A Plague Tale: Requiem is the highly anticipated sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence. Six months after we last saw de Runes, he is reunited with his mother and is safely searching for a cure for Hugo’s illness.
The game begins with a lovely game of hide and seek between Amicia, Hugo and Lucas. This makes for a fun and heartwarming way to get used to the controls with stealth that keeps you alive when the stakes are high.
Unfortunately, hordes of rats have reappeared, making Hugo sick again. Both are fighting their own weak bodies and human enemies. Their adventures have led them down the path of soldiers enforcing oppressive blockades, cults believing Hugo as their savior, and pirates with a heart of gold. and the bet goes up.
The relationship between Amicia and Hugo is beautifully constructed without feeling unrealistic. Despite everything he’s been through, Hugo retains his childlike sweetness and naivety.In dangerous situations, this can be frustrating for Amicia, no matter how much she loves him. But their relationship is the crux of the story, propelling it forward and completely absorbing you into all the pain they go through. In each chapter you can collect pretty feathers and flowers just to make Hugo happy.
The mechanics are mostly the same as the prequel, but each character gains additional skills. The focus is still on stealth. Like her sling, Amicia carries a crossbow. Hugo can use his rat to sense nearby enemies. Lucas has invented a new alchemical concoction that can be equipped in Amicia’s weapons. For example, tar that makes Ignifer burn brighter, harder, and more dangerous.
You’ll also encounter enemies with new weapons and defenses that will require you to think creatively to defeat them. The action is a lot of fun and requires perfect timing and quick thinking. Finally defeating endless waves of enemies is extremely satisfying.
Unfortunately, the game suffers from some of the problems that cloud-based games come with. . Any loss of connectivity will jeopardize your progress. One time, the server was full and I was queued up and unable to play at all.
However, these are all predictable issues. It’s no secret that games rely on cloud connectivity. None of these issues are game-breaking as long as you have proper connectivity, but it’s worth considering if they might impact your experience.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is very well paced. Across 17 chapters, it has a great balance of story, puzzles, and action. There are multiple ways to approach each challenge, so you can play the story in many different ways. Develop skills in stealth, aggression, and opportunism, depending on your choices. This makes it an interesting way to track how you instinctively solve problems or what other options you have.
A Plague Tale: Requiem has a heartbreaking ending, marking the final appearance of Amicia and Hugo de Rune, but it leaves an experience you won’t soon forget.
