Recent reviews by Runo

Solid gameplay, gorgeous graphics, a fantastic story, runs like a buttery-smooth dream on my PC and feels like a marked improvement over the initial jank of the first game's PC port. If you enjoyed the first game, TLoU2 Remastered is more of that funky fungal zombie goodness and I recommend checking it out!

Went in expecting to get maybe 10-15 hours tops, walked out extremely satisfied with the game after a 70+ hour playthrough where I won largely with thanks to the power of friendship and capitalism... plus a weaponized murder-nun with an industrial power drill, an unabashed furry who decided his fur suit was also going to be power armor, and a hyper-stabby cultist from the Order of The Space Pinkertons

tl;dr: Rogue Trader is easily a 9/10 experience. It's a fundamentally solid, unmistakably Warhammer 40K-based CRPG with a landslide of worthwhile content, a highly proactive-reactive narrative that can genuinely make the make the claim of "your choices matter" and mean it, and the kind of deep, engaging tactical gameplay that could make our wargaming brothers and sisters weep upon their tabletops (if only because they don't make you paint any minis in this game).

Wayfinder's 1.0 release is like buying a $25 onion, only to realize you somehow went home with an onion that was actually worth $60-$70. No wait, maybe that doesn't make sense--

... Wayfinder 1.0 is like an ogre because it has layers? Y'know what, I guess that doesn't really make any sense either, so maybe read the entirety of my review if you want to know if this game is right for you.

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+ Every time I think I can encapsulate all of the nice things I want to say about this game, I find something else to rave about. For a meager $25 ($22.49 at the time of this review), the staggering amount of LAYERS to this game has left me astonished so far.
+ Wayfinder is a game that understands the assignment of establishing a solid core gameplay loop to build off of BEFORE implementing additional systems and mechanics on top of its foundation; you can add all the glamour and glitz you want to a pile of crud, but at the end of the day, it's still just a shiny pile of crud. Wayfinder has repeatedly surprised me in just the first 15 levels of the game by introducing a multitude of shockingly intricate progression systems that serve to enhance the game and add to its depth, rather than feeling like last-minute additions that were tacked on or resembling haphazardly incorporated attempts to make up for its intrinsically weak gameplay.
+ I've pretty much been away from the ARPG scene since the days of Diablo 2, and let me tell you, Wayfinder absolutely scratches that loot gremlin brain itch that has been taking up residence in the corner of my mind for the last couple of decades. This is not to say that Wayfinder's loot and progression systems feel dated or basic -- on the contrary, I haven't been this excited to dig into the meat and potatoes of a game in a long, long time!
+ The sheer number of facets to exploration and combat have been a joy to uncover along the way, In just the first few hours of wandering through the overworld (yes, there's an open world exploration element to an otherwise fully-featured ARPG!), I found countless buried treasures that may or may not have been a pack of goblins waiting to slap the cheeks off my butt, a mysterious bell that -- when rung, produced a visual effect that lead me to a hidden passage full of treasure -- and a number of emergent events that involved defeating hordes of enemies that grew in numbers and deadliness as I fought to survive long enough to defeat the boss of the event.
+ I might be the odd duck out when it comes to the lore of the world, but while the setting seems fairly basic and trope-y at first glance, you can tell Airship have built a lived-in and loved world with plenty of intrigue and fantastical elements to supplement the game's simple, but more than serviceable story. Skylight, the game's city/progression hub and the player's place of operations, is a gorgeously-designed environment that actually feels lived in rather than resembling an overly-elaborate set piece. Nameless NPCs wander the city streets and chatter among themselves and with you, while the established characters you meet feel storied and developed in their own right through musings of battles hard-won or trauma long since buried.
+ Expeditions (mini-dungeons), proper full-on dungeons, Gloom tears (portals that take you to special, instanced encounters once you clear the area around them), and side quests make up the brunt of the game's progression; to me, Wayfinder's dungeons are where the game shines, as they appear to be randomly-generated or at least consist of variable tilesets that can be further customized with "Imbuements" that add a certain level of danger and excitement to your run by altering the playing field; Greed imbuements will sprinkle the dungeon with piles of gold, but each pilfered coin pile threatens to drop an ambush of 'gold mites' directly on top of you, all while you receive a stacking debuff that increases incoming damage for each stack of gold you pick up. Others, like the Shadow Imbuement, completely transform the dungeon and all of the enemies inside, adding new traps and hazards to overcome while you run the risk of your foes enraging and turning you into a human pretzel if you don't dispatch them quickly and carefully. All of these subsystems add a level of complexity and replayability that I find genuinely exciting.

