The Awakened King is the first expansion for Remnant II, the stellar third-person shooter souls-like from Gunfire games. Nominated for Action Game of the Year 2023, it’s an excellent title to sink your teeth into in the cloud, and with the new areas, items, enemies and archetype added by the expansion, there’s never been a better time.
A few months ago, I wrote a spotlight on Remnant II, where I praised the beautiful worlds the game put before me as the traveller and the depth of customisation and creativity it provided me to craft my unique build. The game’s third-person action was top-notch, and the way it weaved in familiar souls-like elements was more than praiseworthy. It opened doors I didn’t know existed to spread the tropes I love in Souls-likes into other genres.
Now, with the release of The Awakened King, I couldn’t be happier to say all that praise still rings true. The Awakened King has us return to Losomn, the Victorian horror-themed world and my favourite of the games locations, to take on the corrupted ruler of the realm and save its people (both the cockney-elven Dran and the capriciously cruel fey) from his dominion.
Heavy is the head that apparently is the crown.
That is a grand entrance to the DLC, but let me tell you, it lives up to it and more. The Awakened King is a distilled rendition of everything good about Remnant II. With a strong focus on exploration and mystery, it sets you loose in a grand playground of truly magnificent level design. Bit by bit, you explore the map, opening shortcuts and new avenues to proceed, and along the way, you’re pulled again and again off to the side by pieces of optional content, at the end of which lie treasures, new guns, rings, and armour.
Here, the DLC really shines. The new equipment it has added to the game opens up all new build avenues, making the game feel fresh without changing your archetype. As I progressed through my journey to commit regicide on The Awakened King, my build reshaped itself around a ring I found early on in the DLC. All the ring did was give me an additional 10% crit chance in exchange for taking constant bleed damage. Terrible, right?
WRONG! This ring made me go and reassess all the other gear available to me, and amongst my collection, I was able to find an array of effects that would trigger off taking damage, and this ring gave me a reliable, controlled way to do it. I even found another ring that would grant me health regeneration as long as I was bleeding, cancelling out its downside. This new martyrdom build became my obsession, and as I climbed to the heights of the king’s castle, I was always looking for new ways to capitalise on the power of my own blood.
That was my experience, but just at a glance, I could see the other opportunities this expansion opened. Its new archetype, the Ritualist, focuses on inflicting status damage such as shock and corrosion on enemies around you. I left it be, but my co-op companion went from a supportive houndmaster to a dark, sinister mage when he found it. His suite of equipment was retooled to focus on those around him suffering, and guess what, with my constant bleed, that included me! Suddenly, all new synergy opened to us, and our quest against the king (voiced by the stunning Jamieson Price) took on an all-new excitement.
Bubble bubble, boil and buckshot.
That is the joy of Remnant II; the joy of discovery, of figuring out a build that is all your own and working with those around you to make it even better. The Awakened King capitalises on and refines that joy to fresh heights, and I can gleefully say that if you’re looking for a gaming experience like no other, Remnant II is the game for you.
It can, however, be quite a graphically demanding title. With so much on the screen at once, the entire world of Losomn open for you to explore, it can tax the average PC, making it perfect for GeForce NOW Powered by CloudGG. Play it at its best and sink your teeth deep into the mysteries of Remnant’s many worlds with an Ultra membership.
This Spotlight was written by CloudGG team member "Motley", and does not represent the opinions of Pentanet or NVIDIA.
