A Plague Tale: Requiem review – rat-infested sequel raises stakes and spectacle

Asobo; PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X
Asobo's medieval adventure sequel is bigger, bleaker and more battle-scarred, but suffers from uneven storytelling

At a time when most video game blockbusters are sprawling open worlds that take dozens if not hundreds of hours to complete, there's something refreshing about one that takes the more traditional approach of putting all the interesting stuff directly ahead of you. Such was the case with 2019's A Plague Tale: Innocence, in which the teenage Amicia de Rune, of noble descent, guided and guarded her sickly little brother Hugo on a perilous, often brutal journey through war-torn, vermin-infested medieval France. Blending horror, heart, and enough rats to sink a ship (and then, presumably, flee it) A Plague Tale was a surprise hit from the Bordeaux-based Asobo Studio.

The sequel, Requiem, continues to push Amicia and Hugo through the 14-century wringer, varyingly to greater and lesser effect. After their climactic encounter with the Inquisition at the end of Innocence, the pair travel to southern France, where they enjoy six months of relative peace. But their respite ends abruptly when Hugo's sickness flares up again, and they are forced to seek treatment in a nearby city from a shadowy organisation of alchemists.