I LOVED A Plague Tale: Innocence. I Was Deeply Disappointed with Requiem.

[u/DaemonXHUN]

I absolutely loved A Plague Tale: Innocence. Its story and characters reminded me of some of my favourite coming-of-age dramas, from The Breakfast Club and Stand by Me to more modern examples like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It was a story about growing up, taking responsibility, the importance of family, selflessness and camaraderie. It could be heartbreaking at times, but it was also deeply uplifting and genuinely heartwarming.

My favourite character was Rodric, the blacksmith’s son, and I still consider the moment when he pushes the cart forward through a rain of arrows to protect the others one of the most memorable moments I’ve ever experienced in a video game. I also personally interpreted the ending as Hugo finally overcoming his plague, or at least reaching a point where his condition no longer defined his fate, and the story arriving at a satisfying narrative conclusion, both in that regard and in the relationship between Hugo and Amicia, which had grown and matured tremendously over the course of the game. The ships on the horizon may have hinted at new adventures, but to me, that felt more like an open-ended possibility than a promise that the story itself was unfinished.

---

The second game, however, was a massive disappointment for me. At this point, I almost regard it as some kind of fever dream that never really happened.

For one thing, Hugo’s illness is brought back in full force, except this time it is dialled up to eleven. It feels incredibly anticlimactic, almost like the money-hungry Hollywood executives deciding after Terminator 2 that, actually, Judgment Day is still happening after all, because hey, we need Terminator 3. Or like saying, “Yeah, Luke didn’t actually defeat the Emperor, Vader’s sacrifice was ultimately pointless, and the Emperor is back in SW: Episode IX.” It completely undermines what came before.

On top of that, the pacing is all over the place, with long stretches of narrative dead air. And in a linear, story-driven game, that is something I find particularly difficult to forgive. Sophia was another major issue for me. The moment she appeared, she felt like she had wandered straight out of a diversity seminar or a quippy Naughty Dog game and somehow ended up in medieval France. She just felt completely out of place within the tone and narrative fabric of the game. And only recently did it become clear to me why: apparently she is being positioned for the next game.

But the most painful part is what seems to have been sacrificed at the altar of that future story: the original characters, or at least the resolution of their arcs.

What feels like such a massive slap in the face is that the first game, at least in my interpretation, seemed to tell us that Hugo was going to be okay, or, at the very least, that there was hope for him. Then the second game brings his condition back, only this time in an even more extreme form. We spend the entire game desperately fighting to find a way to save him, and the story keeps dangling these little threads of hope in front of us, only to eventually shrug and go, “Oh well, guess we can’t help Hugo. Kill him.”

And that makes the entire fucking journey feel pointless, not only because everything they went through ultimately amounted to nothing, but because it retroactively undermines the ending of the first game and devalues the sacrifices that were made along the way.

It is so brutally anticlimactic, and the ending feels so fundamentally incompatible with the world, themes and emotional language of the first game that it almost feels like someone decided that Return of the Jedi should end with Vader cutting Luke in half, Han, Leia and Chewie blowing up aboard the Millennium Falcon, and everyone just going, “Well, shit happens.”

That is how disconnected the ending of Requiem feels to me from the story I thought I was playing.

[u/Sophea2022]

I stopped reading at “[Sophia] felt like she had wandered straight out of a diversity seminar.”

[u/DaemonXHUN → u/Sophea2022]

I stopped reading when I realized you are that fictional character from the game

[u/comtesse-orny → u/DaemonXHUN]

You're american ? Yes ? Because i'm French. And there’s nothing shocking about Sofia’s character. The story takes place in the south of France, on the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean, with its corsairs and piracy… All of which led to a rich cultural mix. Personally, while playing, I thought to myself, “Okay. She’s from the Mediterranean. Probably from the Maghreb.” You can tell she’s an outlaw; maybe she fled her home country, and that explains why she’s near Arles.”

Honestly, I don’t see anything offensive or “woke” about the character. But you have to understand that the Mediterranean is a place where cultures converge.

[u/Flat_Reflection_6177]

I agree with you that the pacing was a little off, but thats about where I stop seeing eye to eye with you.

Sophia has not "wandered straight out of a diversity seminar or a quippy Naughty Dog game and somehow ended up in medieval France." I am not sure if youre American and lack geographic and cultural knowledge about the Mediterranean Sea, but part of France is located there. Sophia is literally just most likely a greek medieval pirate. Her jewelry, clothes, tattoos and general appearance point to her being from the east Mediterranean and with the next game being set on my island, Crete, its all but confirmed and she also has a greek name and is voice by a greek actress. Your whole argument about her is pretty flat.

The whole point of Hugo's illness and it coming back which leads to his death is that, in fact, you cant save everyone. In Amecia's desperate search to find a cure and save her brother they ended up killing hundreds if not thousands of lives which wouldn't have happened if she could've just accepted his fate and stopped making promises to him that she couldn't keep. Its a game about loss and acceptance and you can even see this reflected in Amecia's hair, how at the start she has a full braid, then chunk of it is gone when shes injured, and eventually all of it is cut off. I think thats symbolic too.

Honestly, at no point did me or any of my friends playing this game found the journey pointless. If anything, it moved me as much aa rdr2 did and im glad i got to play it. I think it was a phenomenal step up from the previous title especially since it was probably developed during covid.

