Since its October 17th 2022 release, A Plague Tale: Requiem has been met with success and praise despite some initial criticism. Over time, players have found collectibles, upgrades, and souvenirs hidden in all nooks and crannies of the game. Eagle-eyed and observant players can still miss some secrets hidden in the actual game, and lovers of lore can find some secrets buried within the various references and titles. Character names can have hidden meanings containing references, foreshadowing can stretch across two games, and the music can be a hidden secret in itself.
7 The Future Of The Prima Macula
Waiting for post-credit scenes in video games has become standard practice for some players. However, there may be players unaware of what happens after the credits roll in A Plague Tale: Requiem.
The scene features a newborn in a hospital, and a heart monitor can be heard in the background. The Prima Macula seems to still persist in this future far from Amicia and Hugo, as the telltale black dendritic veins appear on the little one’s exposed arm. This scene featuring a modern iteration of the Prima Macula possibly hints at a future game.
6 Lucas Makes The Final Shot
After the actual pain and suffering that Amicia endured to keep Hugo alive until the very end, players and in-game characters find out that it was all for naught. Amicia must kill her brother, Hugo, to end the destruction that the final threshold of the Prima Macula had wrought.
Players can choose to obey this instruction, commanding Amicia to end Hugo’s life with a slingshot to the head. If players decide that they cannot let Amicia make the killing (sling)shot, Lucas will take over and do it for Amicia with his crossbow. This is an alternate ending to the game, though it does lead to the same consequence of Hugo dying.
5 The Wrath Of Amicia
A Plague Tale: Requiem’s composer Oliver Deriviere revealed a secret behind a music choice that links the sequel to the first game A Plague Tale: Innocence. At the end of the first game, Amicia’s journey has been emotional and difficult with a real possibility of dying. She fought and killed her way through her enemies, and witnessed the deaths of her friends and family. That emotional trauma led to a long-lasting wrath that spilled over into the events of the second game.
Through the use of the same theme The Wrath throughout A Plague Tale: Requiem, Oliver Deriviere takes the tone from playful and filled with joy in the opening scenes, to increasingly intense, chaotic, and vengeful.
4 Basilius: Rat King
Basilius was a child cursed by the Prima Macula in the 6th century BC. Basilius had a protector named Aelia, just as Hugo has Amicia, and they lived on the island of La Cuna. In the courtyard from Chapter 9: Tales and Revelations, players can collect items to understand Amicia and Hugo's predecessors. After he thought Aelia had died, Basilius’ emotional outpouring forced him to cross the final threshold. The macula consumed him, and this caused the Justinian Plague.
The name Basilius means ‘king’, according to Behind The Name. This could be an interesting reference to ‘rat king’ occurrences considering the name's meaning, the Prima Macula’s causation of plagues with rats, and the inherent disconcerting origins of rat kings. Aelia's name can also mean 'sun', referring to Aelia being the light in Basilius' life and the major cause of his happiness.
3 Basilius' Cradle Of Centuries
Basilius’ imprisonment on La Cuna island can be foreshadowed to some players when the meaning of the island’s name and the chapter title 'The Cradle of Centuries' is examined.
La Cuna means ‘cradle’, and the island of La Cuna effectively becomes Basilius’ cradle for the eight centuries his body remained chained in the crypt. The imagery of a cradle housing Basilius’ body emphasizes the tragedy of the Prima Macula curse. Hugo and Basilius were both very young when the Macula consumed them, with Hugo roughly five years old at the time of his death. To rephrase it informally, he was just a baby.
2 The First Men
If players aren’t hunting for souvenirs in A Plague Tale: Requiem, this historical plot line might be missed. This is found after Arnaud introduces Amicia and Hugo to Sophia, the ship captain, in Chapter 7.
While playing through Chapter 7, painted hand prints on a cave wall can be found after exploring the cave. This visual is strongly reminiscent of the real-world Cueva de las Manos
paintings, which are prehistoric cave paintings located in Argentina. The timeline of the game’s lore reaching far into its past adds gravitas to Amicia and Hugo’s situation.
1 The De Rune Family Macula
The De Rune family crest features an image of a tree. If this is thought of as a sort of family tree, this can refer to the nature of the Prima Macula curse. It is carried in some bloodlines, implying a far-reaching sort of disease that is carried through the many branches in the years spanning the De Rune family tree.
As the Macula’s effects grow and become more visible on Hugo’s face and body throughout the game, the deep black veins also look like wrenching branches of a tree. This could also infer the sinister nature of the Prima Macula, propagating like a growing tree through Hugo’s body. During the final game scene where Hugo must be killed to save everyone, he also appears to be affixed to a tree that is burdened by a giant and darkly webbed ball. Possibly the Prima Macula and the weight of its burden on the De Rune family.
