A Plague Tale: Requiem Review

A personally long awaited second entry into the Plague Tale franchise, the action-adventure game A Plague Tale Requiem is finally here for us all to enjoy. Developed by Asobo Studio and published by Focus Home Interactive. Launching with a very positive reception so far, Requiem continues the story of Amicia and Hugo, after the events of Innocence.

Fleeing from their devastated homeland in the hopes of starting a new life and finding a way to control Hugo’s curse, you will once again have to scurry towards the nearest light source to save yourself from a gruesome demise at the hands of the plague.

It is clear that these independent developers are immensely talented at their craft, having also worked on other titles such as Quantum Break and Microsoft Flight Simulator, it’s no wonder Requiem was snapped up for a day one launch on Xbox Game Pass.

You will be pleased to hear about a complete lack of spoilers within this review. I wouldn’t want to ruin this outstanding experience for anyone. All screenshots used are my own and will be in-keeping with the spoiler-free theme as much as possible.

Gameplay

The concept of staying within the light to avoid certain death makes a return and ramps it up to eleven. Using anything in the environment you can get your hands on. Along with Amicia’s alchemy, you once again have Hugo by your side to lend a small hand where he can and other companions who have varying helpful skills you can utilise.

The companions are fleshed out so very well and just blend in nicely overall, from learning more about their stories along the way and having them by your side to help move the story forward.

Companions join you one at a time throughout, so you can’t rely on their skills religiously which include making light sources spark to cause a distraction for a clued-up guard, providing a light source to traverse the plague and even ordering one to fight an enemy for you, should you find yourself in a tight spot.

In addition to Amicia’s Ignifer and Exstinguis, which allows her to light and extinguish flames respectively, Requiem introduces tar. This can be thrown at a light source to make it shine painfully bright, in turn stunning enemies within a nearby radius. Tar can also be mixed with a throwing pot for an oh-so-satisfying guard kill if you can time it correctly near a light source.

Crossbow bolts, throwing rocks and pots can all be combined with alchemical mixtures of your choice, depending on the type of situation you find yourself in. Stealth once again plays a massive part, just like in the first game but has been handsomely expanded.

You can take two hits to die from lower ranked enemies (normal difficulty) and can return back to stealth should you have a mishap and get spotted by an enemy.

Hugo, this time around having an even stronger connection to the plague, can use “Echo” where he can see enemies and rats through the environment. He also has a very satisfying ability where he can control a horde of rats and clear a path, should you find yourself surrounded.

The rats are a curse and surprisingly, a blessing, too. As they can be manipulated to help you on your quest for answers, using them to solve puzzles or devouring guards who stand in your path, do what you must to survive.

Knives are also at your disposal but are one-time use and scarce. So, you will have to decide if you want to use them to swiftly counterattack a close-range enemy, save them for some quick and easy stealth take downs, or keep them to break into carts full of useful materials.

Alongside this, you can upgrade all your tools as and when you find a workbench, provided you have the appropriate equipment to do so. Requiem also features a progression system that compliments your play style.

If you go full on stealth, then you will be rewarded with some more useful stealth skills, and the same can be said if you take a more aggressive approach. It’s not 100% clear how much of what you need to do, in order to level these up, however it’s still a welcomed addition.

Visuals & Performance

Now, the caveat here is that Requiem runs at 30fps on a 60hz display. If you are fortunate enough to own a compatible 120hz display however, the frame rate will see a small jump up to a maximum of 40-45fps and whilst it isn’t 60fps like I imagine myself and many others would like, it’s a damn sight better than 30fps.

I’m lucky enough to own a 120hz display, so I’ve really been able to get the most out of this game that the console experience allows for.

With absolutely breathtaking visuals and new tech such as having 300,000 rats on screen at any one time, it’s not hard to see why there is a trade-off.

It’s honestly a very small gripe and aside from the one or two instances I experienced a frame drop or stutter during my 26 hours with this game, I was absolutely taken aback every five minutes. This might be the most visually impressive game I’ve personally ever played.

I have spent a good few hours just taking in the impeccable environments and thanks to the incredible sound design, there’s plenty of instances in which you can sit the controller down and watch the foliage blow in the breeze whilst listening to the waves crashing against the rocks in the distance.

Some of the cut-scenes are near lifelike, and at points I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

With an impressive set of options to fiddle with, like completely eliminating the HUD which will get rid of text pop ups and button prompts, result in a truly immersive experience (as if it wasn’t immersive enough already). Pair this with a decent set of headphones and you’ve got an orgasm for your eyes and ears.

Conclusion

Requiem improves upon Innocence in every way, so in that regard it’s extremely hard to fault it. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking, to the point my own father, who only has minimal interest in video games, couldn’t believe that what he was witnessing was a video game.

The story is brilliant, with some extremely carefree moments within the more colorful environments to the darker, grittier moments that tug on your heart strings and really make you feel. It does an amazing job of immersing you and getting you to feel things whilst sat on the couch.

It’s amazing to watch the bond between Amicia and Hugo throughout this and it does a great job of making you care for the other characters you meet along the way.

The way Asobo bring this world to life really is a spectacle. Walking through a populated area feels lived and breathed in because of such great audio design.

Even down to the audio cues when things take a turn for the worse, it’s all so satisfying to take it all in.

Amicia’s voice also stands alone as it’s own piece of art, as she is voice acted impeccably and brought to life so very well.

I can’t overstate how exceptional of a journey this game is. A MUST-PLAY game from Asobo here and being included within Xbox Game Pass there is no excuse to not try this.

A Plague Tale: Requiem offers a good length comprising of 16 chapters, I managed to roll the credits after 26 hours of playtime, that harks me back to my point about the visuals, couple that with a photo mode and you’ll get a firm understanding of how I spent my time with this overall.

I have now begun a second playthrough already to go back for achievements and just to experience this incredible world all over again, racking up a total of 35 hours played so far.

Although there’s going to be some stiff competition this year with the likes of Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok, I’ll be seriously surprised if this one ins’t included in those Game of the Year talks at the very least. Do yourself a favor and do not let this near perfect title slip by.