It's good, but at what cost? An analysis of A Plague Tale: Requiem

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ธ.ค. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 61

  • @TheTuubster
    @TheTuubster 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

    1:01:00 To me the story is an allegory rich with metaphors, and at its core it is about preserving your compassion and empathy, to not lose your soul, in a world filled with hate and violence. Both Amicia and Hugo deal with this inner struggle, and due to their different stages of maturity Amicia prevailed at the end and Hugo lost.
    Amicia for example is a metaphor for young people forced into committing acts of violence, even though it goes against their nature, like child soldiers or young people forced into war due to an outside force (see young women becoming a soldier from one day to another in Ukraine). One core aspect of Amicia is that she is not who she wants to be (and one reason for her distance to her mother is her mother's order to protect Hugo made her a killer in "Innocence").
    Hugo is a metaphor for both a WMD (atomic bomb) and for individuals with a psychological state predisposed to become sociopathic due to traumatic events in their childhood. The Macula illness in his blood is a metaphor for sociopathy, and its stages describe the progression of sociopathy in a young mind.
    The count is a metaphor for power hungry psychopaths grasping for WMDs to have control and protection (see his "We are born to keep the fire aflame" speech).
    The rats are a metaphor for the destructive effect sociopathic individuals have, that direct their hate unreflected against everyone in their path, in the end even standing for the radiation going out from a Ground Zero when Hugo goes "nuclear" and pushes the button as retaliation against everyone for him believing his sister got killed.
    The story talks a lot how violence and hate causes trauma and as effect such traumatized individuals carry this on to the next generation. And how Amicia in the midst of it becomes part of the problem but deep down knows this is the wrong way and constantly struggles to leave the path of escalation. You can always see symptoms of her inner struggle bursting out, which is what makes her redeemable: She learned as a child to protect herself with violence, but she also knows this is not the way, and wants to escape, "want rest".
    "Requiem" is a masterpiece in allegorical story telling. It effectively uses this form to teach about the human condition. While phantastical and not of our time, at its core it is about a truth and who we are. And when you look into the news: "Requiem" happens in Ukraine or now Palestine, where people struggle to keep their humanity, their compassion and empathy after a trauma because of violence and hate, and how it continues from generation to generation.

    • @rivvy2138
      @rivvy2138 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Love this

  • @TheTuubster
    @TheTuubster 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    42:00 You cannot stress enough what a masterful performance Robyn Wolf did for Amicia. She played her very real and grounded, not melodramatic, and Wolf's talent to express thought and emotion through her eyes are fully projected by Amicia's character model (see Amicia's "Thank you" scene at Marseille). Gestures like the attempt to shake the anxiety off the hands is real as they tingle or get numb, so in some playthroughs those suffering from it comment on its realism. It is also a scene which documents if someone has emotionally connected to the character as some players beginn to talk to her and try to give emotional support, like Amicia can really hear them. As a virtual photographer I also found out that some of Robyn's acting for Amicia is hidden off camera during the cutscenes and you can see it when you move the camera towards Amicia in photo mode; one is Amicia being choked to death by the farmers during which the camera zooms onto Hugo instead of showing Amicia's struggle and her panic, fear and anger in her face, and another one is her fight to save Sophia from the soldier at her ship, in which the camera stays behind Amicia all the time, while you can see her physical struggle in her face and Robyn played her with her eyes closed while stabbing, not looking at the wound she is inflicting through the knife, showing the inner distance to the violence she inflicts. A little one is the scene of Beatrice blocking Amicia entering Hugo's room and the camera does not show Robyn playing Amicia getting on her toes and peaking over Beatrice's shoulder into the room, showing her desperation to know about the wellbeing of Hugo. While many highlight Charlotte's voice acting, Robyn already provided Amicia as a fully fledged character with the body and facial acting alone, without any voice: You know every emotion and thought of her even if you switch off the sound. I think, Wolf provided one of the most impressive motion capture acting for a character, that even holds up with some of the best motion capture performances done for movies. Amicia's realism comes from Robyn (and Charlotte was guided by her performance).

