E50 A Plague Tale: Requiem

Pixel Vision

Pixel Vision turns 50 with some earthshaking news, before Ben and Tao turn protector and carrier and take on the armies of Provence in A Plague Tale: Requiem, sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence. The duo take opposing views as they discuss the contradiction between a didactic story and fun gameplay; why all in-game villains have caricature evil voices; how The Last Of Us sets the benchmark for effective storytelling in adventure games; if crafting, collectibles and upgrade elements are superfluous and interfere with a strong narrative; the influence of JK Rowling; force walk; and rats. Lots of rats.

Every key story element is spoiled by the end, but the first 45 minutes are spoiler free and pretty much all spoilers are heavily forecast.

Content Warning: PEGI 15. Coarse language, violent scenes, tragic developments.

Clarifications:

* The soundtrack to A Plague Tale: Requiem which features heavily is by French composer Olivier Deriviere, who also composed Greedfall, Alone in the Dark and Dying Light 2 among others. Ben’s a fan:

* The Arnaud aka Beast aka Wall confusion exhibited by both Tao and Ben is real, as testified to by several Reddit threads and errors in YouTube compilations. The Beast and the Wall are not the same guy:

* https://www.reddit.com/r/APlagueTale/comments/yrz5an/when_it_comes_to_arnaud_and_the_beast/

* https://www.reddit.com/r/APlagueTale/comments/z3njza/the_beast_arnaud/

* https://www.reddit.com/r/PlagueTaleInnocence/comments/10cj2dq/major_spoiler_why_did_arnaud_become_hunted_by_the/

* https://www.reddit.com/r/APlagueTale/comments/y6cx7o/a_plague_tale_requiem_chapter_vii_discussion/

Audio extracts:

* Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

* The Prodigy - Firestarter

* The Last Of Us OST by Gustavo Santaolalla

* The Godfather 3

* Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

* Monty Python and the Holy Grail

* Dame Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again

* Citizen Sleeper - Density

* Disco Elysium OST

* Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

* The Revenant OST by Ryuichi Sakamoto

* Wes Anderson Horror Trailer - SNL

* Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

* Skyrim Level Up

* Playstation 5 start up sound (reversed)

* Wolcen Lords of Mayhem OST by Jean-Gabriel Raynaud & Cedric Baravaglio

* Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - “Chill Winston”

* Pentiment OST by Alkemie

* Dark Souls OST by Motoi Sakuraba

* The Offspring - Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)

* Brad Mehldau - Exit Music (For A Film), original by Radiohead

* The Mouse Outfit - Money

* The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Substack: Sign up free to read our reviews and commentary at www.pixelvision.net Twitter: @pixelvizEmail: [e-mail]

PS. So long and thanks for all the fish (and the listening!) - Ben and Tao xx

Get full access to Pixel Vision at www.pixelvision.net/subscribe