2019's Remnant: From the Ashes was not unappreciated; the co-op loot shooter earned nearly 40,000 positive Steam reviews, but it was hardly a genuine hit. But the just-released sequel probably qualifies: Remnant 2 has leapt to the #2 spot on Steam's top-selling list (based on revenue), just below CS:GO and #18 on Steam's Daily Player's Most Played Games list.

Remnant 2 has yet to garner as many Steam user reviews as its predecessor, but our reviews are favorable and the current peak concurrent player count of 83,792 is well above the previous game's peak of 48,194. At this point, it is in the top 10 most played Steam games by current player count.

Remnant: From the Ashes is one of the most enjoyable co-op experiences I've had, and the sequel is largely the same. A third-person shooter set in another dimension, the game focuses on weapon upgrades, ammo conservation, big, weird bosses, randomization, and surprises. The emphasis is on weapon upgrades, ammo conservation, large and strange bosses, randomization, and surprises.

I've only played the intro myself so far. It's a nice, concise setup: the earth is messed up and you're just trying to stay alive, but some old man tells you not to mess with the stone that teleports you to another dimension, so of course you mess with it, and oh, now you're in Myst, but with scary monsters.

Once you complete this intro, you can play co-op with two other players. If you are interested in Remnant 2, you might want to see if any Discord members are willing to join you. If you are interested in Remnant 2, you might want to check with the Discord members to see if they are available to join.

It may help Remnant 2 that live service fatigue seems to be at an all-time high. After the considerable success of the first game, developer Gunfire Games could have moved in that direction, but instead they have created another old-school co-op shooter with a beginning and an end; DLC is planned, and Remnant 2 is designed to be replayable. Procedure generation makes each play different, and while you can't see everything at once, there is no endless endgame grind or in-game cosmetic store. The special edition gets you gorgeous armor, but that's all you get, especially with a $50 standard edition, while some publishers default to $70 these days.

In my review of Remnant 2, I go into detail about what makes it cool. I've only just started, but I can already tell you that the junk level seems to be lower than in the first game, and it's still satisfying to knock a lot of damage out of a monster blister with a rifle critical shot.