If you like the first one, then for sure you will like this sequel of the game

I have a lot of opinions and feelings about this game. I played the first game a couple years ago and finally got around to this one and had high hopes. The first game had a interesting and entertaining story that focused on the relationship between the main character and her younger brother afflicted with a curse that causes plagues which begin in the form of swarms of rats. Swarms of rats is the key to this. In this new game, a better comparison would be similar to ocean waves of rats that destroy towns and cause untold destruction to the french towns and villages. Though this is not a negative, it begins my point of this game trying to go above and beyond of what the first game offered, and in my opinion, failing to make a fun game.

I would like to preface this by saying that the story, visuals, characters, and everything around the feeling of the game was fantastic. If this were a movie, show, or book I would have given this a much higher score as I found the story to be engaging and it is what kept me playing. However, this is a video game. And a bad one at that. Where the first game felt as if it were a puzzle game that had unique mechanics surrounding the rats and stealth your way through to complete various puzzles, this game felt like they focused on the ability to go through the game giving you choices. Do you take the upper level so you have sight of what is happening, though there are more soldiers? Or do you go down below where there are rats, and easier targets to deal with. Do you take the violent route? Or do you take the `pacifist` route? The skill system even supports this further by giving you perks for reaching checkpoints in the stealth, alchemy, or aggressive route. Initially, I thought this was very cool and I was excited to explore it. Though I still enjoyed it, I did find it was a good concept.

Where the game goes wrong however is that, compared to the first game, this gives more of an illusion of choice it felt. You can manage your way, given enough time, to go through a level killing a minimal amount of people most time. I may be impatient, but I found that it seemed like the game wanted you to do more with various combat elements. The game, to its benefit, gave many options to go through the level with different alchemical tools to make a fire brighter, tar an enemy to set them on fire, to shoot a fire cross-bolt into a wooden target to give yourself a light source. All of this in theory sounds fun. But I found that many of these ended up with some guard noticing and having to deal with that. I felt that many times, I had no choice but to kill a guard, and coming from the first game, I did not enjoy that. I wanted to, at the request of the younger brother in the game, to not kill people. But the game, even in the story itself, encourages violence. In the end, no matter how peaceful you may try to be, the story forces you into violence making what I did during the levels feel like I didn't have any effect on the story.

To speak on the combat, this game does not do combat well. It feels clunky, and generally there as a way to get back to stealth during various levels after accidentally being found out. However, the game forces you into dealing with waves of enemies on multiple occasions. The worst of these being Chapter 14. I nearly quit even knowing how close I was to the end. For a game focused on puzzle solving and stealth, forcing long, drawn-out combat scenarios where you have a clunky combat system was an interesting choice. I saw what they were going for giving options for puzzles and combat. I just did not think that it worked and the game suffered for it.

I do not regret playing this game. I am just disappointed that it seemed to jump the shark and failed to land.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is an emotional journey that deepens the bond between Amicia and Hugo, with stunning visuals and an immersive atmosphere.

What’s Good:
- Emotional Story: The sibling relationship is powerful, adding depth to the survival narrative.
- Improved Gameplay: Enhanced combat, stealth mechanics, and unique rat-based puzzle-solving.
- Atmosphere: Beautiful, detailed environments and a tense, gripping mood.

What’s Not So Good:
- Pacing Issues: Some sections feel slow or repetitive.
- Limited Replayability: The linear story doesn’t encourage multiple playthroughs.

Overall, A Plague Tale: Requiem is a must-play for fans of story-driven games, though it can drag at times.