A Plague Tale: Requiem - Review
It was way back at E3 2015 that I was sitting in the Focus Entertainment booth, in a behind closed doors session for a new game from Asobo, it was so new it didn’t even have an official title. That game was of course, A Plague Tale: Innocence and since that very technical reveal, I have been following and enjoying the series, which of course brings us to the second game Requiem. Have the developers been able to expand upon the first game in meaningful ways, or will it just have you saying rats a lot?
Sometime has passed since the events of the first game and while things start out pretty basic, giving the game a chance to reintroduce some gameplay elements, things with Hugo are not going well. Amicia, her mother and Lucas are all trying to get to a town, in order to get help for Hugo and while they eventually do, the journey is perhaps a little rougher than intended. Once there, things quickly deteriorate, which causes Amicia to venture out and in doing so, meets the towns soldiers who are dealing with the rats for the first time. I won’t say any more for the story, as both the developer and the publisher want spoilers kept to a minimum, but needless to say that if you were a fan of the first game, the story here will be one to enjoy. I do have an issue with Amicia though, and it is that she just needs to shut up, her character bounces from willing to do anything, to being a complete nutter and it is not a seamless jump and while later on some actions put some context around it, for the most part she is just annoying.
The gameplay is perhaps the most familiar element come across from the first game, with stealth playing a core part of it once again and while there are some new combat options, stealth is still going to be key. The game will have you sneak around constantly and even go so far as to remind you that taking on soldiers is not a great strategy, even if it gives you some upgrades if you do. Stealth is mostly maintained by sticking to tall grass or shadows and when it comes to times when you can’t throwing rocks to create distractions is usually your best option. Game does let you take down enemies, if you can get behind them, but doing so will generate a lot of noise, which will draw in any others nearby, so it should always be a last resort. The game does provide knives, which can act as a one hit kill, but finding them are rare and once you have used one it is gone for good and as they can be used in other locations, their use will always be a question. After a while the game does provide a crossbow, which is a great tool, but Amicia is not able to carry many bolts for it, which makes its use somewhat limiting.
The stealth mechanics are fine, but they play second fiddle to that of light management, at least in the sections that requires you to pay attention to the light, because when the rats come out to play, they really come out. The first game embraced the use of rats, but in this one the sheer number of them on screen at any one time is just insane, but like the first game, they are just as deadly. Combining the stealth and light management together, does create a sense of tension, especially when you can’t actively engage enemies around you and when you have to deal with both, the game is all the more better for it. Sadly those moments highlight some issues with the gameplay, primarily the controls and the way in which you manage your consumables.
The game will let you craft your items in three different ways and neither is all that useful, the least helpful is in the games upgrade menu, something you will pay attention to only when you unlock a new skill. The second way is by holding down the right shoulder button and seeing the options available to you, using the d-pad you can select the ones you want and then press a to craft. Finally, the last option is by doing it when you have your hands out ready to use one of them, the game will let you create more as needed, as long as you have the resources. The most common method is likely to be via the wheel of options, the problem is that once you hold the button down to craft, you can easily create more than was planned. As many items share some resources, using all to create one and not being able to create others is a balancing act that you have to manage, so having things create so quickly, is an odd choice. The game is pretty quick to supply you with materials to create these, so you don’t need to worry to much on conserving them, but pots and the previously mentioned knives are harder to get, which makes some decisions harder to make.
Something that isn’t difficult to see and enjoy is the games presentation, across the board the game looks amazing, from the incredible detail that makes up the world, to the characters that live within it. Some of the characters are one-offs, so you can see there isn’t as much detail in their animations, but those are still far and beyond anything that you would normally see. Amicia, Hugo, Lucas and the rest of the main cast are all done exceptionally well, from their visual design to the animations and vocal performances. I did spot a number of times when Amicia would be talking, but there would be no mouth movement to match it, which is an immersion breaking aspect, but as you normally just see the back of her head, its not something you will see unless you look for it.
The world itself though is the star, Asobo created a great world in the first game, but you can see their experience with Microsoft Flight Simulator coming through in the sequel. The detail in the ground, the tress and buildings and of course, the rats is just beyond impressive, though the rats is more to do with their number than anything else. When you enter a new location, be it the town market or the forest, taking a moment to stop and enjoy the scenery will be something you will want to do. Because of how nice everything looks, when the game has moments where things don’t look so great, you will notice it and while most of them are minor, I did encounter a few problematic ones. A few of the animations from Amicia taking down a guard from behind were not lining up properly with the guard, leaving the pair fighting the air between them, and in another instance, there was an item that decided it just had to freak out and bounce around the world. Those issues were rare, but they are unable to be overlooked once they do pop up, because of how good everything else looks.
On the audio side, the voice cast has done an amazing job bringing the characters to life once more, but while I appreciate the performances, I really didn’t like Amicia. She spends the bulk of the game complaining about how no one is listening to her, but she does it in a whisper voice when she is sneaking around, which is just ridiculous. If you were worried about being spotted whilst sneaking around and avoiding a tidal wave of rats, having a conversation in a staged whisper, should be the last thing on your mind, but Amicia never shuts up and it is just aggravating. The game is thankfully redeemed on the audio side, but the games incredible score, there are just so many wonderful pieces of music that even in a particular tense sequence, I found myself turning down the rest of the games audio, just so I could enjoy the music more.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an interesting game, there is nothing for new players to connect to, so if you have not enjoyed the first title, very little here will make sense for you. Those returning to this rat-infested world will find a strong narrative that is pushed forward at a decent pace, though the characters driving it forward may annoy you. The games core gameplay is that of stealth and while it does a great job most of the time, some complicated crafting mechanics and less than ideal controls will get in the way more often than not. Incredible visuals and stunning music will draw you into the world, like few games around and while they do offset things, they may not be enough for most. For those invested in the tale of Amicia and Hugo, this is a great second chapter, for those without that connection, it is a harder sell to make, but one that I think you should at least try.
The Score
8.0
Review code provided by Focus Entertainment
The Pros
+The game is stunning, from its world to characters and all of it is backed with an incredible score
+Rats, there are so many of them on screen at once, it can be overwhelming – in the best way possible
The Cons
-Complex crafting and movement options to get in the way more than they should
-Amicia just won’t shut up and bounces around so often, you would think she is a yoyo
