Game On: Recreating the magic of Plague Tale, second time
By Aditya Deshbandhu A sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence, Requiem takes off right from where Innocence ends as Amicia and Hugo begin this journey by playing hide and seek. The strength of Requiem lies in the way it showcases the relationship between its titular brother and sister as they go from roleplaying imaginary […]
By Aditya Deshbandhu
A sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence, Requiem takes off right from where Innocence ends as Amicia and Hugo begin this journey by playing hide and seek. The strength of Requiem lies in the way it showcases the relationship between its titular brother and sister as they go from roleplaying imaginary characters King Hugo and Amicia the Amazon to saving each other come what may. Requiem’s first act takes off from the game of hide and seek as Hugo and Amicia seek to explore a fort and find it riddled with killers. They only survive with Hugo unleashing the macula and the plague as the game tells you that you are back.
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Requiem’s journey only gets more depressing and drearier from there as everywhere the brother and sister duo turn for help; things only get more difficult. Requiem does a great job getting these bits right as it gets you to care for them and worry if they will be too scarred through this journey. It’s a vicious cycle of an awkward kind for the player as you wish to protect the two at all costs but also don’t want them to lose any shred of innocence they have left.
In terms of gameplay, stealth is supreme here and Asobo has done a great job by sticking to Amicia’s ability to fight from range by giving her additional tools like the crossbow. Her stealth abilities are also amplified with the knife and Hugo’s ability to control the plague has matured too. The visuals have also received a significant boost as on higher resolutions this game is an absolute delight.
Hugo’s island of refuge for example is simply stunning and the phoenix is simply too good to be true. In the second act, I also spent quite a while watching a showman blow fire and tried to look at how the game uses raytracing and I was quite satisfied. Requiem’s music too complements the tempo of the game quite well. Requiem nearly gets it all right and almost recreates the magic of Innocence.
However, it isn’t perfect. The over-dreary outlook can get depressing at times and the game does have a few bugs and glitches that need to be ironed out. It was also funny to note how despite the supposed partnership with Nvidia when I played Requiem through the game pass, I couldn’t optimise its performance through the GeForce Experience centre.
Launch problems aside, this is a wonderful game that is worth the time and a must-play if you are a Microsoft Game Pass subscriber. Also, must be considered if you like stealth and can stomach the plague and its gory visuals.
