First game is still good. 2 is mostly an upgrade (a bit more RPG-y, with more varied maps and content). Both give a similar experience though, I would say.

I've played 40 hours or so of 2, and have beaten what I understand as a majority of content. It does kinda run like shit on many PCs. I can run many modern games on at least high/medium 60FPS usually on my older PC, but this one is low/medium and I'm lucky if I get 30 FPS in intense combat situations.

Remnant 1 may be a good call while they polish up and fix performance/gameplay issues with 2.

I bought it on a whim and am totally surprised by what it is: The marketing looked very soulslike-centric and I expected something like The Surge, but I’d describe it more like a Gears of War/Destiny-mix. Yes, it is sometimes challenging, but Gears of War was as well back in the day, didn’t make it a soulslike. And the semi persistent checkpoints are just that: checkpoints. The skills and “RPG”-lite elements are very reminiscent of Destiny 2 to me. If you like both these games it’s kinda okay, but otherwise it’s nothing to get excited about. Without buddies the coop is really weird, especially if you play story missions, because randos can progress dialogue you might want to hear - but the story isn’t great and really convoluted, so the harm done is minimal. Buy it, if you want to play a challenging Gears of War with your buddies and tolerate Destiny‘s tediousness with resources and upgrades and RPG-lite elements.

I would recommend playing the first game to see if you like it. I played the entire 1st game in 2 player co-op. We loved it. We are a few hours into Remnant 2 and it's fantastic. However, it is more of the same. So try it out. If you don't like the first one, you're probably not gonna like the 2nd.

I picked this up a couple of days ago. I haven't played the first game and I'm not a massive Dark Souls fan. Despite all that, so far I really really like this game. The gunplay is well done and feels impactful. The world design is interesting and diverse. The mod system seems fun. I'm only 5 hours in but I give it 👍👍