- Most of my gripes with this game are extremely minor and include fussing with a finicky, sometimes unresponsive user interface, having to go back to re-watch cutscenes through another in-game menu because they simply do not play the first time you unlock them, and the occasional (relatively insignificant) performance drop here or there across the game's open world segments.

* Wayfinder, so far, has wound up feeling like a more feature-complete and polished release than probably 85% of the AAA games I've played in the past decade, which is simultaneously heartening and kind of a sad reflection of the state of gaming at the same time.
* Wayfinder boldly claims to ship without ANY microtransactions, and you'll be pleased to know this is ACTUALLY true. Literally the ONLY thing you can buy besides the game itself is a Critical Role-themed 'support pack' that adds 100% cosmetic-only items to your game. Occasionally, you'll find something like the Reward Tower where it becomes obvious that the devs' publisher wanted them to monetize certain gameplay tracks, only to be met with a resounding "No" from Airship as of 1.0.
* This game has mounts and comes complete with its own extensive housing system; you can't add extra floors or rooms to your apartment's layout, BUT you can add anything from furniture, to lighting, to pets and mini-games or artifacts that empower your character during gameplay. Like I said, this game has LAYERS. The studio didn't have to go all out like this, but I for one am glad they did!
* Publishers and investors of the games industry: if by some chance you're reading this, Wayfinder is a prime example of why you should give your devs the time and room they need to make a game they're happy with over chasing quarterly reports bottom lines. This game is heavily reminiscent of one of those hidden gem passion projects you might have picked up at the mall on a whim in the early 2000s, and I cannot stress how nice it is to feel like you're playing a game where its devs could and absolutely should feel proud of the product they've put on the shelves. Don't overlook this one, folks.

This game is a solid action-shooter romp with fast-paced, exciting combat, an incredibly cinematic campaign, and a surprisingly deep customization and progression system to be found in its co-op and PvP game modes. It is well worth your money and if you're still on the fence, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't pick this entry up when it goes on sale.

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Space Marine 2 is one of those rare cases where a game is made as an unabashed love letter to its predecessor, and in a surprise twist, it does more than match the original -- it surpasses it in almost every way.

This is particularly impressive if you consider that SM2 is the sequel to a cult classic title that was largely slept on when it was originally released. The original Space Marine had all the makings of an outstanding game, but for as phenomenal as its gameplay was and as glowing as its reviews tended to be, it unfortunately neither sold well nor gained enough traction to popularize it after its release. It's also one of my favorite games of all time.

Space Marine 2 takes everything that made the original stand out and amplifies the oomph by a factor of wowza -- which is to say, it's a damned fine game, developed by a studio that not only understood their assignment -- to make a game worthy of being called a sequel -- they utterly aced all expectations. Without further ado, let's jump into what makes this game so good!

