A Plague Tale: Requiem

[i][b]♫[/b] Squeak dreams are made of cheese [/i] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3744768031 In this game you play as Amicia and Hugo, a sister and brother trying to survive in a brutal plague ridden medieval world. Hugo is still connected to a mysterious supernatural curse known as the Macula, and Amicia is willing to do whatever it takes to protect him from it. Their journey takes them through wartorn villages, beautiful landscapes, many many swarms of rats and some genuinely horrifying moments, all while searching for answers, safety and maybe a little bit of hope. If you played the first game [b]A Plague Tale: Innocence[/b] and enjoyed it, I am almost certain you will enjoy this one too. Requiem takes everything that worked in the first game and improves it in almost every way. The story feels bigger, the environments are more impressive and the gameplay is much smoother. If you havent played the first one yet, I highly recommend starting there. It may feel a little dated in some areas, but it is still very much worth experiencing before jumping into Requiem. Each combat encounter gives you room to choose how you want to approach it. You can go full stealth, use the environment and tools in a more opportunistic way, or just become an absolute barbarian and start slinging rocks at every helmetless head you can find. Personally, I enjoyed pushing enemies into piles of rats a little too much, which probably says something concerning about me, but [i]here we are[/i]. What I really liked is that after each encounter you are rewarded with skill progression based on your playstyle. If you focus on sneaking, Amicia eventually becomes quieter and more effective at staying hidden. If you play aggressively, she becomes better at handling direct confrontation and recovering from hits. It gives the gameplay a nice sense of progression without forcing you into one specific style. The emotional connection between Amicia and Hugo is beautifully acted out. Their fear, hope, frustration, love and desperation carry the entire game. Combined with the beautiful visuals and atmosphere, it becomes one of those rare experiences that not many games these days give. The pacing of the story is slow, but I do not mean that as a negative. In fact, I think this is a game you should take your time with. Let the world breathe. Listen to the conversations. Walk through the quiet moments. This is one of those games where you can feel that the developers had a story they truly wanted to tell. It is not just a sequence of missions stitched together. Besides the strong characters and visuals, holy mother this game can also be incredibly brutal. The dialogue is mature, the fights are intense and the character deaths do not pull their punches. The way people scream as they are devoured by rats is genuinely disturbing. There are scenes in this game that are truly horrifying. And the ending... Agghhh. It left me teary eyed, with an empty void in my head, my god. Yet, after all that emotional damage, I still cannot wait to see where [b]Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy[/b] takes this universe next. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3746853500 [b]Highly highly recommended![/b] I cannot [b]rat[/b] this game highly enough. [i](dad joke sorry let me try that again).[/i] This one really [b]gnaws[/b] at you long after it is over. [i](sorry another one)[/i]. Not a [b]squeak[/b] of hesitation, play it! [i](omg somebody stop me)[/i]

I just finished A Plague Tale: Requiem in about 17,4h, unlocking 29 out of 35 trophies, and honestly… it’s an exceptional experience from start to finish. Right away, the most striking thing is how massive the evolution is compared to Innocence. This feels like a true sequel in every sense. Everything has been improved, refined, and expanded. It’s not just “more of the same”, it’s a clear upgrade across the board. Visually, the game is absolutely stunning. The graphics are a real step up, with much more detail, richer environments, and an overall presentation that feels far more modern and polished. Combined with the already strong artistic direction of the first game, Requiem pushes it even further. It’s easily one of the most beautiful games in the series. The art direction remains one of the franchise’s biggest strengths. It still has that grounded, brutal medieval atmosphere, but now everything feels more ambitious, more cinematic, and more immersive. The gameplay is also significantly improved. Where Innocence could sometimes feel limited or repetitive, Requiem feels much more engaging. Combat is genuinely better and more satisfying, with more tools, more options, and more ways to approach encounters. It actually feels good to fight now, which was not always the case in the first game. The new equipment and mechanics really add depth and variety, making gameplay more dynamic overall. The story is excellent. It continues the emotional and narrative strength of the first game, but feels more intense and more impactful. The pacing across the chapters is well handled, and it constantly keeps you invested in the journey of the characters. One of the biggest surprises for me was the soundtrack and audio design. In Innocence, I didn’t necessarily pay that much attention to it, but here it is absolutely outstanding. The music elevates every emotional moment, every tense sequence, and every quiet scene. It genuinely adds a lot to the overall experience. The structure of the game is also perfect in terms of length. Around 17 hours for this type of experience feels ideal. It never overstays its welcome, and every chapter feels meaningful and well paced. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be longer. The game is basically a perfect continuation of Innocence, improving almost every aspect without losing what made the original special. In the end, it’s an easy recommendation. I absolutely loved it, and I’m now very impatient to see what comes next in the series. For me, it’s a strong 8.5/10 to 9/10, easily.

The story is much better than in the first game, which is the most important thing in a story-driven game. Unlike Innocence, here I was getting more interested as it went on (but this time I had much lower expectations to begin with). Graphics are way better in terms of scale. The budget increase is highly noticeable. More characters, a bigger variety of models, big towns, and grand rat activities. Gameplay is better but not without flaws. The first is an even bigger amount of forced walking sections. Just why? The second is puzzles become worse. In some of them, I just couldn't figure out what was expected from me. And characters' voice lines keep steering me in the wrong directions, even tho I turned off hints. On a bright side, more freedom in how to proceed. Most sections I just sprinted through because stealth is too tedious. Boss fights are almost gone. There are two. One is just a normal heavy guy, and the other is to clean waves, which was done a lot in this game. But nothing like Nicholas or Vitalis from Innocence. Characters are… kinda better. They are still very flat, but previously they were just horrendous. Beatrice is useless and infuriating, Lucas is the same good boy, Hugo is still an insufferable brat, and Amisia got much better character growth. Tho, for some reason, they repeated her arc about stress from killing from the first game. I thought after the first few hundred corpses it should have been long gone, but no. Two new characters are okay, standard support cast. Villains are much, much better. Starting from the beekeepers to misunderstandings with city guards and the follow-up to mercs and finally to the Big Bad Guy. They are much more realistic and interesting, and the final villain was absolutely great from the motivation to execution. The Inquisition from the first game isn't even close to them. Unexpectedly for me, I kinda liked it. The story carried it heavily.