Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy – A rat escapes from the ship. review

Played on Xbox Series S

The two parts of A Plague Tale are often compared to The Last of Us – they say that there are also two protagonists (one of whom is very young), and their long journey through the infected area is fraught with danger. But Resonance: A Plague Tale: Legacy is reminiscent of Naughty Dog’s other hit, the Uncharted series. Instead of Amicia and her brother Hugo, we control the pirate Sofia from Part II, who in the writers’ opinion was an interesting enough character that an entire game could be dedicated to her. After playing through it, it’s hard to argue with them – the heroine’s backstory really deserves attention, and the attempts to add more action turned out to be very successful.

⇡#Cyprus is calling

We travel from 14th century medieval France to the Greek island of Crete, which appears again and again in Sofia’s visions. Since she was a child, images of the mysterious Minotaur Island have been constantly “generating” in her mind, and the heroine outlines everything she sees in her diary. When Sofia was little, her father made an expedition to the island, but the journey ended badly – he died and his old friend Faro took over the girl. A series of events that are best left unspoiled ensue, and many years later, Sofia finally arrives on the island, accompanied by a friend named Lani.

Like Hugo, Sofia’s veins in her arms turned black, which was not pleasant.

The events of the game take place 15 years before the events of A Plague Tale: Requiem, so neither Amicia nor Hugo are here. And there are no rats, despite the fact that this is the iconic “feature” the series is primarily associated with. But the retelling of ancient Greek mythology takes liberties – in addition to the aforementioned Minotaur, the entire plot revolves around the Minotaur, and from time to time we also meet Daedalus, King Minos and other heroes who, according to legend, are somehow connected to the island. Sophia periodically “moves” to Theseus, observing Crete through the eyes of the ancient warriors who participated in the games and trials organized by the king.

The result is an unusual look at Plutarch’s myth of Theseus and the Minotaur – the essence of the myth hasn’t changed much, and Sophia’s story perfectly complements the Plague Tale universe, making it clearer why the girls agree to help the boys in Part Two. Particularly nice moments are when we get to see different versions of certain locations – when Minos staged spectacular battles for thousands of spectators, and thousands of years later, when these halls and arenas were half-destroyed and covered in thick layers of mud and dust, with sunlight barely able to shine through the cracks in the worn-out walls.

Your trip to Sofia begins in Venice, but soon you’ll have to say goodbye to this city on the water

The artists at Asobo Studio are still doing amazing work – the local version of Crete is like a postcard tourist paradise, with folders of screenshots growing with every new rock formation and dazzlingly beautiful jungle, dotted with the remnants of ancient civilizations. What’s even more disappointing is that in the game’s second half, all of this fades into the background, leaving you walking through similarly shadowy corridors and rooms covered in a gray-black substance for hours on end. This is explained by the plot, and the game never stops being interesting in terms of storytelling, but sometimes you want to go back to the earlier chapters where you looked closely at the bright murals on the walls and found the light source more easily.

“Requiem” also felt a bit deflated by the end, but mostly because of the plot, whereas in “Resonance” you can’t fault the narrative. The story is consistently engaging (if sometimes predictable), and there’s no empty plot – all 12 hours of gameplay are packed with events. But there is at least one flaw in the plot – the local companions are no match for Hugo. Why the story needs Rani is often difficult to understand; it’s as if she was added just so that in A Plague Tale the protagonist doesn’t have to travel alone. Then another character joins us, and his presence next to Sofia makes more sense, but he’s also of little use – he helps with a few puzzles, but that’s about it.

Many places are so beautiful that you won’t want to leave

⇡#man-made products

It’s harder to find flaws in the gameplay, but you need to consider that Resonance is modeled after the Uncharted and Tomb Raider reboots – it’s a linear adventure where you fight, jump on platforms, solve riddles, or fight bosses. The game doesn’t bring anything new to the genre – it’s a textbook action game that doesn’t even boast any advanced technology. If “Requiem” was impressive for the astonishing number of rats on screen, here you’re simply admiring the artist’s work. But with so few adventure games in this genre being released, and even fewer quality adventure games among them, fans of the genre will certainly be pleased with the release of Resonance.