+ The campaign is not one of your dinky four hour Call of Duty campaigns with a plot as deep as the shallow end of a pool and the characterization of a pack of wild chimps -- it's a fully-featured, action-packed and highly-cinematic 10+ hour experience. I would almost compare the overall scope, scale and feel of the campaign as one very long Hollywood action movie. But like... you know, an actually good one.
+ Operations, SM2's 3-player cooperative PvE mode, expands upon the campaign story by introducing you to three out of a total of six fully-customizable classes in a slew of six exciting co-op missions with randomized spawns and emergent gameplay events (which only increase in number and variety as you scale the game's difficulty levels ever-higher). No two Ops missions play the same, as each one is a full-range map with unique objectives, the occasional MMO raid boss-worthy fight to spice things up, and LITERALLY hundreds (if not thousands) of xenos and heretics standing between you and glory.
+ I haven't had a chance to try out Eternal War, SM2's PvP mode, but my understanding is that it is stacked to similar degrees in terms of replayability when compared against its coop mode.
+ Armor customization is deep and robust, allowing you to use any of the numerous provided Astartes chapters as a base (or, for the creative hands among us, recreate one of your favorites from beyond the breadth of the game's choices or even put together something homebrew). Each class has its own unique armor that can be customized to the umpteenth degree, ranging from swapping out one or both pauldrons, gauntlets, greaves and more or swapping in a different pattern for each individual armor piece, all of which can be painted just like the war games (and for the tabletoppers among us that just gasped in fright, don't worry -- you don't have to wait for the primer or paint to dry).
+ The progression is, to be frank, so much deeper than I could have expected going in. Each class comes with a full 25-point perk tree, they all have their own selection of weapons that can be upgraded to perform better or even take on entirely different playstyles (for ranged weapons) or brand new combos and special attacks (for melee weapons), and ALL weapons have two perk trees, some with multiple choice picks to further assist the player in making their loadout truly feel uniquely them.
+ The combat. THE COMBAT. If you thought the original had fluid, frenetic combat -- and you SHOULD -- then SM2 is going to throw you through a loop. The good thing is that loop is violent, chaotic, a ton of fun, and greatly expanded upon compared to its predecessor; gone are the days of simply bashing, stomping and smacking your enemies into paste, as the game's melee combat has been completely reworked from ye olde button-smashing to a fully-developed system with blocking, dodging, and attack combos with light, heavy and special attacks. Melee combat at its roots is simple enough to be engaging and serviceable without alienating casual fans, while it is still deep and complex to reward highly-skilled and/or highly-dedicated players through the additions of of perfect dodges and perfect parries.
+ The core gameplay loop is engaging, as you proceed to tear through veritable roves of lesser enemies while brutally destroying more dangerous fare with visceral melee executions and gun strikes. Combat feels cinematic, it feels responsive, and you can really feel the sheer power and impact of each step, maneuver and strike from your futuristic super soldier of choice. And just as excitingly, the way the game centers around single-handedly demolishing hordes of foes in the high dozens makes any ground you gain feel hard-earned rather than easily-given.
+ The game fully immerses you in the iconic aesthetic and vibe of the grim dark 40th century. I think one thing that even the game's harshest critics can agree on is that, from SM2's gothic-industrial soundtrack, to its crunchy, punchy and visceral visual and sound effects, and large, sweeping, absurdly-detailed grandiose set designs really come together to make you feel like one of the series' titular Space Marines dropped into the middle of all-out war.

(As a quick disclaimer, the following section is just my personal opinion and by no means the definitive way the game should play. These are just my own gripes.)
- Control and target priority feel somewhat wonky and could use some attention, including outright absurd behavior when it comes to threat priority. This has resulted in mishaps such as grappling into entirely the wrong enemy ("no, no, I totally meant to dropkick that random traitor guard behind the Rubric marine, I swear"), or accidentally locking myself into a particular animation that I cannot cancel in times where I find myself seriously needing to dodge or parry.
- Item pickup visibility isn't distinct or obvious enough, especially from a distance. Sometimes I'll book it straight past gear and consumables that I didn't manage to spot in the chaos of combat.
- An entire melee weapon archetype, known as 'Blocking', is functionally useless compared to its two alternatives -- Balanced and Fencing. From my understanding the devs are aware of and in agreement with the belief that Blocking weapons need some serious love before they can contend with its cooler, better siblings.

*The season pass looks to be chock full of worthwhile goodies that should breathe new life into the game and enhance its staying power.
*There are weapon and armor unlocks. Weapon unlocks are entirely achieved through gameplay and cannot be acquired through MTX. Armor unlocks are entirely cosmetic, the vast majority of them are earned through gameplay as well, and they do not affect or alter gameplay in any capacity.
*No, you don't have to have an EGS account to play the game or access any of its features. I sure as heck don't. On that note, if you wrote a Big Angy Gamer Review(tm) because you couldn't be bothered to read before you click things, you're bad, you should feel bad and if you haven't yet, you'd better go change your review to something positive before Santa poops in your holiday stockings. You dingleberry.

EDIT: Updated strictly for the sake of unlocking the Steam Awards achievement. Game is still very, very good.

Let's quickly get the elephants in the room out of the way before we get to the part where the reviewer actually reviews the GAMEPLAY and not the fancy pants store. And I do mean elephants, PLURAL, because there are a couple of big nothingburgers from your usual Steam review keyboard warriors

1. There's a subscription-based(?) seasonal pass(??) for cosmetics. It's a trash design that I can only assume was pushed upon the devs by someone higher up the chain, and whoever it may be, your idea sucks and may all your chairs be cursed with surprise whoopee cushions for the rest of your years.
2. It's an early access release, which means not all game modes are immediately available. Go into this aware that HiRez/Prophecy released Rivals in a tried-and-true early access state where they're looking for feedback and critique. It's not a glorified demo like some EA releases, but it is perfectly playable.

