At the end of A Plague Tale: RequiemI looked down and realized I was holding my controller with white knuckles. It wasn’t because of an intense action sequence or anything like that. Instead, it was the nerve-wracking emotional roller coaster ride I’d just been on.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is a special sequel that improves on nearly every aspect of the original while retaining the unique core elements of its predecessor. It’s quite simply one of the most compelling games of 2022, with a story that packs some serious emotional gut punch.
requiem picks up after six months A Plague Story: Innocence, with Amicia, Hugo, her mother and the alchemist Lucas in search of a new home while trying to learn more about the supernatural powers running through Hugo’s veins. As the macula begins to take hold of Hugo, hordes of rats reappear, sending the siblings on a quest to find a mysterious island from Hugo’s dreams.
Just like its predecessor requiem is primarily a narrative adventure game, even with its greatly expanded gameplay options. That means there’s always a focus on story and narrative, but that’s absolutely a good thing here. straight out the gate, requiem does not shy away from throwing Amicia and Hugo in at the deep end in life-threatening situations. To his honor requiem knows when to switch between high-intensity set pieces and quiet character moments, and effortlessly shuttles back and forth between the two.
This campaign lasts around 18 hours, giving you a lot more time to get to know the siblings and some awesome new characters. The intense bond between Amicia and Hugo is the central pillar around which the narrative revolves, and the two make some valuable new allies along the way, like the fantastically written Sophia, an accomplished pirate captain who always has a joke or two up her sleeve.
While the story is full of twists and red herrings, what really stands out is how the narrative doubles as an allegory for trauma healing. Amicia and Hugo are children thrust into a cold and indifferent world, and much of it requiems The story addresses the psychological distress it causes and the way the trauma can dominate our lives and choices.
The story is enhanced with presentation and strong writing. A plague story: requiem is an absolutely gorgeous game with some almost insanely good character animations. Part of the heartbreak is seeing these absolutely beautiful places teeming with life turned to gray husks by the plague. The voice cast also deserves a special mention, as the actors consistently deliver incredible performances, with Amicia being a standout.
As the narrative unfolds, requiems Gameplay is largely broken down into three main sections: stealth/combat segments where you deal with enemies, puzzle sections where you navigate hordes of rats, and more open-ended exploration sequences where you, well, explore.
Stealth is a key focus again, with segments essentially acting as huge areas with multiple routes and options to either sneak past or take out enemies. With that in mind, Amicia have far more combat options at their disposal this time, some familiar and some new.
Her main weapon is a slingshot that can instantly take out unarmored enemies with headshots, but she can also craft different types of ammo with unique effects. Ignifer can light up braziers, but can also be combined with tar jugs to create explosions that ignite enemies; Tar can also start a fire to repel rats even further.
Meanwhile, Odoris can be used to lure hordes of rats to certain points, clearing the way for a short time. But Amicia’s best new gear is a deadly crossbow that can take out enemies with one shot and shoot flaming arrows into wood to create safe spots from the rats.
Alchemical tools are made from materials you’ll find lying around in the environment, and exploration is key to not only stocking up on materials, but also crossbow bolts and knives for those instant kills when combat is the only option.
Hugo’s abilities play more of a role too; When rats are around, you can use a sort of “rat sight” that reveals enemy positions. Hugo can also control small groups of rats and use them to cruelly devour enemies.
What surprised me the most requiems Gameplay is how much of a viable option direct combat can be, and there are several segments where that’s even required. While you can play the entire game like a pure stealth experience, I later found it more enjoyable to systematically eliminate every enemy in an area using a combination of Amicia’s crossbow and alchemical tools.
Besides that, requiem falters in the later chapters, which have a strong focus At Battle. So while the combat itself is solid, the lack of stealth in these latter segments creates a palpable imbalance and feels somewhat antithetical to the game’s overall style.
There are two unique systems that can affect gameplay requiem: a dynamic skill system and an upgrade system to improve your equipment. The skill system is completely new in requiem and works similar to something like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Amicia’s abilities fall into three categories, enhancing stealth, combat, and alchemy, but the only way to improve these abilities is to actually use that playstyle. If you do a lot of sneaking around, you can unlock an ability that reduces the sound of Amicia’s footsteps, but if you confront enemies head-on more often, you can unlock an ability that lets you shove enemies into fire or hordes of rats.
You are not tied to any of the three paths and will constantly gain experience in all three categories as you practice these playstyles.
The upgrade system, on the other hand, is much more straightforward; You’ll find tools and parts scattered around the environment that you can use to upgrade everything from Amicia’s slingshot and crossbow to your alchemy storage capacity, similar to the system you’ll find in innocence.
Exploration is hugely encouraged, not only to find these upgrade materials, but also the handful of collectibles scattered throughout the various chapters. There are several points where requiem opens up into huge explorable areas crammed full of little details to find, and these sections are a nice change of pace overall, especially since requiem nails his collectibles by weaving them directly into the narrative.
A Plague Tale: Requiem Review — The final result
Advantages
- A harrowing emotional story backed by phenomenal performances.
- A wealth of game options to choose your own style.
- Absolutely beautiful world and surroundings.
- Interesting collectibles all tied into the narrative.
Disadvantages
- The last part of the game focuses too much on combat.
- The tempo feels a bit sluggish in the middle.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is a compelling sequel that really refines the original. His narration manages to feel absolutely devastating and incredibly hopeful at the same time. And the degree of freedom in its gameplay options means there’s never a dull moment.
Running away from tidal waves of rats never stops being terrifying, but it all has a powerful message behind it requiem, to. It’s easy to see how this could stand alongside such as one of the greatest sequels of all time Assassin’s Creed 2 or Uncharted: Among Thieves.
[Note: Focus Entertainment provided the copy of A Plague Tale: Requiem used for this review.]
