A Plague Tale: Requiem is an ideal introduction for series newcomers

digitaltrends.com:

With 2022’s gaming lineup looking a little anemic after Starfield’s big delay, A Plague Tale: Requiem is now a “main stage” game. While it doesn’t have an official release date yet, it’s supposed to launch this year during a notably slow season for games. If that holds true, the “AA” stealth action sequel will get a holiday season spotlight that’s usually reserved for bigger budget games with franchise star power behind them.

It’s a strange position for a game like this to be in. Its predecessor, A Plague Tale: Innocence, was a modest release that largely flew under the radar. It reached hidden gem status since then but remains something of a “best-kept secret” to the general gaming populace. Many players who hop into Requiem this year likely won’t have played Innocence at all.

I was thinking about that dynamic as I went hands-on with a demo of A Plague Tale: Requiem as part of Tribeca Fest. The small slice I played improves on the original in just about every way, though it also feels like a bit of a second introduction that’s anticipating a lot of new players.

My 40-minute demo took me through the game’s third chapter. I was quickly thrown into the story, where I was reintroduced to Amicia and Hugo. Like the first game, they’re on the run again here. My demo would have the brother and sister hiding from guards and dodging swarms of rats (sometimes pitting the latter against the former).

It was all very familiar, and I wonder if that’s by design. It’s almost like the developers are expecting lots of new players and want to make sure they get the same introduction they missed in Innocence. When I kill a guard for the first time by slingshotting a rock at his head, I watch Amicia gasp in horror, despite the fact that she