A Plague Tale: Requiem

[JoeK]

Like in the first game, there's this pretty huge disconnect between the fidelity of the backgrounds and the characters. The world is incredible - it looks absolutely wonderful. The characters just feel almost completely like automatons and I don't feel they have any life in them. I completely understand that it'll be where the budgetary constraints come in to effect, but - for me at least - it takes away a lot of emotion from the game and I don't particularly feel anything from them.

 

It would have been great if they could have had a Naughty Dog budget and access to full on mo-cap facilities. We'd probably be talking about an all time classic by now.

 

[carlospie]

Yes I know what you mean. I often look and it's clear the backgrounds are made and it's like the characters are just plopped on top. 

[Popo]

I’m nearing the end of the first and, a bit like Hellblade, it’s a solid 7/0 with AA production values tied to a very linear, budget-friendly design - somewhat let down by an over-reliance on trial-and-error stealth sections.
 

My biggest complaint about it would be that the range of things you can do is not without some depth, but there’s only ever a single solution for any given situation, so I hope the sequel is able to improve on this and give the player a greater sense of freedom and agency. Also, every guard seems to have the same voice, and they all wear helmets, so it’s hard to know who’s speaking. 

[Mr Do 71]

They don’t all have helmets.

[Stanley]

I’m downloading it now, and from what I’ve read it sounds a lot like the first game, which is no bad thing, but I was hoping for improvements similar to those between The Last Of Us Part 1 and Part 2. Obviously I’m not expecting it to be like those games in terms of overall production, but just more stealth and combat options. The first game is quite limited in that sense. 

[BadgerFarmer]

2 minutes ago, Stanley said:

I’m downloading it now, and from what I’ve read it sounds a lot like the first game, which is no bad thing, but I was hoping for improvements similar to those between The Last Of Us Part 1 and Part 2. Obviously I’m not expecting it to be like those games in terms of overall production, but just more stealth and combat options. The first game is quite limited in that sense. 

I think the improvements are comparable. Larger areas to stealth around and more ways of dealing with enemies that aren't so strictly prescribed. In terms of mechanics, you get to where the first game left off quite early on in the sequel, and it adds more or mixes things up from there.

[Stanley]

That sounds promising then in that case, looking forward to playing it. 

[Benny]

I enjoyed how straightforward the original was to play through. I really got absorbed just into the journey and liked the characters. It wasn't in the same league as The Last of Us mechanically and to actually play, but oddly enough think I liked the story and the world a whole lot more. It's especially nice playing something where the apocalyptic scenario isn't just modern America, yet again. With Zombies.

[monkeydog]

Like the first game, the fail and try again style stealth/qte isn't for me. Wish it was.  Really like the setting and the tone of the whole thing.

 

3 hours ago, JoeK said:

It would have been great if they could have had a Naughty Dog budget and access to full on mo-cap facilities

 

It is a shame when the most obvious AA comparison point is Hellblade, which has really good performance capture.  Seems like Asobo had to draw the budget line on rigging their character faces?

[Thor]

I gave up on the first game because the character models were from, like, 2006 with dead eyes. It was like watching mannequins talk. I'm a little surprised it's the same with this sequel, but if they're using the same engine I guess it was to be expected.

[deerokus]

It surprises me MS still haven't bought Asobo. Very talented studio, put first party funding behind them for something other than flight sim and you'd potentially have something special.

[Stanley]

8 minutes ago, deerokus said:

It surprises me MS still haven't bought Asobo. Very talented studio, put first party funding behind them for something other than flight sim and you'd potentially have something special.

Maybe they have tried but didn’t succeed? 

[JoeK]

10 minutes ago, deerokus said:

It surprises me MS still haven't bought Asobo. Very talented studio, put first party funding behind them for something other than flight sim and you'd potentially have something special.

 

I'm waiting patiently for one of the MS studios other than the Coalition to actively 'wow' me with what they do. Everything is...fine, I guess and I like a lot of the small amount of games that have been released, but I don't know whether it's having finances too spread out or what but I've yet to get that special tingle in my trousers when you see something really fucking special.

