A Plague Tale: Requiem Review (Stabwench69)
I wanted to love Requiem. I genuinely enjoyed Innocence and still admire Asobo Studio’s ambition and artistry. However, Requiem feels like a step backward. The characters’ inconsistent behavior, repetitive gameplay, and lack of narrative grounding make it difficult to stay invested.
-Amicia repeatedly makes impulsive decisions that undermine her objectives, despite having learned critical lessons about responsibility and restraint in Innocence. This backslide feels frustrating, especially when the narrative tries to portray her as having grown wiser and more capable.
- Beatrice's Transformation: Amicia’s mother, Beatrice, is a shadow of the character we saw in Innocence. Once a knowledgeable, determined figure, she now comes across as indifferent and passive, deferring to questionable figures and failing to act with the urgency and expertise her character previously demonstrated.
Ultimately, Requiem feels like a “video game” in the worst sense—over-reliant on tired mechanics and lazy plot devices, without the emotional resonance or cohesion that made Innocence special. If you loved the grounded storytelling of Innocence, Requiem might leave you bewildered and disappointed.
The greatest disappointment of Requiem is its narrative. While Innocence anchored its supernatural elements in a deeply human story about family and survival, Requiem opts for a more convoluted and less engaging tale. By Chapter 7, the story’s main thrust revolved around a contrived MacGuffin, with most of the preceding events feeling like filler.
The decisions driving the plot often feel illogical or outright counterproductive. Characters create problems for themselves, seemingly to justify additional gameplay or to stretch out the narrative. The result is a story that feels “video-gamey” in the worst sense, relying on artificial obstacles and deus-ex-machina-style writing to keep things moving.
One of Innocence's greatest strengths was its varied and visually captivating environments, which kept the journey feeling fresh and immersive. From lush countryside to desolate villages and sprawling castles, Innocence provided a rich tapestry of locations that told their own stories. In contrast, Requiem falls short. While the environments are technically impressive and beautifully rendered, they lack the variety and visual storytelling of the first game. Much of the game is spent in large, drab areas that blur together, making the journey feel monotonous despite the graphical fidelity.