Developer: Gunfire Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platform: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: Switch
Remnant: From the Ashes – Review
When Dark Souls was released over 10 years ago, it unintentionally created a new genre of hard and unforgiving games that drove many players to the edge of their seats. This inspired a lot of game developers to try their hand at this formula, creating games ranging from the Samurai world of Nioh to the Anime-aesthetic of Code Vein. Now Remnant: From the Ashes joins these games and asks the age-old question: What if Dark Souls had guns?
Story
The story of Remnant: From the Ashes takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The world has been destroyed by interdimensional beings known as The Root, and now the last remnants of humanity are living in bunkers trying to find a way to fight back. This is where your story begins, with a survivor who goes to a mysterious island that harbors the power to travel to different worlds, setting out on a journey to find a way to stop The Root.
Storytelling is one of the elements where Remnant: From The Ashes takes inspiration from Dark Souls. Cutscenes and long NPC conversations that give exposition and progress the story are scarce. Most of the world-building and backstories are found in the likes of journal entries, item descriptions and optional conversations. While discovering world details through exploration can be a fulfilling experience, the actual content you can find is far too limited. This makes most of the story feel underdeveloped, especially with the bland characters.
While the story isn’t that prominent or interesting, it isn’t that much of a problem since most of the game’s focus lies in its gameplay. The different worlds’ setup and lore is a reason to explore all these locations. Especially when playing coop, the lack of a story is not that big of a deal, but solo players will see the missed potential of the setup.
Graphics
The look of Remnant: From the Ashes is a mixed bag. All the locations and enemies have a distinct style that makes exploring the world a joy. Every new world you visit feels entirely different from the previous ones. The sad thing about these designs is that they don’t look entirely at home on modern consoles, especially the character models. While this is an understandable choice since the game has a smaller budget, it’s still jarring to speak with NPCs that look like they’re coming straight from a ps3 game.
Sound
While the graphics of Remnant: From the Ashes might not be up to par, the same can’t be said about the sound design. All of the levels in the game are accompanied by subtle soundtracks that add to the atmosphere and tension of the intense gameplay. This combined with above-average voice acting and great sound design makes for a decent presentation.
Gameplay
Remnant: From the Ashes is a co-op Souls-like action game with a focus on ranged combat. This means that, while you’ll be shooting and upgrading yourself throughout the game, you’ll also face a lot of death.
Taking on the apocalypse isn’t easy, but luckily you won’t have to do it alone. At your side are two ranged weapons and one melee weapon. These come in handy since the game features both types of enemies, each needing its own tactic to be defeated. These combinations turn combat into a ballet between melee attacks, firing guns, and well-timed dodges. Each world features unique enemies to always keep you on your toes. Together with these weapons, you also have the ability to use different special abilities. These can have varying effects, from healing all players to marking nearby enemies. Combined with the different weapons and equipment, each player can build his own character with a unique playstyle.
When a game takes inspiration from Dark Souls, you can expect a high difficulty, and Remnant: From the Ashes is no different. Each area of the game is filled with a bunch of strong enemies, which is especially noticeable when playing solo, since you can get swarmed pretty easily. While death is frequent, the game doesn’t punish you too hard for an early demise. While you have to start over from the last checkpoint, no items or experience are lost. The checkpoints are a safe haven where players can replenish their consumables and travel around.
One of the most important locations to travel to is Ward 13, the home of the survivors and your location to enhance equipment. Enemies drop different materials that can be used to upgrade weapons and buy new items, making every run through the dangerous world just that bit more manageable. Combined with a leveling system that enhances traits like health and reload speed makes for a fun gameplay loop of fighting and upgrading. The only downer are the very long load times, especially since you need to return to Ward 13 every time you want to upgrade your equipment.
Aside from the campaign, the game also features a mission- and endless mode. These modes offer randomly generated dungeons, aimed at extending your playtime and having some mindless fun. These are perfect for quick multiplayer matches or for finding upgrade materials.
All of these mechanics add up to a fun challenge where you will be constantly running into strong foes and upgrading yourself. The variety in game modes and worlds adds a lot of replay value. While the game is playable both solo and with friends, some areas can become a bother without help.
Conclusion
Remnant: From the Ashes delivers a challenging but fun action game that will have you coming back for more, especially with friends. Unique worlds and a good progression system make this a fun experience, even though we found the game’s graphical prowess to be a bit lacking. While Dark Souls-like games aren’t for everyone, it is definitely worth checking this one out.
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