Summary
Gunfire Games’Remnant 2recently broke the 1 million copies sold milestone with just a few days having passed since its launch, and its success is a perfect storm that was likely helped by the recent hiccups withDestiny 2andDiablo 4. Regardless,Remnant 2deserves its spot in the limelight due to how good its gameplay loop can feel and how much of a challenge it packs, to the point that it’s often referred to as a gun-based Soulslike - something that its dodge roll and tough bosses helped cement. And yet, another big aspect of the titles from Gunfire Games thatRemnant 2leans into is secrets, and its Archon class is a masterclass in how to add them to video games.
Conscious of the fact that the first game was datamined quite a lot the moment it was released, at times even sucking the fun out of some of its biggest mysteries, Gunfire Games decided that the best way to handle this issue inRemnant 2was to go with the flow. The result is that an entire class archetype was added to the game and only made unlockable through datamining, and while this is an incredible success story for the industry to draw inspiration from, it’s also a double-edged sword.
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Remnant 2’s Secret Class Has Pros and Cons for the Future of Gunfire Games
Datamining and thenunlocking the Archon class inRemnant 2was not an easy feat, as it took the community a lot of combined effort and testing, but one player found the solution to this dilemma by checking a list of all the corrupted items in the game. To the dataminer’s surprise, the list included exactly one item for each slot, which meant that players were supposed to use a given combination of weapons and armor in order to unlock the Archon.
Donning all the items in the game allows players to traverse the Labyrinth and then the Corrupted Biome Portal, only to then be greeted by a maze they will only have 90 seconds to complete in their quest to find an item called “Strange Box” that can be traded alongside some currency for the Archon archetype. This very complex feat is made possible by unlockingRemnant 2’s Explorer classand also the Invader archetype, as well as a plethora of other items. The stunt is an incredible one, and solving the whole puzzle and being rewarded with a powerful class is the icing on the cake.
However, even if Gunfire Games is known for the amount of effort it puts into implementing secrets in its game, the Archon will likely remain a one-time type of deal. This is because it’s hard to repeat the same trick without players discovering it soon enough, as one of the best ways to solve puzzles is to look at past solutions for different ones. On the other hand, the success and hype generated by the discovery of one ofRemnant 2’s best archetypeswould easily warrant another iteration of this feat in future games.
As such, the studio may be in a rough spot when it comes to future secrets and puzzles because they both need to live up to the legacy of the Archon’s and be both difficult to solve and as much rewarding. Whether it’s aRemnant 2sequel or some other kind of game from the developer, it’s likely that Gunfire Games will have a hard time clearing the bar set by the shooter. Still, a positive side effect of the Archon’s treasure hunt is thatRemnant 2honors a sacred gaming traditionby providing entire communities with a code to crack, much like the old games of the pre-internet age.
Remnant 2is now available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
