Man, the characters in this series need a vacation. Well, those that are able to take one now...
A Plague Tale: Requiem once again puts us through a harrowing journey in a dark fantasy twist on Black Plague era Medieval France, this time with plenty of upgrades and improvements to make it an even more worthwhile experience than the first game. Again, we play (mostly) as Amicia De Rune who must journey with her brother Hugo to potentially cure the Macula in his blood that's causing all this magical plague nonsense. I won't be holding back on spoilers for the first game here, though I'll keep it spoiler free as possible on the second. No I'm not marking this, that's silly; don't read reviews for the sequel to a game you haven't played.
After defeating the Inquisition and journeying off with your totally alive the whole time Mother, Amicia and gang are plunged into the thick of it once again when a violent run-in with a gang of mercenaries reawakens the Macula in Hugo. Help from The Order of Alchemists is at first sought, but nothing seems to be working. Hugo dreams of an island and wishes to go there, but is this really the solution they've been looking for? Does this island even exist at all?
You'll find out the answers to these here, and as in its predecessor, developer Asobo Studios doesn't pull its punches. The storytelling is at an even higher level of excellence than before, and the characters you know as well as those you meet in this game go through a lot of development before the end. I was really satisfied with the ending, even if it did shatter my emotions to a degree, as it was clear the writers really respected these characters and their respective journeys. I left feeling fulfilled which is really the best you can ask for in such a narrative driven game.
This whole ordeal is bolstered by excellent production values as well. The graphics this time aren't just "good for a smaller studio" but downright stunning. The game frequently drops you into gorgeous vistas that'll take your breath away, the sheer number of rats they are able to get on screen now is just ridiculous, and the lighting continues to be an excellent aid to some beautiful, period appropriate art direction. My only nitpick here has to be the faces. As wonderful and realistic as they look in stills, their animation is unfortunately a bit too stiff most of the times. There are excellent moments, but usually, this was the one thing taking me out of the game when the rest of the visuals were doing such a great job of keeping me in. Olivier Deriviere's score is score is mesmerizing as well, capturing each moment and setpiece beautifully with its period accurate instrumentation and beautiful vocal performances. Atmosphere was already a strength of the first game, and its sequel only improves on this.
All that being said, the gameplay is what really is going to tie this whole experience together, and I'm happy to report that it's a massive success. My only small gripe is I miss the boss battles from the first game. There were some really fun encounters, especially the final one. Instead, Requiem has high action sections where waves of enemy come rushing at you in different variations, challenging you to use all your tools and surroundings to take them out. These sections aren't bad, especially with the new additions made to the game, but it's a shame we lost out on boss fights altogether.
Speaking of additions, Requiem gives the player FAR more tools to work with than Innocence in all of its facets: combat, stealth, and puzzle solving. Rock ammo for your sling is now infinite, so you always have something to use no matter what. The focus is now on managing crafting resources and using them to build the other ammo types and tools you'll need. All the different ammo types, both returning and new, are now able to be utilized by your sling, throwing by hand, mixed into pots (these are no longer just for distractions in stealth), and tied to the bolts of your handy dandy new crossbow.
This results in a multitude of new options when you find yourself in a sticky situation, and also allowed the developers to add more enemy types. Now there's a mix of unarmored, semi-armored, and heavily armored baddies with different ranged and melee capabilities for you to worry about. I had a blast going through different areas trying to use my resources I already had and those in the environment to not only get past the set of enemies put in front of me, but sometimes to take risks and go for secret chests or other goodies. It also makes the aforementioned enemy wave sections way more fun than they have any right to be. Amicia now takes two hits to die too, so you'll find yourself scrambling around, using what you have to take out enemies in front of you only to then have to take cover from ranged enemies and scrounge around for further resources. It's a much more empowering game which really fits with a narrative that sees Amicia start to give into more violent tendencies to protect Hugo. It's not too empowering though, and while there are moments of high stakes thrills and victories, it never saps the tension and dread from where it's needed.
Puzzles with these new tools remain fun too, and I only had a couple issues here and there when technical implementation of a solution felt a bit wonky. All in all, that never really ruined any moment for me, and while they were never brain-bustingly difficult, the puzzles throughout were consistently engaging and entertaining.
Big shoutout too specifically for the PlayStation 5 version of the game. The DualSense integration here is magnificent, particularly with the advanced haptic feedback. You can feel the drops of rain, the type of surface you're running on, and blades of grass through the controller which only further helps with an already immersive game. The Adaptive Triggers are used well too, blending nicely with the types of shooting you'll do with your sling and crossbow as well as giving some nice feedback and push when using R2 to sprint. A+ here for Asobo Studio, especially considering they're not a first party company.
Overall, A Plague Tale: Requiem is a phenomenal follow up to Innocence, and one that ties up the story and its characters' journeys in a neat bow while also providing an engaging and immersive gameplay experience. I highly recommend checking out both games in this series, as the overall story is something special to behold.
