When A Plague Tale: Innocence dropped, it flew under many player's radars and that was quite unfortunate because, for an indie game, A Plague Tale: Innocence was a full game that followed a brother and sister through one of the darkest times of medieval Europe. Borrowing elements of games like The Last Of Us, where the brother and sister duo can be compared to Ellie and Joel's relationship, made the story for A Plague Tale: Innocence an emotionally driven one. Gameplay of the game relied on stealth, as the main character Amicia was not a battle-hardened warrior like the many soldiers roaming around the cities. Thanks to this way of playing, A Plague Tale: Innocence helped players get into games like the first few Resident Evil games.
Thankfully, with the help of Game Pass, the game has gotten a lot more popular, and now with the release of the sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem which is one of the biggest games of the year, they can continue the story of Amicia and her little brother Hugo. Both games play the same, while A Plague Tale: Requiem brings a more fluid and immersive way of playing, there are some small improvements that help the quality of life for players. However, there are some distinct differences between the two, and mainly ones that the sequel does better. Here is a breakdown of the sequel that outshines its predecessor.
5 Danger Of The Rats
One of the most squeamish things a person can face is hordes of rats coming their way. Now, when adding an element that rats will kill people, makes things a lot worse. In A Plague Tale: Innocence the rats would appear and cause issues for the player, they would kill them if they stepped into the dark. Utilizing the fire or other lighting sources, where the only way to traverse these rats' infested areas. At some point, Hugo who has supernatural powers can control them.
In the first game, players would feel safe once they got to higher ground since the rats don't climb. However, in A Plague Tale: Requiem, not only are the rats more aggressive, they can climb. So even if players are running upwards, they'll still be chased by the rats. But, just like in A Plague Tale: Innocence, once players have a light, or light a brazier things get safer. It's a shame that the first game was overlooked, because the rats made everything a lot more engaging, and made the players think before acting.
4 Focus On Combat
A Plagues Tale: Innocence's combat was rather limited, but that was on purpose. Because Amicia, is not a fighter, all she has is a slingshot, so what she can do offensively is rather limited. This was not a bad thing about the first game, in fact, one of the best aspects of A Plagues Tale: Innocence was the stealth, and how it allowed players to feel the fear of Amicia as if they are beside her. In A Plague Tale: Requiem, it's a much different story, but like the first game, it impacts the overarching narrative. As players progress through the story, they'll notice how much more of a fighter Amicia is, her entire worldview has now shifted.
She understands she needs to protect her family and friends, and defend Hugo with whatever it takes. While other games take this character development lightly, A Plague Tale: Requiem makes it a part of the story. While Amicia is still scarred by the events of the first game, she must now face the horrors of the second game. This comes in the form of killing people through more aggressive means, actually fighting and not running away, all these things will affect her even more, and could even change her outlook on her goal. When all mixed together, this makes the story way more compelling.
3 More Ways To Play
In A Plagues Tale: Requiem, the encourages players to be diverse in how they play, because they can level up certain aspects like her health, and how much damage she does. This is a much more fluid way of playing the game. Because rather than skill points, the more players do certain actions, the more that aspect levels up. With the many bosses in A Plagues Tale: Innocence, leveling up and collecting resources, is the best way to deal with these characters.
This is very much a big thing in the sequel, but because it's action-based, rather than skill-based, players can focus on gameplay rather than what they want to level up with. So when they're able to play in other ways, the game because a lot more tangible, because players can be more creative with how they take down enemies, traverse the levels, and solve puzzles. A Plague Tale: Requiem gives players the tools, but tries its best not to hold their hand during each mission.
2 Amicia's Arsenal
For players who remember A Plague Tale: Innocence will remember how vast Amicia's inventory was. Even though she was limited in her combat abilities, she could still hold her own against the many soldiers. Now, in A Plagues Tale: Requiem, players will be glad to know that her arsenal is expanded in a big way. She has a crossbow, which can do long-range attacks, even in stealth, plus she has her knife which can kill soldiers with ease.
So the developers have made her more versatile since as mentioned before, A Plagues Tale: Requiem is more combat-focused. Just like in the first game, A Plague Tale: Innocence, players had a wide amount of options for her slingshot, which impacted gameplay in many ways. This is also story-driven as well because as she fights head-on more with her new-found weapons, she grows and starts understanding what she has to do. And that comes from Amicia's weapons.
1 Bigger Levels
When players first start-up A Plagues Tale: Requiem, they'll notice how linear and self-contained the first few missions are. However, as the game progresses they'll notice the levels get bigger allowing them to do more. There are many reasons why these levels are massive, they help the player figure out new ways to take down enemies, or give them a chance to play the level differently. Rather than being just linear, having an open world allows for a better experience.
The bigger levels aren't just for the players, but also for the story itself. The story in A Plague Tale: Requiem is massive, and the world needs to accommodate that size. This, in turn, makes the second game much longer than the first because, with bigger levels, players need time to understand to feelings, and emotions of each character. Adding to the playtime gives them a chance to spend more time with Amicia and Hugo.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is available now on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.