Is The Plague Tale: Requiem Game Worth It? Review

The Plague Tale: Innocence was one of the best story-driven games and The Plague Tale: Requiem game is a continuation of that. The expectations for the second game were high and it has even exceeded these expectations. Even with modest developers and resources the game has done good. The amazing story has been backed up with insane visuals, production value, and the level of polish that is usually seen in AAA games. It offers all that the original was offering and goes beyond that.

The game offers an incredible and emotional ride throughout despite having some shortcomings. Players might need to play the first one to get the story right. Amicia has been through a lot and will face new threats in the new game. She learns to kill a lot just to save her brother from certain death. There are a lot of deep moments that players will face while playing Requiem. It exceeds the expectation and expands upon everything that its predecessor was offering.

Plot and Setting (Spoiler Free)

Hugo’s sickness is under control. The problem with Inquisition has ended. Amicia is now living peacefully with her brother Hugo their mother Béatrice and friend Lucas. Together the group heads towards a province where they will meet an alchemist to study Hugo’s blood and maybe even find a cure for it. It turns out that their troubles are far from over and new enemies are now after them. Hugo’s power reawakens and rats start coming in larger swarms than ever. The swarms of rats make up for some pretty interesting scenes.

Another army is now chasing the siblings relentlessly and they are constantly on the run from them. Believing that an island is Hugo’s vision to be the cure for her brother, they set out on another journey. Hoping to find the island and cure for the blood disease, a new journey starts. The game has a strong story with a large set of characters than before. Aside from the main characters Amicia and Hugo, there are other characters as well. The cast of characters is now bigger with both new and familiar characters in The Plague Tale: Requiem game.

The change in dynamics of the situations and personal struggles are the core part of the story. Amicia and Hugo will get through a lot of different places. They will journey through shores, countryside, cities, and hillsides. Their journey to find the cure will get them through a lot of different places. Along the way, players will get to experience an amazing story with lots of emotional moments.

Combat

There are a lot of things like the first game and it is all about stealth. There is little frontal combat and even that can be messy. You are supposed to take out enemies in strategic ways. The Plague Tale: Requiem game’s environment and location make up for good stealth combat. You can also use the environment and do a lot of other tricks with rats to take down enemies.

Rats are afraid of fire so it is all about directing the hoard through different sources of fire. Put powder on the enemy’s source of light and the rats will attack them. Extinguish the fire and make a path for the rats to attack enemies. Hordes of rats can be directed through different tricks and can be used to your advantage.

Tools of Stealth

Rats are all about shadows and lights. They can be controlled through shadows and light. Humans are all about stealth mechanics and the use of different tricks to take them down. There are also sequences where you have to deal with both rats and humans at the same time. Amicia is the main driver of the gameplay and she has to deal with most enemies but Hugo will also help from time to time. She will use sling and alchemy to deal with enemies. Amicia can craft different things using salvaged resources that she can use in combat to deal with enemies. She has some new tools at her disposal that she can use in combat.

Tar is a new element that Amicia can use with different sources to create fire. You can use tar to light enemies on fire or throw them at the enemies that are after you to slow them down. Amicia also has a crossbow this time, it brings a lot to the table. It makes her more lethal in combat. Knowing when to use the crossbow and when not to use it can be the difference between life and death. The bolts for the crossbow are limited so use them carefully.

You also have knives that can be used to take down enemies. Knives work similarly to the shiv system from The Last of Us. They are limited resources that can be used to sneak up on enemies and kill them. Shiv can be used for an up-close finisher when you are exposed or they can be used to unlock treasure full of materials.

Enemies and The Rats

A few hours into The Plague Tale: Requiem game and Hugo gets the ability to control rats and run them into the enemies. The game will put different restrictions on it in an interesting way to keep it in control. It also goes really well with the story of the game. The game focuses on stealth but in certain situations, it will force you into intense combat from time to time. These forced sequences of intense combat are bad. The Plague Tale: Requiem game is not designed for frontal combat so it does not work well in intense combat sequences.

AI of the enemies has also improved as enemies are now smarter. They are also more relentless in their effort to find you as well. Amicia can now take a couple of hits unlike before. She is not a one-hit kill now. She can flee from the area after taking a hit and enter stealth again. Being able to escape from certain death also improve the interplay between combat and stealth. A vast majority of mechanics are familiar and there are only a few new mechanics. It gives you a reason to use all the tools available to know what is new and what is old.

General Gameplay

In certain sequences, you will be chased by rats. There will be sequences with a high density of rats. Such sequences show the power of rats. Rats are the star of the show and the game looks intense when it is showing the power of rats. Use different tricks to get from one place to another while dealing with different situations. In a pitch-black room, go from one area to another while avoiding rats and things like that. Most of The Plague Tale: Requiem game is about stealth and trickery.

There is even a skill tree that will organically progress as you play. Crouching and doing stealth will upgrade stealth which will lead to unlocking faster crouch and things like that. Alchemy will progress when you craft different things. Combat will progress when you take down enemies and things like that. The organic progress of the skill tree makes the gameplay even better.

Gameplay and Story

Your gameplay will have an impact on the story. Characters will discuss your behavior and based on how you play their dialogues will vary. If you are killing a lot then the game will discuss how bloodthirsty you are and things like that. Using lots of upgrade benches will allow you to carry more stuff. The enemies are more challenging and unpredictable. There is more rat chaos with more creepy and stunning scenes.

The Plague Tale: Requiem game looks amazing despite being developed by a small studio. It improves upon the first one and tries to add all that the Innocence was missing. The game looks like a AAA game and does not make compromises on how it looks. There are small changes throughout the game. These small changes combine and along with a good foundation create an amazing experience.

Verdict

The Plague Tale: Requiem game makes smart changes to give some breathing space. There are things to collect which let you stretch your legs a bit. It lets you spend time in the character’s shoes and nails it. It gives a clear vision of what it wants to say and shows it to you. The Plague Tale: Requiem makes you care about the characters.

The game goes with the mystery of the plague all over again. The influence of The Last of Us is there. It shows the harsh reality of the world and how Amicia deals with it. The tale that it tells needs some praise. It tells a tale that is larger than its predecessor. The story grips you from the start to the end.

It can take up to 20 hours to complete the base game along with side content. The Plague Tale: Requiem is a good game that improves upon most of the things that the first game offered including combat. Stealth is the main pillar of its combat. Dealing with humans and rats are the two points. The Plague Tale: Requiem successfully delivers all of it.