MOVING ON TO THE GOOD:
+ The twitchy, frenetic, fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping shooter gameplay that defined Tribes from the get-go is back in force. Fans of the franchise will feel right at home, as your expected traversal methods of jetting, skiing and bouncing around the map like a sugar-addled half-squirrel, half-human child while flinging explosive hockey pucks have never felt more responsive and fluid.
+ Do you like jetpacks, and why wouldn't you unless you're some kind of poser? Do you like flying around at 150-250+ KMH like a Floridian on an absolutely legendary and most likely lethal dose of bath salts? Do you find the concept of annihilating another human being for the crime of not being fast enough through the use of explosive skill shots appealing? If you answered YES to at least one of those questions, this game is easily an excellent purchase at a currently meager $17.99 for early access to the game*
(*except cosmetics, but please shut up about the cosmetics already)
+ Unsurprisingly, as a game built on the Unreal 5 engine, it looks incredible, performs just as beautifully, and loads fast. You may be sensing that the theme of this series is 'fast' at this point. For reference, I'm currently rolling along at a rock-steady 120 FPS @ 2560x1440 with EVERYTHING cranked up to Epic, DLSS enabled; this is on an RTX 3080 and a several-generation old Intel i5.
+ Fans of the series will recognize the 'oomph' in the way you handle its iconic weaponry, as well as a few new or returning additions. Rivals looks, sounds and feels as suitably punchy, chaotic, and frantic as the franchise ought to. Newcomers are in for a treat if you've never obliterated someone with your choice of thermonuclear vinyl albums, Mtn Dew-flavored mortar shells, and a high-powered lightning crossbow thing that didn't quite make the cut for Thor's arsenal, as it was deemed too awesome and he's in one of THOSE phases right now.
+ Right now, the game already appears to be bustling in terms of activity, as you can queue up for a match and be in-game in 10-20 seconds, if that. I know this because I hammered my face against the game for about 2 hours straight at two in the morning like some kind of psychopath.
+ Season pass and MTX are NOT the only route to unlocking cosmetics. I can't tell how much of a grind unlocking cosmetics will be just yet, and I'll update this review once I get a feel for that, but it is nice to be able to earn cosmetics through gameplay. Also, literally nothing you can buy impacts gameplay -- it's all cosmetic. This is my preferred kind of MTX, IF a game has to have them.
+ If you possess basic reading skills, you've already got a leg up on a hearty swathe of the game's Steam reviewers because you know this is an EARLY ACCESS TITLE. EARLY. ACCESS.
+ Seriously, nuking someone's metal socks off by firing a high-velocity war crime directly up into the enemy's butthole is never not going to feel viscerally satisfying and utterly rewarding.

THE NOT-GOOD:
- Seriously though, somebody was absolutely on the funny smoke when they thought up that seasonal cosmetics pass. Wow.
- For some reason, the game sets your FPS cap to 500(?!) right out the box. I highly recommend bringing that value down to something that won't self-immolate your graphics card like its name was Rodney Dangerfield.

THE VERDICT:
In its current state, Rivals isn't perfect, and I don't think there's a way to review this game in earnest until we have full access to all of its game modes -- but as it is, if you're a fan of the Tribes series or even just fast-paced twitch shooters, the core gameplay loop... or dare I say it, the HEART is all there and Rivals does what Tribes does best:

it turns you into bargain bin sonic the hedgehog, straps a jetpack onto your ass for no reason other than "gotta go fast", hands you an explosive frisbee gun and slaps you on the booty, telling you to go shoot the funny little flying dudes that are obsessed with stealing the communal stripper pole

For $17.99, it's worth checking out if the gameplay looks like it might be your cuppa tea at all.

tl;dr: Baldur's Gate 3 is phenomenal. Do yourself a favor, stop reading this review and go play it, gatdangat (or I guess read on if you want a more in-depth review than that, I'm not your dad)

Occasionally, a game comes out of nowhere that's so good it manages to redefine a genre, or in some special cases, it does more than that, raising the bar for the entire INDUSTRY. BG3 manages to knock out both birds with one stone; Larian set out to make the game they wanted to make, took the time they needed, and refused to take shortcuts. The result is a masterpiece of a love letter FROM fans of the series, TO fans. And, dare I say it, BG3 even surpasses the originals because of this.

THE STORY:
The premise is simple enough: you, Protag McGee, wind up becoming the catalyst to saving the city of Baldur's Gate with the aid of a merry band of fellow adventurers. The thing is, that gross oversimplification sounds like a generic CRPG romp, and BG3 is ultimately anything but.