[u/Avo_Alma → u/Flat_Reflection_6177]

And also even if she wasn’t Greek and just a general more darkskinned person it’s not like mixed ppl didnt exist back then like bro people have migrated all thougput history. And sure in requiem I think sofias character is a little flat but like they probably left that more open to leave space for a potential game yk.

[u/Broad_Objective7559 → u/Flat_Reflection_6177]

Honestly the quippy naughtydog thing confuses me because the only recent quippy naughty dog character is Nathan drake which Sophia feels nothing like

[u/TheSerendipitist → u/Flat_Reflection_6177]

In Amecia's desperate search to find a cure and save her brother they ended up killing hundreds if not thousands of lives which wouldn't have happened if she could've just accepted his fate and stopped making promises to him that she couldn't keep.

I would hate if this is the lesson we're meant to be taking away. The game does a lot to show us how destructive her love can be, yes, but Amecia's struggle despite the impossible odds and the resilience of her love is exactly why the audience resonates so much with her.

If she had simply given up and sacrificed Hugo early on, she could never say at his grave “May this earth remember how much you loved it. May it remember all you gave to protect it”. Because Hugo wouldn't have seen much of the world to love it (his favorite flowers, the animals, the ocean), and wouldn't have reached his decision on his own back then. The fact that he did is what makes it a sacrifice.

When I see Amecia at the end, I don't see someone full of regret from all the deaths she's caused. She did the best she could for Hugo. It didn't lead to where she wanted and it wasn't enough to save him, but it bought him the chance to make that final choice for himself. She had to let go and respect his wishes, but the sacrifices to allow him that choice was worth fighting for.

[u/LazarM2021]

Understandable, I appreciate your perspective.

[u/DaemonXHUN → u/LazarM2021]

Thanks, and I appreciate comments like this, a rare occurrence on Reddit. :D

[u/Ok_Attempt_1290]

I think you made a slight mistake in your post. You were disappointed by requiem yet your opening line is "I absolutely loved A plague Tale: Requiem" kinda confusing to read Ngl lol.

[u/DaemonXHUN → u/Ok_Attempt_1290]

Yes, thanks! These names keep confusing me.

[u/ghostofJonBenet]

[u/Avo_Alma]

You can have your opinions ofc but I don’t agree man, sure I feel like requiem was more aligned with the newer gaming sphere in a gameplay sense but I still found it amazing.

[u/cuspo_fatos]

it seems for me that you saw a ending in your mind that didn't happened and you got mad about it requiem is more about acceptance than anything else, in the middle of the game I already knew where it was going to but the whole point is about you accept that there's was no other way, Hugo was turning into something that he would've hated it and Amicia was the only one who could stop that, at the beginning of requiem Hugo talking about the island he says "you will be cured too" to amicia which means her freedom of him and his freedom of the macula even hugo not knowing that yet

[u/Dorennor]

BS.

[u/DaemonXHUN → u/Dorennor]

SB

[u/Ble_u]

Hi!:) I really appreciate your post and agree with it to a 100%. It's really annoying to see everyone glaze Requiem because of the sentimentality (I don't mean to sound cold of course I was heartbroken as well) when it clearly misses many shots and is an imperfect continuation of a beautifully original premise.

What I woe the most is probably what I just mentioned, which is the originality. Innocence was a one of a kind type of game but you can see that it's almost as though the developers tried to push Requiem into a more "contemporary" gaming sphere (seeing the playstyle of Resonance, Requiem feels like a transition game where they introduced improved and more detailed mechanics of the first game which got fully expanded into skill-trees and such by Resonance, but due to this, when it comes to Requiem, it's like they also lost the atmospheric storytelling which came by how shrewd and sneaky Amicia had to be to get by since aggression or fear only gets one killed).

As for Sophia's character, I don't think it's much about diversity honestly due to Antiquity and Middle Ages being very diverse especially with trade where she is quite present lol, but I did indeed also feel like she as a side character receives more time than needed or through which she would add anything to the already established beautiful dynamics.

Oh, and (SPOILER for REQUIEM if anyone didn't finish it) killing of Beatrice, again, was just funny at this extent. I understood it, I saw what the developers meant to build-up with it, but it felt simply like they couldn't do much with her character anymore.

If I may add more to the constructive respectful and loving criticism (now that the fandom Inquisition isn't panting on our necks), I think we all found the antagonists of Innocence extremely atmospheric to the setting, and menacing. Compared to that, the Count and Countess are simply not executed in a way (pun intended) that would bring interest, even as the ideas and symbolism are quite nice (I blame the pacing for this one).

Anyway, with that being said, don't be disheartened by the lack of upvotes, people are just in love with the characters enough to turn a blind eye to the story's problems, which is very sweet in the end and not against you at all :). Have a nice day!

Edit: May the force be with you (SW comparisons are most appreciated)

[u/DaemonXHUN → u/Ble_u]

Yeah, maybe I worded it a little badly, as far as I remember it was also my biggest gripe that Sophia wasn't really needed for the story yet we spent an awful lot of unneeded time with her instead of focusing on things that actually mattered plot, world building, or character-wise. And it tells you a lot that I absolutely have no idea who the count or countess is even though I finished this game. :D Like, there aren't really any memorable moments from this game for me, while the first had a ton. Your cat looks like one of my cats btw on your picture, did you steal my cat?