Just as with the first game every time I thwack a dude in the head with a rock, I am compelled to yell "BAP".

Honestly though if you enjoyed the first game, you'll love this one. Its Plague Tale Innocence dialed up to 11, and the first 30 minutes just feel like the devs wanted to dunk on everyone who doubted they'd be able to pull off a sequel. The visuals are STUNNING, the landscapes are packed with detail, and then there are the rats. There are so many rats in certain scenes that you'll die just because you can't help but stand there in awe while a literal pyroclastic flow of rats comes at you. Another twist I wasn't expecting is that the player is left to decide if Amicia wants to become the Terminator and embrace the PTSD, or retain what is left of her soul. It's a surprisingly heavy choice to have to make, and you will be making it on a regular level.

I have yet to finish the game, but I will update once I do.

Verdict? So far this is 100% a yes. If you were at all a fan of the first game you will feel right at home, the developers once again showing that this is an IP that they actually care about. You will see some of the most disturbing violence in any game ever, as well as some of the deepest emotional connections between characters. It's obvious that these actors enjoy working together, and they have a deep understanding of who these characters are.

Seriously, even if you aren't a super fan of these games they are worth a play through, and the devs are also worth supporting. Games like A Plague Tale are labors of love that just seem to apparate out of nowhere. The last game I can think of that left me feeling that way was Disco Elysium, you look at the surface and its like "meh", but if you let them get their hooks in you, they transcend into a space that only a game can reach as an "art" form.

It's so incredibly compelling to become these characters, characters that act human and express themselves and the story in a way that IS human. The good, and bad, the horrifying, with the beautiful, the joy after the pain, the inevitable death, and the eventual rebirth. The love that can sour into hate in moments. These are what make stories human, the mundane moments and the after effects. Not how do these characters shape events, but how do these events shape these characters?


It's such a refreshing feeling when a game is made by a group of people who have a story that they WANT to tell, not a story they want to SELL. On those rare occasions where you do happen across one like "A Plague Tale", or "Disco Elysium". Take a moment and savor them for the actual works of art that they are.

This must be the most beautiful looking game to date. Lighting, shadows, even the smallest textures — everything feels like the real next-gen. A truly spectacular graphics and art design.

The game itself has become more mature and brutal with some really horrifying scenes along the way. The gameplay hasn't changed that much, but there are still some sweet additions like crossbow and new alchemy tools. The soundtrack is also pretty good and solid.

A massive step forward compared to the first game. That's how you make a good sequel.

(Spoiler-free)

A Plague Tale: Requiem is an action-adventure stealth game with a deep and powerful story. It is a continuation of the series telling the story of Amicia and Hugo for the second time. This game takes everything that’s great about the first title and improves it to the perfection. It is another masterpiece from Asobo Studio that I won’t forget for the rest of my life. I considered the first game to be 10/10 but if Innocence is a 10, then Requiem is 11/10. I believe it may be the best game I have ever played.

Allow me to start with my first impression and it was truly over the top. In the first few minutes of the game I was already amazed by the visual side of it. Everything looked incredible and very realistic. The moment I saw this beautiful scenery of the castle when going downhill, my jaw dropped to the ground. The view was breathtaking. I was barely a few minutes into the game and I already started taking a ton of screenshots. I must say, I have never seen a game this beautiful. It literally looks better than real life. The attention to detail is incredible. There are plenty of locations with stunning sceneries and all of them are unique. They look like straight from the canvas and every location is a new experience.

Not much time has passed since the events of the previous game. It feels like we pick up exactly where we left off. If you are playing one game right after the other, it is a smooth transition. Amicia is still an amazing human being but there is a huge improvement in comparison to the previous title. I had a feeling that she lacked a bit of personality but this is not the case anymore. This Amicia is much more emotional. She is showing her emotion and often acting on it. This is a character you can actually relate to now. I like this version of her much more. As for Hugo, he continues to be an adorable child but he is becoming his own person now. Living in this dark and brutal world, he is forced to grow up. We can see his personality building and Amicia’s decisions shaping him. We can also see their bond grow stronger with each interaction. The game shows that in a very beautiful and artistic way.

The siblings will also encounter other characters while progressing through the story. An improvement can also be seen here. The characters in this game are well-written, explicit, well expressed and unique. This was not the case for the first game. I feel like the ones in the first game were uninteresting and forgettable. To be honest they are when I compare them to the ones here. They lacked personality and we lacked interactions with them. It is a complete opposite when it comes to this game. We are actually taking our time and getting to know each character well through a ton of interactions and shared experiences. Those are the characters you can relate to and will not forget for a long time. I believe that those are the best people siblings could have possibly come across. You are gonna love those characters.

When it comes to gameplay, the game continues not to disappoint. The world is filled with a ton of puzzles that are simple and enjoyable. I haven’t had a situation where I would be stuck and unable to continue. Also, everything you may need to solve them will be directly given to you by the game or found in your surroundings. The puzzles got more complex and their overall difficulty increased in comparison to the first game. There is much more game mechanics involved allowing for much more options when it comes to solving the puzzles. This game tends to put a lot of pressure on the player but I still find the gameplay aspect of the game relaxing. It’s been mastered to perfection.

