Video Game Review: Plague Tale Requiem
I waited for this game to go on sale since I played the first one for free and although I enjoyed it, I didn't enjoy it enough that I would have paid full price for it. So when Requiem dropped I knew I wanted to play it, and decided to wait for it to drop in price by half.
Plague Tale is the story of two 14th century children. Hugo a 6 year old boy, and his 15 year old sister Amicia, who are trying to cure Hugo of a disease that's killing him and is somehow connected to the plague of flesh eating rats that are invading cities all around them. The game is essentially 50% hiding and evading capture, and 50% creating light sources in order to evade the rats who wont go into the light.
Requiem, the second game in the series, takes place shortly after the first game ends and continues the games motif and gameplay. The only thing it seems to do differently, aside from progressing the lore, is ramp up the obvious PTSD in the children that they gained from the first game and put it on display. Amicia and Hugo both are heavily traumatized by their situation and display the classic signs of disassociation and intense anxiety one would expect.
And this is where my biggest criticism of the game comes in. While I applaud Asobo Studios for showing the reality of how these situations in video games would actually affect people, and especially children, the constant complaints and appeal to fear from both of the main characters although appropriate to their situation, gets tiring to listen to about half way through the game. I got sick of hearing Amicia tell Hugo that she wont leave him or give up on him and I was even more tired of hearing Hugo complain about how dark and scary things were and that they should go back.
There's just so much of it.
And of course there are little things that bugged me about the mechanics of how the game was played. For example there's a heavy need for fire, to keep the rats at bay with the light. Yet the game makes you drop necessary tools like torches, just to climb a ledge or jump down one. At one point in the game when you are both in the clutches of the rats nest, the game has you drop the torch and run from the very creatures the light of the torch forces back. It's little things like that which took me out of the game and scratch my head in wonder.
However, pushing through all of that, the game is fun to play. Figuring out what you need, collecting inventory along the way, solving puzzles, hiding from capture, it gets intense and can be very enjoyable. The graphics are beautiful, the voice acting is spot on, and the story is consistent in it's theme and strives to create a lore for future sequels. Would I recommend this game? Yes, but not at full price. It's fun, but gets annoying as well.
If you're thinking about buying this game, I suggest trying out a demo first if one is available to you. If not, pick it up when it drops under $35.