A Plague Tale: Requiem sends Amicia and Hugo de Rune south, and the rats follow.
The 2022 action-adventure game from Asobo Studio and publisher Focus Entertainment is the sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019) and the second entry in the series. It is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows and Nintendo Switch as a cloud version. It is a bigger, meaner game than the first, and it is one of the better ones of its year.
Trailer, via Focus Entertainment.
Amicia’s Sling and Hugo’s Echo
Requiem plays from a third-person view, with the player controlling Amicia against Inquisition soldiers and the plague-carrying rat hordes. The combat system is significantly expanded from Innocence. Amicia carries a knife to stab enemies, a sling for rocks and a crossbow for armoured opponents. Bolts, throwing pots and rocks combine with alchemical mixtures. Ignifer and Extinguis light and douse flame; tar, new here, widens a light source and can set enemies alight.
Stealth is looser and fairer. Amicia no longer dies after a single hit, can slip back into stealth after being discovered and can counter at close range. Hugo’s “Echo” reveals enemies through walls, and he can turn the rats on them. Locations are larger, giving the player more ways through.
A Cure, an Island, La Cuna
The plot picks up in June 1349, six months after the first game. Amicia (Charlotte McBurney), Hugo (Logan Hannan), their mother Beatrice (Lucy Briggs-Owen) and apprentice Lucas (Kit Connor) seek refuge with the alchemists’ Order. Beekeepers attack, the Prima Macula reawakens in Hugo, and a Provence town is left in ruins. Amicia takes Hugo to find the island from his dreams, La Cuna, pursued by soldiers and the disgraced knight Arnaud (Harry Myers). On the island, Count Victor (Alistair Petrie) and Countess Emilie (Ellie Heydon) worship the Child of Embers.
The rats remain the best idea here. They are light-averse, so every dark room is a puzzle, and Amicia can aim them at her enemies. The story carries real weight, though the middle sags under escort missions and the Macula lore gets dense.
Stealth players will unlock skills that allow them to sneak around more efficiently
What matters is that Asobo fixed Innocence’s cruelty without sanding off its dread. The rats still kill you. You just get a second chance now.
The Numbers
- Score: 8.3/10
- Released: October 2022
- Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows, Nintendo Switch (cloud)
- Developer: Asobo Studio
- Publisher: Focus Entertainment
- Game Awards 2022: five nominations, including Game of the Year
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