The game is also going to be a feast for your ears. Before you even begin your journey through the sibling’s story, you are going to experience an art of music in the main menu. There is an amazing song accompanied by choir, violin and a harp. I found myself often overstaying there listening to the song after launching the game before I would start playing again. I enjoyed it to the point where I would hum the song during the day. There are a lot more songs and melodies like that in this game. They really add up to the climate of the whole tale. Voice acting is on the highest level as well. Each character is voiced by a professional with a unique voice or accent. Their voices were picked well because they correspond to the characters and their personalities. It feels like every aspect of this game is mastered to perfection.

In summary, the game is an exceptional experience and possibly the best game I have ever played. This game took everything that was great in the first title and improved it to perfection. Everything that was not okay or not good enough is an improved version of itself here now. I found no cons and I am unable to say a negative thing about this game. It’s flawless. I absolutely loved it and finishing it left a huge void in me that will be difficult to fill out again. This is a game I will surely want to introduce to my kids one day. I don’t know what words to use to describe this game anymore, but rest assured, it is a masterpiece. I cannot recommend it enough.

You can find more detailed reviews on my curator page Malfour's Choice.

i demand a refund in the form of therapy for the emotional damage.

Plague Tale Innocence was a very good game and huge surprise because it was a new IP and wasn't a very high budget game. So obviously it needed a sequel. So is it good? Is it better than the first game? Oh yeah, it's one of the best games released this year.
So the story revolves around Amicia and Hugo again. They are a bit older now but for some reason Hugo looks same age or even a bit younger and Amicia looks extremely young too. Probably due to different engine they were redesigned. Nevermind, that's not important.

So the rats are back and it's time to embark on another wonderful story. Like always talking about the story in a story driven game is quite difficult. All i'm gonna say is that this is one of the best game stories this year and it's an emotional rollercoaster. Definitely better than the first game. Asobo nailed the characters, emotions and everything else. The events just go south really quickly and hit you hard.

Gameplay has changed a lot. First game suffered from being a bit too linear. You basically had only one right path, so by trial and error you discovered those paths. But you had had zero freedom in choosing how to approach the enemies.
In this game you have that freedom. You can play aggressively, you can play stealthy, you can take one route or another route through the area. You can kill everyone or leave most of the enemies alive. It's up to you.
This time the game is much much bigger and very open, with huge areas filled with enemies. Speaking of enemies – their ai is greatly improved and this time enemies are extremely persistent and cautious which means they spot you easier and they don't give up searching for you easily. They will walk around looking for you forever so you need to be extremely careful.
Since Amicia isn't some super human it's extremely easy to die. While you can kill everyone, you can't simply take enemies head on. You need to kill them stealthy. You need to pick your approach carefully, plan your actions and execute them perfectly.
You can unlock and upgrade skills which can help you a lot. You can also pick certain skills first depending on your playstyle. The skill bar is increasing depending on how you play the game. Crafting, being stealthy or being aggressive will lead to different skills. The game gives you freedom. You can avoid most encounters by being sneaky and taking one of many paths or you can be aggressive and kill everyone on the map.
Rats obviously are back and while they are similar to the previous game it feels fresh and makes gameplay even more diverse.
The pacing is also great. There will be tense moments, fighting, being helpless where you're forced to be stealthy, calm moments of just walking around admiring the scenery and smiling, dark moments and puzzles which is a nice change of pace. They're not very challenging and are perfectly balanced.

Graphically the game is stunning. Huge beautifully crafted open locations which vary in scenery with each chapter. Environemnts look absolutely stunning, from vegetation to buildings and lighting, everything looks gorgeous. Character models too are very high quality and since the game has some cut-scenes it's quite important. You get a true cinematic experience.

Performance isn't amazing. While the game looks stunning it comes at a price. Most of the time the game runs pretty good but in some areas fps drops drastically. Gladly those areas doesn't involve any combat. Just walking around. I had no framerate issues during tense moments or when the rats appear. Played on ultra/high settings @3440x1440, 5800x, rtx3080, 32GB. Yes the game has native ultrawide support which makes the game even prettier.
I and other people had some technical issues where the game didn't start which was caused by audio device selection. So if you have a black screen after hitting play then change your audio device.

Sound is another area where the game is astonishing. Voice acting is great and all the characters are well acted but what makes the biggest impact is soundtrack. It's one of the best if not the best soundtrack of 2022. It's just that good.

Overall an excellent game which was greatly improved compared with the first one. Amazing story, great characters, stunning graphics and excellent soundtrack makes this one of the best releases of 2022.

Pros

• Great emotional story
  
• Stunning graphics
  
• Outstanding soundtrack
  
• Improved gameplay
  
• More than one way to complete most levels
  
• Native ultrawide support

Cons

• Average performance

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---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☑ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☑ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

If you liked the first, you'll enjoy this even more.

0% Drugs
0% Sex
0% Cars
0% Swearing
100% RATS

I thought I was dead inside...
this game made me cry...
damn...

---{ Graphics }---
☑ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☑ Only if u care about achievements
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☑ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average (Mainstory ~20h) (100% achievements ~40h)
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10