Archeological Armament
HIGH It’s a haunting, lonely place.
LOW We’re still revisiting old locales?
WTF I turned to stone.
Editor’s Note: This review is for the Remnant II DLC only. For the full writeup of the base game including expanded information and system explanations, please see the main review here.
*
When is a remix just a rehash? That’s the driving question to ask when approaching Remnant II’s DLC. I was unimpressed with The Awakened King, which felt like it added some odds and ends rather than anything substantial. The Forgotten Kingdom offers much the same — a few new areas of a previous realm with some slight tweaks (the jungles of Yaesha now have more purple luminescent foliage), a handful of enemies, some new bosses, one additional archetype and a slew of new items.
… And yet I liked this DLC much more than the last.
Maybe I’ve just hit the acceptance stage of grief for the fact that in its DLC so far, developer Gunfire Games seems to be foregoing the exploration of new realms and simply revisiting the old – at a $10 price point, it’s probably unfair to expect much more. But for myself, a player more interested in the world-building of the series rather than min-maxing a particular build, I also think Forgotten Kingdom is more interesting, plot-wise.
Awakened King was a denouement for the story of the Fae – the final coda on the plotline of an eternal-sleep curse and a two-faced usurper. In the DLC, The One True King woke up mad as hell, and the player had to deal with the repercussions.
Forgotten Kingdom centers on the fate of a legendary king and lost tribe of the Pan, the goat-like sentient species of the Yaesha realm who escaped the onslaught of the interdimensional aliens (and series antagonists) The Root. Yet all the player finds are the ruins of a once-mighty empire.
The plotline brings with it a palpable atmosphere of loneliness and loss. While the jungle sections are lush and there’s still the occasional appearance of The Root, the most common enemy type are stone automata from a long-past era, falling apart and sometimes missing limbs or heads. The headlining and most memorable song is more meditative than thrilling, lacking big bombastic crescendos and often punctuated by haunting acoustic strings or reeds.
NPCs to talk to are few and far between. During the journey, the player will repeatedly run into a Pan nicknamed “Walt,” an explorer who hopes to find the lost tribe as he learns more of their fate etched into ancient murals. There’s also a shattered goddess, angry and confused, who tasks the player with a main questline centered on retrieving something. With a little exploration, one can also find a human stranded for over a century who dreams of returning to a futuristic and bountiful Earth that no longer exists. Each of these characters is lost and seeking a means to be whole again.
On the mechanical side, there’s a new complement of weapons and equipment to let folks change up their playstyle. The new “Invoker” archetype is a strong addition, boasting a badass druid-like outfit and powers that feel truly elemental – for instance, the first attack unlocked creates a large tidal wave to strike multiple foes.
The level design of these new DLC areas have a thrilling (and sometimes dangerous) verticality to keep fights fresh – I remember one section hopping from tower to tower as I battled a flying gargoyle and flame-spewing pots with legs. There’s also a section that basically turned Remnant II into a platformer. Although it nearly made me scream in frustration, it was ultimately a satisfying and novel alternative to the usual shoot, dodge, and die gameplay – although there’s still plenty of that. The bosses of Forgotten Kingdom are mechanically interesting, offering patterns to memorize and dodge instead of asking the player to face hordes of enemies. They’re nice fights, though they don’t compare to highs of the base game.
Of course, all of the new DLC sections can be integrated into a re-roll of the main adventure’s content, but one nice perk is that Forgotten Kingdom also adds new bosses to old sections of the base game, another value-add that makes me want to try another run.
Remnant II: The Forgotten Kingdom worked for me because it’s more than a rehash. Between the standalone story for the jungle realm of Yaesha and a good chunk of new booms and buffs for the more mechanically-inclined, this expansion is certainly full of good reasons to return to these realms.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Gunfire Games and published by Gearbox Publishing. It is currently available on XBX, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, and Violence. The official description reads as follows: This is a third-person action game in which players assume the role of a human survivor in a post-apocalyptic, fantasy world. Players travel between four different realms to battle demonic forces, alien creatures, and corrupted mutants in frenetic combat. Players use pistols, rifles, shotguns, and melee weapons to kill enemy forces. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks on enemy creatures can result in decapitation, with large blood-splatter. One quest item players must retrieve is a severed, bloody hand, which can be examined at close range. The game depicts a topless elven female character, with an exposed breast and nipple. The words “f*k,” “sht,” and “a*shole” are heard in the game.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Audio cues for enemy presence and attacks do not have a visual component onscreen. This game is not fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
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