Gamer’s Guide – Plague Tale: Requiem

I’ve been a gamer since my family bought a SEGA Genesis 2 console in the 1990s. Since then, I’ve had a progression of PlayStations up until my mother could no longer be convinced to buy them for me. From there I slowly began to accumulate and curate my own collection of games and systems. I bought a PlayStation 3 for its backwards compatibility once I left my family home so that any niblings I might have from my brothers could play the old games I knew and loved on our old ps2.

The PS4 had come out recently so I planned to get one of those as well for all the new games I’d play. Unfortunately, there was always something else that needed bought or simply no systems available when I had the money. This went on until the PS5 came out. Well, I guess I’m getting the PS5 instead, I said to myself. Three years later I finally bought it for my birthday early 2023.

I might eventually review the first few games I played on it, but for now I’ll simply focus on the recent games I’ve played during my layoff. Nothing says escapism like binging a few good games!

*Please be aware that the following review contains spoilers*

Plague Tale: Requiem

For those who are unaware, Requiem is the second in a two-game series. I previously finished Plague Tale and was delighted by its mixture of stealth and horror. So when I found out that I was being let go from my job, I naturally decided to acquire the second title in the series as a going away present to myself.

Here’s my review of the game roughly divided into two categories: things I liked and things I wish to complain about. Let’s start with the positive first.

Likes:

Stealth - Requiem is primarily a stealth game. And CJ loves stealth games. Every few years she researches all the stealth games that have come out and adds the best to her slowly growing collection. You may wonder ‘what exactly draws CJ to stealth games?’ The reason is, dear fiends, because I’m no good at rushed action games. Ask me to shoot a target in 15 seconds? I become all thumbs. I do fine with button mashing games (Kingdom Hearts, Fable), but anything that requires pin-point precision AND time limits is the bane of my existence. Stealth games, on the other hand, don’t care if you take five hours to line up the perfect shot. They often applaud you for carefully taking out every guard in a five-mile radius just on the off chance you might be spotted and need to hurry your action sequence.

Characters – This is one of the areas the Plague Tale franchise truly shines. Our heroine Amicia de Rune starts off as a 15-year-old in the first game and is 15/16 in the second. She doesn’t have a large number of friends (due to the events in the first game), but those she does have she cares for fiercely and loyally. Chief among those is Hugo de Rune, her younger brother of 5/6. Even with the age gap, you can really see the depth of their affection for one another without it becoming too sanguine or unrealistic. They still have fights. They still get frustrated and look at things differently. But at the end of the day, Hugo and Amicia are ride or die for each other. Literally.

We’re also introduced to two new characters in Requiem. First, Sophia is a smart, quick-thinking pirate captain (on whom I was crushing on rather hard). She is one of my new favorites in the women-supporting-women genre. Within moments of meeting Amicia, she is already threatening Arnaud (who is a friend) that she’ll stab him if he attacks Amicia again (having been an enemy-turned-co-conspirator). She’s a godsend to Amicia who is used to making all the tough decisions alone. Having a level-headed adult who decided to stick by them throughout the crazy horror that is de Rune life, really had a steadying influence on both Amicia and Hugo.

Second, Arnaud is a heavy fighter with secrets, a rough silver fox vibe, and is surprisingly good with Hugo. As previously mentioned, he starts off as a foe and is one of the few capable of giving Amicia a run for her money. After all, what’s a large scar and brain trauma between friends? Arnaud takes the dual role of a mentor and foil for Amicia. He represents all the nameless soldiers we’ve slaughtered from the beginning until now. ‘Men’ with stories and families who are trying to survive the horror of the plague just the same as Amicia and Hugo. Depending upon the day, Arnaud helps or hinders our heroes as they seek to discover the cure to Hugo’s curse.

The Macula – This is the curse which afflicts our boy Hugo. It’s a mixture of semi-sentient fantasy curse and horror trope which throughout the centuries has caused just about every major plague known to man. (Yes, I know, the Black Death was caused by fleas and not by rats as depicted in this game. But let’s just acknowledge how much harder it would be to create visceral fear via waves of microscopic fleas chasing our heroes). World-building is a little fuzzy on the details, but this curse seems to feed off of its host’s negative emotions and go dormant during times of happiness and peace. Naturally, the game developers have made it so that our poor Hugo is not given a moment’s rest.

The macula creates massive swarms of rats to both spread disease and to build fantastical burrows filled with miasmic gases and the bones of their prey. Truly disgusting. Incredibly well-designed. Requiem even features pustule-like birthing chambers for these rats during the last quarter of the game. Gross. So so gross, fiends. As a nature vs. man antagonist, the macula ranks up there with Predators, Aliens, and the common wasp (don’t judge me).

Rocks – In the original Plague Tale, Amicia uses a sling to vanquish her many foes. Via alchemy, she crafts different types of ammo to help her survive in a harsh, unforgiving world. However, all of these ammo types require rocks. In the original game, I was constantly gathering rocks like an elementary schooler at recess. In Requiem, however, a mechanic was added so that you ‘always had’ rocks in your pouch. Less realistic? Absolutely. Did it make the game more fun to play? Absolutely.

Rats – They are the villains of this series, and oh do I love to hate them. Standing ovation to the game developers and animators for the effort put into making these little demons of darkness so incredibly horrible and loathsome. The atavistic fear induced by watching swarms of rats scurrying at the edge of your light source and hearing their blood-curling shrieks as they seek any way to devour you is literally nightmare inducing.

*Special note – actual rats are intelligent creatures and capable of empathy. They are an important part of the eco system and can make excellent pets besides.

PTSD – Because of the events of the first game, Amicia’s PTSD (and one could argue, Hugo’s) shows itself in unanticipated ways. Female rage is not often shown in media, and though as an INFP it was difficult to play, I appreciated how it was depicted onscreen. Especially the consequences of Amicia either burying those emotions or allowing them to rule her actions. This woman has seen her family slaughtered, crossed a battlefield filled with corpses of the dead, navigated decaying cities filled of soldiers ready to slaughter anyone and anything that moved, and rats that literally devour flesh from bone. Girl’s got a right to her PTSD, and I appreciated how the writers acknowledged the way it continually affected her decisions and outlook.

Puzzles – Because of the macula’s existence throughout history, the Order of alchemists have set up numerous strongholds to protect their members and their knowledge gleaned from the macula. For the player this means that there are multiple puzzles you must navigate throughout the game. I, personally, enjoy puzzles. Many of these involve manipulating light (which the rats cannot abide) around an area to either unlock doors or move between rat infested locations. I appreciate Requiem because the puzzles are in-depth enough to feel fulfilling when you unlock them, but not hard enough to beat your head against a wall (looking at you, Zelda).

Dislikes:

Arnaud’s Introduction – We segue from an important fight where Amicia, who has been gravely injured, is unable to fight off the soldiers sent to kill her. Hugo steps up and controls the rats for the first time in this game. Unfortunately, his emotions overpower him and a literal tidal wave of rats swarm the area. Amicia boosts him to a stone outcropping to save him, but is unable to do so for herself. Is this the bloody end for our heroine?

Not so! At the last moment, a soldier steps up and hauls her to safety. Hooray! This is Arnaud’s introduction. However, Amicia’s subsequent dialogue with him leads the gamer to believe we’ve previously met him. For over half the game, I assumed he was ‘The Beast’, another antagonist character who had been chasing the siblings and nearly killed Amicia. This was further substantiated by the fact that The Beast had a full-face helm. Only after I finished the game and googled Arnaud, did I come to realize my assumption was in fact just that. An assumption and a completely invalid one at that. To add insult to injury, it seems no other fans were able to say who exactly Arnaud was or where he came from. It’s unclear whether his introduction was cut from the game or it was simple crossed wires from the developers.

Anger – Amicia’s anger in this game is completely understandable. She’s gone through so much. Lost so many people. It is realistic characterization to have her react to the situation around her (and within her) with anger. That being said, as a sensitive intuitive it was a lot of negative emotions to handle. Especially as a gamer who was embodying that rage and ‘forced’ to go along with the developers’ story decisions. Not wrong. Just rough.

Open World – This may surprise some of you since usually a developer’s decision to make an open world is greeted with cheers and great excitement. Usually, I am one of those people. But there was something about Plague Tale’s first game that was very reminiscent of 90s games. There is but one path and you are put there to puzzle it out. In Requiem, there is no path but an area, and one which CJ struggled to interpret. It seemed like no matter what I did, I ended up switching from a stealth game (which I love) to a fight-for-your-life game (which I do not). The case could be made that it was my first playthrough and therefore extremely bad. Unfortunately, I am not here to be logical but to complain. The format I appreciated and excelled at was taken away and in its place was something which brought me little joy and much headache. Take it back, developers. Take It. Back.

Final Comments:

As you can see it’s three to seven in favor of likes! I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys playing stealth and isn’t afraid to delve into a dark storyline. If you are someone like my Twin whose gaming preference involves Animal Crossing, I would not recommend this to you.

Stay frosty, fiends! Until next time.