A Plague Tale: Requiem

[MattyP]

This game has lots of potential just feels like such a slog. Another bush to crawl though. More guards. Run from rats. Rinse repeat. Not sure what I was expecting really and currently on chapter 5 and messing with rats and fire again.

[Masterbeef]

I think this is a much better game than the first one. Much less frustrating to play, everything feels much more refined.

[Stanley]

It can be magnificent, but sometimes it can be so damn frustrating as well, and the bugs don’t help. 

The combat can seem unfair when you’re using a counter yet still get killed by a spear from another soldier anyway, and for a game which spends most of the time encouraging you to use stealth, with scarce ammo supplies, it really has no business throwing you into combat arenas. The combat is not robust enough to carry those sections and they can become pretty gruelling. 
 

Slight upgrade details.

Spoiler

I’ve just upgraded my crossbow fully so that I can now recover arrows from dead soldiers.

In the normal sections I now feel overpowered, yet the end of Chapter X took me about 5 goes. And the difficulty comes from how unwieldy it is rather than by relying on skill. 
 

Yet still I’m enjoying it and want to see it through. 
 

I can understand Edge giving it 6. When it shines it’s a strong 8 for me, but some bits are a weak 7 and yeah maybe a 6 during the more egregious combat sections. 
 

Also what has happened to stealth kills? Every single encounter now appears to have soldiers on full alert straight away with no stealth strangling available. It seems a bit weird to give you that right at the start of the game and then just remove it with no real explanation, and this is whether they are fully armoured or not. Any other option you have now, such as crossbows, means going loud, despite them being, well, silent. 

[SteveH]

1 hour ago, MattyP said:

This game has lots of potential just feels like such a slog. Another bush to crawl though. More guards. Run from rats. Rinse repeat. Not sure what I was expecting really and currently on chapter 5 and messing with rats and fire again.

As much as I enjoyed it, they really could have done with mixing it up a bit more. Did Amecia really not learn to always carry a torch with her after all they had been through in the first game. 

 Though really, in an ideal world, Hugo should have been killed off long ago, as he is responsible for god knows how many deaths. 

[Stanley]

13 minutes ago, SteveH said:

As much as I enjoyed it, they really could have done with mixing it up a bit more. Did Amecia really not learn to always carry a torch with her after all they had been through in the first game. 

 Though really, in an ideal world, Hugo should have been killed off long ago, as he is responsible for god knows how many deaths. 

I really like the story in this one. 
 

Spoiler

Chapter IX has this quite foreboding atmosphere as you make your way up to and into the temple in spite of all the beautiful flowers and how bright it all is. And still further as you make your way towards the fort and chapel in Chapter X, in your way to fulfilling your destiny which just seems hopeless yet inevitable. 

With regards to mixing up stuff and the different gameplay.

Spoiler

The chapter with Arnaud with brilliant, I wish there was more of that, but I do think controlling the rats is underused, so much untapped potential. 

 

[CurryKitten]

I just finished this tonight, I really enjoyed the game overall.  This game really made me feel to Amecia, I mean she gets hurt... a lot, to the point almost of feeling uncomfortable for her... I'm left with thinking "no, not more, she can't take it!" but it carries on anyway.

 

As other people have mentioned, there are a few mechanics in the game that feel clunky.  Some of the animations and the guard AI, but a few other more general things were a bit odd.  Contains stuff about later stages of the game and the ending

Spoiler

It does seem very difficult in the early stages of the game to correctly slip by or kill guards.  You generally don't have anything to do against helmet wearing guards and setting them on fire can be a bit noisy.  There were a few sections where it seemed to be a case of legging it and managing to get through the door an bolting it before the guards catch up... and usefully guards can't open doors.

 

The crossbow coupled when fully upgraded is perhaps overpowered.  I went from having issues getting through things, to killing every guard and then simply going back and taking all my crossbow bolts back ready for the next one.  I'm not complaining, I felt she deserved it, but balanced it isn't.

 

The control-the-rats thing seemed a bit underused.  We get to do that twice, 3 times maybe?  I only every managed to strangle someone with my sling once in the tutorial for that move, it never came up again.

 

Did anyone get what the windmills were for?  I got in them all and tried turning all the windmill on and off, but it didn't seem to do anything?

 

The ending was a bit sad - only from the point of view of we've spent all this time trying to save him and millions of people have died, if we were going to kill him anyway, perhaps we should have done that in game 1.  The teaser to bring it forward into modern times looks interesting though.  

 

 

[Benny]

About the ending:

 

Spoiler

I found the story in general to be a much more effective and interesting mediation on violence, with the whole road to ruin being paved with good intentions thing, than something like The Last of Us.

