Remnant II: The Dark Horizon
Gunfire Games · Shooter, RPG, Action
Overview
A return to N’Erud uncovers a mysterious place preserved in time, where alien farmlands are tended by robots for inhabitants who have long since perished. But time corrupts all, and rogue AI and robotic creations threaten at every turn while travelers search for the secrets of the colossal entity that dominates the skyline. Features - New storyline, dungeons and area based in the world of N’Erud - New Archetype - The Warden - Many items and powerful weapons that enhance gameplay - New bosses, characters and fearsome creatures
THE GAMEQ VERDICT411 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
The Dark Horizon, which reviewers treat as Remnant II's final DLC, splits its players almost down the middle. Its fans describe it as "more Remnant" at a low price: a new story for N'Erud, a new archetype (the Warden), a pile of rings, amulets, weapons and mods, and a final boss that some negative reviews also single out as the best part. Some players who found base-game N'Erud flat and grey say this version finally made the planet look alive.
Most of the case against it is about the glider. The new overworld is built around slow, non-combat gliding between floating areas, and 37% of the longer reviews talk about gliding or getting lost, mostly with frustration. Reviewers also complain that the DLC is short, that its dungeons and enemies reuse base-game pieces, and that a third trip to an existing world was a weak way to end the game's DLC run. Launch bugs, crashes and performance drops, plus the grindy Prism system from the free update that shipped with it, pulled launch-month reviews down further. Fans call it fair value for an add-on; detractors call it the weakest of the three DLCs.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
Fair value for a small add-onHigh
Price comes up in 20% of the longer reviews, usually as an argument for buying. Reviewers who put a figure on it describe a $10 or 10€ add-on and judge it against that: "The amount of content you are getting for $10 is great and inline with the previous DLC." Another listed what they found: "This DLC added incredible value with 2 new armor sets, 7 weapons, a fresh archetype, 17 weapon mods/mutators, and nearly 50 rings/amulets." One positive review sets the price against DLCs elsewhere that deliver a character skin and a short quest.
Not everyone agrees. A smaller group says it was not worth the money even at that price ("even at $10 i feel i got ripped off"), and several positive reviewers still suggest waiting for a sale or buying it in the DLC bundle. Several reviewers sum it up as "more Remnant 2": if you liked the base game's loop, this adds more of it.
The final bossMedium
The final fight against Alepsis-Taura gets praise from reviewers on both sides of the thumb. Some negative reviews carve it out as the one thing they liked ("The final boss of the DLC is pretty awesome", from a review that does not recommend the DLC). One fan calls it "one of the coolest and most visually impressive in the game", and others enjoy its phases and the lore it resolves.
About as many negative reviews go the other way. Some found it too easy or reachable too quickly ("the final boss is less difficult than mini boss's in the base game"), and a few disliked its design, calling it a black hole inside a crystal shape that did not live up to its lore. The other bosses get a colder reception; see the reused-content section below.
New gear, weapons and build optionsMedium
The new loot is a steady point of praise: 14% of the longer reviews talk about the new weapons, rings, amulets or armour, mostly in positive terms. Players mention shield and explosive builds, the boss's melee weapon, a scythe that pairs with a mutator, and rings that synergise with the new archetype. Several negative reviews still praise the items while disliking the zone they come from; one calls them "rock solid".
The dissent is about quantity and finding it: "we get two primary weapons?!" wrote one reviewer, and others say much of the gear sits behind obscure secrets.
A better-looking N'ErudMedium
Visuals, atmosphere or music come up in 12% of the longer reviews, mostly favourably. Players who found base-game N'Erud dull are pleased: "It's so nice to explore N'erud's overworld and it's not mostly grey." Others praise the plant life, the soundtrack in boss fights and the dark, alien tone.
The counterpoint is that looks did not translate into things to do: "The new area looks huge but much like base game Neerud, it's mostly empty". A few reviewers also say the tall crop fields block your view during fights.
