Focus Entertainment has taken us through two chapters of the highly anticipated sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocencescheduled for October 18.
It is rare for a new video game series to be so highly praised. A fortiori when it descends from a studio which, until then, had only proven itself on licensed family games. The Bordeaux team of Asobo has forged a name in gold letters with A Plague Tale: Innocence in 2019, and maybe more with Microsoft Flight Simulator one year later. Now known to all and recognized by his peers, Asobo advances not without a certain apprehension to try to transform the trial. A Plague Tale: Requiemla suite des aventures d’Amicia et Hugo, will be released on October 18 on next-gen consoles and PC.
We were able to play the game on PC for two short hours. Here are our (enthusiastic) impressions.
The beauties of Provence
Six months following the events of A Plague Tale: Innocence, calm has not returned to the Kingdom of France. In a fourteenth century plagued by the Hundred Years War, Amicia and Hugo try to be discreet and undertake a long journey to the south of the country, with a double objective. First, to be forgotten by the Inquisition which is hunting them down. Next, find a cure for the evil that is gnawing at Hugo, plagued by a curse that notably gives him the ability to control hordes of rats.
Our handling begins in Chapter 6, already shown by the developers a few weeks ago. Wounded, Amicia suffers martyrdom, but must not lose face to preserve her little brother. We find with pleasure this complicity between the two protagonists. Complicity which, as a reminder, was created according to the difficult ordeals crossed in the first opus – Amicia having never rubbed shoulders with her brother before.
The decorum contrasts radically with the environments ofInnocence. The Gironde depicted in the first game of the license bore the scars of war; the roads reeked of the blood of the corpses that littered them. As our heroes scour the countryside, the skies seem to brighten and the colors brighten. In Provence, which acts as a backdrop to our initiatory chapter, they evoke those of Toussaint, the superb additional region of the DLC Blood and Wine of The Witcher 3.
A journey full of pitfalls
Quickly, the protagonists are chased by heavily armed soldiers. As in the previous episode, A Plague Tale Requiem takes the form of a game of cat and mouse – well, rat.
Still heavily inspired by The Last of Us, the game makes us spend most of our time crouching, analyzing the surroundings to find the right moment to escape. Because, unlike the brutal Joël and the resourceful Ellie, Amicia and Hugo are not fighters. The heroine will only resist two opposing blows before the game over. Also, we will have to deal with sharp-eyed opponents, quick to chase us.
Thankfully, Amicia’s arsenal grew in six months. The teenager has got her hands on a crossbow that allows you to quickly get rid of an intruder. But beware: ammunition is very rare! A game design that calls for caution and that prevents Requiem does not turn into a shooting game. In addition, we understand that Amicia suffers from post-traumatic stress following having to kill many soldiers to save the life of her brother. A part of the scenario that we are particularly eager to explore in the full game.
However, we regret that the gameplay still relies so heavily on craftsmanship. It’s a fact: you spend a lot of time making projectiles for your sling. Whether it’s gas to spread flames, a fiery jet or a smelly bomb to lure the surrounding rats, there remains a certain heaviness in the clashes. Clashes which, in any case, remain the least successful part of A Plague Tale. The best is still not to be spotted.
It is in this kind of scenario that we have the most fun. Like Amicia, Hugo has taken the lead since the first opus. Now the boy can control a horde of rats. And if, at the end of the first game, we might simply tell the rats where to go, this is regarding taking control of the rodents. With our joystick, we manipulate the horde which, like a shapeless wave, heads towards our enemies to devour them. Quite exhilarating, it must be said.
Too bad the artificial intelligence of the guards is still so easy to fool. The poor don’t panic more than that when they see one of their own being boned in front of their eyes. Let’s bet that improvements are possible by the game’s release next month.
Our first impressions of A Plague Tale: Requiem
Our first contact with A Plague Tale: Requiem is as warm as the sun of Provence heals the wounds of its protagonists. A real breath of adventure emerges from these two chapters and, already, a great variety in the landscapes crossed.
Even if there remains a certain rigidity in the animations (Asobo forgive us, we leave the test of The Last of Us Part I), A Plague Tale Requiem is shaping up to be one of the best games of the year. Graphically, the environments are paintings of masterpieces which are offered to our eyes. The first panorama of each of the areas crossed made our jaws drop. On the music side, Olivier Derivière already signs some of his best compositions. Adept at adaptive music, he creates almost more tension with his oppressive strings than visual artists do with the teeming hordes of bloodthirsty rodents.
For us, all the lights are green to make Requiem an essential for the end of the year. With the detail that those who had been put off by the very mechanical side of the gameplay of the first opus will probably oppose the same criticisms.