Description of My Onboarding Experience in the Game Remnant II
Description of My Onboarding Experience in the Game Remnant II
I just started playing Remnant II yesterday. This is dubbed a "Souls With Guns" type game, so I was a bit intimidated, as Dark Souls is not my type of game at all. I'm playing as a "Handler" archetype, and although I play it solo and the canine companion's main skill minimizes the effects of friendly fire (so is useless to me), I find the dog is pretty effective at both distracting and killing enemies that would otherwise relentlessly swarm you. He has his limits though, for instance if you go down near an AOE, there's a good chance he'll get stuck in it and die and not be able to revive you. And you can't let him run willy nilly among several foes and take cover to reload, heal, etc, if the spot he's in is not approachable from where you're taking cover (such as dropping down off a ledge that can't be mantled). That's really only a problem if you need his help from where you take cover at, as when you move farther forward, he'll eventually warp to you anyway, even if he's gone down.
There's a lot to this game though as far as it's game world and gear and upgrades. It has sections of it's game world you cross into which are procedurally generated, so there's no telling how your playthrough will progress or compare to that of others, or even your previous playthroughs. There are a few key sub worlds, as well as key chests and items in them, but that's about all you can count on. That aspect of it even has some whom are exp
erienced at playing it misleading others as to what items you can find and where. For instance one YTer, who's video I saw, insisted the Vengeance Idol, an amulet that buffs your damage output 30% when your health is below 50%, can be found in The Twisted Chantry, but I didn't find it until I went to Endaira's End just after.
Even beyond that, each sub world can appear different for some as it does for others. It will look for the most part the same as far as the enemies it contains and the features of the environment, but the layout will be different. This means using the map to navigate and even the means to get to secrets can be quite different. I was seeing YouTube vids of The Twisted Chantry showing access to a lower area by means of passing through a surface that looked like a wall, but was immaterial. For me the method was to jump off a ledge in a spot where it's rock wall was broken, down into a large coffin. It was not easy to find because you could not see from above that the coffin had an opening at one end you could get through via crouching. Right behind the spot where I jumped off the ledge was a locked door, so I'd spent a fair bit of time looking for a key, as it's often times the way through them.
The story's premise isn't as well presented as it could be, and the archetype you play never speaks except in cutscenes, remaining silent when choosing dialog options in conversations with NPCs, and your dialog choices don't seem to change anything as in full on RPGs. At best asking certain questions has NPCs referring you to someone whom can help you with what you're seeking, whether it be how to get somewhere, or some of your gear needing upgrading. The story is based on plant based creatures trying to take over everything, but some of the enemies don't look anything like a tree based species. There is however an effect called root rot that can sicken you and slow you down during combat if you don't use the cure for it.
Combat, world, and puzzle wise it's very well thought out and very engaging and immersive. I can see too that it's likely to have tons of replay value due to the several archetypes and gear builds you can go with, and where the game randomly takes you environment wise. It is pretty tough to play solo though, even if starting out on the lowest difficulty like I am, Survivor mode. It kind of lulls you into thinking you'll be fine, but when you encounter more aggressive enemies, mini bosses, and especially main bosses that have a ton of health, it can easily take several tries. I find the dog really helps as long as you can manage to circle around and use cover here and there while he distracts them, but there are times that is not viable.
The checkpoint system is large red crystals here and there that pop out of the ground when you get near them. The plus is, when you interact with them by touching them, they fully replenish your ammo, health, and health packs called Dragon Hearts. The negative is, doing this also resets ALL the enemies in that area. So if you think you can use them to backtrack, restock, and go back to where you were, you'll have to either fight through all those enemies again, or get lucky running past them. I've tried the latter more than once, and even with my trusty dog distracting them, yet still catching up to me, I died every time. This is because if you try to disregard the enemies it places in front of you, it adapts and places more (and tougher ones) in your path as you go. Dying takes you back to the last checkpoint you activated, with, you guessed it, all enemies present.
The checkpoints however DO serve both as a means to perfect your attempt to get through an area via retries, and are also a means to fully restock once you clear an area, as each new area tends to have another checkpoint at the start of it. The game encourages you to be aggressive, as killing enemies will reward you with the type of ammo drops you need. You DO need to use it carefully though, as you aren't given an abundant amount, even on the lowest difficulty mode. It also encourages you to explore a lot, as various crates, chests, and coffins have valuable items that can be very useful.
