Remnant 2 The Forgotten Kingdom DLC Review – In the world of Remnant 2, where every corner holds mystery and danger, The Forgotten Kingdom DLC is full of exploration and adventure. But that’s not all there is to The Forgotten Kingdom.
In this Review, we will answer the questions, how is the level progression of the latest map compared to the previous DLC area, how do the new enemies perform? Do the new weapons and trinkets provide more diversity to existing builds? And ultimately, is it the latest DLC worth your hard-earned cash?
· Genre: Action Survival Action-Third Person Shooter Role Playing Game
· Developed by: Gunfire Games
· Published by: Arc Games
· Release Date: April 23, 2023
· Platform/s: PC, PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S
· Reviewed on: PC (Code Provided by Gunfire Games)
· Price at the time of Review: 9.99 USD
Remnant 2 The Forgotten Kingdom DLC Review – Story & Setting
The story of The Forgotten Kingdom is set in the world of Yaesha, which was also in the base game, a world seemingly one with Mother Nature.
Amidst the eerie remnants of Yaesha’s once majestic ziggurats, now haunted by the echoes of untold stories and revenge, players will follow intricately designed murals, uncover secrets and clues, and watch the pieces slowly come together. You must navigate the paths where Sentient Stones prowl in search of fresh victims in a land that is beautifully crafted, but, perilous in every way.
From the moment I stepped foot into the The Forgotten Kingdom DLC, I was fascinated by the rich history embedded in every crumbling ruins, hidden chambers, long broken bridges, tunnels, and more. Gunfire Games have clearly upped their game in crafting a world that feels alive with rich lore waiting to be uncovered.
As I got deeper into its narrative by exploring the surrounding areas, the story was well-paced by slowly revealing pivotal characters and happenings that led to the events of the long lost civilization. Travelers will not be alone in this journey though. There will be new NPCs as well that will further add flavor to the overall narrative, which was a nice addition.
Gunfire Games clearly paid more attention to environmental storytelling in The Forgotten Kingdom. As enemies, world elements, and supporting lore parchments tell a cohesive story. However, despite its strong opening and development, I did find the conclusion underwhelming and a bit abrupt. Overall the narrative is not an overall miss, but rather had an uncompelling ending.
Remnant 2 The Forgotten Kingdom DLC Review – Gameplay
With the story and setting out of the way, let’s move on to The Forgotten Kingdom’s gameplay. As mentioned previously, players will notice right away the dangers and areas that they must traverse as they begin The Forgotten Kingdom. It feels overwhelmingly huge at first, and may take players a second to get their bearings.
Exploration & Puzzles
Players will be navigating through intricately designed Ziggurats, traversing broken structures like bridges and temples, interconnected forest paths, and old tunnels to progress in the DLC. As mentioned previously, Gunfire games seemed to focus more on exploration and storytelling this time around so I enjoyed mapping most of the areas in the DLC.
I’ve lost count of how many times I got lost while exploring, especially the overworld, not because of its size, but because of its layout. Players will be engaged not only from the amount of exploration, but also from uncovering myriads of secrets and lore such as: hidden chests, illusory walls, invisible tunnels, hanging platforms, or well-hidden ancient rooms which often contain valuable treasures.
And since The Forgotten Kingdom takes place on Yaesha, fans may be wondering about puzzles. There are a lot of puzzles to solve in this DLC, and if you’ve been playing Remnant 2 for quite a while now, these puzzles are not easy and take time to progress. They vary depending on the random injectables that players will generate when starting the DLC so players can still expect that each playthrough will have some uniqueness to them.
Surprisingly, there will be a lot of platforming activities in the latest DLC even when playing in dungeons. Along with puzzle-solving and platforming activities, players are required to outsmart a lot of dangerous traps and it provides a refreshing sense of exploration not experienced before in Remnant 2.
Fighting enemies are fun but I felt we had a lot of that in the main game, especially back in the Awakened King DLC. It felt like I was playing a completely different game like Tomb Raider or Uncharted this time around. Uncovering secrets, avoiding traps, and solving puzzles.
Combat & Enemies
One of the features of this DLC is the addition of new enemies. Which is most of the guardians of the Lost Tribe. These enigmatic warriors added a lot when talking about the whole presentation of the lost tribe or the narrative itself.
There were new bosses to fight, and each of them offered different combat mechanics that players need to learn in order to succeed. Most of the boss fights feel gimmicky and mechanics-focused compared to skill-based bosses where dodging and counters are enough to carry you through even not knowing the mechanics.
Overall, most of them are subpar and in my opinion, can be dull for the most part. This is one of the reasons why I felt that they focused heavily on the overall presentation and exploration rather than focusing on combat.
Don’t get me wrong, enemies still kept me on edge throughout my playthrough, especially when playing on the Apocalypse Difficulty. Enemies can still one-shot you, it’s just that I was looking for something new when it comes to enemies, however I felt that the newly added enemies are just there for the sake of presentation.
