You have to go through hell together – A Plague Tale: Requiem game review

Not necessarily a recognizable developer, a theme that did not have to be easy to adapt to electronic entertainment and limited resources – all this meant that when the quality of A Plague Tale: Innocence released in 2019 far exceeded expectations, the French production was even referred to as one of the most important premieres of the year.

 

The sequel, announced in 2021, could no longer have the advantage of surprise – on the contrary, with the unexpected success of the original, the requirements of the fans have noticeably increased. So whatever idea Asobo Studio had for the rest of the adventures of Amicia and Hugo, it had to face a high-level bar. Did he have any chance to get over it?

Zero point

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a direct continuation of the story we learned in the first part. Amicia and Hugo, together with their mother Beatrice and her young apprentice Lucas, managed to defeat the Grand Inquisitor Vitalis and begin the long journey to Provence. There, a mysterious order of alchemists is waiting for them, perhaps having a cure for the boy’s ailments. The apparent peace and the promise of a bit of respite will turn out to be a pipe dream, however, when the plague spreading across the lands returns with redoubled power, and the heroes will be forced to escape. But in a merciless world, can they believe in the sincerity of those who offer them help?

The story that Asobo Studio gave players in A Plague Tale: Innocence was undoubtedly one of its strongest points – and in this regard, the sequel does not disappoint expectations one bit. So once again we will meet a whole bunch of unusually written heroes, forced to face the power that will force them to question who they really are. Friendship, love, duty as well as a sense of guilt are constantly intertwining elements of the story, which, like before, can move you to the core, even despite the clearly noticeable clichés. It is worth noting that although the twists that turn the story on its head are not A Plague Tale: Requiemin no way alien, the production does not try to reinvent the wheel – on the contrary, it uses the achievements developed by its genre predecessors, arranging the script in such a way as to focus primarily on emotions.

We’ve seen it somewhere

This approach to designing an interactive experience turns out to be fully calculated – as far as the gameplay itself is concerned, it is based on solutions by fans of the previous installment known, liked … and certainly safe. This does not mean, however, that A Plague Tale: Requiem can only reproduce the same mechanisms – these are modified in several aspects so that the gameplay is not so much a revolution as a creative development of successful elements.

The core of the whole is, once again, sneaking between unaware enemies, which Amicia can use elements of the environment to outmaneuver. Distraction and stealth are only one of the approaches offered by A Plague Tale: Requiem. Compared to the first part, the part of the game that will appeal to players with a more aggressive approach has been expanded. The heroine’s arsenal is already impressive – she is equipped with a knife, a slingshot known from the first part, or a crossbow that is a solution to problems with armored opponents – but an interesting innovation is primarily the character progression system. This one, depending on which style of play will be preferred, over time will provide access to unique abilities, such as making less noise or pushing unwitting enemies into traps. The range of possibilities is, of course, supplemented here with hordes of rats, which are probably the most characteristic element of the production, pouring through the locations, having an aversion to light, which not only have to be avoided in some way, but also used to deal with opponents. Crafting also plays an important role in the game – we can not only create new types of weapons, but also improve the items we have.

It is therefore obvious to the naked eye that there is a piece of gameplay behind the seemingly simple mechanisms, especially since the locations have also been clearly enlarged compared to the predecessor – the available space, in this case, is associated with the possibilities of various solutions to a given problem. Such a good impression is not blurred even by the fact that A Plague Tale: Requiem still remains a production with a corridor and linear structure, whose only optional activity is “licking the walls” and hunting for collectibles stuck here and there.

How beautiful is France

Some limitations due to its design, A Plague Tale: Requiemmore than makes up for it with an incredibly charming audiovisual setting. Locations full of details look great – even if many organic details would prefer not to be seen by viewers with weaker stomachs. Good-quality textures, successful designs of individual locations and, above all, play with light and shadow make Asobo Studio’s production one of the prettiest-looking games released this year. The animation specialists also managed to slightly improve the way the characters move – they no longer resemble roughly hewn logs of wood – and only slightly ailing facial expressions would require some refinement. There is no doubt about the music. Olivier Deriviere’s leading theme hits the feelings as hard as the first time, and Asobo is well aware of its power,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPDiOMSI_Nc ).

Successful return

As the word has already said at the beginning, A Plague Tale: Requiem definitely did not have an easy task, having to live up to the expectations of the old ones and, if possible, to interest the new fans. However, Asobo Studio knew exactly what potential it had and what kind of game it wanted to create – so instead of going crazy and changing something that already worked, it decided to improve proven solutions. The result is a game that in several aspects leaves the impression of an older and more mature sister of the original, but at the same time different enough from it to not talk about an ordinary repetition of entertainment. This is definitely enough to consider its continuation as a success by all means , having such a strong foundation as A Plague Tale: Innocence .