Remnants
| Remnants | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre(s) | Action Role-playing game |
| Developer(s) | Equilibrium |
| Creator(s) | Aghasi Burian |
| Platform(s) | PC Aura Qube 360 |
| First release | Remnants January 20th, 1998 |
| Latest release | 'Remnants 5 December 20th, 2022 |
Remnants is a post-apocalyptic action role-playing video game developed by the Syaran game studio Equilibrium. The series is set in Tyran approximately 150-250 years after after the global conflict that served as the apocalypse, bringing an end to human civilization as it was known. The original title, Remnants, was released in 1998 as a top-down, isometric role playing game, and followed by a sequel (Remnants 2) in 2000. A first person shooter spin-off, Remnants Legacy was released in 2006, marking the transition of the game from 2D to 3D graphics. The next main installment, Remnants 3, was released in 2011, followed by Remnants 4 in 2016. The most recent Remnants 5 was released in December 2022. A tabletop role-playing game, a trading card game, and mobile app based in the Remnants universe were released in 2002, 2006, and 2015 respectively. An animated web series consisting of twelve episodes based on the franchise was released between 2020-2021.
Remnants has received largely positive critical reviews and commercial success, becoming one of Syara's most prominent multi-media franchises.
Origins
Remnants was envisioned Aghasi Burian, who joined Equilibrium as creative director in 1996. Burian was inspired by his experience living in Dateva during the Refusal War, living amongst the rubble and destroyed buildings. Burian would later state that Remnants originated as an idea as to what might happen "if the bombing never stopped", eventually leading to the collapse of civilization. After joining Equilibrium Burian pitched the idea to artist Nicolaos Gergev, who created a series of concept art pieces which served as the basis for the first series aesthetic. Remnants marked a noticeable departure from Equilibrium's previous games, which were primarily racing games and an interactive novel.
Synopsis
Remnants begins 100 years after an apocalyptic global conflict that devastates the population and biosphere of Tyran. Most of the details of the conflict and the world before it are not expanded upon; scattered in game writings point towards an alternate history setting (the Republic of Syara surviving into the 21st Century, a war between Quenmin and Acrea over Serikos, and a conflict between the Cacertian Empire and Ossoria over the Nuadan Ocean). The date of the war is given as July 27th sometime in the 21st Century, with no specific year identified. Characters in-universe employ a new calendar based off the war rather than traditional methods, with the first year after the war labeled as Post-War 1, or PW1.
The cataclysmic conflict wiped out 99.99% of the human population, while driving most flora and fauna to extinction. Wide-spread desertification has turned most of western Siduri and southern Eracura into arid and semi-arid lands known as the "Barrens". Large tracts of land are inhospitable owing to contamination from chemical and biological weapons, with scattered pools of toxin and radiation from ruptured nuclear reactors. Agriculture is limited and small scale, and animals are few and far in between. Most major cities have been destroyed and no national governments are known to have survived the war, leading most of humanity to live in small groups and tribes, with anarchic conditions outside scattered settlements. While Syara, Ruvelka, Mansuriyyah, and Górska are mentioned, all have effectively ceased to exist as cohesive nations.
Despite the destruction, continuity of civilization is a recurring motif in the series, with successive installments featuring an increasingly populated world space and more complex societies. Names of former nations gradually became nothing more than geographic descriptors, and non-player characters comment and speak of events in previous titles. Despite this, the world remains a far cry from its pre-war prestige and population. Application of technology, agriculture, medicine and manufacturing remain scattered and unevenly developed. Most of the game takes place in north-west Siduri, with some installments including south-west Eracura and the island of Chryse.
Games
Remnants (1998)
Released in June 1998, the first Remnants title takes place in western and southern Syara 100 years after the war that ended the world as we know it. The player-character is known as the Chronicler, who hails from an unnamed tribe in what had been Scitaria. The Chronicler is tasked with gathering information on the nearby ruins of Lerok. During the journey there the Chronicler chances upon a dying man who asks the player to deliver a computer part to a friend in the settlement of Blackwater. Completing this quest involves an encounter with the Ravaged, a group of people infected with the residue of biological weapons that were used during the war. The Ravaged suffer from immense pain without dying, and fears of infection lead them to be banned from settlements. Upon learning of that the Ravaged intend to set out and conquer all of Syara, the Chronicler is tasked with defeating the Ravaged, which serves as the main story line of the game. Along the way the player can interact with other settlements and tribes, completing tasks for NPCs and leveling up their character. The player has the option of defeating the Ravaged either by killing their leader, the Reaver, or convincing her that a cure can be found in Ruvelka, which causes them to migrate eastward. Either option results in the Chronicler being banished from their village out of fear of infection (although it is later revealed the infection can only be spread intravenously). A non-canon ending allows the player to join the Ravaged, after which they conquer all of Syara.
Remnants was a critical and commercial success, with praise for its writing and environment. The game sold 250,000 copies in Syara within the first six months, eventually surpassing one million copies internationally.