A Plague Tale: Requiem

love it..setting and all

It's linear and very story driven. But it's actually more fun than I expected it to be. Especially with someone always on your side and talking makes it a unique touch to this genre.

After beating the first game, I could not get enough and purchased the second game immediately. I use an Xbox controller while playing on the PC and noticed right away not all buttons perform the same as the first game. After a few chapters worth of playing I've quickly adjusted to this new method. I thought the graphics of the first game were superb, however the sequel takes it quit a bit further with many advance features of the 4000 series Nvidia graphics cards. Using a 4080 myself, I'm able to play the game max settings w/ ray tracing around 60 - 100 fps pretty reliably. (Using a laptop) The sound, music, and voicing is great. In my opinion it feels more fleshed out in the sequel. Despite being only 2 hours into the game I feel like I've slid right back into the lives of Hugo, Lucas, and Amicia without skipping a beat. I can't wait to finish the game!

Everything is bigger and mostly better. More gorgeous than the first, Requiem continues the tale of Amicia and Hugo de Rune and the ever present Macula. It's a good action adventure game that reminded me of Rise of the Tomb Raider a lot. Coming from the first game, it feels very Hollywood-ified, with some of its original charm and identity stripped away; but only a little. In many ways Requiem is much improved over Innocence. Full of breathtaking views and setpieces, the gameplay feels fully defined here and not the half-baked attempt of the first game. It's a good mix of action and stealth, with the player's choice on how to proceed. While it isn't anything special, it is a lot of fun paired with its absorbing story. Most chapters, however, feel a bit too long and bloated, and I couldn't help but wish things were a little better paced. The story, too, suffers from bloat. Requiem feels like two games mashed into one. Here, the tight focus of Innocence's story gives way to a sprawling, meandering adventure. It isn't worse per se, but a lot of it leans on its charming characters and performances. The story is full of cults and slavers and ancient mysteries to uncover that it becomes this grand thing that often feels at odds with the intimate lynchpin of Hugo and Amicia's relationship. But it remains a very heartfelt tale. For all it crams narratively, Requiem never stifles heart or soul and I was satisfied come its end. Technically, the game could be better. I had two nasty crashes, each happening while the game saved new checkpoints. Restarting would lead to the same crashes. To solve the issue, each crash required me to 'Verify and Repair' the game's install via GOG Galaxy, after which 25mb of data was downloaded each time. After downloading, the game would run and play as normal again. Overall, I really loved this game. It provides closure for the first and spins a wonderful, if longwinded tale. A definite improvement from the first, and a really great game.

ADVANTAGES: + VISUALS AND GRAPHICS + MUSIC AND SOUNDS + BALANCE AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL + VARIETY OF ENEMIES AND THEIR MECHANICS + REPLAYABILITY (NEW GAME+) + GAME TIME (+20H) + CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION (RAT SWARM ETC.) + NO MICROPAYMENTS, SOCIAL IDEOLOGY + ENJOYABILITY AND OVERALL FUN OF THE GAME; IMMERSION + OPTIMALIZATION (NO FPS DROPS) DEFECTS: - BUGS THAT caused me to have to replay fight sequence, the cutscene that brings the storyline forward did not appear (Ship Boarding Battle Scene), - AI NPC (just run away from the field of view and after a while the opponent stops looking for you; enemies do not call for help by finding the body of his mates), - TOO MUCH PLAYER ASSISTANCE (head targeting, in options you can enable immortality against people enemies, in option automatic pass of interactions and timed activities) - ILLOGICAL SOLUTIONS (Bags full of saltpeter but you can't get saltpeter from it, even though you collect this resource; Once in cutscene you must press "E" to give a hand to Hugo, but if you hold "E" in this cut scene you skip it; Sofia helps with mirror and light beam, beam passes through walls etc.) - PREDICTABLE STORY - At the beginning of the game we learn that Hugo is causing everything. Hugo's death could have saved thousands of lives. GRAPHICS AND SOUNDS 10/10 STORY AND NARRATION 8/10 GAMEPLAY 8/10 TOTAL RATING: 8.4/10 VERY GOOD - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED [Rating scale] 0 – 1,99 UNPLAYABLE- AVOID 2-2,99 VERY BAD- AVOID 3-3,99 BAD- WASTE OF TIME 4-4,99 POOR - WASTE OF TIME 5-5,99 AVERAGE - IF NOTHING ELSE TO DO 6-6,99 QUITE GOOD - PLAYABLE 7–7,99 GOOD - RECOMMENDED 8-8,99 VERY GOOD - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 9-9,5 AWESOME - MUST PLAY 9,51-10 MASTERPIECE - UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE