Both games were on my pile-of-shame for a long time, finally played them back to back, so my subjective comments will include aspects of the first game, they belong together in my mind.
Oh boy, was I not prepared for this experience. APT resonated with me on magnitudes I did not anticipate at all, considering also the fact that was so late to the party, just remembering them as those "medieval stealth games with the cool rat mechanics".
These are absolutely beautiful games in their depiction of landscapes and locations in the historical medieval setting (France 1348) and in contrast to the beauty of the world deliver horrifying visions of death, war and ruin. The (voice) acting is fantastisc, the score is a piece of art in itself, the rats are an innovative and technically impressive game element and it all supports the storytelling which itself is interwoven with the gameplay mechanics to experience the journey of Amicia and her little brother Hugo on a sometimes painfully intense level of immersion.
These games are not without flaws, by no means. Combat and stealth might provide frustrating moments for some, the skill system is not very fleshed out, some gameplay elements are under-used (esp. in Innocence). Amicia is no melee fighter but there are some arena-like encounters to overcome, which lead to much frantic running around while juggling the weapons dial. And sometimes the checkpoints in the stealth sections are too far apart. But all of those shortcomings did not play a big role for my personal play experience.
A Plague Tale is a game about dark topics. War, death, the namegiving plague, the evil men do to other human beings, despair, sacrifice, and being constantly on the run in a hostile world. But then there are moments of hope, beauty, friendship, acts of human kindness, family bonds and siblinghood.
You see this is not a objective pro/con review, playing through Requiem triggered something in me I would call a form of catharsis. I awed at beauty, I was horrified, I screamed in frustration and I cried... a lot. And yes, it might be that this is telling more about myself than about the quality of the game, but I know that this was a quite unique experience in my 30 years of gaming, and it will leave a mark.
Thank you Asobo for creating these two gems! They will be forever in my heart.
[i]“We will live. And we will heal. The scars... We keep them so that we don't forget. So that we can accept. Until they don't hurt anymore."[/i] - Amicia de Rune
