Remnant: From the Ashes is undeniably worthy of praise, especially when it comes to the art direction and technical execution. Though not flawless by any stretch (its environments might appear somewhat stark or monotonous at times, but remember it is a 2019 game), only partially relieved by atmospheric elements present within each world (even though these worlds were generated procedurally and contained diverse areas), though its overall results speak to developer skills who excel in game design even under tight budget restrictions. Gunfire Games certainly excel at doing just this, more for less, a Soulslike experience with epic battles against massive bosses being just an example of their mastery.

Remnant: From the Ashes - You Will Not Notice It Is a Game on a Tight Budget

Remnant: From the Ashes is a game created with a tight budget, which many players forget while playing it as it is truly extraordinary and easily comparable with big-budget productions. The art design combined with a strong sense of inspiration (great creativity) makes for a truly remarkable performance when budget constraints are present, and the developers were really good at guiding this project. For this reason, you can safely buy Remnant: From the Ashes for PlayStation: Gunfire Games has excelled simultaneously artistically/creatively and technically. We can imagine this as part of an outstanding development team effort that displays their skill while exuberant artistic vision with spectacular technical execution, resulting in an end product that proves their capabilities once more!

Satisfying Boss Fights

Consider, for instance, our experience battling Mallet as our initial major boss: it became an agonizing battle spanning multiple nights; at three points close to being victorious, I came within inches of winning each time. only to find it all slipping away by just one inch or less! If you like this kind of struggle and you want to buy cheap PS4 games, Remnant: From the Ashes is one of the best choices available even today. My fight against Mallet was difficult and finally satisfying...the array of emotions I felt in such moments shows just how capable these developers were in creating challenging yet emotionally fulfilling gaming experiences that leave players satisfied but needing another go!

Remnant: From the Ashes is a Hybrid of Genres

Roguelikes have long employed such mechanics as we can see in Remnant: From the Ashes, however, this one takes it one step further by adopting the concept of Leentjebuurspelen - an intriguing hybridization of popular genres and gaming elements from recent decades - including cover systems inspired by Gears of War, cooperative dynamics that recall Destiny, acquired skills associated with recent shooters with RPG elements as well as acquired abilities that bring to mind recent shooters featuring RPG components. While such an amalgam may typically raise concerns, Remnant skillfully weaves these disparate elements together into an integrated whole; influences recognized from multiple games never hinder its flow primarily thanks to one dominant inspiration which serves as its structural backbone - something comparable to Dark Souls itself!

Remnant: From the Ashes - Campaign or Multiplayer?

Remnant: From the Ashes defies the misconception that games tend to soften with more players; its challenge adapts dynamically by increasing adversary numbers and strengthening boss health in proportion with each additional comrade in your party/group. It is another well-designed feature that not so many cheap PS5 games have. You have the choice between embarking alone for an engaging story journey/campaign or teaming up (with friends or strangers) in a 3-players cooperative session for quick collective destruction of adversaries; loot distribution follows an equal 1:1 ratio among participants within any session to ensure outcomes are in alignment with individual needs and preferences. Whatever you choose, Remnant: From the Ashes will deliver.

A Friend To All Monsties

HIGH Sublime creature designs.

LOW The age of the target audience.

WTF Stealing monster babies.

For 20 years, Monster Hunter has been one of Capcom’s most successful and enduring franchises. Yet for all its star power, the games themselves have done little to change up the central action role-playing mechanics of hunting kaiju and other beasts in its lush, feudal world.

Little, that is, until Monster Hunter Stories took it into the arena of monster-taming turn-based RPGs, ala Pokemon or Shin Megami Tensei. Having put some time into Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, I can say it doesn’t take the genre to any new heights, but it does make for a solid entry into an overly saturated genre with just enough of its own character to stand out. 

For starters, MHS2 does a commendable job of replicating the core cycle of the mainline series — gear up and murder monsters using a wide array of tricks in the hope of harvesting some drops to forge or upgrade weapons and armor. Rinse and repeat with increasingly threatening beasts. 

Although mainline Monster Hunter is hardly blood-soaked, this one’s also more family friendly — the protagonist’s talking cat sidekick is only too willing to give the ol’ “Believe in yourself!” between bouts of pining for donuts. Given the genre, it’s clear this title was targeted towards a younger audience with an appropriately-attuned difficulty (AKA, pretty easy.)

The jovial tone carries through the rather serious — although not particularly grim — storyline. A mysterious evil is driving monsters to unnatural rage amid a prophecy foretelling destruction across the world. The player’s avatar must collect monsters and advance their skill as a Monster Rider to save their idyllic island home from these treacherous threats.

It’s not a particularly compelling plot, and characters lack the kind of depth that could give it more oomph, but as is the case with this genre especially, the story and questlines really aren’t important — what matters is the collecting and battling. In this, Wings of Ruin makes a strong case for itself.

Pulling from decades of material, it features some of the series’ iconic, sublime and oftentimes just badass creatures as potential partners — delightfully referred to as “Monsties.” Part of the franchise’s success is due to its memorable designs, here re-imagined in a more cartoony and vibrant graphic style. Rathalos, Tigrex, Nargacuga and more are here, along with weapons and armors that mirror them. 

Then there’s the manner in which they’re “caught.” Players enter dens — sometimes spawned when a monster fought in the wild retreats — and steal eggs to raise as their own. There is something intrinsically funny (and awful) about pulling an egg from a nest and watching the player goofily carry it out with both hands to go hatch and fight with — or, in another dark turn that never reaches the tonal surface, sacrifice it to boost the stats of another Monstie.

Stat lines are relatively straightforward — speed, crit rate, attack, defense — with some elemental flavor. There’s a neat gene mechanic where monsters try to line up certain attributes to make a bingo but this isn’t a system that needs a complex Excel spreadsheet to min-max a build. 

Similarly, combat is simple without ever being dull. It boils down to a rock-paper-scissors system of power, speed or technical attacks coupled with choice of the type of weapon (slash, pierce, or blunt). Correctly guessing which type to use against a wild monster will yield bigger rewards in damage and charging up a kinship meter, used for flashy skills and eventually to ride the player’s Monstie for a big damage finisher

On the technical side, I never ran into any issues. This release is a port of a previous Switch version, and the while graphics are nothing to particularly herald, Capcom has followed the original hardware’s limitations (and Nintendo’s ethos) in crafting an enjoyable experience, rather than anything particularly pretty.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin isn’t a shining exemplar of the monster taming genre, but it does successfully mesh the iconic aesthetics of its mainline counterpart with no-fat collect and battle systems that are as easy to approach as they are satisfying to master.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Capcom and Marvelous and published by Capcom. It is currently available on PS4, PC and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 12 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E and contains Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence and Mild Language. The official description reads as follows: This is a role-playing game in which players assume the role of a monster rider on a quest to protect a mysterious egg. Players explore a fantasy world, complete quests, interact with characters, and battle fantastical creatures (e.g., dragons, dinosaurs, giant insects) in turn-based combat. Players can select various weapon attacks (e.g., sword slashes, arrow strikes, oversized-pistol shots) and monster attacks (e.g., flame breathe, dash attack) from a menu to defeat enemy creatures. Battles can be frenetic, accompanied by explosions and screen-shaking effects. During monster tracking, players can collect monster dung; players also encounter a creature that emits a brown flatulence attack. The word “hell” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized.  Audio cues for NPCs and enemies do not have a visual component onscreen. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers partially remappable controls. Action mapping for buttons on the controller can be changed.