A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a narrative action-adventure from the French studio Asobo Studio, a continuation of the story of siblings Amicia and Hugo de Rune, who in fictional medieval France flee from the plague, the Inquisition, and a dark curse awakening in the boy a supernatural power over rats, which is slowly consuming him at the same time. The gameplay combines stealthy movement through the environment, solving environmental puzzles, and combat with slings, crossbows, and alchemical concoctions that can be combined for various tactical effects, while swarms of thousands of rats remain a key visual and gameplay element capable of engulfing an entire battlefield in an instant and sweeping away everything living that stands in its way.

On PlayStation 5, the game excels with sprawling environments of the Mediterranean coast, sunny vineyards, and dark catacombs, between which it transitions seamlessly without loading screens, and the massive number of simulated rats on screen together with sophisticated lighting demonstrates the console's technical capabilities. The music is once again composed by Olivier Deriviere, whose combination of orchestral and electronic elements underscores both the emotional and horror passages, from quiet conversations to a desperate escape from the sea of rats, while the relationship between the siblings remains the emotional core of the entire story and the motivation for all their decisions.

Requiem builds on the acclaimed first entry Innocence and expands its world with a darker tone and higher production values, while also addressing the price that Hugo's supernatural ability carries for his and Amicia's souls. Critics praised the emotional storytelling, the visual side, and the courage to head in a darker direction at the end than many similar family adventures. To this day, the game is valued as an example of how a narrative adventure can combine a touching sibling relationship with horror elements and the merciless world of medieval Europe gripped by plague and fear of the unknown.

Why play it: For players seeking an emotionally powerful narrative experience, it offers a darker continuation of Innocence with horror elements and the merciless world of plague-stricken medieval Europe.