A Plague Tale: Requiem Review
A Plague Tale: Requiem pushes boundaries and tests your sanity asking the question of how far you will go to save a loved one. I loved playing this game and hope others get to experience it.
A Plague Tale: Requiem pushes boundaries and tests your sanity asking the question of how far you will go to save a loved one. Will you go through hell for them? Can you do what is necessary and when the time comes what choice will you make? Amicia and Hugo have grown these past months and it shows. They are more mature and can hold their own in combat and being alone in certain situations. But remember they are still kids. The things they face in the game now are pretty insane with a sea of rats going after them, relentless soldiers trying to kill them and being wary of strangers they trust. But now the stakes are high with Hugo’s possibility of dying; the two must find an island to hopefully cure the disease (Prima Macula).
Gameplay
Graphics and story have improved immensely with the game’s beautiful landscapes, horrid sea of rats or a city ablaze. No matter what situation you are in you can find beauty in the game, staring in shock and fear questioning how they did this and who came up with this idea. With beautiful graphics comes with array of new gameplay mechanics: hiding by crouching/prone under environments, added items to distract your pursuers, and best of all more weapons to use against them too.
Amicia’s crossbow is cool with the way it feels hitting your enemies and when fully upgraded she is an unstoppable warrior. I wish we got to play as Hugo more because his new improved rat powers were haunting yet satisfying to use at certain parts of the game. And you still got the bread-and-butter gameplay on how the hell am i going to get past these rats. The rats are not just a swarm but a literal sea of rats! The amount Ignifer and light you need to get through them was extremely tense yet satisfying seeing them scatter away.
Characters
With the new cast of interesting characters, Amicia and Hugo again have allies to help in their journey. Arnaud is like a father figure to Amicia, even if at times he is blinded by rage. Sophia is very secretive, but she is like an older sister to the kids, helping them to move on and contain their emotions at worst times. Throughout the story, just like the first they have unique skills to help you through obstacles and get enemies. One thing that bothered me was separating from key characters like Lucas and Amicia’s mom Béatrice throughout the game. It makes me wonder if there might be a DLC later showing their point of view and how they got to us.
I kind of wished Mélie made an appearance or at least give a hint that all is well. What makes these characters so likable and real is the voice acting. Everyone did an amazing job, especially Charlotte McBurney and Logan Hannan as Amicia and Hugo. You can feel their emotions how hard they fought, how much they struggled and how much they needed rest, but the two of them always have hope to set things right. They basically carried this game with their amazing performance.
Some Small Issues
Playing the game was not so bad, but I did experience some frame rate issues, small shutters, and funny glitches that caused me to restart a section at times. I wished I found a good graphic setting to make my playthrough a little more enjoyable. Discovering a semi open world area around the middle of the game caught me off guard. It was overwhelming at first. It is interesting but you could get lost without a sense of direction with how beautiful the game is. Finding your way was a little annoying though.
Captivating Sound Design
The soundtrack for this game is angelic. Every cutscene and every situation you are in, there is a song or hymn that just fits. It is a holy dark opera in tense moments with some callback tracks from the original game. It keeps you heavily invested in the game. Especially the sound of the rats or enemies when they are coming for you – the audio cues are on point.
In the end A Plague Tale: Requiem started off lightheartedly full of hope and it descended into depression. A Plague Tale: Requiem is a spiral of hope and sadness. It made me feel emotions that I always keep bottled up, it made me feel weak and powerless when the credits rolled – I almost shed a tear. I am not sure what is in store for the future of the characters, but I hope they have a good closure.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is magnificent and one of my games of the year with its story, world building and how you can find beauty anywhere even through the destruction and death. A Plague Tale: Requiem is a recommended play! It is a Ratta mania out of 10. It is free to play with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox cloud streaming and PC. It is also available to buy on PS5 and Steam. So, there is no excuse not to try it out, but please play the first game to get the full grasp of this one. But a small warning when diving in, keep your mind open and your heart pure because sadness will come in full force.