It had been so long since I played the original title A Plague Tale: Innocence, so I watched a breif summary of the first game. My memory of it was that it was a pretty impressive title for an indie game and looked quite nice and while I liked the characters the game and story itself left a little bit to be desired. Requiem to me also fits that ball well despite the fact I just finished it. I can already tell I will feel the same way in a few years and a slight rememberance of disapointment.
For starters the game looks really great on the PS5. Much better than I thought it would even considering the past title. Enviroments really pop and the flora really stands out as being well done. Character models for the main cast look great and it runs pretty consistent but there are notable spikes and lag in stuff from afar. I can imagine it was not like this at launch though.
The gameplay of Requiem is very similar to the first. It doesn't really have "combat" per se. Well I guess technically you could argure it does but fighting enemies is not what the game wants you to do. In fact it's rather hard to kill all or any enemies in any given area. Instead I feel it's more like a stealth puzzle game that disguises it's self as having combat. It's more about resource gathering and mix alchemic potions to trick or lure enemies into areas so you can get around them. It's much much easier to play stealthy in this game as opposed to most games where using combat attacks and bum rushing it using raw skill. It's a decent pace breaker at the very least although I don't think the game does an exceptional job at it none the less. The majority of your time in Requiem is speant in slow walking sections as characters talk and comment about the situation they are in. Really no lie, this is the vast majority of what the game comprises of. There are other sections of the game where instead of avoiding enemies you have to figure out how to traverse a set peices while avoiding herds of rats that will instant kill you if they touch you. So then it becomes a puzzle of sort to try to light fires to give you space to move or even extinguish others to lure them in while you navigate a space. Sometimes it can be annoying when you are low on resourses and you are missing the one item pot that you need to make a break for it. The game is really paced like this. Forced walking section > rat maze > second rat maze > forced walking section > breif exploration > forced walking section > sneak section > sneak section again > forced walking section > cutscene and end chapter.
When it comes to the story it is a continuation from the first game but honestly it is pretty easy to follow if you haven't played it outside of one or two details. This is kinda a journey game so there really isn't much twists or turns. Every story beat is easily expected and guessed. The only thing that really feels like any originality is really the ending. I will not spoil it but I really was not a fan of it. I don't think it was earned and it honestly hampered my mild enjoyment of the game.
The one thing I really did like was the performance of the voice actors and the characters in this game. The actress that did Amecia was really well done and Hugo was not nearly annoying at all despite him being a whiny child character. There were some great moments that really brought the voice work forward and made it stand out. Punished murderous Amecia is best Amecia The music was also really well done and really heighted some of the scenes. It's almost like the presentation of the game was really well done and every other ascpect of the game from gameplay, story and pacing was just an absolute slog. My second playthrough to cap off the last couple of trophies I didn't have was just the most boring second run of a game I think I can even remember. It was slow the first time around but the second time was agonizing.
I don't know if the team is planning another one of these games but they would have to take it in quite an interesting direction to get me excited for it and overhaul the game play a bit. It was worth one go around to experiance it but it kinda feels like junk food gaming. Enjoyed it enough while having it but immeaditly got paines and remorse thinking back on it.
Platinum #201
For starters the game looks really great on the PS5. Much better than I thought it would even considering the past title. Enviroments really pop and the flora really stands out as being well done. Character models for the main cast look great and it runs pretty consistent but there are notable spikes and lag in stuff from afar. I can imagine it was not like this at launch though.
The gameplay of Requiem is very similar to the first. It doesn't really have "combat" per se. Well I guess technically you could argure it does but fighting enemies is not what the game wants you to do. In fact it's rather hard to kill all or any enemies in any given area. Instead I feel it's more like a stealth puzzle game that disguises it's self as having combat. It's more about resource gathering and mix alchemic potions to trick or lure enemies into areas so you can get around them. It's much much easier to play stealthy in this game as opposed to most games where using combat attacks and bum rushing it using raw skill. It's a decent pace breaker at the very least although I don't think the game does an exceptional job at it none the less. The majority of your time in Requiem is speant in slow walking sections as characters talk and comment about the situation they are in. Really no lie, this is the vast majority of what the game comprises of. There are other sections of the game where instead of avoiding enemies you have to figure out how to traverse a set peices while avoiding herds of rats that will instant kill you if they touch you. So then it becomes a puzzle of sort to try to light fires to give you space to move or even extinguish others to lure them in while you navigate a space. Sometimes it can be annoying when you are low on resourses and you are missing the one item pot that you need to make a break for it. The game is really paced like this. Forced walking section > rat maze > second rat maze > forced walking section > breif exploration > forced walking section > sneak section > sneak section again > forced walking section > cutscene and end chapter.
When it comes to the story it is a continuation from the first game but honestly it is pretty easy to follow if you haven't played it outside of one or two details. This is kinda a journey game so there really isn't much twists or turns. Every story beat is easily expected and guessed. The only thing that really feels like any originality is really the ending. I will not spoil it but I really was not a fan of it. I don't think it was earned and it honestly hampered my mild enjoyment of the game.
The one thing I really did like was the performance of the voice actors and the characters in this game. The actress that did Amecia was really well done and Hugo was not nearly annoying at all despite him being a whiny child character. There were some great moments that really brought the voice work forward and made it stand out. Punished murderous Amecia is best Amecia The music was also really well done and really heighted some of the scenes. It's almost like the presentation of the game was really well done and every other ascpect of the game from gameplay, story and pacing was just an absolute slog. My second playthrough to cap off the last couple of trophies I didn't have was just the most boring second run of a game I think I can even remember. It was slow the first time around but the second time was agonizing.
I don't know if the team is planning another one of these games but they would have to take it in quite an interesting direction to get me excited for it and overhaul the game play a bit. It was worth one go around to experiance it but it kinda feels like junk food gaming. Enjoyed it enough while having it but immeaditly got paines and remorse thinking back on it.
Platinum #201