BG3 has a number of "Origin" characters for you to play alongside (or as!), and any time you THINK you've figured them out at first glance, the game casts a 9th-level spell of "Peak M. Night Shyamalan" as a series of twists and turns adorned by riveting story beats and layers of complexity helps each character feel REAL, which just adds so much to the overall experience. Each voice actor's performance is motion capped to the last head-tilt, each line delivered by someone who really understands the character's role, further cementing their presence. Even companions that may seem uninteresting at first can and WILL come out of left field with a captivating story, if you let them.

Almost every last NPC has voiced dialogue or reactions, from those you meet over the course of the story to random citizens on the road, or every single shopkeep you offload three hundred pounds of plate armor onto (you naughty loot goblin, you), with a rogues gallery that ranges from "I can fix them", "sitch-brittingly terrifying", "evil bastard whose superpower is smarminess", "Saturday morning cartoon villain but the cool kind" and "What the F*** is THAAAAAT". BG3's cast of characters is no less than stellar.

THE GAMEPLAY:
Let me preface this section of the review by putting this out there ahead of time: I haven't been able to really get into CRPGs since the days of Neverwinter Nights. Somehow, BG3 sunk its claws in and kept me absolutely hooked despite that. My first playthrough took over a hundred hours, and that's after I managed to accidentally skip large swathes of it by being an inattentive gremlin. Saying I missed about half of the side content or more wouldn't be an understatement; this game is THICCC when it comes to the sheer amount of things you can do, and it adds layers to its playability by embracing the very nature of the tabletop RPGs which BG3 is inspired by: it allows for a remarkable number of ways to approach each and every encounter (or to avoid/negate them entirely through rewarding any of your clever stratagems or an intelligent application of using your mouth-words to defuse a bad situation before it gets worse).

There's something to do for every playstyle, be it warrior, caster, or party face. Can't give up the stealth archer life from your time in Skyrim? You need help, but alright. Care to talk your way through most situations with your silver tongue or huge diction? Have at it, chief. Or maybe you want to play as a murderhobo struggling over life's toughest decisions, such as whether or not you should heed someone's request to "Take their hand" literally or not. BTW, that's actually built into the game by way of the Dark Urge, a third type of playable character beyond your OCs-do-not-steal or your pick of the origin character litter. Along the way, you'll uncover additional ways to spice up your playthrough. Sometimes you just want to use the baby eldritch abomination napping in your brain to blow people up with your mind, and that's cool too. I mean, Tenacious D wrote a song about it and everything.

You can choose to explore new areas, dungeons and more as quickly and efficiently as possible, or slowly and methodically thanks to the game's turn-based mode, which can even be activated out of combat to allow for a strategic approach to accidentally stepping on a pressure plate that blows the socks off your rogue. It's cool, Withers can piece them back together after.

Also, your choices matter. I don't mean that in the "video game hype man assuring you that your decisions impact the narrative", I mean even if they don't have an immediate or obvious reaction, trust me -- they did, and at some point effing around and finding out WILL come back to bite you in the butt. Quite frankly though, the lack of 'safety rails' adds a lot to making the consequences of your actions seem that much more real. It's different! It's spicy! I like it.

Your approach can change the outcome of a situation in a number of ways. As an example, if you choose to ignore that dog in the road hanging by its dead owner, you'll probably never see it again -- but maybe you'd rather try to comfort that dog instead. The issue is, you don't speak Dog; smartly, you cast a spell of Speak with Animals, you are now fluent in bork bork, and you can find out what exactly happened here. This might provide context for a seemingly unrelated story beat, or you might be able to convince the dog that yes, his owner ISN'T just sleeping and he's better off joining you. If you're convincing enough, you'll not only eventually find that dog hanging out at camp one night, he'll fetch random goodies for you, the person he has now deemed "Bestest New Friend".

By thinking outside the box and using utility spells such as Speak with Animal, Speak with Dead, Fly or Feather Fall to cross otherwise impassable chasms or touch down on a ledge that would normally break your legs, or even shrinking down to the size of a miniature giant space hamster to crawl through openings in the environment that are much too small to fit through ordinarily, you can find new ways to explore, play, and experience the game. There will be times when you'll think, "There's no way the devs accounted for what would happen if I did [crazy thing]", only to try it on a whim before you promptly realize that yeah, they accounted for that, too.

THE FINAL VERDICT: 10/10
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the few games I've played that I would consider to be pretty much perfect. And I mean that sincerely -- my limited gripes come from missing QOL features that have since been implemented in the form of free updates, they're so minor they aren't worth knocking the score down over (pour one out for my quick save/quick load keys as I slowly apply dyes to figure out which one makes my pants look the fanciest), or that Larian themselves have confirmed are en route soon enough -- such as official modding tools.

