A Plague Tale: Requiem review

A Plague Tale: Requiem launches tomorrow for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass with a tidal wave of rats, despair and decaying bodies. Here’s what Sean had to say about Amicia and Hugo’s recent outing.

A Plague Tale: Requiem has an all-around hunch, and it can’t be shaken. Amicia and Hugo may have found rest in the warm, sunny fields of southern France, away from all death in Aquitaine, but the old adage is true.

Requiem picks up six months after the events of A Plague Tale: Innocence. Brothers Amicia and Hugo, along with their mother Beatrice and alchemist Lucas, explore the Provence region of southern France and seemingly find peace. However, Hugo still suffers from macular disease. This is an ancient curse/disease that can bring the end of the world if not cured, and things start out happy and joyful, but so until Amicia and Hugo’s world falls into a miserable, rotting corpse. It doesn’t take long. , and helpless despair. After Amicia is forced to kill, Macula is reawakened by Hugo’s blood, forcing the brother-sister duo to search for a mysterious island that may hold the key to Hugo’s suffering.

Starting with an idyllic, flower-filled field in the French countryside, the first thing I noticed when loading into the first chapter was how great this game is. But with Requiem, Asobo Studio seems to have turned everything up to ten. The environments, character models, and animations (except for the wooden in-game facial animation) are all excellent and, in my opinion, could easily rival some of the biggest releases in the visual department this year. And it doesn’t take long for Amicia and Hugo to travel to a small town full of life and people. But that quickly changes when the once-crowded city streets are emptied and replaced by rotting rats, death, and unruly humans with unscrupulous morals. Stealth-based gameplay, light puzzle elements, and Amicia’s sling are back, but there are some notable changes that make the game stand out from its predecessor.

One of my gripes with Innocence was how unrelenting its combat was. If caught by the guards, they will be killed in one hit, forcing the area to reopen. Now he needs 2 hits to beat Amicia. This opens the gameplay to let you run away and hide or Mad-her dash to the exit of the area. Also, the levels are bigger and more open, giving you a lot more options for how to deal with stealthy situations. Innocence often felt linear in the stealth sections, and the solutions to sneaking past guards and rats were often pretty obvious and easy. In Requiem, the levels are a little bigger, giving you more options in how you approach the scenario. Further expanding player options are Amicia’s new weapons and tools. Amicia’s newest weapon is the crossbow. This can take down armored enemies in case rocks can’t cut mustard. It has a slow reload and limited bolts, but these bolts can be combined with various alchemical ingredients to deal more damage.Ignifer and Extinguis return with Odoris from the previous game. Tar has been added to Amicia. Tar can be used to fuel and augment flame light, and can be combined with pots to create deadly fire traps on enemies. In addition to these changes, Requiem has streamlined and simplified combat and crafting mechanics. This allows you to get to action faster and spend less time in menus. Amicia also has unlimited rocks and no need to conserve ammo. front!

But that’s not all Amicia is all about.Thanks to Macula slowly taking over his body, Hugo’s powers have expanded. Hugo uses underground rats to locate his enemies and can now control them just like in the previous game. This time around, Hugo has a slightly different way of manipulating the rats, which makes him feel more powerful. Instead of showing you where he wants the rats to go, you have full control over a small wave of rats, satisfyingly devouring any humans in their path.

Weapons and gear such as crossbows and slings can all be upgraded by finding hidden parts throughout the game, but Requiem introduces new skill trees with invisible XP. Gain XP automatically depending on your playstyle, and eventually Amicia’s new skills he gains in three categories: Prudence, Opportunity, and Aggression. I like this invisible XP system because it works in the background and accurately reflects how players play. However, there are achievements associated with each of these skill trees, and while I didn’t bother adjusting my playstyle to get all three in a single playthrough, I do appreciate the achievements for popping. Some may feel pressured to change how they play. I guess.

Killing, death, and stress take their toll on Amicia as the story progresses. In the first few chapters I found it very difficult to get past. The atmosphere and general sense of hopelessness that Requiem felt from the beginning to the middle was like nothing I’ve experienced in a game before. This gloomy and ominous atmosphere is further complicated by an astounding soundtrack that perpetually builds tension when needed — Olivier crafts an outstanding score that complements the gameplay and world of Requiem. Hats off to Deriviere.

But this slowly building tension is all but ruined by Amicia’s constant conversation. Amicia keeps whispering to her allies and herself forever, even when enemy guards are only two feet away from her. She whispered so much she felt like she was listening to an ASMR YouTube video of her made by a French woman. In a hauntingly grim world, silence is sometimes needed to soak up the atmosphere. She doesn’t have to listen to dialogue every time she defeats a guard or advances a puzzle. Thanks for the deconstruction in the corner and let me fill in the blanks.

Despite this annoyance, Asobo does a great job shaping Amicia’s character and throughout the story. The first half of the game has absolutely no narrative tooth to go with it, but then things start to get really interesting for Amicia and Hugo, and the two new companions joining the ride, Arnaud and Sophia. I won’t say too much about these two for fear of , but I felt their motives were a little lacking. Sophia has an interesting, if not very good, ability to use a prism to shine a light around Hugo and Amicia, allowing them to navigate the sea of ​​rats. It was fun to use.

Another gripe I had with this game was its performance. A Plague Tale: Requiem appears to be running at 30 fps (or maybe a little higher, but definitely not 60 fps) on Xbox Series X. when things get busy. This usually happens when there are many rat and fire effects on screen at the same time. Asobo says the developer’s engine modifications allow up to 300,000 rats to be displayed on screen at once. The extra vermin is nice, but I preferred the missing frames. Just like the first game, there’s also quite a bit of junk. Rats were often found in places they shouldn’t be, leading to unjustified deaths and several animations going wrong. was somehow lifted by his ears, making his face invisible in both cutscenes and gameplay.

For A Plague Tale: Requiem achievements, there are some simple miscellaneous achievements other than those related to skill trees already mentioned, the rest are mostly related to story and finding collectibles . All in all, the list is pretty straightforward, but it may take multiple playthroughs to unlock all of these skill tree-based achievements. It’s provided, and there’s even an invincible mode if you want to keep it ridiculously simple.

Overview

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a great stealth game with an interesting story that Xbox Game Pass subscribers and fans of the original really shouldn’t miss. Requiem’s ​​gorgeous yet bleak and harrowing world is a joy to explore, and the gameplay is truly a step above Innocence, thanks to expanded combat and additional options that allow you to approach the stealth section in any way you see fit. progressing. A few performance issues, a few poorly done characters, and the constant whispering Amicia detract from the experience, but overall, Asobo makes a great sequel here that requires a playthrough.