After playing The Awakened King DLC, which takes a few hours if you simply kill the main boss, I’m not sure what to think. It’s set in the world of Losomn, with The One True King awakening from his slumber, driven mad and seeking vengeance for betrayal at the hands of the Fae. The Council is annihilated, and the king is seemingly intent on routing on the rest. He even employs (read: forces) the Dran, who have been subjugated by the Fae since the two worlds combined, to assist.

"I enjoyed venturing to different parts of the base game’s worlds and seeing what secrets lay in each corner."

Thankfully, you don’t need to wait for the DLC’s content to roll in Adventure Mode and can load a one-shot world with all the content ready. When you enter the new area, the Forlorn Coast, you’ll see the king’s castle in the distance and make the long trek to get there. Losomn already had a strong Bloodborne vibe, with the crazed Dran hounding you through the streets, and the DLC is no different. The new areas, like the Drowned Wren and Derelict Lighthouse, offer unique layouts and routes, with new loot to discover and enemies to kill.

However, you’ll face several of the same enemy types as the base game – from firearm and sickle-wielding Dran to Armored Fae Soldiers – which can lead to severe deja vu. The Dran Fiend is new and pretty annoying, especially in tight corridors. They’re not too annoying in pairs but throw in other enemies and maybe an Armored Dran Fiend, and their numerous projectiles become a pain.

This is all the more reinforced when at least one Aberration from the base game, Gorge, appears at one point while a new one, Gorecarver, is essentially a tankier version of the Chainsaw Dran. Even one of the new bosses, the Sunken Witch, is simply a boss version of the Lesser Sunken Witch. The fight itself has enough mechanics going on, whether it’s the narrow corridors making up the arena or her constant spin-to-win, so it’s not a bust.

I enjoyed venturing to different parts of the base game’s worlds and seeing what secrets lay in each corner. While that remains true for The Awakened King, the Drowned Wren eventually annoyed me with its sealed-off paths, locked shortcut doors and roundabout ways of accessing areas. The dynamic threat generation also seems exceptionally egregious in one part, which overwhelmed me with multiple Dran, Dran Fiends, and more. I’m unsure what’s happening here since the challenge felt mostly fine elsewhere.

"Several areas and environments are serviceable."

The One True King’s castle is somewhat better, though I felt it could have been expanded more. The architecture and aesthetic are immaculate, feeling unique with its fantasy vibe while presenting a brutalist front. There are also some cool areas, like the Walk of Remembrance and its dual-world motif, which fits the nature of Losomn, even if it’s simply two halves of a hedge maze (which has some interesting secrets). Some new enemies, like the Dual-Wielding Dran, are more prominent here and present a decent enough challenge.

The Aberration is enjoyable to fight, but Bruin, the Blade of the King, is a more epic encounter. He’ll quickly try to strike with his blades, even leaping around and smashing down, but isn’t above hanging back and raining down multiple blades that explode after some time.

Eventually, it’s time to face The One True King. His attacks deal extensive damage but can be telegraphed well, and standing around in one place while he spews on you is a great way to end up dead. I also liked the mechanic revolving around his hammer, which has multiple Fae strapped to it. Damage it enough, and they’ll break free, climb on his back and bring him down briefly before being summarily dispatched.

Overall, the fight was good, but didn’t quite offer the same spectacle as the base game’s bosses. Maybe it’s because many of them, whether it’s The Nightweaver, Sha’Hala or even the final boss, felt so unique and truly distinct from each other, while The One True King, despite his hype, is a teleporting giant that tries to smash you with a hammer.

"I wasn’t particularly enthralled with weapons like the Abyssal Hook or Monarch, even if the latter’s mechanic is unique."

Of course, it also doesn’t help that there’s not much else after he’s defeated. You can discover lore and learn more about who potentially caused the betrayal that drove the king mad. There’s also a complex side quest chain revolving around finding a Dran across multiple worlds, spawning some interesting theories about the overarching story. However, it feels like The One True King, the titular boss of the DLC, is a non-factor once he’s dead. Even Nimue, trapped in the castle’s basement, or the Dran guarding her in fear of the king’s wrath, are pretty nonchalant about this legendary terrifying monarch meeting his end.

