After an exciting first hands-on during gamescom 2022, I was very excited to get my hands on A Plague Tale: Requiem, which was without a doubt my biggest expectation of the year. It should be noted from the outset that I went through a lot of emotions during the almost twenty hours of play, and it goes from laughter to tears, through frustration and anger. A wide palette therefore, depicting a deeply human adventure, unfortunately tainted by its status as a video game and certain gameplay limits.
The number of rats displayed has been considerably increased...musophobe, go your way
Although relatively open, the end ofIn Plague Tale: Innocence left a few months of happiness for the De Rune family, who had managed to regain some semblance of stability and to calm the progression of the evil that is eating away at Hugo. Requiem takes place a few months after the end of the events ofInnocence (a book has also been published to narrate the life of our protagonists between the two games: A Plague Such: Darkness, published by Bragelonne), where we find the De Rune family and the apprentice alchemist Lucas who are looking for a renowned alchemist to treat the youngest. While our protagonists finally think they are at peace and happy, they will quickly become disenchanted after an impromptu meeting that will upset the balance and revive the Macula. This will be followed by a headlong rush that spans fifteen chapters going crescendo in spectacularity and emotion.
Amicia and Hugo's quest appears to be hopeless, but the eldest's determination allows for steady progress towards the promised goal, aided by new characters who bring quite a bit to the adventure, and a structure that constantly alternates between moments. quiet ones, allowing for character development, and more intense moments, pushing the main plot forward. Let it be said, despite his writing skills, Asobo's work is long, in addition to being talkative. Sometimes too much for his own good. The writing of the characters may also surprise. Forget the "Innocence" subtitle of the first title. Already macabre in its first part, Requiem veers much further into the horror here. Our two heroes are never spared and, in addition to the corpses that litter the floors of almost every place, we find ourselves with the whole world still trying to kill the duo of characters.
Chaos often reigns as soon as Amicia and Hugo arrive somewhere...
This is too much for Amicia, who suffers from the same pitfall as the Lara Croft of tomb raider 2013, turning into a real killing machine. Always as formidable with her sling, she also acquires a crossbow which is a not very well balanced weapon if we improve it thoroughly, since we can use the same bolts endlessly to clean complete areas. Some will argue that you don't have to opt for violence... and it's true, you can choose to cross entire combat zones without having to kill a single opponent, which incidentally increases a passive skills gauge modulo our approach. If we play like me, butting everything that moves, our aggressiveness gauge will increase to the bottom, which will allow us to aim more precisely, for example. Stealth will increase the caution gauge, and the use of rats (at least from what I understand) increases opportunism. We can also improve our various equipment thanks to the many workbenches scattered here and there in the levels, which adds a lot of effects, such as the possibility of firing 2 times with the slingshot, or of recycling certain materials.
Much like its predecessor, Requiem is not unscathed in its combat phases. The areas are larger, the enemies more numerous (rats and guards ...) and we will spend more time crossing these huge arenas, which suffer from the same evils as the first part. The AI is faulty, which makes most confrontations simplistic... or unfair, by multiplying the number of enemies. When you're accompanied by the knight, it's ok, but in the last third of the game, you're often left alone in an arena with 2-3 enemies to face simultaneously, and you trip over the carpet because of a lacks precision in attacks and Amicia's rigidity when moving. Obviously, it is impossible to opt for a stealthy approach in its phases... in addition to the frustration that this generates, it shows above all that the studio still has a lot of work to do before equaling the models from which it is inspired. Because yes, on all sides, we feel that the game uses and abuses the model established by Naughty Dogs.
Some panoramas are magnificent
Whether in its narration or on the technical level, this sequel has clearly passed a milestone. A Plague Tale: Requiem shows (finally!) what the PS5/Xbox Series generation has in its stomach, with the use of the Unreal Engine 5. At many moments of the adventure, my eyes widened as it was so beautiful. The opening of certain chapters also commands respect and shows that the game is not just a corridor title. Unfortunately, everything is not going smoothly, the PS5 version has shown signs of weakness at many times. Destabilizing the first two hours, the 30FPS becomes more or less bearable as we progress, even if I would have preferred to lean on the resolution and some graphic details in order to have a fluidity mode at 60 frames / second. I also had several problems with the rats, which sometimes had not very logical behavior given their position on the ground... a simple restart of the section corrects the problem, but it made me take a dirty habit which consists of restarting at the last checkpoint to reset the position of the rats and successfully overcome a "puzzle".
Speaking of puzzles, although relatively simple on the whole, I cursed many times when I noticed that the game tried hard to give me the solution before I even had time to think... J Appreciate the studio's willingness to help, but it would have been wise to let the characters be quiet for a few minutes before dropping the solution as if it were the obvious. This is also a global issue of the game, the characters almost never stop talking. So of course, the work done on the French dubbing is fantastic, but silence would sometimes have made it possible to appreciate certain levels more, rather than constantly adding tearful replies. Finally, a word about the musical compositions of Olivier Derivière who accompanies us throughout the epic, they are simply wonderful. Every moment, whether calm or action-packed, is captivated by a piece that reinforces the lived moment. Rarely in my life as a gamer have I been so transported by the music.
Very clearly, A Plague Tale: Requiem registers as a crush. Imperfect, it certainly is, the fault of its slightly too outdated game system which prevents you from enjoying the infiltration or the action (depending on your style of play) as it should. For the rest, Asobo Studio shows that it has passed another milestone and is gradually entering the big leagues, delivering an adventure that is sometimes epic, sometimes intimate, focusing on the De Rune family and the relationship between brother and sister. The result is a poignant and sincere work, which only has to correct its few errors in gameplay.
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