You've undoubtedly heard all the buzz surrounding this game by now, and you'll continue to hear about it in the future -- because the hype IS very much real, and very deserved. There are great games, then there are experiences, and BG3 has firmly seated itself on the latter throne.

Starfield is basically Fallout in space, and Fallout is basically Skyrim in a retro-futuristic post-apocalypse, and Skyrim is basically Skyrim in Skyrim (that made more sense in my head but if you've been playing BGS' titles for a while now, you know what I mean)

And that's exactly why I'm giving this game a positive review; Starfield serves as an enjoyable experience right out the box, with Bethesda's strongest campaign and story (IMHO) in years, and a solid foundation to work with for both modders and purists as well as veterans and newcomers alike for games under the Creation Engine's umbrella.

This latest entry brings some much-needed love to an engine that has definitely been showing its age for some time now, with a noticeable boost in visual fidelity and approximately 70% less potato face; and while Skyrim/Fallout ARE respectable modding workhorses (so to speak), Starfield is a promising haven for modders AND it's an entertaining ride for vanilla playthroughs, as well. That isn't to say the game is perfect or there isn't room for improvement, but if you compare and contrast with OG Skyrim or Fallout 4 at launch, Starfield feels like the most 'fully-furnished' BGS release in YEARS... and let's be real, you're probably going to end up modding out whatever you don't like anyway. No judgment (thatswhyimhere.mp4)

At the end of the day, whether you go into the game as a long-time fan or a new one, if you're approaching the game with the intent of bowling over the campaign once before dropping it or experiencing a completely vanilla playthrough before modding the ever-loving heck out of it afterwards, you won't be disappointed. Some big names in modding from Skyrim, Fallout and even Cyberpunk 2077 and other game's communities have already begun their work on improving the player experience from day one, and things are only going to get better once people get their hands on the updated Creation Kit in a handful of months.

tl;dr: game fun. Starfield is more of a good thing, also paving the way for an even wilder experience in the future through mods and/or DLC. Check it out if you're tempted, or wait for a sale and for a few updates/mods to hit if you're still on the fence.

