[Gamescom 2018] Remnant: From The Ashes - Tested the new IP of Perfect World

Remnant: From The Ashes it was like a bolt from the blue: just released from the Hands On of another title I see that it is possible to try this game, of which I actually remembered a trailer shown at E3 in Los Angeles. I enter the stand dedicated to this work, and after a short video in which I am given an incipit of the plot, they catapult me ​​on a PC and begin the test of what was, for me, the most interesting title of all Gamescom 2018.

From the point of view of history, in the 70s humanity discovered stones that allowed the passage to other universes never explored before, worlds that were crazy and unimaginable for the men of that era. Following this discovery, a period of expansion began, but the portals could be an access both for us and for others: it was thus that demons from other worlds took the form of our nightmares and conquered our planet in a few years; humanity is in check today and few human settlements remain trying to eradicate this demonic plague from the world. The task that is presented to us is as huge as it is spectacular, and to do it we will be able to count on three friends at a time, facing the dangers in cooperative sessions of up to four players.

The camera is placed in the third person, you can customize your character in all respects, fully enjoying the experience of an action title with a strong RPG component: in addition to the appearance, in fact, there is a crafting system that he solves by finding the materials by killing the monsters or, simply, by exploring the map in question, so he can forge better equipment in terms of both weapons and armor. Inside Remnant: From The Ashes  you will carry with you two firearms of your choice from a rather varied and modifiable arsenal at will, and in addition you can carry a white weapon, be it an ax or a machete, a broadsword or quick daggers. The game allows you to inflict different types of damage based on the part of the enemy's body that is hit there is friendly fire on enemies which, if well exploited, will allow you to use the force of the demons against themselves: during my test I often interposed an enemy between me and a second opponent, making the antagonist in the middle suffer the blows of his partner, making him do “dirty” work, saving time and ammunition.

Enemies in Remnant: From The Ashes They will give you a great deal of trouble, as they will learn to face you trying to understand your style of play, dodging bullets at the last moment or ambushing the sword from around the corners. By defeating the bosses, you will get special and unique items such as legendary weapons or components that, when mixed, will allow you to create magical upgrades on your weapons: here is that your guns could start firing electrified bullets and your sword to make the earth tremble with every slash. It is possible to generate a temporary shield on your person: this protection vanishes at the first hit you receive and recharges over time, while to heal you just need to use hearts of darkness similar to the potions already seen in other titles.

It does not end here: Remnant: From The Ashes is a procedural map title, i.e. each area is predetermined, such as the city center, the underground tunnels or the tropical forest, but it is almost impossible to learn the topography of the map, because it will change every time you enter it, always leaving you on the alert. The title mixes the best that can be seen in previous games, such as the feeling of oppression in Dead Space and cooperative games by calling friends of Dark Souls The title also takes from the latter the enemy's pattern learning system, as well as the ability to face every challenge at will, for example once learned, I almost exclusively used the sword, firing bullets rarely because it suited better. to my style of play, while my friends have opted for a more classic target shooting approach; we find other similarities with Monster Hunter World, because the enemies will leave us different objects based on the way we kill them, for example by detaching the tail of a dragon we will get a piece of it, which is different if we break its wings before taking it down. What to say, Remnant: From The Ashes is fresh, fluid well thought out, the core campaign will keep you glued to your screen for over fifteen hours, while for a release date there is a generic 2019 - but we already know that it will be after February (at least so the developer of the game made me understand with a sly wink).