We’ve been back to the worlds of Losomn and Yaesha as part of Remnant II’s post release content, so it makes sense that the final content drops takes us back to N’Erud. And as usual, it comes with all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from these one-shot adventures. However, Remnant II: The Dark Horizon also comes with a few tweaks that don’t pay off quite as well.
You may remember N’Erud as the planet that also doubled as a spaceship. These aliens, known as the Drzyr, wanted to use this vessel to find other life in the universe. You join the planet/spaceship after it has encountered some problems in the main game. In Adventure Mode, the Drzyr passed the event horizon, and you can explore a section of N’Erud that hasn’t fallen into disrepair like the rest of it.
The Dark Horizon paints N’Erud in a much more fauna rich light than previously seen. There are plant life and biological beings far more commonplace, which are somewhat converse to the location names. Expect to explore places called the Dilapidated Auditorium, the Detritus Foundry and my favourite, the Withered Necropolis.
Remnant II has always been somewhat obtuse about its plot, and it is the same here. There is a gardener, of sorts, on hand to try and explain the situation you find yourself in, as well as a character that you can take back to Ward 13, amongst others.
But, in The Dark Horizon, you can bypass all this and head straight to the final boss should you choose to. It makes this final DLC the shortest by a considerable margin.
It also introduces a new traversal mechanic: the glider. This allows you to get over the vast chasms present in The Dark Horizon, but at a cost of losing that sense of exploration that Remnant II did so well. This time around, it hasn’t felt like a case of exploring every offshoot from the main path to find new loot everywhere. It’s been more like simply using the glider to get to the next island. There are still areas to go off and explore, but the path to the final boss was almost telegraphed to me as the one with the least resistance.
Of course though, said final boss is still a formidable opponent with attacks that come quick and fast. Very few builds will be able to withstand the onslaught of attacks if your reactions aren’t quick enough.
Even just by exploring a little bit, you will find several new tasks to complete. There is a robotic prototype to be built if you can find the pieces required, and even a new Archetype if you can use the glider proficiently.
That new Archetype is called the Warden and as secondary Archetypes go, this is a damn good one. At its base level you can summon a drone companion that grants you a shield. As you progress through the levels, this drone can heal you directly or help you out in combat.
That would be useful and all, if there were more enemies in Remnant II: The Dark Horizon. You know how these worlds work by now; you explore a larger area before finding doors and exits to smaller areas where there is a miniboss or another smaller objective to complete. In The Dark Horizon, the larger areas feel incredibly empty compared to what we have experienced previously. There are only a handful of enemies in this area, and you can be gone several minutes without any combat.
Occasionally, you will find a tallish structure that is a different colour to the others you can interact with. This will spawn multiple enemies for you to defeat, but this is the only time you will really struggle with the standard enemies in The Dark Horizon. And that’s not what I want from Remnant II.
As an added bonus, a Boss Rush mode has been added alongside the new DLC as a free update. You have a choice of three options depending on the number of bosses you decide to take on, but these aren’t your only concern. Before you can even attempt a boss you must kill a certain number of enemies and an Aberration, and the bosses you will face are randomised.
Or so they say. My final boss ended up being The Nightweaver. You remember her? The one you face at the end of the bit where Remnant II introduces a haunted house and she literally sucks the dreams right out of you. But I managed to defeat her and complete a run which put to bed all those other times when she killed me during her second phase back in the main game.
Remnant II: The Dark Horizon represents a somewhat disappointing end to the game’s post-release content. It feels substantially shorter than the others, and the new glider doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. Aside from the new Archetype, there isn’t really any reason to reroll another run through of this part of N’Erud, unlike that found in The Awakened King and The Forgotten Kingdom.
The Final Battle Begins with The Dark Horizon: Remnant II’s Epic Conclusion – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-final-battle-begins-with-the-dark-horizon-remnant-iis-epic-conclusion/
Buy The Dark Horizon – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/remnant-ii-the-dark-horizon/9p351m9xg48j
