final product, things went as well as could be expected. “For Remnant II, I’m happy with what we did,” says Adams. “We managed to do pretty much everything we set out to do when we started the project, which is rare. Obviously, if I could go back in time, I’d make sure any major issues, bugs, performance issues were nailed down – but development is a game of finite resources, and
like a co-op shooter. “Melee has always been a means to conserve ammo
or provide you with a way of attacking when you are out of ammo,” says Adams. “I do think the melee combat is much better in Remnant II compared to Remnant: From the Ashes, but for sure, shooting is meant to be the primary way to fight.”
Like with any challenging game, the boss battles in particular can be a test of both player skill and the player’s patience, often simultaneously. As such, conflicts can be quite difficult in Remnant II, and making sure that things were fair came down to extensive playtesting, including with players that weren’t as familiar with the game or its genre as the development team was. “Honestly? We just play the bosses a bunch of times, and continuously tune them over time,” says Adams. “We want them to be challenging, but we also don’t want a player to feel like it’s hopeless and they will never win. We also have testers we use to test the bosses, and we ran several friends- and-family alpha tests during development.
“Balancing the game for such a wide variety of player skills is a challenge, but we do our best to strike a good balance.”
NO REGRETS, WHAT’S NEXT When it comes to Remnant II’s overall production, Adams actually doesn’t have many, if any, development regrets. As he tells it, the studio effectively managed its time and budget, and outside of the usual quirks and bugs that get ironed out as a project makes its way from prototype to
sometimes you do the best with what you have available.” Following a positive response from both video game critics and the wider audience of players — only some of which were eagerly anticipating their next adventure through the multiverse, and others coming to check out the series for the first time — the foreseeable future for the Gunfire Games will be more work on Remnant II. “The reaction has been great,” says Adams. “You can spend three or four years working on a project, so there is always some trepidation when you release it to the world. You do your best to fix all the bugs, tune the difficulty — but as soon as the game is out in the wild, all bets are off. I’m just glad we made a game people enjoy. Hopefully we can add to that over time.
As for what form Remnant 2’s future will take, Adams doesn’t elaborate — but we’re sure there are plenty more portals to worlds out in the desolate and constantly shifting Labyrinth, and we look forward to embarking on whatever adventures the studio takes us on next.
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