The dog and careful use of melee can help you prepare for boss fights when saving ammo is a priority, as ammo drops don't happen with every enemy gunned down. If it feels you are stuck trying to find the way to your objective, stick to the sub worlds marked with a (!), and look for edges of it's map that look feathery, without a well defined outer edge. That's a sign it will lead you to unexplored parts of it. However there are parts of certain maps, such as the Ward 13 base, which are unreachable until you progress a certain ways into the story. There's no New Game + in this game, so the only way to start a game with all your gear and upgrades is to grind to get them, then jump in with someone else at the start of their game in coop. However, since I tend to often task myself with solo challenges, it makes me want to instead try to perfect my gameplay and become more efficient.
I have a couple videos forthcoming, one of the mini boss called Rot at that aforementioned secret area of The Twisted Chantry, and one of the boss called Mother Mind at the end of The Nameless Nest. I also beat the main boss called Legion at the end of The Twisted Chantry, and he's definitely tougher than Rot, but unfortunately I did not capture it.
Here's those videos I mentioned. There will likely be more added as I progress through the game.
The Twisted Chantry - Rot
This shows how you need to refight all enemies that respawn if you choose to restock health and ammo with a checkpoint.
The Nameless Nest - Mother Mind
It can be hard to dodge attacks in this fight, as you need to run like hell to get to safe ground, or you'll fall to your death.
Here are the latest videos I shared. Many of the worlds have become extravagant indoor spaces, with one being a distinctive central hub among them. There was a short period of awkward enemy appearances in one indoor setting, though it didn’t disrupt gameplay. More seriously, a temporary malfunction occurred during a boss encounter where my weapon failed to fire. This has been reported in Remnant 1, usually following actions like reloading or healing. I recently acquired a new weapon and armor during this incident.
Forgotten Field - Defiler
This is the final boss battle in Forgotten Field, beginning with freeing a companion from traps.
The Great Bole - Corruptor
This boss represents the core of Yaesha, encompassing everything I’ve explored so far. Defeating it grants the ability to reroll Yaesha in Adventure Mode, aiding in discovering better items. I recall experiencing the weapon malfunction right after healing, against the toughest foe in the game!
There was also a brief issue where my hits didn’t connect because the reticule remained stuck white, despite aiming at his head. It took some time to understand that the greatest danger isn’t Corruptor itself, but the corrupted robot-like creature he creates. You must stay mobile, avoid its charged blades by firing them, and dodge its powerful jump attack. Eventually, I managed to defeat this challenging machine.
😆
The Labyrinth - Master Portal Key Fight
Unfortunately, this encounter had no official boss named in the game. All foes here are stone-based, and this is the first battle involving multiple heavy enemies at once, capable of area-of-effect attacks.
The Labyrinth - Sentinel
This one does have a boss with a name, though it’s significantly tougher and more engaging than the Master Portal Key fight. The combat feels mechanical rather than animalistic, and it rarely targets you directly with aim attacks.
The Labyrinth - The Keeper
Caution: This section contains story details. There’s little combat, but it provides key insights...
Spoiler
...the location of Clementine is crucial, and locating her is essential throughout Yaesha. She’s allied with The Keeper, who explains the Labyrinth is the central hub of all worlds and that he’s also battling the Root.
Beatific Palace - Magic Quill
This is one of those rich indoor areas I mentioned, serving as a central hub for many realms. First, you need to locate the Magic Quill.
Postulant's Parlor - Royal Hunting Bow
Another lavish indoor space I mentioned, acting as a central hub in Losomn. It doesn’t connect to other worlds—just leads back to Beatific Palace. It mainly offers a mini-game for collecting items, especially the ring that shares healing among allies. Since I played solo, I didn’t need it. However, I obtained the Royal Hunting Bow and Fae Royal Armor set, though the bow’s power is limited for group play.
Shattered Gallery
This environment is darker and more ominous, with tougher enemies and hints of past battles. This was my second visit, as I was using non-modifiable weapons from the Labyrinth. I opted to upgrade my mods in Ward 13 instead. This spot also triggered the earlier enemy spawn bug.
Shattered Gallery - Magister Dullain
The boss here is quite intimidating, but I managed to defeat him using my upgraded weapons. This was the first encounter where I effectively utilized weapon mods.