Where players are split
The Warden archetypeHigh
The new class comes up in 23% of the longer reviews and divides them. Fans like its shields and support drones and the builds they open up: "The new class adds a lot of defensive power to any build through easy shield generation." Some negative reviews still name it as a highlight.
Critics call it a support class with little punch ("underwhelming", "mid at best"), say its prime perk shield is too weak on higher difficulties, and complain about the drone itself: "Warden is a neat archetype, but the robot blocks my shot too often." Others dislike re-summoning the drone after every death or fast travel, and a few say the class is so well hidden they needed a guide to find it.
Story and writingMedium
Reviewers who care about lore are split. Some enjoyed learning what happened to the Drzyr and what Alepsis-Taura is; one wrote that it "Does a good job elaborating on Nerud and giving it a conclusion." Another, who still recommends the DLC, thought the ending let the story down: "Very poorly presented ending especially for final DLC". A few objected to the dialogue tone ("I just can not forgive the use of 'Freaking' and 'Dunno' as the dialogue lines"), and some short negative reviews say there is barely a plot at all.
Boss Rush mode (free update)Medium
Boss Rush is part of the free update and does not require the DLC, a point several reviewers make, but 15% of the longer reviews discuss it here. Fans enjoy fighting bosses back to back and farming specific drops: "the boss rush mode is a perfect short version of the game". Critics wanted a roguelike mode like Remnant 1's: "Survivor from Remnant 1 was more of what I was hoping for." Others mention crashes during long runs, a damage-check boss that wipes support-heavy teams, and that starting with your full build makes it easy.
Secrets and puzzlesMedium
Secrets and puzzles come up in 14% of the longer reviews. Some players love them ("excellent riddles to solve"). Others find them opaque, and a few say they had to look answers up on the wiki or Google, which they resent. The time-based Genesis puzzle draws specific complaints: "Just look at Genesis, the riddle to get it seems like it was designed by a psychopath."
How it ranks against the other two DLCsMedium
17% of the longer reviews compare it with The Awakened King and The Forgotten Kingdom, and they land on both sides. Some call it "Best of the three, easily"; others call it the worst. A few positive reviews take a middle view, such as "Weakest of the 3 DLCs but still great". Several reviewers wished the last DLC had opened a new world instead of a third version of an existing one.
What frustrates players
Glider traversal and navigationHigh
37% of the longer reviews talk about the gliders or getting lost in the new overworld, and the complaints are specific. Gliding is slow, you cannot shoot while airborne, enemies can hit you on the way, and a wrong guess about where an updraft is means a fall and a long walk back. A reviewer who still recommends the DLC wrote: "It feels like you're punished for exploring, which is counter intuitive to how exploring works in most maps." Others say the layered map makes it hard to tell where you have been, that co-op partners get separated, and that the novelty fades: "Once you get used to gliders, exploration feels linear." One player could not get past the first glide at all and believed the fall speed was tied to frame rate.
Some players defend it. They like the verticality and the hidden ledges it creates ("The glider is really not as bad as people make it out to be and actually adds a cool element to exploration and traversal of the map"), and several positive reviews accept it as a quirk they put up with while naming it as their main gripe.
The Prism grind (free update)Medium
The Prism system came with the free base-game update, not the DLC, and a number of positive reviewers point this out. It still came up in launch-month negative reviews on this page, and 17% of the longer reviews mention it. Complaints were about the experience needed to level a prism, random legendary perks, sacrificing relic fragments for better odds, and the original rule that a bad prism had to be fully levelled before it could be reset: "If you get unlucky with a perk you still have to completely level up the Prism to be able to reset it." Several reviewers also say the game barely explains it.
Defenders call it optional and note that patches eased the experience costs and added rerolls within weeks of launch. Prism keeps coming up in reviews through the end of 2024 and only thins out in reviews written from 2025 onward.
Reused maps, enemies and bossesMedium
16% of the longer reviews complain about recycled content or few new enemies. Players report optional dungeons copied from the base game, only a handful of new enemy types, and side bosses that are bigger versions of regular enemies. "In a game universe with thousands of connected crystals, we went back to the same three worlds," wrote one reviewer. Several positive reviews push back, arguing the DLC was always meant to add a third version of an existing world and that new paths and tasks make familiar-looking dungeons play differently.