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  11 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Brilliantly written, I see McBurney getting tonnes of credit (rightly) for her voice performance, but the physical performance is much more rarely praised. I'm very glad that you've brought more attention to Robyn Wolfe's contribution. The physical performances elevate the storytelling in Requiem by a lot.

    • @TheTuubster
      @TheTuubster 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes, I found it a little unfair that only one award nominated Robyn and Charlotte, while others only named Charlotte. It is probably the reason why Charlotte did not win one, because the other nominated actors also provided the mocap.@@Pixel_Whip

  • @LukeTaylor-s4c
    @LukeTaylor-s4c 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

    Wtf how does this not even have 1,000 views?!? Glad I found this hidden gem of a channel🙏

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  7 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Very glad you've enjoyed the video!

  • @TheTuubster
    @TheTuubster 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    36:00 While I agree with most souvenirs being optional is okay, I have to disagree with Amicia's breakdown moment. This is such a pivotal moment not only for her character arc but also for establishing an emotional bond between the player and the character, because her breakdown is very simple, raw and truthful, which enables you to truly empathize with her, as everyone had such a moment on way or the other, mostly in the youth, when you are more easily overwhelmed by pressure. And it is a moment only you share with her, no other character in the story knows about her inner state, so you have this exclusive with the character. Some comment about this scene they wanted to give her a hug, an emotional response you only have when you are with a real individual. Also the motion capture performance by the animator (not Robyn Wolf this time, as she only did the cutscenes with fixed camera angles) gets lost with many keeping the camera behind Amicia's back, but the character model shows her crying. This should have been a mandatory scene (a room containing a pickup item like a key to progress) with fixed camera to highlight the performance.

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  11 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      This is a fair point. I think there's still some merit to the spontaneous nature of the breakdown moment. The player expects most of these moments to be fairly benign yet touching moments, so when the breakdown moment happens, it's impact is a lot more intense as it subverts the expectations of what a souvenir moment can be.
      However, I agree that the moment could be more narratively effective if it were given it's own cutscene. Perhaps the souvenir moment could have been left, and an additional similar moment could have been made into a cutscene.
      I suppose my perspective here is that any players who miss this moment do witness a weaker narrative because its one of the most relatable moments across the entirety of the two games. But at the same time, the spontaneity of makes it impactful in its subversion of expectations, and there's probably a lot of solutions which could bridge this gap as you've suggested.

    • @TheTuubster
      @TheTuubster 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I agree, the narrative is weaker when they miss it. But I think in general such a scene with the main protagonist simply breaking down and admitting to not want to go on is so unusual, even outside games, that it would have been surprising in any form.@@Pixel_Whip

  • @TheNamesJER
    @TheNamesJER 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    Amazing video! Glad the algorithm recommended this. I know it’s a bit on the nose but I find the game does an excellent job of demonstrating the many different ways we cope with the impending loss of a loved one with a terminal illness.

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thanks for the comment, really glad you liked it!
      Yes, I really appreciate the game's rather realist approach on the loss theme.

  • @Fyozzz
    @Fyozzz 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    What I really enjoyed in Requiem compared to Innocence is how much happier and more colorful it is. Innocence is very dark and brutal, with most of its action and gameplay happening at night and in environments surrounded by death, illness and corpses. Requiem on the other hand has you play mostly during the day and have a lot more happy moments, especially with Hugo. Actually I believe Requiem did a fantastic job at building the relationship between Amicia and Hugo, while Innocence focused too much on Amicia herself, though her quest was always to save her brother. Sharing all those moments of carelessness with him in the second game really lets you bond with him and see him for what he is: a child, innocent, curious, vulnerable. I truly believe the happy memories you make with him playing the game make the ending that much more impactful, compared to what it would have been in another pessimistic setting. Requiem was "a quest for hope", after all.
    I went completely blind in both games, encountering them on steam during sales and absolutely not knowing what kind of games they were. I found Innocence to be a game with a thrilling story and likeable characters but somehow rather average due to its boring gameplay and repetitiveness. I had a much better time playing Requiem, as everything had been improved. More weapons and options with pots, better and bigger open areas, cool upgrade system that responds to how you play, more impactful characters, more engaging story, better voice acting (french), etc. The ending crushed my soul to the point of me losing appetite and sleep for a few days, but still I really really loved it. And what a fantastic work from Olivier Deriviere on the game's music, a few of those last tracks will be stuck in my head for a while