The biggest concern is the change in subgenres – the first two installments of the series were primarily stealth games, and when it came time to engage in melee combat, rather “crooked” mechanics came into play. Miraculously, in Resonance, they’ve managed to pull off “combat” – here you have a standard set of blocks, blocks, and dodges, as well as the ability to throw hooks at enemies to pull them towards you (the only way to defeat archers on mountains), and even contextual finishing moves that turn on when you deliver a killing blow against a wall. Plus, there’s kicking – just like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, it’s fun every time you push your opponent off a cliff or into a pit of traps. The arena is always filled with bottles and daggers, and just like in The Last of Us, you can stun enemies in between swings of your sword.

Opponents often attack simultaneously, but Sofia has enough tools to fight them off

There’s also pumping, and it’s a fun arrangement. First, collectibles are scattered around the world – ranging from simple “achievement” trinkets to boxes containing amulets. The more headbands, bracelets, and rings you find, the higher the chance of something unexpected happening in combat—Sofia can dodge arrows, find extra thrown items, and even survive fatal injuries. Secondly, there are resonance points between “gatherers”, and these resonance points are spent on new skills in the leveling tree. The tree is small, but all the points there are useful – for example, there’s a talent where while dodging, Sophia will grab an enemy and throw them aside, causing a stun. With the other one he’ll get a double kick – it’s not hard to guess that this will make the fight more interesting.

There are moments of invisibility, but oddly enough, they have nothing to do with the human opponents – they don’t even offer to defeat them in secret. I don’t want to spoil why Sophia has to crouch down at times, but let’s just say the stealth events here aren’t thrill-inducing. They’re not very long, and if you fail they don’t force you to go through long sections again, sometimes even alternating with action. The same goes for the puzzles – they seem overly easy, and the solutions are sometimes obvious due to the small number of options, but they don’t take much time, and there are some cool puzzles that are fun because of the process itself, rather than being tricky.

Almost all the puzzles involve light – we either turn the large lens that the sun’s rays hit, or use the artifact that Sophia carries with her

The entire game is a joy to play, as there’s nothing here that would cause any major complaints. The story is paced very well, although it seems odd at times, you spend ages fighting puzzles, jumping onto platforms and activating levers, and then you enter the next room – where soldiers appear from somewhere who clearly have less work to do than you. But you are blind to such conventions – after an exciting battle, you may find an interesting chase, a small secret operation, a small area with several branches in which the “Collectors” are hidden, or something else different from the previous episode. You might even find a treasure chest with new swords – they come in multiple types, each with unique advantages in combat.

***

Working with Amicia on the third installment of A Plague Tale is certainly less risky than developing an action game starring a secondary character who prefers open confrontations with hordes of aggressive enemies rather than stealth. For the most part, the risk paid off – visually the game is no less impressive than previous installments in the series, and the gameplay changes are so successful that it’s even hard to find fault with the combat system. Yes, there are no new ideas, plus or minus, this is the same adventure action game as Uncharted and its several clones, but the plot, luxurious settings and many other advantages help you forget about the secondary nature and experience resonances that until the end it is difficult for the creators to pull themselves away from the screen.

advantage:

• An engaging story with good narrative pacing that fits perfectly into the A Plague Tale universe;
• Beautiful landscapes and stunning light and shadow work;
• In the spirit of Uncharted, it successfully transitions from the stealth action genre to an almost pure action game;
• Fun combat system – you can even kick!

defect:

• The companions Sofia travels with are inferior to Hugo in every way and do not seem necessary.
• In the second half of the game, you’ll often miss the bright spots from the first half.

Rating: 8.0/10

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