OK, I have a couple more vids for you. There's just two this time because they total nearly 2 hrs of gameplay. These are also similarly themed in much darker maps. They pick up where I left off after the Shattered Gallery boss, which dumped me back in Beatific Palace.
Ironborough - Harvester's Reach - Barghest the Vile
So after a quick bit of fighting through the palace to get to the next objective marked by an (!), I wound up in Ironborough. This is a bit of a crazy town type setting full of narrow streets and town folk whom attack "outsiders' on sight with melee weapons, guns, and Molotov's. There's the occasional axe wielding Brute, as well as a new enemy, the Dran Demolisher, a heavy with a weird gas powered triple circular saw gadget. His weapon now and then dies on him, and he has to stop and pull start it like a chainsaw. He's also got an interesting death animation where his own weapon does a number on his head when he goes down.
These areas, mostly the Harvester's Reach dungeon portion, also usher in a new creature called the Harvester, including one that is the boss. He has abilities called Thick Skin and Displacer, meaning he takes a fair bit of damage, and can teleport you to him, or him to you, when you try to escape his lair to fight him in open ground. There's also a small side quest here where a sobbing man asks you to look for his wife Dria. Little did I know I got what I needed (her anklet) after the boss fight, and only had to give it to him to get his reward, which I later came back and got off capture. However this oversight lead me to find a new area I might not have otherwise.
The Great Sewers - Bloat King
Now we've ventured into an even darker, more dank place, the sewers, which has more town folk, and a lot of regular and shock slug type creatures. There's also one Harvester here that catches you by surprise if you know where to look for him, whom drops a ring when you kill him. Another hidden gem in this area is a safe, that involves a puzzle to find it's combination.
The boss is a bit tricky and not as creepy as you might imagine a sewer boss to be, but if you fall and get stuck in the water with lots of shock slugs around you, chances are it won't end well. You CAN however if you're quick and find your way to the ladder, slither between the slugs relatively unscathed. However far too often I accidentally engaged with that ladder while atop the stone platforms, which slows you down considerably and makes you a sitting duck for the boss' shocking orbs he throws at you.
This dumped me out into a place called Malefic Palace, but at some point I need to go back to Beatific Palace to see what other realms it leads to. I'm pretty sure it had at least one more of those Magic Quill doors. Ironborough also has a place in the middle of it I want to get back to called Hewdas Clock, which is a big clock tower puzzle. I suppose I could have done it while I was there, but that realm was already taking a really long time to get through.
Here’s a revised version of your text with the same length and structure:
I have a good description. To prevent any early suspense or spoilers, I plan to watch some videos later.
I purchased this game and a few others last week. I finished the Prologue and defeated the first boss, Root Mantis. I picked Challenger as my main archetype.
I believe we can adjust and swap these classes, builds, or archetypes later in the game once we unlock them—after earning 10 Trait Points.
By the way, I think I made a mistake by selecting Challenger as the archetype, as it emphasizes close combat. I’m going to restart the game from the start, using the "Gunslinger" archetype instead.
Everything in this game feels quite random. The maps are generated randomly, enemies placed randomly, items and treasure chests are unpredictable, and even the starting world seems to be random. I’ll just buy some weapons in Ward 13 after the first boss fight.
I recently bought an RTX 4060 8GB variant GPU and resumed gaming. Although the paper specifications aren’t impressive, the card is still significantly faster than my previous AMD RX 480 GPU. It’s a solid choice for 1080p gaming, and the 8GB VRAM is more than sufficient for my current gameplay style.
This feels a lot like Elden Ring, with its checkpoint system similar to Dark Souls. Even 'Lords of the Fallen' includes it, though it can become annoying because enemies in certain areas respawn automatically. For quick travel, those checkpoints need to be activated promptly.
Congratulations on finally securing that much-needed GPU upgrade, which is about 18% faster than my GTX 1080! Right now, I'm facing delays in truck repairs that are putting my PC upgrade on hold.
It's interesting you mention trying the Challenger archetype and planning to switch to Gunslinger because of the close-quarters combat situation. That was the main reason I didn’t choose to play as a Challenger. If you encounter any issues with Gunslinger, you might want to try Handler, as the dog provides significant assistance, particularly as skill levels improve. You’re still free to purchase any weapon you desire.
