In the Dutch revolt from 1566 to 1648, a cruel general of the Geuzen allegedly employed rats as a method of torture on captured troops. Hed take a starving rat, a pottery bowl, and embers of charcoal from a nearby fire and show them to the accused. More often than not, the rat and the prisoner would die. The destruction in an attempt at self-preservation was all for nothing.
As they escape from war, pestilence, famine, and death, A Plague Tale: Requiem feels like a robot. Their protagonists, Amicia and Hugo, are the rats. They follow an almost-unbelievable path of destruction through 14th century France. They repatriate them, fearing the world''s death and suffering. Cruelty and inhumanity propel them forward as the world falls apart behind them, and in trying to be kind they do some of the worst damage
The central story of A Plague Tale: Requiem is a horrific retelling of a human race that is inherently cruel. It is a narrative that shows how even the most talented and most caring of us can be tested to our limits and become unhinged, violent and outweighed by guilt to make you miserable. If you haven''t made you hungry, here''s what you need to know.
With the help of big-name actors like Kit Connor, Charlotte McBurney, who plays player character, and assimilates him to perform alongside others. Developer Asobo Studio, who you may otherwise know from Microsoft Flight Sim, has done some next-level work with the animation and rigging, too; there are times the facial expressions are so good, you forget youre playing a game and may be convinced this is a specialist CGI film. One moment in particular when Amicia recalls
Between an impactful script and cinematic, emphatic moments like this, you may not be tempted to set Requiem on a level with even the Sony monoliths God of War, The Last of Us, and A Plague Tale: Requiem. In some ways this double-A gems punches land as heavily as its genre-defining peers. But all that focus on storytelling, historical detail, and visual fidelity means there are no blindspots elsewhere.
This is a larger undertaking than its prequel, A Plague Tale: Innocence, and by some margin. Several chapters go more open than anything the series has done before (and to great effect; playing with a windmill puzzle before sneaking up to a forbidden area is a significant feat), but in doing so the tightness of Innocences'' well-curated stealth puzzling falls apart, like a fabled viaduct under the weight of 300,000 rats.
It kills you, too. But asobo never does it with a sadistic eye this isnt Edios mean-spirited Tomb Raider. In death, you learn. Maybe it was a gnawing pack of rats that saw you just a second too late and impaled you on his spear. Perhaps youll discover some grass to hold your breath in as a patrol passes, or perhaps youll use your aficionable spoon to circulate rocks.
The pure stealth imposed on you often is readable, engaging, and reveals the reality of being a dejected teenage woman who will do anything to save her troubled brother. But as the world continues to hurt Amicia, she becomes determined to hurt it back, and knives, crossbows, and lethal takedowns are all part of her now. For the better, and for worse. Narratively, killing endless hired goons by feeding them to rats or flinging rocks at their head isn
In-game, things like Requiem are more open in nature; there''s a goal at the end, and you must try it out. In most cases, stealth mechanics, combat engagements, guest character abilities, and the floor is lava systems, and light/dark physics challenges; the results come off more like offal than foie gras.
Awesome and choppy selection-your-own-adventure section aside, the game knows pace. Quick to do within 18 hours (at a brisk pace), Requiem never outstays its welcome, and deftly uses Uncharted-like downtime to introduce you to a stunning, richly-detailed world that perpetually feels on the brink of loss. Amicia continues to become more detached and unhinged, as it explores every scene from Cannes or Tri
Asobo should be proud of what he achieved in this game, as depressing and engrossing as it is. Requiem is a concept that takes time to develop and develop and evolves.