 

I should add that whilst I don't think Gears 5 is a masterpiece, the team do know how to make Unreal engine sing, so fingers crossed we get a bit more of that.

[Stanley]

This runs very nicely in the 40FPS mode on Series X and I have to admit, I was pretty taken back with how good it looks. The lighting in particular is very well done and really brings the rural setting and time period to life. 
 

I’ve done the first chapter and a smidgen of the second and so far gameplay wise it is very much like the first game as it introduces you to its systems, but the setting appears on a much grander scale than anything we have seen before.
 

It is still fairly linear in how you have to avoid and defeat enemies, and again just like the first game you are funnelled along a set path that you can’t deviate from. Perhaps it will open up and become more wide linear as the game progresses but if you have ever felt the disconnect between hiding behind a two foot high wall that you are unable to climb over, then nothing much seems to have changed here. 
 

To be fair there were a handful of more open scenarios in the first game so hopefully they will expand on that a bit more later on. 
 

So far I’m enjoying it but I’d forgotten just how stressful the fight or flight gameplay can be, and a tad frustrating,  but it definitely makes me feel uneasy at times which is the whole point. 
 

It’s just a great setting and it’s nice that there is a lack of technology about the weapons and everything is a bit clunky, by design. 

[Stanley]

Omg this is proper grim. Atmosphere is off the scale. 

[Stanley]

This starts getting really good in chapter 2.

Spoiler

The amount of rats, OMG 

 

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Stanley said:

This starts getting really good in chapter 2.

  Reveal hidden contents

The amount of rats, OMG 

 

Spoiler

This is what next gen should be measured on, the number of rats! 😂

 

[Stanley]

18 minutes ago, Dan said:

  Reveal hidden contents

This is what next gen should be measured on, the number of rats! 😂

 

Spoiler

Terratflops

Sorry 

[Strafe]

A Plague Tale: Requiem review after 1 hour by Strafe from the internet.

 

The graphics are very good. Lighting, assets, (most of the) animations are all top tier close to Sony standard. It sort of looks like an Assassins Creed game if Ubisoft could be bothered to make it look nice. It’s a next gen showcase so far.

 

The lip syncing (or lack of it) is straight out of Xbox 360 era, which ruins things a bit.

 

NPC’s look a bit plastic.

 

Voice acting is good, if relentless. Makes Aloy fromHorizon sound like a mute.
 

It very much wants you to play it on it’s own terms and whilst the environments are large, they’re full of invisible walls or sections were you can’t run and similar. If you spot somewhere to hide or go, I can guarantee you that one of the characters will tell you about it.

 

For people trying to hide they talk an awful lot. Granted, whispering but still.

 

Writing is unconvincing sometimes. From what I know the kid faced all sorts of PTSD causing horrors and is infected with a killer virus or something. Even after a brutal murdering spree he is irritatingly cheerful.

 

On that note the kid’s voice is annoying and I’d drop him in a minute if the game let me.

 

The characters are in France, the characters are French. They didn’t bother with an accent. But you can put the language in French and use subtitles.

 

A ‘previously  on’  recap of the first game would have been useful.

 

6/10

[monkeydog]

5 minutes ago, Strafe said:

A Plague Tale: Requiem review after 1 hour by Strafe from the internet.

 

Hold on.  That's you!

[deerokus]

1 hour ago, Strafe said:

A Plague Tale: Requiem review after 1 hour by Strafe from the internet.

 

The graphics are very good. Lighting, assets, (most of the) animations are all top tier close to Sony standard. It sort of looks like an Assassins Creed game if Ubisoft could be bothered to make it look nice. It’s a next gen showcase so far.

 

The lip syncing (or lack of it) is straight out of Xbox 360 era, which ruins things a bit.

 

NPC’s look a bit plastic.

 

Voice acting is good, if relentless. Makes Aloy fromHorizon sound like a mute.
 