i guess you could probably say i enjoy this game

too long, DID read review: (As a disclaimer, I haven't played the first Remnant, so I don't have much of a frame of reference when it comes to how this stacks up against the first game!)
- The game feels very feature-complete so far, from an abundant well of content to the complete lack of a cash shop or MTX currency to deal with. No content, no areas and no classes are locked behind real money walls, nothing like that. The entire game is available to you right out the box. There IS DLC coming, but if it matches the quality of the game thus far, I can't really complain given what you're getting for $50.
- I've heard people call this game a "looter shooter" and actually, I firmly disagree. It's closer to older roguelikes than anything else. Item drops are static in that their stats do not change and there are no random rolls, but the specific item that DOES drop changes depending on the world you're clearing (or visiting).
- The class system, AKA Archetypes, feels rather robust so far, lending to build diversity and catering to different playstyles. Your beginning choices provide a number of classic RPG roles such as tank or healer, and the various DPS archetypes all have a clear identity of their own while bringing more to the table than JUST dealing damage. Two players playing the same pet class may focus on supplementing damage with their pet, while another may have built their pet to provide support and healing instead.
- Build diversity doesn't end there. You can combine up to two archetypes (even mixing and matching new ones you unlock over the course of the game or replacing your starter archetype entirely) to create the perfect build for your playstyle. Maybe you want to combine Handler with Summoner and have ALL the pets, in which case god help your attention span. Maybe you feel like your Challenger needs to be more than just a shrick brithouse and you'll benefit from weaving in Medic to heal yourself and others, or maybe you'd rather toss in Gunslinger to provide additional ranged damage.
- The grind feels surprisingly nonexistent. The game relies on more of a targeted progression system, replacing the need to grind out god rolls or what have you. There are a lot of ways the game COULD have turned character advancement into a slog, but the devs have chosen to embrace the solid, fun pace of its core gameplay loop and focus on that instead.
- You have a few paths of progression, namely, in-game currency and crafting materials to buy new weapons and gear and upgrade ones you've already bought or went out and unlocked, as well as archetype/class levels and traits -- essentially, points you distribute across your build to further fine-tune it.
- The game feels engaging to play alone OR with a group, content scales depending on party size and 'gear score', and it has a little something for everyone. For one thing, it features a difficulty setting. I'm bad at games/bad at life and through dedication, memorizing boss patterns and phases, screaming in frustration and slowly Getting (sorta) Good, I've managed to overcome every boss so far, and that feeling of finally clearing a difficult encounter is REAL.
- There are difficulty settings and various methods of accessibility. I know that's heresy in some corners of the Soulslike community, but also shh. Let people have fun. For those of us that hate ourselves, there's a hardcore mode, which was a surprise inclusion (at least to me); it's not the kind of gameplay I'd personally chase, but that's just one example of the ways that Remnant II smartly opens up its doors to players old and new, casual or pro, and good or not-yet-gotten-good. I started on Veteran difficulty, which appears to be the equivalent of 'hard mode', after normal and before very hard and hardcore; it can be rough at first, but once you start acquiring some new gear, upgrades, levels and kitting out your overall build, and as you learn to approach each enemy as a different problem with its own solutions, the quicker you can learn how to turn things around. That being said, even when things feel kind of breezy on veteran, special encounters, some dungeon mechanics, and bosses can and will find ways to shove a slice of humble pie into your face-hole.
- One of Remnant II's strongest features is its coop mode, so if that's your cuppa, it's something this game does very well. Even if you've already cleared the entire world your friend(s) are on, you still have the opportunity to receive new loot on their 'version' of each world, while you receive crafting materials in the place of items you already HAVE earned. Being able to benefit from playing through 'old' content with friends feels great.
- The combat is fun as heck, pardon my interdimensional French. You can seamlessly weave between melee and ranged attacks with a variety of weapon types ranging from swords, spears and flails, to automatic rifles or shotguns, to heavy weapons such as miniguns and flamethrowers... as well as a large number of genuinely unique and exotic weapons acquired from bosses or exploring the world.
- Some boss encounters can be cleared in 'alternative' ways, and your choices here DO matter. Taking the obvious route to defeat a boss may reward one type of unique weapon or mod, but sating your curiosity by seeing if that one boss mechanic has a little something more to it can and will surprise you on more than one occasion.
- I wasn't kidding when I mentioned procedural generation. Remnant II's worlds are highly-detailed, visually captivating, fun to explore, and diverse. Each world only feels all the more open and unique given that each player has their own "version" of one of the three 'adventure' worlds (which are in addition to two 'campaign' worlds), and each new attempt offers up entirely different paths. For example, if your first world is Ye Olde Hell England, your version of the world may have access to Road 1 and Road 3, but not Road 2. The road you choose look similar to a friend's world, but it may lead to dungeons or encounters you never saw on your first run. Another cool thing is that once you clear an entire world (even if you help a friend clear one you've never touched), it becomes available to explore on your own in a separate "Adventure Mode". This differs from the story mode version of each world, providing completely different paths, new loot, alternative encounters, and more. There's a LOT of content to go through.

A few minor nitpicks:
- Some boss fights involve flying enemies where your only option will be to fight them at ranged, as you literally, physically cannot reach them with melee weapons. Personally, I don't feel that boss variety is a downside, but this is something you may want to be aware of going in!
- I'm not sure if you can change your chosen difficulty setting after character creation. That being said, at least there are difficulty settings at all
- The game DID just launch, so there's a small number of features and systems that I'm hoping we'll see later on -- namely things like a wardrobe system or build swapping.

tl;dr review: Remnant II is one of those rare games that feels like it launched in a full-featured, finished state, AND the entire game is available to you out the box. It's a lovingly-crafted, incredibly solid combination of third person shooter and action RPG with Soulslike elements, boasting an engaging core gameplay loop that is more akin to a roguelike (complete with procedural generation) than a looter shooter, which is just one of the ways that the game benefits from knowing what its strongest aspects are and emphasizing upon them. My few complaints are almost all QOL-related or so minor they aren't really worth bringing the game down over.

There are three kinds of people in this world:
- people who enjoyed the Dead Space remake
- people who didn't really find the game or genre to be their cuppa
- people who think this game is woke and bad because it has unisex bathrooms (yeah honestly IDK they got from Point A to Point B either but they should probably lay off the tide pods)
I am firmly in the camp of Average Dead Space Remake Enjoyers, and lemme tell you exactly why that is

It's October 14th, 2008. I'm a dumb teenager who loves survival-horror games, sci-fi, body horror, and coffee (you could argue the coffee wasn't a crucial part of the gameplay but try convincing me to stop chugging the superpower-granting bean water so I can power through this game I picked up on a whim because all my other friends were raving about how "there's this new game and it's like Aliens, The Thing, and the Lovecraft mythos had this horrible, beautiful, body horror mutant baby and it's so crazy, dude". The experience is absolutely magical, and though I wasn't aware of it at the time, the original would go on to become a genre-redefining GAME CHANGER. It would raise the bar for future games in the genre to meet. It would alter the expectations of what it meant to BE a survival-horror game and forever cement its place as an iconic, classic game, and break the record of the number of times I woke up my parents by yelling "JESUS CHRIST ON A POGO STICK, WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥ IS THAT" in a single night.