Bugs, crashes and performanceMedium
Bugs, crashes or performance come up in 16% of the longer reviews, mostly negative ones. Reports include crashes at the end of long Boss Rush runs, co-op disconnects, missing quest items or NPCs, bugged new weapons ("Almost every single weapon introduced in the DLC is bugged in some way"), stutter, and AMD-specific drops. A few players reported the opposite: one saw frame rates rise after the DLC update. A couple of launch-week negatives were later edited to positive once patches fixed their bugs.
Short lengthMedium
14% of the longer reviews call it short or say it ran out quickly. Some finished the story in about an hour or less ("A friend and I beat this in 66 minutes"), helped by the fact that the final boss can be reached early. Players who cleared every optional dungeon and hunted the secrets in the DLC's one-shot run report far longer playthroughs, which suggests that how much a reviewer explored accounts for much of the disagreement.
One-attempt sections and lockoutsLow
8% of the longer reviews object to a stealth section, a poison-gas race dungeon, or items you can miss for good. The stealth mission draws the most of these: failing it locks out a reward, "meaning you have to REROLL THE ENTIRE CAMPAIGN." Others report items that never spawn in adventure mode if missed once.
A grindy final achievement and Spark questLow
A few reviewers dislike the new final achievement and the Spark questline, which ask players who have already finished the game to replay older content for materials: "Thumbs down for the grindy achievement."
Bundle owners not seeing the DLCLow
At launch, some bundle and Ultimate Edition owners could not see the DLC. Reviewers shared the fix: "This IS part of the DLC Bundle, You need to restart steam to get the DLC." One player still could not find it on the world stone.
3. The player conversation
The tone is heated on both sides. Negative reviews are often written by players who loved the base game and the first DLC and feel the series ended on a low note. Positive reviews often argue directly with them, and 17% of the longer positive reviews are partly rebuttals ("I dont get the negativity", "ignore the haters"). Those rebuttals lean on two points: the price is small, and the loudest launch complaints (Prism, Boss Rush) were about the free update, not the DLC.
The text shows fairly clearly who raises what. Veterans who had already farmed most items complain about the Prism grind, the final achievement and reused dungeons. Players who disliked base N'Erud split sharply: some say the DLC finally made it interesting, others say it made it worse. Some newer or returning players simply call it more of a game they enjoy.
Launch month (to late October 2024) was the harshest stretch, at 45% positive across 244 reviews, when Prism complaints, launch bugs and glider frustration all landed together. In the two months after that, 79% of 71 reviews were positive, and reviewers from that stretch mention patches that had eased the Prism grind. Reviews written from 2025 onward came in at 56% positive across 96, with the glider, the short length and reused content still the main complaints and Prism largely gone from the discussion.
4. What the developers could do
- Rework the glider so traversal is faster and less punishing, because slow, defenceless gliding and fatal missed updrafts come up in more reviews than any other theme, positive and negative alike.
- Make the overworld map clearer about levels and reachable areas, since players report getting lost between stacked areas and one says the map shows places you cannot reach while hiding ones you need.
- Fix the crashes, co-op disconnects and bugged new weapons, which several launch-month negative reviews give as their reason and which some later reviews still mention.
- Let players re-earn missable rewards, so failing the stealth section or missing a hidden item does not force a full campaign reroll, a lockout reviewers call out by name.
- Explain the Prism system in game and keep easing its grind, since players say they had to learn it from videos and that resetting a bad prism cost hours of work.
- Stop the Warden's drone from blocking shots and keep it summoned, two quality-of-life complaints from Warden players.
- Give in-game hints for the Genesis puzzle and the Warden unlock, because a few reviewers say they needed the wiki or Google to find them.
- State clearly on the store page that the DLC expands N'Erud, since several reviews blame disappointment on players expecting a new world, and bundle owners at launch could not tell whether they already owned it.