 

The choice Amecia is forced to make in the end made me very uncomfortable and I was genuinely gutted they didn't get a happier outcome.

 

I've always felt games deserve "good" endings if we want them, because I often feel when you're in direct control of the destinies of characters like in a videogame, it can be the opportunity to create that life in a fictional world that might otherwise be denied you.

 

Of course that's exactly the desire the story of Requiem is playing with, when the characters themselves desperately want that also.

 

So it makes for a sad ending, but I think compared to The Last of Us it actually comes across much more hopeful than bleak.

 

Joel's struggle and violence in The Last of Us is ultimately such a negative and destructive force, and essentially a kind of toxic entitlement. Like, is he really saving Ellie for her, or for himself?

 

But Amecia in the end, starting her struggle with love, and ultimately ending it with mercy, was for me a much more complex and powerful journey.

 

[Stanley]

I find the story really bleak, and that’s not a criticism. Whenever I might feel critical of some of the gameplay I am reminded of the struggle and weight of it all, where I pretty much forgive it for its shortcomings. It’s a very thoughtful piece. 

[Stanley]

Chapter XIV

Spoiler

Jesus Christ are they messing with this fight on the boat?! 

 

[MattyP]

7 hours ago, Stanley said:

I find the story really bleak, and that’s not a criticism. Whenever I might feel critical of some of the gameplay I am reminded of the struggle and weight of it all, where I pretty much forgive it for its shortcomings. It’s a very thoughtful piece. 

Yes... still can't whether I'm enjoying this or not... some elements are great and some just grate...  It strangely scratches a Uncharted game itch with the cut scenes and puzzles. Sometimes it feels very much like The Last Of Us with the theme, creeping around, crafting and now I have the power of rat mode even more so. 

 

Its picking up a bit now with the new rat powers adds yet another dimension to the combat sections. Currently on Chapter 6.

[SteveH]

@CurryKittenregarding one of the questions you asked 

Spoiler

Scattered around that large area are some clues as to which windmills you leave running and which ones you stop. I can't recall which off the top of my head. It opens up a secret area where you get an extra item for Amecia

 

[Stanley]

And done. Phew. 
 

Need to process my feelings about it before posting more. I found it quite draining by the end and quite affecting. It makes The Last of Us Part II seem like a schlocky zombie flick in comparison. 
 

I need to play Mario + Rabbids next or something like that 

[Benny]

I'm glad more people are pressing on and completing it. Ultimately, I found the story so much more compelling and interesting than similar games of this kind.

[MattyP]

On 31/10/2022 at 15:26, Stanley said:

Also what has happened to stealth kills? Every single encounter now appears to have soldiers on full alert straight away with no stealth strangling available. It seems a bit weird to give you that right at the start of the game and then just remove it with no real explanation, and this is whether they are fully armoured or not. Any other option you have now, such as crossbows, means going loud, despite them being, well, silent. 

Just finished chapter 9. Really enjoyed the change of pace. 

 

Spoiler

Much slower with more exploration. The island feels wrong though somehow Like a fake veneer of happiness that is hiding some evil behind it. Must admit the longer I play the more I'm drawn in ignoring the annoying bits. Just really enjoying exploring the created world and the story telling here. Makes a much welcome change to guns and overly violent games. There is of course violence here and death etc but it just feels in perfect context with the story and the era it is being told in. 

 

I think the removal of stealth kills is deliberately engineered to force you to change strategies a bit to get you used to using new approaches that have been revealed. 

[CurryKitten]

8 hours ago, SteveH said:

@CurryKittenregarding one of the questions you asked 

  Hide contents

Scattered around that large area are some clues as to which windmills you leave running and which ones you stop. I can't recall which off the top of my head. It opens up a secret area where you get an extra item for Amecia

Ah, cheers.  I figured it was something like that, and I did look around for what I figured might be a series of numbers, but couldn't find it.  No matter - I missed a lot quite unintentionally because I decided to go through one door "first" only to have Amecia bolt it shut locking me out of exploring further

[Stanley]

7 hours ago, MattyP said:

Just finished chapter 9. Really enjoyed the change of pace. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Much slower with more exploration. The island feels wrong though somehow Like a fake veneer of happiness that is hiding some evil behind it. Must admit the longer I play the more I'm drawn in ignoring the annoying bits. Just really enjoying exploring the created world and the story telling here. Makes a much welcome change to guns and overly violent games. There is of course violence here and death etc but it just feels in perfect context with the story and the era it is being told in. 

 

I think the removal of stealth kills is deliberately engineered to force you to change strategies a bit to get you used to using new approaches that have been revealed. 

Yes what this game is good at is making you feel powerless, and when it does reveal how powerful the forces at work are it’s with almost apocalyptic consequences. Funnily enough I received an upgrade for the stealth kills around chapter XII, having not been able to use them for most of the game, and still not even with the upgrade 

[MattyP]

So upto chapter 13 on this and it just keeps getting better. Probably one of the best story games I've played. Love the music, setting, characters, pacing, story.It does have more variety than I first experienced and the locations are just great. Definitely picks up a bit after chapter 6/7 and the story keeps drawing you forward. Feels a bit like a Indiana Jones movie in places with the exploring around the old ruins etc. Oh and definitely best played with surround headphones!

 

Still can't believe that it's on GamePass I'd have paid full price for this. 

 

Stopped playing for a bit now as have a weekend break coming up but can't wait to get stuck back into it when I return. 

[Majora]

I want to try and finish this before the new God of War but chapter 8....zzzzzzz. Since getting on the ship at the end of chapter 7 I feel like I've spent about 5 minutes actually playing and 45 minutes slowly walking around. The script is nowhere near strong enough to support such extended sequences of nothing.

[Majora]

Asobo: Let's give the players very few combat options so they have to primarily stealth and puzzle their way around these hostile areas.

 

Also Asobo: Let's repeatedly chuck the player in a tiny areas with waves of guards while struggling with aforementioned limited combat options.

 

To be fair I haven't really struggled with them since fully upgrading the bow but I feel sorry for anyone who didn't prioritise that upgrade path (or the fire pot = death upgrade).

 

Chapter 11 and I'm just waiting for this to be over now really. The story is by turns meandering and deeply silly. It's also barely progressed since chapter 1. It's just a never-ending wild goose chase punctuated by a few different companions. Apart from a potentially interesting mother-daughter dynamic which was abandoned early on, there's not really been much in the way of character development either. It's just a never ending series of 'maybe if we go here, or maybe if we visit this person, or maybe if we go there. Oh no... Maybe if we go to this place instead, we'll find the answer there. Actually, maybe this other place. Definitely.'

 

Probably the biggest disappointment I've played this year. The original was far from perfect but this has done very little to improve on it and has actively gone backwards in several aspects.

[earlymodernsteve]

@Majora totally respect your take but mine is almost the polar opposite - in terms of story at least. The meandering is surely necessary as the leads don't know what is happening fully. The cycle of hope and despair that builds with each dead end accentuates Amicia's mental decline (interesting parallel with Senua here) and leads to a greater emotional heft when things reach an inevitable conclusion. The fact that these more contemplative aspects are sandwiched between episodes of frantic action also show that Amicia is forced into a path of action and murder against her better instincts.

 

Like I said, thus isn't me saying you're wrong in your take, and I agree that the mechanics don't always match up to the setpieces' requirements.

[earlymodernsteve]

4 minutes ago, DualSense said:

Amicia’s mental decline is hardly evident tbh. She gets a bit upset at one point and then seems to get over it and happily murder people with abandon thereafter.  I’d have loved it if they focused more on that and less on the waves of soldiers slowly walking towards you while stepping over the bodies of their mates.

There is some ludonarrative dissonance, sure, but I found the depiction pretty strong on the whole. Some explicit through cutscenes, some through mechanics, and also through the 3 companions, who all reflected or represented the competing aspects of Amicia's struggle with events around her - in general and specifically in regards to the grand narrative thrust.

[MattyP]

22 hours ago, earlymodernsteve said:

@Majora totally respect your take but mine is almost the polar opposite - in terms of story at least. The meandering is surely necessary as the leads don't know what is happening fully. The cycle of hope and despair that builds with each dead end accentuates Amicia's mental decline (interesting parallel with Senua here) and leads to a greater emotional heft when things reach an inevitable conclusion. The fact that these more contemplative aspects are sandwiched between episodes of frantic action also show that Amicia is forced into a path of action and murder against her better instincts.

 

Like I said, thus isn't me saying you're wrong in your take, and I agree that the mechanics don't always match up to the setpieces' requirements.

So finished this today.

 

Definitely had a feel of Senua at times!

 

Really enjoyed this and has been one of my highlights this year TBH. One that I wasn't really sure about either lots of people bemoaning it being only 30fps so were avoiding etc. Well IMHO you are missing out!  

 

Lovely visuals and sound. The story was meandering around and kept it interesting to be honest and it did flow (not sure why it felt like "a wild goose chase" as mentioned upthread). It wasn't IMHO. It progressed quite nicely with the characters making choices based on what they knew at that point. In this respect felt a bit like an Uncharted or a Tomb Raider Reboot game in that you were flowing through different locations and discovering new elements to piece everything together. The medieval setting was great too as were the changes of familiar environments as they got ravaged as the game progressed. 

 

I enjoyed the pace too and the fact there were no guns etc in this. The slingshot and stealth was quite a nice way to play through and liked the minimalist approach to the weaponry. If I had to have any criticism it would be the enemies they did get a little tedious in the end - especially when you got an onslaught at some points. Nothing that would drop the game out of frustration but just felt like they were put in as to pad the game out a bit. Never got any bugs as such just sometimes took a bit of time for the game to respawn items that you needed to complete a section.

 

Edge gave this a 6 which I think is overly harsh to be honest. There is lots to like here I'd say 8/10 game for sure.

 

[Garwoofoo]

Up to chapter 7 now and I can't work out whether I like this or not.

 

It's incredibly atmospheric, looks and sounds spectacular, and has some very creative puzzles.

 

On the other hand it is also stressful as fuck, the pure stealth sections can be intensely frustrating and Hugo is a hateful little shit. If they'd simply punted him into one of the burning haystacks in level one then three people would have been sad for a bit and it would have saved thousands upon thousands of lives.

 

It's clearly "better" than the first game but I'm enjoying it less, if that makes sense. I had to play some Lego Star Wars earlier to decompress after a particularly ratty bit of this game.

[Benny]

Is it the voice acting? He was perfectly fine in French.

[MattyP]

1 hour ago, Garwoofoo said:

On the other hand it is also stressful as fuck, the pure stealth sections can be intensely frustrating

Yes the insta-kill mechanic can be a bit frustrating... however you can usually run and hide again. Think the thing that I did find a little frustrating was changing between different weapons sometimes to take some of the enemies down. 

 

Seemed to pick up a bit after chapter 7 and enjoyed the last half of the game more. 

[Stanley]

I thought it was beautiful, very poignant and a game for the times. These are ending spoilers so obviously don’t read if you don’t want things spoiled. 
 

Spoiler

Requiem is not a word used lightly in this game. How many people die 

 

I really felt for Amicia, the physical and emotional turmoil she suffers is unreal, and that ending - straight to credits 

 

I found it pretty draining tbh, it’s bleaker than Portishead’s Third and makes The Last Of Us Part II seem like Kirby’s Forgotten Land.

 

Poor little Hugo, and their Mum. Ugh. 

 

 

 

[MattyP]

1 minute ago, Stanley said:

I thought it was beautiful, very poignant and a game for the times. These are ending spoilers so obviously don’t read if you don’t want things spoiled. 
 

  Hide contents

Requiem is not a word used lightly in this game. How many people die 

 

I really felt for Amicia, the physical and emotional turmoil she suffers is unreal, and that ending - straight to credits 

 

I found it pretty draining tbh, it’s bleaker than Portishead’s Third and makes The Last Of Us Part II seem like Kirby’s Forgotten Land.

 

Poor little Hugo, and their Mum. Ugh. 

 

 

 

Yes it was pretty bleak. However I did actually find the story more engaging than LoU2 (which I actually gave up playing half way through!) 

 

It made a welcome change not running through areas with zombies set in an American town etc. Felt somewhat refreshing it based in Europe and in a historic time period and liked the variety of locations. It was just about the right length too not outstaying its welcome. 

[Stanley]

Yes I thought the story was really well done in Requiem, there isn’t really anything else I would even compare it to. The look, atmosphere and story is what this game is all about and it nails it IMO. 

[Benny]

1 hour ago, Stanley said:

I thought it was beautiful, very poignant and a game for the times. These are ending spoilers so obviously don’t read if you don’t want things spoiled. 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

Requiem is not a word used lightly in this game. How many people die 

 

I really felt for Amicia, the physical and emotional turmoil she suffers is unreal, and that ending - straight to credits 

 

I found it pretty draining tbh, it’s bleaker than Portishead’s Third and makes The Last Of Us Part II seem like Kirby’s Forgotten Land.

 

Poor little Hugo, and their Mum. Ugh. 

 

 

 

 

About that:

 

Spoiler

It's very bleak right as it cuts, but did you play the epilogue after the credits?

 

Spoiler

It shows Amecia was able to move on and struck a more hopeful note for the future, with how she will live her life moving forwards.

 

 

[Stanley]

Yes I did see that too, and then the

Spoiler

Other bit after that showing the baby in a cot, seemingly in more modern times.