Posted on: January 14, 2024

decorus_veritas

Games: 143 Reviews: 64

Staggeringly beautiful, too cinematic

There is so much in Requiem to love. The original game was a masterpiece, and Requiem largely reproduces the basic gameplay mechanics of Innocence but with fun new upgrades and twists. At its best, the stealth sequences, puzzles, and battle mechanics are both challenging and satisfying. Given that this is included in a world of unbelievable beauty, detail, and horror, Requiem is a truly marvelous experience. And yet it really does fall short of the original in some significant ways. The most concerning to those thinking about buying the game is that the developers went overboard with the cinematic "feel" of the game. Too many cutscenes and walking sim sequences bog the game down in what is basically just eye candy with a few taps of the E button. Some of these go on for a very long time that really pulls the player out of the action. Like I said, when it's good it's good, but there can be real spells between them, and the final three chapters are largely just walking sim sequences. Sadly, Requiem does not maintain the clever and cohesive plot and storytelling that made the original so brilliant. This game felt like a splatter of disconnected ideas, and there was no rational reason for the characters to move from one sequence to the next. Again, the visual set pieces were stunning, but they had no real reason to exist other than the developers wanted them too. The story is chaotic - for instance, a long sequence has the protagonists descending into the bowels of the earth where nothing good awaits, only to discover that nothing good awaits and then have to escape. This, plus a lot of really banal dialogue, makes this game far inferior to Innocence. It gets four stars because there truly is so much here to love. I just wish they had gone for something a little less bloated and a little more tightly structured. At it's finest moments, it's one of my favorite games. But at 27 hours, there was too much bloat time filling up my total hours. Hope the next one is better.

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Posted on: October 20, 2022

Yenshu

Verified owner

Games: 77 Reviews: 3

Jaw dropping graphics

The story is thrilling and well written, gameplay is quite standard but enjoyable. The cherry on top is the graphics ... Just incredible. My eyes really enjoyed playing this game. 5/7 would recommend.

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Posted on: October 7, 2023

Kursiah

Verified owner

Games: 93 Reviews: 16

Not the worst but definitely not good

I am a big fan of Innocence, and have replayed it many times. So I was really excited for Requiem, and immediately was disappointed to find out that the story continued so closely from Innocence. I would have liked to see a more mature/wise/patient Amicia and Hugo. Also, so Hugo could really come into his power, as the ending of Innocence showed what he was capable of. But alas, that wasn't my biggest issue with this game. No, it was the muddled and too fast-paced story, with the weird and unnecessary "twists" and the huge focus on action instead of furthering the plot/story itself. The story jumped from place to place, and felt like a too long of a sequence of fight and flight. No time to get your bearings and while solving puzzles, finding more out about the Macula, how to help Hugo etc. (as we had in Innocence). The twists were even worse, people switched randomly from allies to enemies (and the other way around). At some point I wanted to be done with the game, and wished, with each chapter ending, that it was the actual ending. The action filled chapters and the difficulty of fighting with the new controls made this even worse. The ending was haunting and beautiful, and this is why I give it 1 star more than it deserves. I won't be replaying this nightmare of a game anytime soon..

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Posted on: June 4, 2023

Luard

Verified owner

Games: 42 Reviews: 1

A pretty good, but flawed successor

Would have given 4 stars for the most part, but just like the first part, the game goes a little off the rails at the end, both gameplay- and storywise. Having to defend against mobs from all sides three times in a row, at the end with limited field of view, including being shot at while trying to avoid Melee attackers, took out a big chunk of the final impression. and while having tidal waves of Rats look impressive, it takes away a lot of their mystery and menace. Less would have been more here I think. That being said, overall I enjoyed the game vey much. The graphics are absolutely stunning, as is the use of color and sounds to create both Beautiful sceneries and haunting nightmare-fuel. The story about not wanting to let go, and clinging to hope against overwhelming odds and human weakness, is not a comfy experience (wich is perfectly fitting), and could have been a good bit shorter, but overall works pretty well, mostly due to the characters, and the ending, while not surpirsing, is definitely memorable. The Gameplay is a bit of a mix. The puzzles are mostly rather roadblocks than something you actually have to think about, even if the companions wouldn't tell you the solution, so those parts can be a bit of a drag, but it's still fun when the different parts of a puzzle fall into place. The stealth still the great strength if the game. It's still a but clunky and too forgiving at times, and can be frustrating because of the number of enemies, but also rewards careful and tactical gameplay, and the sections, while linear, often offer several paths and approaches to get through. Speaking of which, the mechanic to get skills through gameplay-style is the best new feature of the game, I'm definitely tempted to play it again with another style. (It does kill a good part of the Immersion when you're hiding in the grass with 3 people, though...) Overall, I liked Innocence a bit more and will play it again soon - but Requiem is still a worthy successor.

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Posted on: February 6, 2024

Bubaptik

Verified owner

Games: 152 Reviews: 6

A worthy sequel

I just finished the main questline - and I enjoyed this game even more than the first part "Plague Tale Innocence". It is the same game like Innocence, just better graphics, more epic places to explore and a longer story. I was shocked by the story ending.

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