A Plague Tale: Requiem assessment: a feast for the eyes, however its storytelling lacks chunk

The final time we noticed Amicia and Hugo de Rune in A Plague Tale: Innocence, the 2 homeless orphans have been escaping the clutches of the Inquisition, making an attempt desperately to discover a remedy for the cursed Prima Macula in Hugo’s blood. They have been additionally preventing for his or her lives towards 1000’s of bloodthirsty rats desperate to devour them. These two have lived via extra hazard and trauma than anybody ought to have in a thousand lifetimes, and after the primary game’s sort-of happy-ish ending, it acquired me considering: when will these children ever catch a break?

Turns out the reply isn’t. Asobo’s follow-up A Plague Tale: Requiem is simply as gory and bleak as its predecessor and because the siblings proceed to battle via a violent world that wishes them lifeless, they’re going to each face troublesome ethical selections within the identify of survival. Oh, and there are extra rats. Like, quite a bit extra rats.

In Requiem, the duo are pressured to flee their homeland and journey south, nonetheless looking for a technique to management Hugo’s supernatural energy that enables him to regulate the rats. The two are looking out particularly for an island that has appeared in Hugo’s goals within the hope that it holds the important thing to saving him from his affliction. It’s a protracted shot, nevertheless it’s the one lead they’ve acquired.

Much of what you may be doing is similar as the primary game, a lot of sneaking round, taking out troopers with Amicia’s sling, utilizing completely different alchemy mixtures, and deviously manipulating the horde of rats to work in your favour. It’s all very acquainted, however Requiem expands on many of those options making for an even bigger, bleaker sequel.

From the game’s very first scene, it is apparent that Asobo have actually targeted on spectacle with Requiem. Innocence was set on the backdrop of a bleak war-torn France – full with blood-soaked battlefields and diseased-stricken cities – and though Requiem can also be darkish and grim in its outlook, Asobo have given the sequence a serious glow-up. I used to be constantly struck by how beautiful Requiem is. Sure, there are nonetheless loads of disgusting rat nests and corpse-filled cities that make my abdomen flip, however there are additionally quaint medieval cities, pebbled seashores, lavender fields, and rolling oceans. In magnificence or damage, environments look beautiful.

The sibling’s environment might have considerably improved within the sunny south of France, however their predicament has by no means regarded bleaker, and it’s not lengthy till the true stars of the present arrive, in all their tiny, toothed glory. This time, although, Amicia has much more instruments at her disposal. Your trusty sling is again, letting you rigorously and precisely throw rocks and alchemic powders to distract or get rid of troopers. Staying near a lightweight supply and discovering the most effective patch of lengthy grass to cover in are nonetheless key to survival, however with larger set items it feels such as you’re actively selecting your personal route and playstyle via the hazard as a substitute of following what’s been laid out earlier than you.

How aggressive you need to be remains to be utterly as much as you. Lobbing a rock at a chest filled with steel armour to attract a guard’s consideration is a method, or extinguishing their torch gentle and plunging them into darkness so the rats can feast upon their physique is, uh, actually one other.

The rigidity between violence and justice was one thing I beloved in Innocence and, as Katharine famous in her preview, it is a persevering with moral dilemma that the children should grapple with in Requiem. Amicia’s arsenal in Requiem now features a lethal crossbow, a knife that can be utilized to quickly stab troopers to demise, and tar that burns when it makes contact with an open flame – extremely helpful for taking out closely armoured troopers. All three are fast, aggressive, and troublesome to look at unfold.

What’s fascinating in Requiem is that it is not simply teenage Amicia having to confront the ethics of her actions, however Hugo as properly. The five-year-old nonetheless has the facility to regulate the rat horde, a capability he found close to the top of Innocence, and he makes use of it a number of occasions to devastating results. As the 2 get extra determined to guard themselves, Amicia begins to turn into extra aggressive and can also be pressured to look at her brother stroll down the identical violent path. If the primary game was about two estranged siblings attending to belief one another, Requiem is about how this moral dilemma is pushing them aside.

It seems like this escalation is heading towards some kind of a conclusion, however sadly it fizzles out on the game’s mid-point because the story turns into extra involved with the duo discovering Hugo’s remedy. It’s an surprising change in route that places the story on uneven footing. The emotional payoffs all through the remainder of the game nonetheless hit dwelling, nevertheless it’s a disgrace they do not discover the concept in additional depth, particularly when each Innocence and Requiem stake a lot on the bond between the 2 siblings. At least there is not any rat pope, although.

Other storytelling gripes contain Requiem’s new solid. Amicia and Hugo’s mom Beatrice makes a return from the final game, as does Lucas, a younger alchemist who tries to assist the 2 siblings carry on an ethical path. However, these acquainted faces are rapidly swapped out as Requiem introduces different new characters. The first is enemy-turned-friend Arnaud, a knight who will cost into battle for the siblings when instructed, including yet one more violent choice to Amicia’s arsenal. The second is pirate lass Sophia, who can set grass on hearth along with her mirror to distract guards and acts as emotional help for the 2 children in a handful of moments.

Mechanically, each add fascinating choices to the way you take care of the game’s sneaky-sneaky elements, however story-wise they’re rushed in so quick that they by no means felt like they’d a lot groundwork, that means I did not really feel as hooked up to this new gang as I did to the group of rag-tag scamps on the finish of Innocence. In equity, I ended up actually liking Sophia in direction of the top of the game (she’s acquired that ‘seems evil however is definitely a cinnamon roll’ vibe that is utterly endearing) nevertheless it does not cease each her and Arnaud feeling like empty automobiles to ship enjoyable new skills as a substitute of totally rounded characters.

Requiem is actually a stunning show of element, color, and thoughtful artwork route nevertheless it by no means fairly reaches the momentum of its predecessor though the stakes are unequivocally increased. Huge set items and a wider choice of skills make sneaking via soldier and rat-infested areas really feel like an exhilarating, if barely repetitive problem, however Requiem’s story fails to carry the identical degree of drama and spectacle.