A Plague Tale: Requiem is available at Xbox Game Passwe would like to thank XboxBR for sending us a subscription code and allowing us to play this game.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an action-adventure game with stealth and RPG elements in which we follow the adventures of Amicia, Hugo and their friends as they get into a lot of trouble. Despite starting this review in a light-hearted manner, that's not what we're going to find in this second chapter of the A Plague Tale franchise.
As a direct sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence, Requiem follows the story of the De Lune brothers in their search for a cure for Macula, a disease that afflicts Hugo, but which, as we discovered in the first game, goes far beyond that. As already mentioned, Requiem is a game that takes itself very seriously, but this is not a negative point, as its story is very well developed, which doesn't make it possible to lose interest in the course of the game.
The first game in the franchise was a pleasant surprise, coming from a small team, the Asobo StudioDespite being part of a large studio, published by Focus Home Interactive. Asobo Studio has already shown itself to be very competent in the first game and is showing even more promise in this second chapter. Requiem is exactly what we expect from a sequel. It's bigger, both in proportion and in storyline, technically exquisite, especially considering the size of the studio that made it.
Requiem corrects many of the mistakes that Innocence brought and further expands the possibilities we had before, but without losing the feelings and emotions we had before. It's not a perfect game, far from it, but it's a clear and welcome evolution for the franchise, which shows the maturity of the development team.
Speaking of the structure of the game, one of the things that bothered me about the previous game was that it kept a very high pace in the events of the story, with no moments to take a breather, which made the experience a little tiring over the course of the game, especially when it comes to a game that is a little repetitive. In this second game, there are still some problems with this, I still think that the game ends up going on too long just like the first one, but a lot of this pacing problem is corrected, giving us some relaxed moments in the middle of all the drama.
The story of the game begins, of course, after the end of the first game, where Amicia, Hugo, Lucas and the brothers' mother set off on a journey to find a master alchemist of the Order, who could help solve Hugo's illness, called Macula. However, as usual in the world of games, nothing ever turns out as desired.
The Macula functions as a living thing that lives inside Hugo and is constantly trying to get out. It's what causes the rat infestations that we see in the first game, and which can be said to be the franchise's trademark. However, Hugo has been having nightmares in which he dreams of a place that can cure him of this evil, and at a certain point, Amicia and Hugo set off in search of this place, against everything and everyone, to finally bring an end to all the suffering caused by Macula.
The plot has several twists and turns, but in the end it's very satisfying. In the course of the story, we meet new characters who give a more special weight to the events we witness. It's a story with a lot of heart, which gives us many emotional moments and a very moving ending. And with the pacing problem corrected, we are able to better appreciate the story and its nuances.
How does the game work?
If you've played the first game, the second works in much the same way, with a third-person view in which you control Amicia, and Hugo at certain times. It's a game with a linear structure, but it offers different ways of getting through the scenarios, with some more open and explorable environments.
These different ways of traversing the scenarios, which are usually full of enemies and other challenges, mean that you have greater dynamism and more freedom to play in the way that suits you. There are various types of enemy in the game and each one has to be defeated in a different way, with a very specific strategy, which makes it necessary to think carefully before making decisions.
You can choose how you want to proceed through the stage, either stealthily or by facing all the enemies head-on, but playing the latter way will be much more punishing, because as already mentioned, certain enemies have specific ways of being defeated, and some aren't so simple, besides, attacking enemies directly requires the use of many resources, and most of them are scarce, not that they're hard to find, but there's a limitation in storing them. In a second or third playthrough of New Game+, perhaps this problem will be solved.
Speaking of enemies, we have different types, such as spearmen, who are the most common in the game. These are characters without armor who throw spears, we have archers, whose name is self-explanatory, and enemies with shields who protect themselves from ranged attacks. The most effective way to kill enemies is by hitting them in the head, which is easier to do with these enemies because their heads are always unprotected.
Moving on to the more complex enemies to deal with, there are axe-wielders in the game, who wear helmets and cannot be hit in the head, but their bodies are unprotected and susceptible to other types of attacks. In addition to them, there are enemies in full armor, who need to have their armor dismantled in order to defeat them. There are other types of enemies and some of them have variations, whether visual, attack or even "tribes", each one very characteristic and unique.
But the game's main attraction is the rats, and in this game they are far more numerous than in the first game. The way you deal with them hasn't changed, and it's one of the few points that has evolved quite subtly in the game. In addition to the larger, much larger number of rats on the screen, you can see some small improvements, such as individual animations, which in practice don't make much difference, but which show a certain care.
If the rats haven't evolved much, apart from their greater number, the ways of getting past them have increased. The rats' weak point is light, and in the first game we could get past them using torches, flaming sticks that are temporary items, some types of throwable that emit light or attract the rats' attention, as well as some items in the scenery, such as lamps or carts with bonfires.
But new ways have also been included, such as tar, which makes it possible to set fire to certain locations or enemies, some items in the scenery that can be set on fire temporarily, which didn't exist in the first game. As well as setting fires, there are also ways to put them out, which allows you to use the rats to your advantage.
When it comes to non-playable allied characters, we also have some improvements, the biggest of which is the fact that they are more useful in gameplay. In the first game, we could give commands to our allies to help us, either in combat or in solving puzzles, and the same can be done in Requiem. Each secondary character has their own specific type of ability, which helps a lot in different ways, but there is a very welcome development in the fact that they help more without the need for commands.
As far as combat is concerned, it's very much based on the resources mentioned above. Our main weapon is a slingshot, the main type of "ammunition" for which is stones, which are therefore infinite. But that's where the different types of enemies make a difference, as the stones are only really capable of affecting enemies whose heads are unprotected. As for the resources, with them you can modify the ammunition, which generates flammable shots, shots that put out fires, shots that attract rats and shots that spread tar.
These modifiers are also applied to some vessels that can be thrown, which make it possible to hit a larger area but have a shorter range. In addition, Requiem introduces a new type of weapon to the series, the crossbow. The ammunition used in the crossbow are bolts, which cause considerably more damage but are much more scarce. Modifiers can also be used on the ferrules, which bring new possibilities to the gameplay. For example, a bolt with fire, if thrown into a wood, generates a fixed light, which prevents rats from approaching, enabling us to move around in that place.
We have all these possibilities for confronting enemies, but most of the time, the ideal is to sneak through environments. To make this more difficult, the enemies have a visibility indicator, which indicates how much the enemies can see us, and when the indicator is full, they will come after us. In addition, they can also hear the sound of the sniper rifle, which is another thing you have to worry about in order not to be identified by the enemies.
It's a game with an average challenge, accessible to most people, which can be even greater if you play it a second time. It takes an average of 16 hours to complete, which may be longer or shorter depending on how you play it.
Performance and audiovisual
The first game was quite beautiful considering the limited budget and development team, and the picture is the same here. However, there has been a considerable graphical evolution in this second entry in the franchise. And perhaps, because of this great evolution, the game will be exclusive to next-gen consoles.
The textures are well defined, especially considering the settings, which are very well worked and dense. The field of vision is extensive, so you can see the scenery clearly even from a great distance, without too many loading screens in the way, but they do appear occasionally.
One thing that makes a big visual impact is that the scenery reacts very realistically to the mood of the game, which makes everything look much more beautiful and takes away the feeling of a static setting. The lighting effects have also been improved, but nothing too impressive.
Another of the game's strengths is the wide variety of scenarios we go through during the course of the game, much greater than in the first game, which takes away a lot of the fatigue and sense of repetition that the previous game brought.
As far as the character models are concerned, there has also been a great deal of progress, especially in terms of the textures, which are much more realistic. The high-quality textures allow for a much greater amount of detail, which makes the models of both the main and secondary characters very realistic.
It still falls short of some of the more advanced games available on the market, but they are very competent. One negative point that bothered me a little was the quality of the character cut-outs, which sometimes cut off or leave parts of the models barely visible against blurry backgrounds. This is something that bothered me, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will bother you too.
Now, on the subject of performance, one factor that generated a lot of buzz at launch was the fact that the game only runs in 4K at 30 FPS, something that also happened with Gotham Knights. This bothered people mainly because the game is only coming out for the new generation, which has made it possible to play at higher frame rates.
To be honest, at no point did it bother me, but the problem did occur when the frame rate dropped below 30. This happened a few times during the game, and even more often in the final moments of the journey. I realized that fire is one of the great enemies of performance, because when it's in excess, a drop in frames is almost certain. The curious thing is that the rats, which are very numerous, don't have the same effect, except for a few rare moments.
Another thing about the performance that is a little hard to understand is the fact that the game, which is pretty but unimpressive, is still very, very heavy to run on the PC, making it perhaps the heaviest game available today. And that's a real lack of polish, which indicates that it's not just the console version that's lacking.
The game's soundtrack is constant and although it's not very inspired, it's very characteristic and capable of conveying the sensations and emotions that the scene wants to convey. There's not much to say about it, but it does its job well.
Is it worth it?
A Plague Tale: Requiem is the definition of what a good sequel should be. It evolves almost all the points of the previous game, brings welcome novelties and a story full of exciting moments that closes well the plot started in the first game.
Its pace is very well developed, with moments of tension, relaxation, action scenes that would make Lara Croft jealous and a thrilling ending. There are a few problems here and there, but the final balance is very positive. For console gamers, it's only possible to play it on the new generation consoles, although in my opinion it's entirely possible to run it on the previous generation.
Another positive point is that, for those who play on Xbox and PC, it is possible to play it at no extra cost by subscribing to the Game PassHowever, one point to bear in mind is that on the Series S, the game only runs in 1080p at 30 FPS. Have you played A Plague Tale: Requiem? Did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments!
See also:
Smalland: Survive the Wilds available in version 1.0
Outward Definitive Edition coming to Nintendo Switch in March
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