Remnant: From the Ashes Review – Soulsbornes with Guns

I have to say that a few weeks ago, Remnant: From the Ashes wasn’t even on my radar. Sure, I had heard of it. However, there were just so many games out there; it just skipped my attention. Thankfully, that all changed when the developers and community managers started talking about playing the game. I found out about it, and my interest was piqued.

Game Name: Remnant: From the Ashes
Platform(s): PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One
Publisher(s): Perfect World Entertainment
Developer(s): Gunfire Games
Release Date: August 20, 2019
Price: $39.99

Every once in a while, a game gets released that has little marketing hype yet ends up being a game that becomes a must-play. That’s exactly what Remnant: From the Ashes has been for me. I don’t understand how I didn’t even hear about it until a month ago.

Trying to describe the game to my friends went something like this – “Hey guys, check out this game that’s like Soulsborne games with Guns.” For the most part, that’s the most accurate description of the game. Gunfire Games took bits from other games, infused them together, and out came Remnant: From the Ashes, which worked out well and has been a surprise of 2019.

What’s interesting about this title is not only the gameplay that grabs you but the story elements. At first, you’re sent to find this so-called savior of humanity. However, thanks to a certain chain of events, things don’t go the way you planned them to. Suddenly you find yourself ultimately smack in the middle of a war, and things start progressing from there. It’s not just the story but also the lore of the game that has been planted in various locations. You’ll find bits and pieces from NPCs, computer terminals, and journals scattered across the world. The more you find and read up on, the more the overall story starts to take form. I found myself checking every room, searching for more tidbits about the game due to this.

There’s also a character customization tool that you’ll use to create your character. I thought it provided more than enough options to create several characters that I would unleash into the world. With one concern, that being the haircuts. I’m a black male, and out of all the available haircuts, there were only two that I’d consider using. Yes, I’m nitpicking but only cause I care about things like this.

A simple-to-understand level system also makes an appearance, as this is still an RPG. As you play through the game, you’ll earn experience points and traits. These traits will let you upgrade several attributes such as stamina, strength, bonus experience point gains, sneaking ability, and more. You’ll also acquire specific traits by downing bosses. All you do is drop a point or several into a trait, and that’s it.

Sure, there’s plenty of action as well. As I had previously mentioned several titles, Remnant: From the Ashes borrows heavily from those games. The combat system is very reminiscent of the Soulsbornes games, but at the heart of the game is a third-person shooter. You have your melee attack, ranged attack, dodge/roll, and that’s it. Notice how I didn’t mention a blocking system, as there isn’t one. It’s either take the hit or dodge, the latter being something you’ll be doing a lot. There’s a nice variety of weapons and gear that you’ll come across in the game. Weapons in the form of melee for being up and personal while utilizing multiple guns to dish out some ranged damage.

There’s a nice variety of gear to be found and acquired as well. You won’t pick up armor and weapons at every turn, but when you do get some new gear, it’s typically useful in one way or another. In addition to this, you’ll be able to upgrade your gear, craft new weapons from items you collect from downed bosses. It’s not a looter shooter by any stretch, so don’t expect to find gear at every turn or a bunch of useless gear.

One thing that stood out was how well the combat feels. Aiming is snappy, and I found myself easily able to target enemies, even on a controller. While dodging didn’t feel clunky unless you’re encumbered, then you’d start fat-rolling. Another thing that stood out was the amount of freedom that the game gave you. For example, you can vault over the railings that help combat or when you wait to avoid stairs. Sure, it doesn’t sound vital, but it’s one of those nice-to-have things. Trust me; I’ve been vaulting all over the place. While boss battles give you a huge area, you can use them for planning strategies, running away to heal up, or just because you need to distance yourself from the boss.

Remnant: From the Ashes is broken up into four worlds, while that may not seem like a lot. The amount of content that’s spread across each world makes each of them take longer than expected. You’ll easily spend a few hours in a world or more, depending on how well you do. Not to mention that the game features procedural generation, which ensures that every playthrough of a world is different. It doesn’t happen every time you die or start up the game. Also, you can initiate a world change via what’s called a re-roll.

For example, say a world has a chance to spawn two different bosses, and one happens to have an item you want. If you didn’t get it the first time through, you can re-roll the world and hope that you get it next time. It’s not 100% you’ll still get it, but having the ability to attempt it was an ingenious idea. On top of this, there’s an “AI Director” who constantly monitors how well you play. If you’re tearing through everything, it will spawn tougher enemies to give you an added challenge. At one point, it spawned several enemies, a mini-boss and a named boss at the same time. Needless to say, it didn’t end well for me. I was puzzled about what had happened and tried to make it happen again, only to see that I couldn’t.

Of course, the shining star in all of this is the multiplayer aspect. Yes, you can play the game solo, but that’s boring. Playing with two other players in either friend or public mode is where the game gets interesting. In similar games, once the boss encounter of the level is over, the co-op stops. In Remnant, they stay on until they leave or you end the session. I’ve had several sessions where another player and I ran through several levels, which was enjoyable. Not to mention having another body available means that if you get downed, the game isn’t over. Instead, the other player can revive you if they have enough heals left. I loved playing co-op, though, during my review, the system wasn’t very reliable. Gunfire Games has stated they would address this in a patch, which likely is live by the time this review is released.

This game has so much going for it, though I have a few annoyances. The stamina system is wonky. No matter how many points you put into your endurance, you still find yourself running out of stamina. Healing item usage could be a bit faster, as well.  The UI could also use some work as there isn’t any place that shows your current mission. The map could also use a zoom function, as on larger screens, it’s a bit too small to read. I also encountered several encounters where my character would die even though I didn’t lose all of my health.

Outside of that, I found that Remnant: From the Ashes has been an exciting experience. It sits right in the middle of being something that Soulsborne and third-person shooter fans would enjoy. With just the right amount of content, and a nice amount of combat, Remnant: from the Ashes is a breath of fresh air for this Soulsborne veteran. Now that THQ has picked Gunfire Games, I’m hoping to see more of the world of Remnant in either DLC form or another game in the series.