Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy Review: Not Enough Light
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is an ambitious prequel that improves and streamlines parts of its predecessors, but in the process, loses something vital that made those games so special in the first place. Set 15 years before Hugo and Amicia’s journey in A Plague Tale: Requiem, Resonance unfolds from the perspective of charismatic plunderer Sophia, who ventures to a mythical island to find answers about her past. Unlike the slow-burn, stealthy nature of the first two games, Resonance is a loud, swashbuckling adventure brimming with frantic sword clashes and mildly interesting puzzle-solving. All its new features feel like a testing ground for a definitive third entry in the A Plague Tale series, while everything else mirrors parts of previous adventures. In theory, this should make it a perfect amalgamation of familiar and fresh, and for the most part it does, but Resonance takes a major step backwards due to its shallow character dynamics and monotonous writing. The result is a Plague Tale game that is significantly more fun to play and yet equally less memorable. Table of contentsGreatness from Small Beginnings, except not reallyAn unfamiliar Sophia undertaking a familiar journeyMusic and visual presentation takes center stagePredator not the preyPerformance is questionable but not poorNot enough light Greatness from Small Beginnings, except not really Image via Asobo Studio. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy begins with baby Sophia living a nightmare in a loop at a secret convent. She’s soon saved from her tormentors (but not her tormenting dreams) by her father and his partner in plundering. What follows is an hour-long prologue that serves both as a tutorial for its new action-focused melee combat and a harrowing setup for a grown-up, isolated Sophia who’s left to seek the island of her dreams. She’s joined by a sly, red-headed thief, Leni, who at first glance could easily be mistaken for Mélie, Amicia’s friend from the first game, thanks to her high-ponied red hair and dusty, torn clothes; an intentional mirroring no doubt. Unfortunately, Leni is only style, no substance, with not much personality and emotional depth. Her gimmick of a presence is simply a reminder of Amicia’s story arc from the first two games. There’s even a moment where Leni mentions shaving her head once, which again got me thinking about Amicia. It’s shocking how there’s barely any friction between Leni and Sophia, which makes their moment-to-moment interactions between combat, puzzles, and even cutscenes lacklustre. This is Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy’s biggest weakness. A few emotionally charged moments exist, but they are brought down by awkward, poorly written dialogues that feels like a major disservice to the franchise itself. The things I loved most about previous A Plague Tale games were the story, writing, and character dynamics. In the first game, we witness Hugo and Amicia’s growth from unfamiliar distant blood siblings to an inseparable pair bound by shared trauma and trust. The first two games excelled in these areas, depicting characters that grew as their relationships progressed. As a result, some of the most gut-wrenching moments hit the hardest. Likewise, light-hearted moments, such as the opening of A Plague Tale: Requiem, where Hugo, Amicia, and Lucas sprint through a sun-soaked meadow and enjoy a rare moment of bliss, felt earned, and I was emotionally invested in their rare, silly, childlike wondrous moments. That doesn’t happen here. Most dialogue exchanges between Sophia and Leni feel filtered and formal. I lost count of the times both Leni and Sophia said “trust me” to each other, with no significant actions or anecdotes to back up such a tight bond. There’s no real emotional depth built or witnessed between these two characters who have known and trusted each other for years. As a result, some of the game’s most presumptuous hard-hitting moments are anything but hard-hitting. All of this greatly undermines Resonance: A Plague Tale’s 20-hour adventure, which is a shame, because it’s good, almost great in every other department. An unfamiliar Sophia undertaking a familiar journey Image via Asobo Studio. In A Plague Tale: Requiem, Sophia’s character was like a ray of sunshine that pierced the doom and gloom to save Hugo and Amicia. She was a cheerful and enthusiastic pirate who became the anchor these young, troubled kids needed. Sophia’s presence lightened the room with her witty remarks and the emotional support she provided these wild sibling duo. In Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, we witness a very different Sophia. A younger, more reserved woman who has yet to process her grief and face her fears of abandonment and the darkness that plagues her nightmares. This isn’t an original setup, though one that fits perfectly into the treacherous universe of A Plague Tale. Resonance, however, fails to depict such growth. It’s not just because Sophia doesn’t spew witty remarks and have revelatory internal monologues, but simply because her character lacks internal conflict that comes with experiencing grief and pain. Outside of intense story and gameplay beats where you can witness the effects of such horrors in her darkened, bloodshot eyes, furrowed eyebrows, and occasional cries of agony, there are no clear or subtle expressions of Sophia’s inner thoughts that I could relate to or empathise with. Like Nathan Drake, she carries a journal full of rough sketches of her nightmares and her father’s diagrams of elaborate contraptions on Minotaur’s Island, both of which provide hints for solving various environmental puzzles. None, however, provide glimpses of Sophia’s current mindstate. There are no handwritten notes or excerpts to be found. It’s completely devoid of personality. Fortunately, this journey isn’t without any feelings. What vitalizes most climactic moments of this treasure-troving adventure is a somber yet beautifully orchestrated soundtrack by French composer Olivier Deriviere. Music and visual presentation takes center stage Image via Asobo Studio. The soundtrack has been a core pillar of the A Plague Tale games, and it takes center stage in Resonance. Moments of horror and grief are amplified by sad strings of violins, while sword fights are dramatised by uplifting choral verses. Sound design is equally impeccable. The clank of clashing steel, the sound of Sophia’s knife piercing through an enemy’s corrupted veins, and even the deep reverberating humming of primordial contraptions make trivial moments deeply immersive. Olivier Deriviere’s composition adds a layer of cinematic nuance to Sophia’s journey in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy that cannot be undermined. The game’s deeply moving soundtrack is only complemented by its visual presentation. Resonance takes place primarily on Minotaur Island, yet there’s no shortage of jaw-droppingly beautiful and varied landscapes. All these locations are mostly linear, but they evoke a sense of scale and wonder that many modern linear AAA titles notably fail to do. I was surprised by how much I found myself utterly captivated by the gorgeous vistas of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy. Greek blue islands with endless horizons, dauntingly tall Minoan architectures with infinitely spiraling corridors, and darkened labyrinths lost to time are all intricately carved environments that are vividly brought to life. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is easily one of the best-looking games of this console generation. But it’s also one that consistently acknowledges and appreciates this vital aspect of its overall presentation. During every “step-out” moment, the camera pans back to give you a glimpse of the grand scale of its breathtaking environments, which are only intensified by the never-pausing soundtrack. These are mesmerizing moments that Asobo has mastered over the course of three games. It’s at its best here. Predator not the prey Image via Asobo Studio. Where Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy differs the most from its predecessors is in its combat. No more are you slinging rocks at enemies’ faces, but rather slashing them open with one-handed swords and a slick knife, and in some instances, pushing them into pits, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey-style. It’s a stark departure from previous entries, but one that’s a welcome change. Although simple, melee combat in Resonance is surprisingly sleek and satisfying to undertake. Sophia can mix and match light and heavy attacks to deal different amounts of damage. Both Sophia and the enemies she encounters have a stamina meter that is broken by parrying attacks or dealing sufficient damage. Once an enemy is stunned, she can deal deadly blows, exemplified by sleek killing animations that never get old. While you’re not button-mashing attacks, Sophia can perform a few tricks that are just as satisfying to execute. You can pull archers to death with a sling, and get vengenance for those nightmarish ranged blows that were frustratingly impossible to avoid in A Plague: Tale Requiem that were infuriatingly impossible to avoid. Likewise, kicking enemies down a cliff is extremely cathartic, with each thump feeling adequately weighty and satisfying to pull off. That’s not all. Sophia has access to five different abilities, each with two mastery subskills that add more ways to haunt your enemies. All in all, her entire repertoire is sufficient enough to prevent combat from feeling stale for twenty hours. Speaking of stale, when you’re not slashing enemies in half, you will be jumping across dusty old platforms, exploring dilapidated caves, and moving light-reflecting mirrors to open gigantic doors. Puzzles is the gameplay’s second piece of the puzzle (pun intended), and they remain mostly similar to the previous two entries, in terms of complexity. There are a few late-game encounters that combine elements of everything you solve before. These had me momentarily scratching my head, but most are simple light beam contraption puzzles that haven’t evolved since the Uncharted 3 era. What’s changed, however, is that you can hold a button to get hints for solving these puzzles from your companion, similar to how it’s in modern Naughty Dog games. While I appreciated Leni’s suggestions during these moments of solitude, I wished she was more actively involved in solving these puzzles. In both A Plague Tale: Innocence and A Plague Tale: Requiem, puzzles were not just gameplay obstacles to overcome but also narrative tools that, through mutual collaboration, strengthened the bond between characters. Image via Asobo Studio. In Requiem, Amicia could command Lucas to rotate certain contraptions during puzzles. Moments like these subtly indicated the growing trust between these characters. Resonance isn’t completely devoid of such interactions. Leni does help Sophia once in a blue moon. There’s one section where Sophia has to step on the right tiles to reach the other side of the room but can’t do so without Leni rotating the source of light from the other side. Sophia’s life depends on her actions, and Leni even jokes about killing Sophia if she dies here. This was a rare occurrence. Like the dialogues, narrative-induced gameplay moments like these take a backseat in Resonance, which is deeply disappointing. If there’s a silver lining, the moment-to-moment gameplay in Resonance never drags or feels boring. If anything, it continues to spice things up. Without heading into spoiler territory, the latter half of the game introduces a new combat technique that adds a more strategic layer to it all. Overall, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is a more digestible and streamlined adventure than A Plague Tale: Requiem, with fewer chapters and more variety in combat. Performance is questionable but not poor Image via Asobo Studio. I finished Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy on a PC with an RTX 4080 and 16GB RAM. At 4K, ultra settings with DLSS set to quality, I was able to get 60+ FPS almost all the time. That said, I did experience notable hiccups in early sections of the game, which was surprising, given the beefy specs of my PC. I also ran into occasional bugs and glitches that had me restarting the checkpoint to make progress. Sophia would sometimes get hilariously stuck in the wall or break through the floor. Other times, I noticed Leni walk through a deadly trap without losing her head. Perhaps the funniest of the lot was when Sophia was supposed to cross a section with a boat, but the boat left without her. These weren’t game-breaking bugs, but they were frequent enough to mention. Unfortunately, I found similar glitches on both the game’s Xbox Series X and S versions. That said, a day-one patch should optimize the game’s performance on PC and fix these minor issues. Not enough light Image via Asobo Studio. Even during its most visually and audibly intense moments, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy because of its mediocre dialogues and forgettable character dynamics. A Plague Tale game without good writing is like a cloud without rain. And while its overarching story does a decent job of fleshing out its lore, and the gameplay additions have me excited for a potential third entry, on its own, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is mostly forgettable. It’s no doubt an ambitious prequel, but one that crumbles beneath the blinding light of its predecessors. 7 Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is an ambitious prequel, but one that crumbles underneath the blinding lights of its predecessors. Pros Breathtakingly beautiful Impeccable music and sound design Simple but fun combat Good pacing Cons Mediocre writing Shallow character dynamics Performance issues Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy