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[Bragr]

Took me about 13 hours.

The massive rat waves and complete destruction were absolutely insane in the last hour of the game, and it ended with a sad part, with Hugo dying at Amicia's hand. Making you feel somber as it ended. I think that boosted the opinions of the game a lot. It certainly made me feel better about the game, as in the last 5-ish hours, I started to get burned out by the combat, and the game had like 3-4 stop-start endings.

The entire part at the end inside the "third threshold" was fucking great.

That said, the story was all over the place, there are times when the characters aren't talking to each in ways that seem natural. I thought it was weird how Amicia and Lucas didn't tell anyone about all the rats about to burst through the city early on, or how Amicia believes Hugo's dreams for no reason, or even why they would ever bring Hugo into a big city, to begin with. Sort of dumb how Arnaud was a brutal murderous beast, then turns into an aging wise teddy bear. Sophia and Arnaud being 100% friendly and loyal after knowing you for 3 minutes, even though Hugo is basically a rat demon, also didn't feel believable at all.

And it was strange how they pretended the Count and Countess were nice. Within 2 seconds on the island, you knew Hugo was the ember child and the count was evil.

Then you have logic breaks, like the day turning to night in a minute, characters switching moods in a split-second, and massive conveniences over and over, like finding hidden pathways that have been covered for 800 years, based on whims.

The stealth sections were in my opinion the weakest parts of the game. The A.I. is completely ridiculous. And that dumbass fucking glass ability, where Shopia stands up and uses that fucking prism to burn the grass. What a hell was that? I laughed several times.

The combat with the sling just felt annoying with all the helmed guards. When I got the crossbow "bolt recover" ability, the combat felt a lot better, as I could mow down guards.

Too many walking scenes. I understand that the devs love their beautiful game, but at times it was too extreme and made the game feel slow. Very long stretches between combat/stealth at times.

Facial animation, did they forget about this?

The puzzles were too easy. There are 1 or 2 areas where you have to think for a few minutes, but it's almost like the devs didn't want anything that could "stick" a player, so they made 80% of them "push a cart and jump on it".

I wanted more rat sections in the middle of the game, and I wanted to do more cool fresh things, like new ways to burn them and using Hugo's powers in some other cool ways. Feels underutilized.

Overall, even though I bitched a lot, I liked it, when it's good, it's great, some of the rat sections were awesome. It's a visual showcase, it's the sort of game you just have to take in. I liked the story of the first game more, and I wished they did more with the combat instead of keeping the mediocre sling and stealth from the first game, but it has fantastic checkpoints and some brilliant rat sections. And even though the story missed too many parts for me, the ending still hit. Thumbs up.

The ending. A kid from our age got The Prime Macula. The thought of the rats in the modern world, and no fucking sling, sounds really cool.

It got a great soundtrack. It's on Spotify. And this song, from 02:35 and onwards, is the thing you are looking for:

 

[PandemiaPorcina]

Will play it when it becomes free on ps store if ever

 

[Jayjayhd34]

Just finished it modern day version is going to be really interesting loved the game took me 21 hours to finish

 

[Spirit Icana]

I hated the ending. Enduring the tank combat and annoying stealth for what basically amounts to another 'Game Over' at the end felt no different than the countless other ones I had, playing on Hard Mode (not sure what this mode changes), and watching Amicia die instead. The reward playing this game is a couple cool epic moments with the rats breaking out everywhere, some drama, and a mystery that did keep me glued to take the game to its conclusion. But that was it. I'll give it some credit though, at least I was rooting for Amicia and Hugo. In the movie, The Northman, I couldn't find myself caring for anyone, so that felt like a time waste. This, being a game, gave the dev's the ability to dish just as much pain on me, as it was on Amicia, for what amounted to a lot of effort, and a huge waste of time as the outcome was defeat.

Overall, the game was a nice experience, but the ending really soured the good moments from this and the first game for me, so I'm probably gonna wipe it from memory. Amicia's monologue at the end was lame. She wants the legacy to be of that of a fighter for the both of them, but the end was that they gave up. I, as the player, wish I did too before watching that un-inspiring show.

By the way, I never pulled the trigger at the end. I ran backwards and let the game sit (I had no inspiration to do that crap). I was gonna just turn it off and quit there, but apparently if you sit in that area long, Lucas does the deed instead.

 

[ungalo]

The "stop fighting" sequence at the end really reminded me of another famous narrative game, a little too much, even though it was cool.

Among all those things that doesn't really make sense, i don't understand why the Order would not just kill Hugo like Amicia did if it repels the plague, even the mother certainly looked like she would have been ready to do it at some point. Instead of just locking him up like they did with Basileus which they should have known was completely dumb at this point. Maybe i'm missing something, i don't really remember the first game very well and all the implications of the macula.

But i really didn't like the island's background, the Cult, the Order, the story of Basileus and the other girl. For 4 or 5 hours trying to unravel a mystery that is at its core, a boring video game plot, while this IP was original because it was also about medieval France.

 

[FUBARx89]

Amecia is the new Lara Croft for being injured and impaled on shit, then walking it off.

The whole "oh noes I killed people, I'm a wreck" was pushed aside and irrelevant after the panic attack she had.

Count & Countess being bell ends was obvious. Arnaud dying was obvious, the only surprise was Sophia not dying and Amecia killing Hugo.

I enjoyed the game, but the writing could of been better/more consistent. More so when Amecia & Sophia where banging on about shit like they knew it for ages, but nothing in cutscene or ambient dialogue indicacted they knew anything prior to what they where just learning (see the protector tomb)

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

I enjoyed the game a lot up to chapter 10-11. Then all of a sudden much more encounters with many enemies you have to fight off for a few minutes. Even with my sling and crossbow upgraded, she takes forever to load em, two hits and you are dead. I wish they stuck more to pure stealth like how the game started. Overall I really enjoyed it, the scenery just gets better and better as the game goes. If there was one gripe I have it the RUN button or should I say lack of one. The game tells me I have it but the game choses 80% of the time how fast my pace is no matter if I press it or not. Some sections I didn't want to be forced to stroll, I wanted to breeze through them but I had no control over that. The world itself has a good creep factor and is pretty bonkers visually so A+ for that.

 

[Spirit Icana]

The "stop fighting" sequence at the end really reminded me of another famous narrative game, a little too much, even though it was cool.

I hated that sequence. It came out of left field and betrays the themes of survival, battling fate, overcoming impossible odds, and never giving up. It betrays the character of Amicia as well, as up that point, there was nothing in the narrative that suggested the girl was ready to surrender and give up. That whole final section after the "dive" was basically about quitting, throwing in the towel, and giving up. Basically pooping on everything this game, and the first game, were all about.

Amicia killed many, turned her back on whole cities, and an island, for her brother. Out of nowhere, after a brief talk with Hugo's voice at the end, I'm suppose to be convinced Amicia has now given up her fight? Gimme a break.

Up to that point, the game portrayed the siblings as a two for one deal. They go where the other goes. When Amicia died, Hugo dies (gives in to the macula). When Amicia was revived (or recovered), Hugo was hanging by a thread, as he could still apparently talk to her in that cocoon or whatever it was. I'm more inclined to believe the girl would've ran up to his physical body, through the rat pile, and have her legs eaten off as she pleas one last time with Hugo to boot off the macula and return to her. Likewise, his remaining conscious would also probably give one last fight to try and save his sister. I don't buy that she would EVER raise a rock to him and kill her brother unless she was completely broken (she wasn't) or no longer identified the body in front of her as being her brother. The first teaser trailer spelled it out in dialogue that Amicia was ready, and willing, to die to protect her brother. All the events of Plague Tale pushed this angle. In the first game, she stormed through a horde of rats to hug her bro, and try and snap him out of his zombie mind state when he was captured by the Inquisition.

Then, outta nowhere, "It's too late. I'm the macula now. You know what you have to do." says Hugo. How does Amicia respond? "Okay, I'll try."? I don't buy it. The development was not there for me to find it convincing that Amicia would EVER, under any condition, raise her rock to her little brother. The girl would die before she would do something like that.

The ending felt neither inspiring, nor even bold. It was a cheap ploy for tears, and to quickly end the game. If they wanted to go the sad ending route, I would find Lucas firing a bolt through the both of them far more convincing as she fails to wake Hugo up with a final plea. I think the ending betrays her character, and the entire journey. Disappointing game overall (including game-play).

That all said, I did enjoy a lot of moments, and found the adventure pretty engrossing before the "dive." Compared to the first game, I felt Requiem had higher highs, and lower lows. Unfortunately, I think the ending was bad enough that I've soured on the whole experience, and won't be replaying this, or the first game, ever again.

 

[xrnzaaas]

The ending itself was very cool and heart breaking and I hope we'll see older Amicia if Plague Tale 3 ever gets made (like she could assist the next protector).

The obligatory combat encounters in the final chapters were slightly annoying, but at least they didn't think of a horrible final boss like in Innocence.

Overall I'm very happy with what the devs delivered. I needed a good story like that, especially with being disappointed with games like TLoU2 (in terms of the story).

 

[ungalo]

Maybe it was a little abrupt i don't know. It certainly is a fatalist ending, and that's what i like. But should've they made Amicia fight to the death ? I prefer this ending.

I think towards the end when Amicia really understand the influence she has on Hugo and on his relation to violence she clearly starts to shift and get more mature and less selfish, despite of course wanting to save her brother more than anything.

Plus, it's not like the context is indifferent despite what you're saying, Hugo is in the final stage, it looks like he's going to fucking destroy the earth, and his last bit of humanity (of himself) is talking to her. Even with the extreme situations they've been in the past, the game clearly indicates that as time passes it's getting worse and worse, and there is a weight on the character's shoulders. Hugo is already ready in a way when he told her that it's not a big deal if he dies. It's not because they already saw cities destroyed and people dying because of them that they are used to it. When Hugo starts to see that the island will not be what he hoped for he becomes very depressed. Even if at the end there is still the slight hope of settling somewhere else, it's merely a repetition of what happened throughout the game and the characters know it, they know it's neverending and they will continue to hurt other people and are very conflicted about it even though it does not really transpire into big words.

 

[wvnative]

Man...This game has utterly destroyed me and has rattled me in a way that any piece of fiction probably shouldn't. The bond between Amicia and Hugo was one of the most genuinely sweetest things I've ever seen in gaming. And the games did an amazing job putting you in Amicia's mindset, growing more and more desperate to save her brother from his fate, I felt fear and despair when she did, I could feel her sheer love for him every step of the way. Loved the climactic moments all throughout the game, and the tension was sublime. That ending will shake me for the rest of my days.

I didn't sleep well last night and I'm still pretty shaken from it. Bravo to the devs for excellent directing in all aspects of the story.

But...emotional dick punch aside, objectively that ending was disappointing, first I really wanted a happy ending for the two, they are just kids who deserve it after all the torment they've endured. Second, if they insisted on a sad ending, even though it was effective in the emotional torment angle, that was probably the worst way to do it. A better sad ending would have been to either have them die together, or have Amicia sacrifice herself in some way to save Hugo, more poetic that way as "the protector".


Sadly, this emotionally charged game was massively let down by the "game," forced combat encounters were awful and the mechanics still pretty clunk, did they change anything from the first game in this department? None of the puzzles were hard which is fine but I'd get stuck for long periods because sometimes I just didn't see a key component of a given puzzle. Had a lot of minor bugs too, like Sophia's AI bugged out multiple times for me.

Killer soundtrack, especially "No turning back," that helped punctuate the best parts of the game.


This studio I think has done great with these two games but they do need to work on their game design quite a bit, can't wait to see what they do next despite this game's issues.

 

[trikster40]

Wrapped it up yesterday, really enjoyed it.

I think they sort of fell victim to the Naughty Dog story telling method. Walk, story, walk, story, combat section, walk, puzzle section, etc etc ad nauseum.

However, I did love the game. Having come fresh off of plaything through Innocence, I still had a good connection to the characters.

Highly recommend!

 

[Alex11]

Wow, the story, the characters and the music. Can't believe how they made me truly feel for the relationship between Amicia and Hugo.
It may be cliche or that everyone else is saying this, but I have to think really hard to find a game that evoked so many emotions like this game.

I can't say that the ending surprised me, of course the game prepared you from the start, and I thought that is was just to keep the tension, but from the moment they sail for the island I knew one of Amicia and Hugo will die.
And well, it's a very good ending, personally I would have liked for Amicia to die or both of them, I mean, she's just broken at the end.

And that whole sequence at the end when you have to do the opposite and Hugo talks to you, Jesus, it was just perfect and an emotional rollercoster.
It's what the game is trying to teach from the start, you can't fight evil with evil and not have grave consequences in this world. And acceptance, some things are just out of Amicia's control and the more she resisted and fought back the more damage she did. She needs to learn to let go, not be selfish, which of course is hard and understandable when it's a loved one.

I'm glad that they didn't invent some weird backstory for the Prima Macula, like specific details or whatever. Imo it's best left mysterious, I personally feel it's related to the evil things humans do in the world.
Really wish this studio the best and to keep making these types of story focused games.

Edit:
A thing I don't get why the reviewers are complaining about the length, I really like my games long, and for this one to tell this story and show the relationships between the characters I think it was necessary.

Also, while the gameplay is the weakest part, Imo the stealth feels strange, because from the story's point and the character interactions, you/Amicia are/is supposed to kill everyone that stands in your path.
Of course, I'm not making excuses for it, it could sure use some good tweaks and diversity, in the end the gameplay is the most important thing.

 

[adamsapple]

Thank you for making this. I can't believe I missed it in the last 10~ days.

Played and 1000G'd the game. Absolutely had a blast playing the game. Though I won't say that it was "fun". The game is .. by design .. very miserable, especially the last couple of chapters.

Amicia goes through so much pain and trauma, it frankly makes what Ellie goes through in TLoU 2 look tame by comparison.

Hugo really grew on me this game, most of the first half of the original game was him being nasly and whiny, but he was a much more realized character this time around and the final few chapters with him fucking wrecked me

I guess the way it ends, it doesn't leave any room for a third Plague Tale game with Amicia, looks like the next carrier is born in the present day. So, either a third game will need to pivot drastically, or like God of War Ragnarok, this is the end of the current Plague Tale 'franchise' as we know it.

 

[Alex11]

I guess the way it ends, it doesn't leave any room for a third Plague Tale game with Amicia, looks like the next carrier is born in the present day. So, either a third game will need to pivot drastically, or like God of War Ragnarok, this is the end of the current Plague Tale 'franchise' as we know it.

Well, they say here that while Requiem feels like an ending, it is an opening to the rest of that universe, so they clearly have in mind make games in this universe, just not with Amicia.
Although I would like a story dlc with her, to have her getting some closure, I think she deserves it form all that pain and trauma.

 

[TheDrunkenMerchant]

PLAGUE TALE REQUIEM
Ending made me cry like a bitch

Pros:
-The voice acting is immaculate and a definite improvement over the first game. The voice actress for Amicia needs a fucking award.
-The graphics going from Innocence to this is a DRASTIC improvement. Kudos to Asobo; unbelievable considering they were developing Garfield and Toy Story games previously.
-The music is phenomenal oppressive and keeps that feeling of dread the entire way through.
-The set pieces are a huge step above the first. I couldn't believe some of the crazy shit i was seeing.
-The game put me in situations where i felt uncomfortable holding the controller and actually doing actions. Primarily when Amicia is going insane and killing tons of people, or the final moment of chapter 16.
-THAT AFTER CREDITS SCENE. HOLY FUCK, NO WAY.

Cons:
-I feel it was a tad bit too long.
-The amount of tutorials for the first 1/3 and the amount of walking/sprinting scripted sequences are not balanced enough with the actual gameplay of stealth/aggression/alchemy. They teach you so much and yet there's only a handful of full combat arenas to justify it.
-Some questionable character motivations. Sophia seemed a bit too dedicated to a cause she barely knew anything about, and Ardaud seemed far too forgiving for Amicia and Hugo abandoning him. There should've been a lot more "well the world is pretty much over so i may as well give you my 100%" conversations.
-Sophia always seemed a bit OP as well. If she wasn't there, what the fuck would Amicia actually do with the scrolls she couldn't read? I'd rather see a distraught Amicia talk with a depressed Hugo than Sophia just knowing all the right things to say at all times.
-A bit too many scenes of ||passing out and waking back up. Huge troupe nowadays.

Overall, it sticks the landing. Unless Sonic Frontiers or Evil West are immaculate games, Plague Tale is taking my #1 for 2022.

 

[YOU PC BRO?!]

I enjoyed the game overall. The pacing was great which helped keep the story moving forward at a consistent rate. The dialog was strong. In particular I would like to give praise to the voice actress that played Amicia. She was nothing short of fantastic. Such an emotional journey. You could really tell she gave it her all.

The gameplay itself is average. I liked the problem solving areas where I had to figure out how to get past the rats to progress. The combat was poor. I decided to level up the crossbow (level 3 grants recoverable bolts) and just kill most enemies as it made things a lot easier. I remember thinking how glad I was to get past certain areas as they were just super annoying when low on items/materials.

The visuals are a treat though character animations were a little rough. Also facial animation could have been improved to match the incredible visuals. The level of geometry present on rocky surfaces was special indeed. The view distances and sky boxes impressed also. I played on the Series X with a 65” LG C1 OLED equipped with VRR. The frame rate was fine (40fps) and I never noticed any tearing. Special shout-out to the rats. It’s genuinely unbelievable how many there are on screen at one time (300,000). They come at you in an endless wave thousands deep. lt reminded me of a fluid simulation and was downright chilling. When things kick off towards the end of the game in Marseille I have no words. I have never seen anything like that before. Such an incredible technical accomplishment.

Overall I was left more than satisfied. I didn’t play the first game and went into this one with low expectations. I’m surprised to give the game an 8/10. It’s really the story, technical accomplishments and fantastic voice acting of the protagonist that get us there. I would judge the game more harshly for its inconsistencies if it wasn’t for the enormous and obvious passion on display. The game felt fresh and unique. I would heartily recommend a play through for players that enjoy single player narrative experiences and some light problem solving.

 

[Trunim]

I would've preferred Hugo to be like 14 or 15 years old instead of about the same age as in the first game. It would make for a way more interesting story and relationship to Amicia, and we'd also get a more mature Amicia on top of that. Now it was just more of the same... Oh well.

 

[Haggard]

I'm not sure what to make of this game.
The writing is incoherent (see f.e. Amicias kill issues Vs her actions), the graphics are inconsistent (beautiful vistas Vs nonexistent facial animations and at best mediocre character animations and the gameplay is rather basic and very repetitive to say the least.
I dropped it around chapter 9 or 10 and just skipped through walkthrough videos for
the story

There was obviously not enough budget for graphics AND gameplay and I don't get how this ever scored an 8 or higher.

 

[adamsapple]

Well, they say here that while Requiem feels like an ending, it is an opening to the rest of that universe, so they clearly have in mind make games in this universe, just not with Amicia.
Although I would like a story dlc with her, to have her getting some closure, I think she deserves it form all that pain and trauma.

Yeah, you see that meme about "X character deserves a happy ending" in media for weird CW teen shows.

Amicia is a character who deserves some happiness after the shit she goes through.

Fucking hell this game is brutal.

 

[Alex11]

Yeah, you see that meme about "X character deserves a happy ending" in media for weird CW teen shows.

Amicia is a character who deserves some happiness after the shit she goes through.

Fucking hell this game is brutal.

Yeah, it is brutal, these fucked up situations she's in. I mean yeah, she got a good 15 years of royalty, but after that it all goes down the shitter.

But yeah, some scenes in this game, man, I really didn't expect it to be so gritty and dark, like when they discover the first carrier, fuck me, I got some chills. Combined with that eerie music.

I wouldn't mind, if say they decide to kill her, I mean, it would be hard for her to really find happiness after all the shit.

 

[adamsapple]

The final chapter felt like I was playing Hellblade

The area where the epilogue takes place is gorgeous.

 

[Alex11]

The area where the epilogue takes place is gorgeous.

This spot here where she made his shrine was so beautiful yet so sad, with the flowers and birds which Hugo loved. Damn, this game made me so emotional.

 

[hlm666]

The "stop fighting" sequence at the end really reminded me of another famous narrative game

During that part was like deja vu and I couldn't put my finger on it, your comment just just made the ball drop. The only upside is I didn't waste 20 minutes this time around trying to win.............

 

[Exentryk]

Story was decent, but I did feel like chasing historical information which might yield very little but taking so much risk in doing so caused a little dissonance for me. But overall, I enjoyed the story side of things.

The combat was boring and even annoying at times. Game would probably be better without any combat.

Anyway, I'll still show up for that eventual third game if they make it as per the secret ending.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Game was brilliant imo. A few bits of AA polish shining through in characters and animation but the actual Story with its Akira style ending was perfect and the right kind of heart breaking.

Man I felt for them both but completely understood how Hugo slipped to where he did. Brilliant story with delivery. Yes, it was super obvious he was the child and the Countess were dicks but that was the point. She had been fed bullcrap from the count.

Amazing game and the last part was mind-blowing to witness on my PC with good headphones. The audio and graphics were amazing.

Poor Hugo...RIP.

Throw Asobo all the money. I preferred this game to games from studios over ten times there size and probably infinitely more budget.

 

[Hohenheim]

Enjoyed it a lot.
Better than the first game, decent 8+/10 for me. That ending gave me the feels. Played with eveything on max settings, and the game looks beautiful,except for some weird details in the characters. Locations are spot on. Perfect length.
Great voice acting.

My biggest issue is the piss poor optimalization. The frame rate was going from 150 to 80 all over the place, and made me lock it to 80 in the Nvidia Control settings at some point.
This will hopefully get fixed with a patch at some point.
Also, the game crashed on me about 6-7 times. Annoying, but again it's probably because of some early issues and will be better when patched.

In total a very good game. Enjoyed it more then The Last of Us remake.

 

[Dusktildawn48]

Just finished, loved it, very excited for a current day sequel. The insane amount of rats towards the end was mind-blowing.

 

[Hayabusabruh]

Can someone tell me why Amicia ended up with the stupid progressive hair style? I missed that part. It was like all of a sudden the side of her head shaved. I saw the ponytail removal. What brought on the sides?

 

[Alex11]

Can someone tell me why Amicia ended up with the stupid progressive hair style? I missed that part. It was like all of a sudden the side of her head shaved. I saw the ponytail removal. What brought on the sides?

Well, my guess is when Arnaud stitched her wound he cut that side the hair short so he can do it properly. After that, I think she cut that other side to be symmetrical or something like that. At the very end, probably cut the whole hair short so it may grow evenly.

But there may be some symbolism here, in the first chapters remember that lady that told her a woman hair is her crown or something like that. And what she goes through, all the pain, trauma, she ends up losing everything, and it may be something related to this loss, grief and innocence.

Anyway, it just gave me this vibe or I could be wrong and just reading too much into it, it may in fact be that the devs wanted a more warrior look for her.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

I really enjoyed this game. Great music, good visuals, and a good story. The art direction is phenomenal. The gameplay could use some work, but it never really frustrated me.

I hope they paid the voice actress for Amicia. There's a lot of panicked screaming and crying in this game.

I'm down for whatever they do next, but a modern day sequel will take a lot more work. It's harder to make a realistic modern day setting since we're so used to living in it. You notice all of the inconsistencies.

 

[oji-san]

Finished it yesterday, took about 20 hours, great sequel and an end to the story of Amicia and Hugo. I liked the way the game ended as there wasn't any other way, i truly thought that they will find a cure for Hugo, even from the trailers back then. But after all been done there was no other way to end it imo, yeah they could dragged it out for a third game when they escaped the island but this the way it ended felt right to me and surprised me also. The characters were all great, from the count to Arnaud to the regular people living there. The world they made in this 2 games is fucking miserable.
All in all i'm happy i played it tho i hesitated due to the low performance on consoles but had a very good time, still i enjoyed Innocence more.

 

[Sir Vilhelm]

I just finished it, whoa. Think I need to sit down for a bit. Incredible

 

[balls of snow]

Having finally put in the time to finish, I loved the fatalist ending. Once you get to pretty much a prison and a tomb, you know theres no miracle cure for Hugo.
That Ratpocolypse at the end was just the most fucked up thing. Made me think of Horizon Zero Dawn and how horrifying listening to the audio logs of the robo swarms bought about the end of world.

 

[Sorcerer]

edit

 

[fran.fernandez]

What an amazing game! Pure fun and the ending with all the rats and destruction, high level stuff!