It very much wants you to play it on it’s own terms and whilst the environments are large, they’re full of invisible walls or sections were you can’t run and similar. If you spot somewhere to hide or go, I can guarantee you that one of the characters will tell you about it.

 

For people trying to hide they talk an awful lot. Granted, whispering but still.

 

Writing is unconvincing sometimes. From what I know the kid faced all sorts of PTSD causing horrors and is infected with a killer virus or something. Even after a brutal murdering spree he is irritatingly cheerful.

 

On that note the kid’s voice is annoying and I’d drop him in a minute if the game let me.

 

The characters are in France, the characters are French. They didn’t bother with an accent. But you can put the language in French and use subtitles.

 

A ‘previously  on’  recap of the first game would have been useful.

 

6/10

The developer is French too. Playing in French was very much the proper way to do it with the first game.

[Strafe]

I remember when Last of Us 2 came out saying that it’s going to ruin other games for me. Which is a bit hyperbolic I know but even games like this which are gorgeous on the surface suffer in comparison against to Naughty Dog’s insane production values.

[Garwoofoo]

Have they dropped the French accents for the sequel then? The first game seemed to think it was part of the 'Allo 'Allo cinematic universe.

[Alan Stock]

The voice actress for the lead girl in the English dub in the original game also did the character in French, and she's a French actress, so its as authentic as you can get. Presumably the boy was different for each language as he's really young. I thought the English voice acting was really good in the original.

 

I don't think I ever wrote up my thoughts for the original on here. I picked it up on PS Plus last year and really enjoyed it. The world was gorgeous and atmospheric, I loved the authentic feeling setting, one which we don't see much in games. And the characters were believable especially the main girl, yes the boy can be a bit annoying but their relationship was generally quite endearing. As for the gameplay it was decent with the rats and light/darkness creating some interesting and visually appealing puzzles. I just felt the level design although fine was a bit uninspired and more could have been done with the gameplay. It was very by the numbers stealth and environment traversal outside of the rats. I'd give it an 8/10.

 

The sequel sounds like more of the same but a bit better, so I think I'll wait for it to drop in price and play it next year or something.

[SuperCapes]

@Stanley I may be being daft but I cannot find the visual options on Series X! 

[Majora]

26 minutes ago, SuperCapes said:

@Stanley I may be being daft but I cannot find the visual options on Series X! 

 

They're aren't any. If you have your console set to 120hz and a compatible TV then you will get 40fps. If your console is set to 60hz you will get 30fps.

 

Back to the game, I do wish the characters would shut up a bit. It's Aloy levels of excessive talking so far, no moment is ever allowed to breathe it's just non-stop chatter.

[SuperCapes]

@Majora ah I see! It does feel smooth like so explains a lot. 

 

Thank you! 

[Strafe]

The amount of times they say ‘yes’ in response to someone suggesting something blindingly obvious is infuriating.

 

 

[Stanley]

I’m up to chapter 4 now and it’s excellent, and it really does go more wide linear as you get further in. I’ve had a few situations where I died and then attempted different routes or solutions and there’s much more scope for improvisation now. 
 

The graphics are insanely impressive and really add to immersion. The lighting, shadows, reflections and effects are all top tier. I’m glad it’s current gen only so they could really focus on making it look as good as it does yet keep the performance pretty solid. 

 

I did get to a boss fights of sorts and it was slightly frustrating but over soon enough. 
 

The story is also coming along nicely and the whole plague thing is grim and impactful.

 

 

 

[CurryKitten]

Played through Chapter 1 tonight (just aiming for 1 chapter pers session) and it feels a lot like the first game.  The environments are amazing, but I noticed the slightly weird character movement as well as what sounded like a different voice (no French accent) for our lead character.  I pretty much wanted Hugo to die all the way through the first game, so I'm not completely sure I should be playing the worlds longest escort-the-weak-character game.  But I did really enjoy the mechanic and the fact you felt so defenseless all the way through the first game (until the end at least).  Nice, will play chapter 2 tomorrow.