XBOX REVIEW | Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

Asobo has always been a master at crafting the most beautiful games imaginable, and with Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, they’ve done it again: a game so pretty I spent almost as much time in photomode as I did playing it. This is the prequel to Requiem, and if you’ve played the 2nd A Plague Tale game, you’ll already be familiar with our protagonist Sophia. She now gets a game all to herself, and you’ll learn why she’s already seen some things and why the literal wave of rats didn’t shock her as much as it did most people.

The game starts off with Sophia as a young child, and you see the Order experimenting on her. Whereas Hugo has the power to control the rats in A Plague Tale, Sophia has the power of visions, and later she can also channel the combat prowess of another person important to the story. Everyone wants her for this power, as she’s the key to unlocking the secrets of an island that has been lost in history, and which could hold countless treasures. In reality, it’s the kick-off to a world of misery and fear, but I won’t dive into the details of them in this review, and you can count on it being spoiler-free.

Things I liked!

• It is BEAUTIFUL | It’s been a while since I was last this impressed with the visual splendour; I think the last time was Expedition 33, and that was also a French studio (and there is even an Esquie mask easter egg in the game), so our southern neighbours are definitely cooking. Resonance looks stunning. Not just the visual fidelity, but the set design, character details, how it plays with lighting… There was even a section where I was following a thread of light through multiple places and ages, and I was simply blown away by it.

• The sound design is fantastic | The music is composed by Olivier Derivière, and while I don’t often recall the names of people working on a game, his work on South of Midnight was also the highlight of that game for me, and it can stand just as tall as the visual design in this one. It made me FEEL things, and that’s the most important job that music has in a game. I was sad when I was supposed to feel sad, excited when I was supposed to be and my heart was pounding in my chest when it needed to be, and that’s all because of the stellar soundtrack and amazing sound effects.
  
  
• Clever puzzles | Resonance has a huge focus on puzzles, and the good part is you won’t even have to take notes because the game already jots down all needed tips in Sophia’s journal for you. Whereas the previous A Plague Tale entries felt like they were going for a mix between The Last of Us and games with more stealth, Resonance feels more like a Tomb Raider game, with a focus on puzzles, exploration and combat (more on the latter later). The puzzles mostly revolve around light, and you’re supposed to trigger all these ancient contraptions ages after they’ve stopped working optimally. It feels almost believable, even considering the incredible scope of some of the set pieces, and that is an achievement on its own. I’m also happy to report I didn’t have to consult a guide a single time during the playthrough, and that’s good puzzle design to me: not too hard, not too easy.
  
  
• Great Storytelling | I really started to feel for Sophia as she kept enduring hardships, one after the other. And the game has a great pacing between the exploration, puzzle-solving, combat and cutscenes. You’re shown visions of the past and they keep peeling off layer after layer of the narrative as you progress deeper into the bowels of the island. I was always looking forward to the next reveal, and the ending certainly did not disappoint either. I won’t spoil it in this review, but the equivalent of the rats as the big bad presence in Resonance was brilliant.
  
  
• Exploration is rewarded | Sophia doesn’t level up. You can gain Resonance points from combat, but also from finding Resonance points scattered across the levels. You can then spend these on her combat abilities and help her face increasingly more powerful enemies. You’ll also find trinkets like bracelets, rings, coins, and hair beads, all of which give you passive boosts like increased chances to avoid arrows or a better chance of having enemies drop throwable items.

Mixed & disliked!

• Combat takes some getting used to | I had to think hard about where to land the combat, because I did end up liking it near the end of the game, when Sophia had learned new skills (especially the one that lets you kick enemies off cliffs) and as my passives from the trinkets started stacking. But I sucked at the parry mechanic even in the tutorial. I don’t know if it was a temporary bug, but the timing felt completely off to me. Once across the halfway point, though, I was parrying all kinds of attacks with ease.
  
  At the start of the game, it also felt like the combat was suited more for 1-on-1 fights, but the game kept throwing groups of enemies at me. By the end of the Resonance, I had enough abilities at my disposal to easily manage a ton of enemies, and there was even a memorable section on a bridge that felt like a power trip and a redemption rolled into one, where combat absolutely stole the show. But I’m keeping it in the “Mixed” section because it shouldn’t have taken half a game to grow on me.

• Resonance points don’t save across playthroughs | Completionists beware: while found trinkets and collectible artifacts save across playthroughs, your Resonance points don’t. So don’t expect to replay earlier chapters like it’s NG+ and be overpowered, and if you’re going for the achievement tied to unlocking all skill trees, you’d better have found at least 165/200 resonance points. For me, this’ll be what keeps me from ever getting a 1000G in the game, because I don’t want to replay it from scratch with a guide beside me.
  
  
• Can’t go back | I had massive FOMO while playing this game. It’s perhaps the single biggest strike against my enjoyment, but Resonance just loves putting you at an intersection of paths and, for some reason, I always managed to choose the one that led to the next story moment, and then a door would close behind me or a tunnel would collapse. I missed out on so many collectibles in my first run, and I hated not being able to backtrack and explore some more. When I can ask a game “where to next,” I’m the type of person to dash in the opposite direction so I’m sure I’ll have 100% when the credits roll. Without a guide, that’ll be impossible in this game because it just loves to close off paths for you.

• How long did I play the review before publishing? 17 hours
• How long to beat the story? 15 Hours
• How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 845/1000G or 32/36
• How long to get 100%? | 16 hours with a guide
• You’ll love this game if you like these | Tomb Raider, The Last of Us, A Plague Tale

Score: 89/100

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is a beautiful adventure that proudly stands shoulder to shoulder with the previous games. With clever puzzles, fantastic storytelling and a soundtrack that hits every emotional note, Sophia’s solo adventure is one I’d happily follow into the depths of the island again.