Somehow, we’ve managed to make it to the end of 2022, so with that in mind, we’re celebrating some of the best games to have launched in the past 12 months. Today, we’re dodging rats left, right and centre with A Plague Tale: Requiem.
Anyone who’s been reading Cultured Vultures for a long time now will know that we’ve always been big fans of A Plague Tale. The first game was an utter revelation; a surprise hit of an adventure game that introduced the world to a sibling duo worth caring about: Amicia and Hugo. Their bond is the main driving force behind both games in the series so far, and it’s what makes A Plague Tale: Requiem so much more special.
The story is just one great aspect of A Plague Tale: Requiem, as the game’s action and spectacle is a huge improvement from Innocence. Well, it is if you like having more options to murder guards with than you did in Innoncence. That crossbow is a life-saver. Still, the larger focus on action might not be to everyone’s taste, as some will probably prefer the subtlety and more puzzle-oriented gameplay of the first entry.
However, the heightened action elements in Requiem go hand-in-hand with the evolving story between Amicia and Hugo. Amicia, who is still a teenager during Requiem, is utterly broken by the events of the first game. She’s barely holding things together, thanks to the trauma she’s received after surviving the rat plague in Innocence. As soon as the slightest bit of conflict rears its ugly head, she completely unravels and reverts back to old habits: slinging rocks at people’s faces.
Unlike other characters who have been cast as the troubled survivor in other games, Amicia feels totally believable in that role. Even when the body count reaches some ridiculously high levels, you can understand why she makes certain decisions. Compared to a Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider reboot, who murders a dude, does a cry then swiftly moves on from it, you get the sense that the constant bloodshed still takes a toll on Amicia.
By contrast, you have Hugo, who manages to be the only child character in video games that doesn’t have an annoying personality. In comparison to the grim and unrelenting world of A Plague Tale, Hugo often stands as a beacon of light and hope, with childish inquisitiveness and curiosity giving the game some much needed levity. It’s hard not to mutter a small “awwww” when you see the little guy getting scared by goats or becoming way too invested in the village festival.
Gosh darn, he’s such an adorable boy, but that makes the latter half of A Plague Tale: Requiem all the more heartbreaking, as various events and revelations begin to chip away at Hugo’s optimism. A Plague Tale: Requiem’s biggest strength is that it doesn’t have Hugo, its youngest character, be treated like a child. The other characters might want to wrap him up in cotton wool, but the game is about Hugo coming to terms with his own journey and his relationship with the Macula curse inside him.
Put both those characters together, and you have a precious lad who must be protected at all costs, and a traumatised sister willing to do anything to protect him. They make for a compelling pairing, and they’re why A Plague Tale: Requiem deserves to be regarded as one of the best games of 2022.
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