances, and weight assigned to it, but now players aren’t restricted to having to use one specific Armor Set to go for a certain build.
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While this new system does still have its fair share of issues, at least the game now has that same ‘Fashion Souls’ ecosystem that many other Soulslike games benefit from.
3NPC Writing Improvements Overall
As a whole, NPCs inRemnant 2have been massively improved. Not only do they seem to have more of a tangible impact on the events of the story, but they also feel much more ‘alive’ than they did inRemnant: From the Ashes. Plus,since the general style of this game is so recognizable, the developers can make small changes to the NPCs to show them aging and almost everyone understands what they were going for.
And when players do go over and see those NPCs, more often than not they’re busy with some task such as working on a machine, minding the forge, or watering the garden. Additionally, players can pretty much get a full recap of all the major events fromRemnant: From the Ashesjust by talking to NPCs in Ward 13 and asking them a variety of questions.
2Player Builds Only Benefit From The New Archetype System
This next improvement isn’t a knock against the Trait system in the first Remnant game, it was also very innovative and is still a major part of the second game. But, the way Archetypes actually give players more of an ‘identity’ to the build they’re going for inRemnant 2, is just so nice.
Whether it’swith the way Dual-Archetype builds work, the freedom to wear more armor sets overall, or the additional levels of build complexity with Mutators and so on, builds just have more layers for players to experiment with. Granted, players could still have very recognizable builds in the firstRemnantgame, even from a visual standpoint, but it took a lot of effort and fine-tuning to get to that point.
1Changes To Scrap Farming With Breakable Objects
Now this next aspect might be a bit polarizing, as some may see it as a negative thing while others see it as a purely positive improvement. InRemnant: From the Ashes, there were a ton of breakable objects in each map that players could either roll through, shoot, or smash to get the Scrap inside. And, almost every breakable did drop Scrap, it was only a small amount of Scrap compared to what enemies dropped or what picking up Gear the player has already obtained would give, but it was still a noticeable amount.
The problem comes from the fact that, because there were so many breakable objects in certain Realms such as Rhom, players could literally just go through a map, shoot every single pot, grab the Scrap inside, and sit at the Worldstone (or simply die,as there’s barely any consequence) to rinse and repeat this process. Sure, the sequel seems to be a lot less gracious with the Scrap it gives out overall, but at least players need to actually grind monsters or bosses to get it rather than just rolling through some pots.
Remnant 2is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
