A Plague Tale: Requiem

This entry in the Plague Tale series is a great improvement on the previous one. There are less alchemical utilities, but the introduction of a new weapon and new ways to use the utilities makes up for it. The skill progression is based on how you choose to play the game, if you want to play a stealth run, then you'll see an improvement in your stealth skills, if you want to fight everyone in sight, your aggressive fighting skills will improve. I do recommend trying to balance between all of the styles as there are sections that are strictly stealth based and there are full on fights as well. The story does a fantastic job of expanding further on the legacy of the carrier of the Macula and what is involved with that. The scenery is beautiful, much like the previous game, with some improvements in graphical options for more modern graphics cards. It's far more expansive and you will find yourself going to many new locations that make the world feel much larger, more realistic, and lived in. Overall, I recommendthe game, it was a joy to play through.

Plague Tale: Requiem... Well, the game is awesome, by my opinion, one of best, if not THE best game, ever. I loved Plague Tale: Innocence, and considered it the best game before this one, but this is just way better in every aspect. Graphically the game delivers excellent visuals, world is so much more collorfull compared to the first game, there is no raytracing at the time when I finished the game and wrote this review, but even without it the graphics are perfect. The story is perfect, lots of cutscenes, lots of dialogue, not something you can see in many other games, compared to the first game, hard to compare, both deliver a fantastic story. Gameplay isn't too dificult, but it's not too easy either, well balanced I would say. Controlls and game mechanics are a bit different, compared to first game, but aren't too dificult to adopt, in fact the improvements made with weapon and ammo selection make it easier than what was the case in first game, you can also combine different types of ammo, I like that change. During 25 hours I spent playing this game, I have enjoyed every minute of it, the game doesn't take too much time to complete, but it's not too short either, the first game I finished within 11 hours, and in my opinion that was just too short, but The story really make up for it, this game on the other hand improves the story, and doubles it's lenght, which provide excellent experience overall. As for issues with optimization, well I haven't seen any, I run this game on 4k resolution with RTX 3070 Ti, put most setting on high and step up DLSS to quality, the game didn't stutter, didn't crash, freeze or anything, maybe I was just too focused on the story, so I didn't notice some small issues, but enjoyed it regardless. Bugs: very rare: the only one I experienced is when Lucas got stuck surrounded by rats, because he didn't follow Amicia from one place to another, when he was supposed to. when it comes to features, the only thing missing in this game, I think would be the benchmark option, for a next-gen demanding tittle, the benchmark would be a usefull tool for settings adjustment, especially for those running slightlly older hardware. Besides that benchmark feature and missing raytracing at launch (which was advertised a lot, especially by nVidia), I have nothing else to complain about. Overall it's a unique great game, certainlly a candidate for GOTY - and this game deserves nothing less. Should you buy it? Definetlly, if you are looking...

A fitting sequel that is even more beautiful than part 1. There are huge, stunningly gorgeous areas to explore, brimming with detail and directorial nuance. There is a surprisingly long and evolving story with more depth added to character development and relationships. And it gets quite extreme. For example, Amicia's PTSD is now fully formed, and it's a brutal and visceral experience. And, then, the horror can get very surreal indeed. Unfortunately, there have been no real changes to the mediocre core gameplay: it's just somewhat frustrating stealth and a bit of combat, though I should note that a new system has been introduced that is immersive and wickedly fun to use. [SPOILER]You can control the rats![/SPOILER] Of course it's used sparingly. Still, as with [I]A Plague Tale: Innocence[/I] I am left wondering why we even need all this action. I have would enjoyed the games just as much, if not more, if they were straightforward exploration/puzzle adventures, or even "walking sims". [I]Requiem[/I] is at its best when it just lets you wander around a lovely locale at your own pace, basking in the views, and listening in on everyday conversations. It looks so good. We finally get HDR here and it's done well and adds a lot to the beauty of the sun-kissed southern French countryside. A small concern is that the bump in environmental realism highlights flaws with people and especially faces. Animations are sometimes wonky. My criticisms seem so insignificant when the game is considered as a whole. At many moments I felt in the presence of a monumental achievement by many artists working passionately together. While never quite transcending its own artifice, this is a great and memorable game. Play part 1 first (it's very good!) and then prepare to be wowed by this one.

I was astonished with how good/impactful this game was. I would highly suggest playing the previous game in the series first though.