Remnant II, initially released on PC on July 25, 2023, is a third-person, souls-like, co-op shooter set in a modern fantasy version of a post-apocalyptic earth on the verge of collapse. While the base game was excellent in its own right, building upon many of the key factors that made Remnant: From the Ashes such a stellar title, Gunfire Games announced shortly after its release their plan to produce three exceptionally well-priced DLC to give players a reason to keep coming back to the world of Remnant.
Having now played through both the impressive The Awakened King (a personal favourite) and the solid The Forgotten Kingdom DLC, Gunfire Games has stayed true to their word and recently released the final DLC, Remnant II: The Dark Horizon, enticing players to head back to N’Erud, one of the four locations from the base game. Along with a new free content update called Boss Rush available to all players, The Dark Horizon marks the finish line for the content roadmap that Gunfire Games had originally laid out last year.
Following the blueprint of the previous DLC, The Dark Horizon sees players return to the world of Remnant in a brand new one-shot accessible through adventure mode. Once rolled, players will be swept away to N’Erud, the first world I visited in my original playthrough of Remnant. Keeping in step with its predecessors, Remnant II: The Dark Horizon blends a mix of familiar locations with new and, as of yet, not seen parts of the world.
“Remnant II: The Dark Horizon blends a mix of familiar locations with new and, as of yet, not seen parts of the world.”
While I’ve been a fan of the stories and villains in both the base game as well as the two previous DLCs, I have to say that The Dark Horizon is the weakest entry in the series in these regards. While the story is little more than a “go kill bad guy’ low-stakes run, it’s the villain itself that lacks the same level of intrigue as previous entries. While on the surface, the story seems to set up some mystery for the players to unravel, the villain’s lack of character and personality detracts from the desire to solve the mystery and save the day.
It’s a bit of a shame, really, considering how well previous entries have presented and executed their stories and villains. It also doesn’t help that of the worlds presented in Remnant II and subsequently revisited in the previous DLCs, N’rued is perhaps the least intriguing of the lot, especially in the overworld. To their credit, though, Gunfire Games has done a great job of addressing this critique with The Dark Horizon, offering a fresh look to many of the new areas, including a unique new way to traverse the world and introducing some creative new enemies to engage with.
Thankfully, while the story is a bit lacklustre and the final boss, while difficult and fun to fight, lacks personality, the rest of the DLC is superb. The new warden Archetype, for instance, offers a new and engaging style of gameplay to experiment with. Essentially a self-sustaining tank class, the Warden can be modified in a few different ways to maximize the Archetype’s staying power.
For my initial play-through with the Warden, I leveraged the unique use of shield mechanics afforded the class and built an interesting shield-based crit build that provided some serious self-sustain and solid burst damage. Thanks to the inclusion of a new pet called the drone, playing the Warden archetype offers a host of fun and creative ways to navigate Remnant II.
While I won’t spoil the process of unlocking the Archetype, I did want to note that after the frustration of attempting to unlock the Invoker from The Forgotten Kingdom, unlocking the Warden in The Dark Horizon feels better and is a much less rage-inducing, keyboard-smashing experience. As a nice bonus, along with the Warden comes a new set of armour that feels quite at home in the world of N’Erud.
“Thanks to the inclusion of a new pet called the drone, playing the Warden archetype offers a host of fun and creative ways to navigate Remnant II.“
Perhaps one of the strongest mechanics of Remnant II, the freedom to create custom builds and play your way, is on full display with The Dark Horizon. Along with the new archetype is a series of new weapons, rings and amulets, all offering more depth and options for players to explore. I found it to be quite enjoyable to see how best to leverage all of the discoveries found in The Dark Horizon to make traversing the world of Remnant more enjoyable. This is an element of Remnant II that Gunfire Games has always done well and it feels in top form with this latest DLC release.
The new prism system, a free part of the latest update, also offers a new and improved layer of character development. This system is essentially an evolution of the Fragments that have been in the game since release. In short, prisms can be infused with fragments to help bolster elements of your build. In my case, I settled on building up shields, health generation and fire rate, which further pushed the core elements of my Warden build. The prism system works well and helps give a cleaner focus to the fragments and how this mechanic impacts the character.
“Perhaps one of the strongest mechanics of Remnant II, the freedom to create custom builds and play your way, is on full display with The Dark Horizon.“
The final element of the update, which is also free, is a new mode called Boss Rush. This mode is an alternative method of both farming materials and gear, as well as testing your builds to see just how powerful you are. Accessed once again through the stone, Boss Rush mode strips away all of the world-building, exploration and mob encounters and simply places you face-to-face with a series of bosses you’ve encountered during your time in Remnant. As you progress through the stages of boss encounters, you’ll not only be rewarded with loot but also temporary buffs that have a dynamic impact on the encounter. It’s a lot of fun to play, has co-op support and can be exceptionally challenging.
Remnant II: The Dark Horizon is an interesting entry into the series. The new Warden Archetype, new armour and the builds it introduces are some of my favourites in the series. I appreciate the new zones and enemies of N’ Erud as well; they made my least favourite world feel fresh and added character. The story, on the other hand, is by far the weakest, and the villain of this world lacks any real personality or character that is intriguing enough to warrant investment.
The free elements of the update, namely the prism system and Boss Rush, offer much more entertainment and value than the narrative arc of Remnant II: The Dark Horizon. So, this leaves this final DLC in an interesting place. The new systems, mode and Archetype breathe some fresh life into Remnant II: The Dark Horizon, but a weak narrative and soulless villain leave me feeling a bit off-put by this final DLC. However, despite the critique of the story and villain, the fresh mode, mechanics, Archetype and loot warrant taking a look at The Dark Horizon. While your time in N’Erud might not be a highlight of the DLC, what you bring from that world into the rest of Remnant II helps make it a worthwhile experience.
