Remnant II

Remnant II is a continuation of the action shooter that combines elements of souls-like design with cooperative play for up to three players, who together make their way through procedurally generated worlds full of dangerous creatures across several distinct dimensions. The player picks a character archetype with its own abilities, and over the course of the game combines firearms, magical abilities, and tactical dodging, while battles against sprawling bosses demand the same patience and pattern reading as classic soulslikes, just from a third-person perspective and with guns instead of swords and shields. The archetype system also allows combining two different playstyles on a single character.

On Xbox Series X/S the game benefits from fast loading during transitions between procedurally generated worlds and offers stable performance even in hectic battles against dozens of enemies at once. Visually the game alternates between completely different environments, from dark gothic locations through flooded swamps to alien, biomechanical landscapes, giving it a surprising genre and aesthetic variety compared to the first game. Procedural generation ensures that each playthrough slightly differs in room layout and boss order, and together with plenty of hidden content and alternative paths it supports repeated playthroughs across multiple characters and builds. Weapons can also be upgraded using mods obtained from bosses, which motivates players to experiment even with less conventional equipment combinations.

Remnant II was praised on release for its difficulty, the depth of its builds, and for working equally well in solo play and full cooperation, which made it one of the most successful smaller action titles of 2023. On Xbox Series X/S the game offers an experience comparable to smooth performance on other platforms, and together with the previous entry, Remnant: From the Ashes, it cements the reputation of Gunfire Games as specialists in demanding cooperative action games with soulslike elements, a reputation that continues to grow.

Why play it: Thanks to the depth of its builds and a difficulty that works equally well solo or in full cooperation, Remnant II ranks among the most successful smaller action titles of 2023 with soulslike elements.