Just finished A Plague Tale: Requiem.
Overall a great game that started out strong but declined during the middle section and especially towards the end.
Visually probably the best looking game on Series X. Truly breathtaking. Therefore, I guess it's understandable that it doesn't run at 60 FPS even though I don't see why they didn't try to implement a performance mode. During gameplay this doesn't cause a lot of issues because the game doesn't require fast and precise inputs.
Unfortunately the puzzles in this game are very simplistic. Some of the hardest puzzles involve opening locked doors by spotting a hole in the wall where you can then shoot the lock with your sling. The rest is just moving from one illuminated place to another which won't cause any problems since it's what you're doing all the time in this game. Needless to say, the puzzles are very similar to the ones in the first game.
Another thing that disappointed me from the half-way point during the end was the story.
What was the reason for Hugo's dream? There was no cure on this island.
Was it the Macula's doing? Kinda counter productive when the original plan was to bring Hugo to Marseille and lock him up just like the Order did with Basilius. That would've been an easy victory for the Macula.
Of course Lucas and Mom show up on the island just when the outbreak starts and Amicia and Hugo wanted to go to the harbor to escape the island...
So after not finding a cure they come up with the genius plan that all of them should just hide in the mountains and live there happily ever after. Why didn't you come up with this plan earlier?
It took them way too long to realize that killing Hugo would've been the easiest way to stop the rats and therefore saving tens of thousands of innocent people (just from what we witnessed over the course of the two games). You know, I would've accepted it when the reason behind that was that the Macula would be set free by killing Hugo but in the end the Macula took control over Hugo and all it took to stop it was to kill Hugo...
Doesn't that make the bad guys who wanted to kill both Amicia and Hugo actually the good guys, even if completely unintentionally?
In the end it's a story of selfishness and it certainly doesn't make the characters more likeable in hindsight.
The last chapter is also pretty stupid. Amicia leaves the mountain home to track down the future Carrier and Protector. Except that it took hundreds of years from the first outbreak to the second so I guess she won't be so successful in finding clues in her lifetime. Additionally, it's a blood curse that runs in her family so it might be a good idea not to produce any offspring.
After the credits they apparently teased a sequel that plays in modern times. I guess that would at least lead to new kind of puzzles.
8.5/10