Gear & Customization
Of course, no Remnant 2 DLC would be complete without a plethora of new gear to collect and customize, and “The Forgotten Kingdom” delivers in this regard. As I solved puzzles and defeated new bosses, I always felt a sense of progression and excitement as I kept getting new mutators, materials, weapons, and more.
The decent variety of new weapons and trinkets available ensures that every player will find something to suit their preferred playstyle, upgrade their existing builds, or formulate new ones, thanks to these newly available items. I am the one who loves to get new stuff but also looks at their quality, making sure they are not just there for the sake of adding new items to the game.
Thankfully, although the new items and equipment are not plentiful in quantity, I couldn’t help but be excited when examining the possible variety each item provides. Every time I got a new item, I constantly found myself thinking, oh, will this improve my existing build? Does this new ring pair well with this certain type of weapon? Moments like this sparked curiosity and excitement as I made my way through The Forgotten Kingdom DLC.
But the star of the show is the new Archetype and when a Remnant 2 DLC comes, fans can’t help but to be excited about it. Mainly since new archetypes open up new possibilities in terms of building theory-crafting and such, I cannot help but see it as the biggest reason to get the DLC for most players.
Remnant 2 The Forgotten Kingdom DLC Review – Audio & Visuals
Presentation and exploration are the core focuses of The Forgotten Kingdom DLC, as mentioned previously, and the level design speaks for itself. This is one of the aspects that I appreciated the most. The overworld not only feels cohesive but also entertaining to explore.
It is easy to get lost in the overworld, particularly during a first playthrough. However, the distinct level design elements and areas helped me a lot during my experience when trying to progress in the game.
Although no graphical improvements have been applied in this latest expansion, I felt Gunfire Games focused heavily on presentation this time around, instead of solely focusing on combat, which I greatly appreciated.
The overall sound design played a pivotal role in making the whole narrative presentable as well. By Incorporating intricately composed musical scores that are perfect to set the mood, Gunfire Games managed to make exploration more engaging and really ramp up the tension during key moments of the DLC.
Gunfire Games also stayed true to their quality voice-acting. Although there were only a few additions in terms of NPCs, thanks to their distinct lines and characteristics, it was not difficult for me to remember them or keep track of them especially when experimenting with different outcomes.
Remnant 2 The Forgotten Kingdom Review DLC – Replayability & Price Point
Moving on to Replayability & Price Point. When it comes to replayability, there is no question that The Forgotten Kingdom DLC will offer substantial value because of Remnant 2’s general design which many of us know by now. My first playthrough took me 3 hours or so after exploring 90% to 95% of the whole map before ending it and starting a new one.
When it comes to accessing The Forgotten Kingdom DLC, players can do so by generating a new adventure playthrough or randomly generate it when progressing in the campaign.
The One-Shot Design is back and will return for the next DLC as well, where players will have a static experience and no RNG involved during their first playthrough of the DLC itself in order to provide a better story telling experience. If you are a completionist wanting to acquire EVERYTHING in the DLC, then expect to have at least six to eight playthroughs.
This may be a double-edged sword but a player may spend more time generating certain injectables or special random areas within the existing areas that often contain more puzzles to solve or hide valuable items to acquire.
Or one can generate an entire new playthrough just to explore possible different NPC quest outcomes. Just like in the previous installments, different quest outcomes or even different endings when playing the main scenario provide different rewards.
Of course, this varies depending on the RNG as your succeeding playthrough after the One-Shot playthrough will be randomized. If you only care about the story alone, there will be two outcomes at least to get from the DLC so you can easily squeeze in two to three playthroughs.
The Forgotten Kingdom’s DLC is priced at 9.99 USD, and comes with the Ultimate Edition of Remnant 2 if you purchased this. For this price, players will be getting a new storyline with a fairly sizeable new area to explore full of secrets, more weapons, armor, and trinkets to play with, and of course the new Archetype: Invoker.
Imagine all the possible combinations that the latest DLC brings to the table, and build theory crafters will surely find it a no brainer, as the new gear and archetype extend playtime even beyond the DLC area. With the number of possibilities and replayability that a player can get from it for just 9.99, it’s an easy buy for Remnant 2 fans.
Remnant 2 is on sale for 40% off across all of its editions on Steam until April 30th, so it is worth considering picking up the game if you like what you see, but haven’t played it yet.
Final Thoughts
The Forgotten Kingdom focuses more on exploration and story than both the base game and the previous DLC, with many puzzles and mysteries. This may be a double edged sword for those who only play Remnant 2 for its combat, but personally we found this refreshing, as it is the weaker part of the Remnant franchise.
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the series, we definitely recommend The Forgotten Kingdom. Prepare to be immersed in the world of The Forgotten Kingdom and unravel its secrets and mysteries, and learn what really happened on Yaesha, one of Remnant 2’s best locations.