In reality, I rely more on weapon mods than archetype skills. I use Tremor on my rifle and Hot Shot on my pistol. Tremor allows for an alt-fire that lobs mines with substantial damage. When enemies trip them, they take heavy damage and slow down. Hot Shot makes your projectiles incendiary, which is also quite effective.
The game heavily depends on procedural generation of random maps and enemies. I’ve faced criticism from another forum member who labeled it as procedurally generated, even though I clarified that I wasn’t referring to the original concept where the entire game world is generated on the fly to prevent load screens and LOD issues from loading large amounts of content.
I believe Gunfire Games has done an outstanding job with just the procedurally generated elements, making it a strong enough reason to highlight that aspect of the game. It truly stands out as the core focus of development, setting it apart from most other titles. It’s a bit misleading to describe it simply as procedurally generated, especially given how much this feature has advanced over the years.
Have you played Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Lords of the Fallen, or are you just talking about what you’ve heard? I personally don’t play those types of games because the boss fights are extremely tedious and require a lot of health and precise timing. I struggled with the Valkyrie Queen in God of War 2018 mainly because her attacks were fast and hard to anticipate, and the game also demands double-tapping for dodging, which wastes too much time.
Yes, I've tried them but only in a relaxed way.
The Dark Souls series isn't that much, mostly focusing on Lords of the Fallen and some parts of Elden Ring. Even I struggle with close or melee fights, and these games really test your timing for blocking, parrying, and dodging.
In contrast, LOTF seemed a bit more manageable because the enemies aren't as strong and most of them just stand still unless you get really close.
Elden Ring is quite challenging, and I couldn't finish the game without using cheats or trainers.
I understand that using a trainer would ruin the challenge and feel, but it's still enjoyable to defeat big bosses with minimal damage.
I haven't played God of War 2018 well, but I know some encounters are tough here too.
This is now on my backlog with other titles like Days Gone, Dying Light 2, Dead Island 2, the RE4 remake, AC: VALHALLA, and more.
Now I'm ready to replay other games since my new GPU runs faster and offers smoother gameplay with fewer interruptions.
I'm also thinking about getting 'Callisto Protocol,' though I'm not sure if it matches the quality of the "Dead Space" series.
The 4060 is significantly quicker than my old GPU, and I’m already noticing the improvement in gaming. AC: Valhalla now runs smoothly at full settings, along with Far Cry 6, Atomic Heart and other high-end titles, although there’s a minor slowdown from my current CPU. The device also uses less power and performs efficiently. We’ve truly seen major progress in tech over the past few years across computers, electronics and smartphones.
A modern Core i3 quad-core 13th Gen Intel CPU outperforms my 4th gen core i7 4790 by a noticeable amount while being more affordable.
These are some of the games I intend to acquire and enjoy, though I'm uncertain about Dead Island 2. I've noticed Calisto Protocol was once quite challenging to play because of extremely limited ammo and tough melee combat. They've since made updates to improve it, addressing many complaints. The most frequent issues were the extremely slow reloading and very slow healing, but most players now say it's much more playable.
I also plan to try Atomic Heart and Dead Space Remake.
Atomic Heart is an enjoyable title. The voice acting, narrative, and combat are all well-executed. However, the game requires significant hardware, and its graphics don’t fully match the demanding system specs.
Still, the settings remain impressive, and Mundfish has incorporated many high-quality textures. The game efficiently displays a large number of characters.
The only drawback I have is the limited draw distance. Even with Max settings, noticeable pop-in occurs for both characters and backgrounds.
Occasionally this pop-in becomes bothersome, but the engine handles it without major stuttering.
By the way, I prefer playing Dead Island 2 over Callisto Protocol if it becomes too difficult to overcome, especially in the early stages. I find challenging gameplay and scarce resources off-putting.
A quick search shows the game is indeed tough to beat, and it hasn’t garnered much positive reception from players or critics.
I almost gave up on The Callisto Protocol until I adjusted a setting.
PSA: Play The Callisto Protocol on easy mode
www.tomsguide.com
Be mindful of when those reviews were published, as they likely appeared with the game's release rather than after updates improved playability. Look for reviews on YouTube made after that update. I've found one that even contrasts the old and new versions, and most agree it's significantly more playable now, particularly at the start.