Now let's fast forward a bit since it's only been like maybe six years tops since 2008, right? Hahahaha oh god [mattdamonaging.gif]

It's April 26th, 2023. I'm a dumb adult who loves survival-horror games, sci-fi, body horror and coffee (I am now slightly more convinced that the people telling me that chugging caffeine nonstop is a terrible idea may have been onto something but I'm probably just old). I just beat Dead Space and the experience is absolutely magical. In fact, it's even MORE of an enchanting experience compared to my romp through the original game, because the remake is blessed with the extremely potent double-whammy of ~15 years of technological advancements in the games industry, and a dev studio that must be full of fans of the original game. Motive went in not only recognizing what made Dead Space so incredible, they knew exactly what to add without marring or destroying the original game's identity.

From the addition of side quests and the fact that every weapon feels powerful or useful in its own regard; from the "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" factor of realizing that the tram system is no longer a glorified loading screen and the USG Ishimura now feels more open, bigger, and more terrifying than ever before to the "surprise ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" moments of necromorphs dropping in to show you their sweet secret Necromorph handshake when you backtrack, the gameplay and combat feel more streamlined, feature-complete, responsive and intuitive. Most, if not all boss fights have been improved upon, with additional mechanics and obstacles to deal with so they'll feel brand new even if you literally just played through the entirety of the original game just hours before booting up the remake.

The core gameplay isn't the only area that benefits from modernization, however; visually, the game is STUNNING. And I don't just mean "it's Dead Space but prettier". I mean the game is legitimately GORGEOUS. The models, textures, volumetric lighting, all of it is top-notch, and the high quality art assets combined with some serious attention to detail work wonders to amplify the original game's crushing, imposing atmosphere.

Additionally, clearer, crisper, overall enhanced audio, from the unsettling horror sting that fills the air when you're about to forcibly become the newest member of the Free Space Zombie Hugs Club, to the sheer *power* of your weaponry and the satisfying mechanical clicking and clacking of your gear, all come together to make for (sometimes literal) music to the player's ears.

And, call this a hot take if you want, but: I thought that bringing Gunner Wright back on board to voice Isaac Clarke was a smart move and boy howdy does it add a LOT to the game's story and narrative. No longer are you Isaac the unspeaking, unfeeling, frequently screaming robot. Now you're Isaac the speaking, feeling, frequently screaming man; listen as Isaac actually responds when given orders and directions, hear the righteous fury in his voice whenever Dr. Mercer talks a whole lot of ♥♥♥♥ for a guy in necromorphin' range, and empathize with the DIY engineer inside all of us when he runs out of ammo in a fight and cusses at his plasma cutter for being a "cheap CEC piece of ♥♥♥♥".

To wrap up my review: Motive's Dead Space is a love letter from the original game's fans TO the original game's fans, all while taking the opportunity to add even more to love to this beloved pants-♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ simulator. I'd be a little bummed that some of the best games to grace our vidya libraries over the past few years have been remakes if it wasn't A. solid proof that these games were tried and true classics for a reason, and B. remakes like this one have the incredible power to help current and future generations of gamers experience *even better* versions of the titles that wowed 'the old guard'. And that's the beauty of it -- those who have already experienced that 'wow factor' get to relive the magic all over again. I know I did.

Final Score: m̵̳͎̣̈� ̙̩̬̜ͅå̶̼͚̰̀͜k̸͎͑̏̈́̌̏ę̴̢̦͈̗̭͉̟̙̈́͌̑́̈̕ͅṵ̶̡͙͖̺̞͉̞̟͈͑̋s̶̎̏͗́� ̢͎̝̺̜̱̐̏̌̄w̵̛� ̨̥͙̺̤̫͎̗̹̱̈́̿̀̕͝ḧ̶̢͍͍̗̰̹͇̎̃́̅̏͘ŏ̸̡̱̽͒̌̌̀̆̃́͒ļ̵̰̙͎̻̔͛̋̉͌̚͜e̵̪̮̩̙͎̰͇̽̓̏͆̔ / 10