As for the other new content, I wasn’t particularly enthralled with weapons like the Abyssal Hook or Monarch, even if the latter’s mechanic is unique. The new Ritualist Archetype is fun and presents a potent damage-over-time playstyle. Even if I was already electrocuting enemies left and right with Enigma, being able to Terrify them and refresh the duration of negative statuses with Eruption while causing an explosion to take down multiple at once is fun. It also pairs well with the new Lighthouse Keeper’s Ring, which generates Mod Power for each enemy suffering a negative status within 10 meters.

There are several other Rings, Mutators, Amulets and Weapon Mods to discover, and coupled with everything else, The Awakened King is a decent addition to the base game. Several areas and environments are serviceable, while the boss fights can be challenging. However, I didn’t have that sense of awe or desire to re-roll the world to see what new World Boss would spawn or secrets I’d discover.

"If it’s your first time playing through Remnant 2 and you roll a version of Losomn with this content, it may offer some fun variety."

Instead, I was turned around endlessly in the Drowned Wren, trying to reach the Derelict Lighthouse and earn the Sparkfire Shotgun after accidentally using the Lighthouse Key on the wrong door. It’s not the best feeling in a game where revisiting content is one of the biggest appeals. Some may get a kick out of unraveling its different secrets, but the fact that performance issues still crop up, especially in busier areas with more enemies, is not ideal.

Different people will view this DLC in different ways. If it’s your first time playing through Remnant 2 and you roll a version of Losomn with this content, it may offer some fun variety. However, if you’re counting on this to be a substantial addition to the main game, enough to stand on its own with a compelling narrative, The Awakened King isn’t fully there. At best, it’s more content, adding to the build variety and sheer amount of item-collecting, peppered with some intriguing secrets and a few decent bosses. Nothing more and nothing less.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

For example, you can now matchmake based on region, and it will only show players from the same when searching for public games. Regardless of the setting, your friends’ games will remain visible. Another much-needed change is the increased spawn rate for Aberrations globally. Since their Corrupted Lumenite Crystals are necessary for upgrading Mutators, this is a good buff.

Other issues like the misaligned projectile from the Engineer’s Flamethrower Turret, the Handler becoming immobilized if executed while simultaneously being revived by their pet, and more have also been fixed. Check out the full patch notes below.

Remnant 2 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. We gave it an 8 out of 10 in our review, with the combat, enemy design and procedural generation receiving praise.

The Awakened King DLC – Patch Notes

Quality of Life

[ General ]

• Added matchmaking regions. You will be prompted for your region on first startup and can change it later if necessary. When you are searching for a public game, it will only show users in your region, and your region will determine which users can see your public games. Friends’ games are always visible, regardless of region settings.
• Fixed an issue where player’s data wasn’t always saved when a host quit or kicked them from a session.

[ Enemies ]

• Increased global spawn rate for aberrations.

Bug Fixes

[ Progression & Rewards ]

• Fixed an issue where “Carnage in C-Minor” Achievement / Trophy was not able to be acquired.
• Fixed an issue where Scroll of Binding was not able to be acquired.

[ Archetypes ]

Engineer

• Fixed an issue where Flamethrower Turret projectile was misaligned.

Handler

• Fixed an issue where a player could be executed while very good boy was reviving them and cause the player to become immobilized.

Archon

• Fixed an issue where some enemies would not take damage from Havoc Form’s Lightning Tendrils attack.

[ Gear / Items ]

• Fixed an issue where Fae Shaman Ring was not working as intended with Dense Silicon Ring.
• Fixed an issue where One-Eyed Joker amulet was affecting projectiles heading direction
• Fixed an issue where Energized Neck Coil would play explosion vfx incorrectly in multiplayer.
• Fixed an issue where Rotted Arrow mod explosion was negated when shooting metal fence in some location in Losomn.
• Fixed an issue where Crescent Moon Moonlight Barrage mod failed to return to player when Hunter’s Shroud skill was active.
• Fixed an issue where Merciless Bleed was incorrectly triggering with Bandit Mutator.
• Fixed an issue where players were able to bypass some doors using World’s Edge charge attack.
• Fixed an issue where Tomb Dweller’s ring was not stacking 3 times.
• Fixed an issue where Corrupted Meridian was not scaling correctly with intended damage type.
• Fixed an issue where Corrupted Shards could be sold to vendors, this was not the intention and has been removed.
• Fixed an issue where Corrupted Merciless was not applying Bleed when Bloodshot mod was active.
• Fixed an issue where Shocker mutator didn’t scale with weapon level or show as active when charged.
• Fixed an issue where Energy Wall mod was emitting bright lights when mod power was full.
• Fixed an issue where Fae Bruiser ring was triggering on destroying breakables.
• Fixed an issue where Killswitch mod wasn’t requiring a switch to ranged weapon to proc and damage wasn’t scaling off of weapon level.
• Fixed an issue where Sequenced Shot would not proc correctly, now it requires all subsequent shots to be charged shots to proc.
• Fixed an issue where some items would persist across all worlds and not be able be picked up.
• Fixed an issue where kills with Scattershot would not proc fragmented shot.
• Fixed an issue where Beta Ray mod had an increased range when attached to an enemy.
• Fixed an issue where Detonation Trigger was not applying the correct damage with Corrupted and regular versions of Aphelion mod.

