After two unbelievable A Plague Story video games, it looks like Asobo Studio has turned the third into its greatest uphill battle on goal.
Resonance: A Plague Story Legacy is a prequel — that are simply inherently much less fascinating than sequels — there aren’t any rats, it’s all about fight as an alternative of stealth, and collection protagonists Amicia and Hugo are lacking in motion.
As a substitute, you play as Sophia from A Plague Story: Requiem. Keep in mind her? No, me neither. She’s within the sport to ferry you about in her ship and doesn’t depart all that a lot of a long-lasting impression.
Asobo Studio has made the newest entry all about her, although, because it turns again time 15 years to chart her upbringing and the mysterious visions she had as a baby. Sophia’s been dreaming of a Minotaur Island and the myths that accompany such a spot; what’s there ties into the Macula curse fuelling your entire franchise.
These story hyperlinks and the cinematic route of the sport are nearly the one methods it replicates the primary two titles. In the event that they had been the developer crafting its personal The Final of Us, then Resonance is extra like its Uncharted.
Parkour and melee fight are entrance and centre with puzzle fixing and story cinematics in between. All of it comes collectively to kind a strong narrative expertise that I don’t assume fairly reaches the identical heights as its predecessors.
The massive differentiator is a substantial give attention to swordfights.
Sophia has a full arsenal of assaults and a ability tree to improve them with, marking a departure from Amicia’s cowering stealth ways and her sling. You’ll be able to’t keep away from enemy encounters; there aren’t any stealth mechanics within the sport in any respect, so that you’re compelled to combat.
It’s primary at first, with the standard sword slashes, parries, and dodges you’ve seen 100 instances earlier than forming the foundations of each conflict. Whereas upgrades afterward develop and drastically enhance the fight system, its easy beginnings lend to Resonance’s greatest flaw: it takes far too lengthy to get going.
I discovered the opening hours powerful to take pleasure in, as an uninteresting plot setup meets elementary gameplay. The fight is so easy and the puzzles are so primary that I can see the sport dropping some individuals earlier than its 15-hour marketing campaign has actually begun. You’ll slog by the primary few chapters questioning what occurred regardless of the gorgeous ocean and Venice vistas.
However then one thing occurs, and every little thing modifications.
Resonance has a alternative for the rat horde the collection is understood for, forcing the story and the motion to lastly choose up the tempo. An entity is sucking the life out of something with a heartbeat within the depths of Minotaur Island, and also you’ll have to keep away from its gaze while shining gentle beams at it to destroy its seemingly infinite tentacles.
This provides much-needed depth to the sport because it lastly reveals its complete hand. By fight, puzzle-solving, and evasion, Resonance turns into a strong Plague Story expertise… finally.
By this level, the fight system could have extra to supply because it develops into one thing worthwhile. I’m struggling to recall one other sport the place its ability tree has such a major affect on the texture and delight of its fights; the upgrades develop and drastically enhance your strikes to the place they’ve extra capabilities and energy.
It’s extra than simply assault, parry, and dodge at this level: a grappling hook enables you to pull troopers in the direction of you, particular strikes deal harm throughout a large space, and your deflections set off additional results. With every little thing unlocked, the sport justifies its transfer away from stealth and into conventional sword motion; what’s there may be gratifying and one thing to construct on ought to Asobo Studio need one other combat-focused entry within the saga.
Puzzles have been a part of the franchise because the starting, although, and Resonance doubles down on them in satisfying trend. Primarily, they’re primarily based round a tool Sophia finds on the island that tasks gentle. She will be able to use this to line up gentle beams with the right colors, or place mirrors to mirror these beams to the place she wants them.
Different mind teasers contain image matching and referring to the journal belonging to Sophia’s father, who visited the island when she was younger. He made some progress by Minotaur Island and jotted down his findings in a ebook Sophia takes along with her; this creates a enjoyable dynamic of referring to what he found after which increasing on the findings as you remedy the puzzle.
There aren’t any fully new ideas to uncover, however the psychological checks present an interesting solution to break up the fight and traversal sequences. By the second half of the title, Resonance builds an excellent stream between the three.
I discover myself consistently coming again to that: as soon as the sport has gotten over its slog of a gap, it affords a constantly sturdy story expertise. The gameplay pillars complement that focus by entertaining interactions and scenes.
It wouldn’t be a Plague Story sport with out some beautiful panoramas on prime, and whereas Resonance has examples of that, I can’t assist however really feel it’s fallen wanting what the primary two instalments managed.
The overwhelming majority of the sport takes place on Minotaur Island, which is surrounded by lovely ocean views. Head inside to inside sections, although, and so lots of them are let down by fuzzy and blurry visuals. I even performed the entire thing within the 30 frames-per-second High quality Mode on a PS5 Professional for one of the best graphical expertise attainable — I didn’t come away impressed.
You too can go along with a Efficiency Mode concentrating on 60FPS, although there’s a really noticeable drop in visible high quality between the 2. Because the collection has all the time been about cinematic splendour, I caught it out with the High quality Mode at 30FPS.
Or, that’s not less than what it tries to realize: the title suffers from vital body charge drops all through the entire marketing campaign. I’m not speaking the odd single-digit drop; you’re going to discover when the sport chugs and turns into extra of a stop-start chore for a second. The Efficiency Mode fares significantly better — once more on PS5 Professional — however you’re buying and selling in numerous the graphical shine to realize that steadiness.
Asobo Studio redeems itself considerably with some gentle however efficient use of the PS5 DualSense controller’s function set. Haptic suggestions replicates the pitter-patter of Sophia’s footsteps as she jogs and sprints across the depths of Minotaur Island, enhancing the texture of exploration.
Conclusion
Resonance: A Plague Story Legacy takes the collection in a extra combat-focused route, and it pays off for probably the most half. It is a sturdy, cinematic mix of swordfights, puzzles, and parkour that also appears and feels quite a bit like A Plague Story expertise. A really sluggish begin and a dreadful body charge mar the third entry, although Resonance nonetheless comes out the opposite aspect a strong instalment.