A Plague Tale: Requiem once again puts us through a harrowing journey in a dark fantasy twist on Black Plague era Medieval France, this time with plenty of upgrades and improvements to make it an even more worthwhile experience than the first game. Again, we play (mostly) as Amicia De Rune who must journey with her brother Hugo to potentially cure the Macula in his blood that's causing all this magical plague nonsense. I won't be holding back on spoilers for the first game here, though I'll keep it spoiler free as possible on the second. No I'm not marking this, that's silly; don't read reviews for the sequel to a game you haven't played.
After defeating the Inquisition and journeying off with your totally alive the whole time Mother, Amicia and gang are plunged into the thick of it once again when a violent run-in with a gang of mercenaries reawakens the Macula in Hugo. Help from The Order of Alchemists is at first sought, but nothing seems to be working. Hugo dreams of an island and wishes to go there, but is this really the solution they've been looking for? Does this island even exist at all?
You'll find out the answers to these here, and as in its predecessor, developer Asobo Studios doesn't pull its punches. The storytelling is at an even higher level of excellence than before, and the characters you know as well as those you meet in this game go through a lot of development before the end. I was really satisfied with the ending, even if it did shatter my emotions to a degree, as it was clear the writers really respected these characters and their respective journeys. I left feeling fulfilled which is really the best you can ask for in such a narrative driven game.
This whole ordeal is bolstered by excellent production values as well. The graphics this time aren't just "good for a smaller studio" but downright stunning. The game frequently drops you into gorgeous vistas that'll take your breath away, the sheer number of rats they are able to get on screen now is just ridiculous, and the lighting continues to be an excellent aid to some beautiful, period appropriate art direction. My only nitpick here has to be the faces. As wonderful and realistic as they look in stills, their animation is unfortunately a bit too stiff most of the times. There are excellent moments, but usually, this was the one thing taking me out of the game when the rest of the visuals were doing such a great job of keeping me in. Olivier Deriviere's score is score is mesmerizing as well, capturing each moment and setpiece beautifully with its period accurate instrumentation and beautiful vocal performances. Atmosphere was already a strength of the first game, and its sequel only improves on this.
All that being said, the gameplay is what really is going to tie this whole experience together, and I'm happy to report that it's a massive success. My only small gripe is I miss the boss battles from the first game. There were some really fun encounters, especially the final one. Instead, Requiem has high action sections where waves of enemy come rushing at you in different variations, challenging you to use all your tools and surroundings to take them out. These sections aren't bad, especially with the new additions made to the game, but it's a shame we lost out on boss fights altogether.
Speaking of additions, Requiem gives the player FAR more tools to work with than Innocence in all of its facets: combat, stealth, and puzzle solving. Rock ammo for your sling is now infinite, so you always have something to use no matter what. The focus is now on managing crafting resources and using them to build the other ammo types and tools you'll need. All the different ammo types, both returning and new, are now able to be utilized by your sling, throwing by hand, mixed into pots (these are no longer just for distractions in stealth), and tied to the bolts of your handy dandy new crossbow.
This results in a multitude of new options when you find yourself in a sticky situation, and also allowed the developers to add more enemy types. Now there's a mix of unarmored, semi-armored, and heavily armored baddies with different ranged and melee capabilities for you to worry about. I had a blast going through different areas trying to use my resources I already had and those in the environment to not only get past the set of enemies put in front of me, but sometimes to take risks and go for secret chests or other goodies. It also makes the aforementioned enemy wave sections way more fun than they have any right to be. Amicia now takes two hits to die too, so you'll find yourself scrambling around, using what you have to take out enemies in front of you only to then have to take cover from ranged enemies and scrounge around for further resources. It's a much more empowering game which really fits with a narrative that sees Amicia start to give into more violent tendencies to protect Hugo. It's not too empowering though, and while there are moments of high stakes thrills and victories, it never saps the tension and dread from where it's needed.
Puzzles with these new tools remain fun too, and I only had a couple issues here and there when technical implementation of a solution felt a bit wonky. All in all, that never really ruined any moment for me, and while they were never brain-bustingly difficult, the puzzles throughout were consistently engaging and entertaining.
Big shoutout too specifically for the PlayStation 5 version of the game. The DualSense integration here is magnificent, particularly with the advanced haptic feedback. You can feel the drops of rain, the type of surface you're running on, and blades of grass through the controller which only further helps with an already immersive game. The Adaptive Triggers are used well too, blending nicely with the types of shooting you'll do with your sling and crossbow as well as giving some nice feedback and push when using R2 to sprint. A+ here for Asobo Studio, especially considering they're not a first party company.
Overall, A Plague Tale: Requiem is a phenomenal follow up to Innocence, and one that ties up the story and its characters' journeys in a neat bow while also providing an engaging and immersive gameplay experience. I highly recommend checking out both games in this series, as the overall story is something special to behold.