[ Enemies ]

• Fixed an issue where aberration in Twisted Chantry would not path to player correctly on stairs.
• Fixed an issue where Trapper affix was not being removed once the aberration was defeated.
• Fixed an issue where the Cube Boss would glitch creating a safe spot.
• Fixed an issue where the Custodian’s Eye VFX would linger after death.
• Fixed an issue where Shaed Knight’s auras were not visible to clients.
• Fixed an issue where Gwendil: The Unburnt’s bombs were not able to be shot while in her hand.
• Fixed an issue where Metaphysical Tal’Ratha was unable to have Burn status applied to him.
• Fixed an issue where the Fae Praetor couldn’t be hit while being kicked away after grabbing a player.
• Fixed an issue where Root Flyers could grab players while on elevators and get stuck.

[ UI ]

• Fixed an issue where some Mods did not update their descriptions when equipping rings that changed Mod Damage.
• Fixed an issue where some aberrations were missing their health bar.
• Fixed an issue where the doorway to the Lost Temple in the Faithless Thicket was showing up as a side dungeon in the minimap.

[ Misc Fixes ]

• Fixed an issue where some collision could trap players on Yaesha.

Celebrating the release of The Awakened King, developer Gunfire Games and publisher Gearbox Publishing have announced that Remnant 2 is currently available at a 30 percent discount.

Players that own Remnant 2: The Awakened King can access the DLC by picking The Awakened King in the Adventure Mode section of the World Stone. The DLC can also be accessed through the campaign, and may or may not appear like any other storyline when a new campaign is rolled.

Along with new story content, The Awakened King also brings with it new dungeons and an area based in the world of Losomn. There are also new items, weapons, and weapon mods, as well as the new Archetype—the Ritualist.

The song was originally played in the game’s Accolades trailer, which was released shortly after the game’s full release. The song has now been released just hours before the release of Remnant 2: The Awakened King along with a video that you can check out below.

Remnant 2: The Awakened King, announced earlier this month, is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The DLC revolves the One True King, who has been corrupted by the Root while in a “near-death slumber”. Alongside new story content, the DLC will also bring with it new zones, dungeons, items, and the Ritualist Archetype.

The studio recently revealed that not all players in a co-op party need to own The Awakened King to access its campaign, but they will need to buy it if they want to use any of the new items and Archetype.

The downside is that players that don’t own The Awakened King will not be able to make use of any of the new items that might drop through their adventures in the DLC. To be able to use the new DLC items, the players would need to buy the DLC for themselves.

Remnant 2: The Awakened King was announced earlier this month, and will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 14. The DLC revolves around the One True King, who has been corrupted by the Root while in a “near-death slumber”.

The DLC will bring with it new zones, dungeons and story content. Players will also be able to unlock the Ritualist Archetype, who makes use of status effects to take on enemies. There will also be new weapon mods, amulets and rings in the DLC.

https://twitter.com/Remnant_Game/status/1722322828677296424

It sees Nimue, the Fae goddess, talking about The One True King. Having served as his counsellor once, they speak of his terror (while seemingly captured). According to the press release, the King has been corrupted by the Root while in a “near-death slumber”, seeking revenge everywhere. His castle is in Dran within the world of Losomn, affecting the weather and causing all kinds of creatures to surface.

Along with a new story, dungeons and area, the DLC also includes The Ritualist Archetype, who exploits status effects to slaughter enemies. New weapons, mods, Amulets and Rings will also be available, but you must contend with new enemies and bosses. Interestingly, there are also threats of “unknown origin” that “emerge from the ocean depths and roam the streets, bringing new challenges for all players.”

This could mean an update with free content as a teaser for the DLC. Stay tuned for more details before release, and check out our review for the base game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB8Z0vTFKw4