    • @jayeshyadav8891
      @jayeshyadav8891 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Exactly

    • @ArcanePath360
      @ArcanePath360 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Agree totally. It's been over a week since I completed the second one and it still hurts and I'm still depressed.
      It has made me ask questions about my own life. Very deep questions that are painful to address and make me feel like I'm loosing my mind. I feel like Amicia in so many ways. I kind of wish I'd never played the second one. I want my life back the way it was.

    • @ArcanePath360
      @ArcanePath360 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Both her an Charlotte are a match made in heaven (or hell if you get sentimental and nostalgic after finishing the game) - I didn't appreciate Robyn so much until I looked back at Innocence, where there was very little mocap, which wasn't by an actor, and it really shows (except for the dramatic moment when Amicia risks the rats to hug Hugo after the Order tried to turn him evil). The faces look very blank in comparison. Somehow I wish they still were, because Charlotte's and Hugo's voices haunts me with the body language.

  • @snowfloofcathug
    @snowfloofcathug 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

    It's insane to me that finding a video of this quality can be from a TH-camr with over a million subs, a few hundred thousand subs, or barely a few thousand
    I can't wait to dig into your backlog

  • @TheTuubster
    @TheTuubster 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    20:00 Fun fact: The rats are actually not 3D objects but 2D sprites driven by a particle system. That's why they could render that many. The illusion of 3D comes from the 2D images for the sprites being prerendered 3D graphics and relation to the position of the camera the correct corresponding 2D image of the 3D rat is displayed. Source: Interview by YT channel julienchieze at Asobo Studios.

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  11 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Thanks for directing me to that video, its super interesting. While this isn't a rare technique, it still helps to highlight the technical proficiency of Asobo.

    • @gold_sparta
      @gold_sparta 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      maybe this is a future of gaming industry

    • @annamari007
      @annamari007 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Edit: only the rat waves are 2d.
      It may have been an approach they considered taking during development, but in the end the rats are all 3d. You can check with the photo mode, or if you have a free camera mod which can ignore boundaries you can see that all the rendered rats in the distance are in fact 3d too.

  • @lordiblees
    @lordiblees 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is another unforgettable game for me. I'd lost my older brother just a few years before. I went into this game expecting just a fun puzzle game, but the ending killed me.
    It will stay with me forever.

    • @ArcanePath360
      @ArcanePath360 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Does the pain ever go away? I feel like Hugo and Amica are family members that I've actually lost. At least in innocence it was all dark and horrible, so you didn't mind when it ended with them being happy, which made the second one hit so much worse since it was a complete flip. Over a week later I'm still reeling

  • @sanadelmeziny4681
    @sanadelmeziny4681 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    The video is just a pure masterpiece

  • @miles_tails0511
    @miles_tails0511 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    On Beatrice: I felt she’s consistently portrayed as a “nerd alchemist” devoted to the order’s study of the macula, above self, and even above her own family. Hence I’m not as bothered by her lack of reaction in the few scenes

  • @arsenkurmangali2997
    @arsenkurmangali2997 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    It made me really emotional in the end. Not many games did, so those 2 games are still on my top 10 list

  • @012catsub5
    @012catsub5 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Fun fact: In The Last Of Us 1 + 2, your companions can also get plus signs, which, if you leave them, will cause them to die. I’ve lost too many speed runs to a Bill or Ellie plus sign in Bill’s town 😭

  • @ggboygg2606
    @ggboygg2606 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Amicia is one of the best female characters in video games, for me she is my 2nd favorite and it is not even close. The only better is Ellie for me. She is so well done and she feels so real. Her relationship with Hugo is fantastic and thr whole dynamic with violence is what really elevates her character in my mind. Absolute cinema!

  • @alanxyct1648
    @alanxyct1648 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    i totally agree with your opinion. your objective analysis help me better appreciate the game. i also can't wait to see thier next work. thier did leave a lot of room for sequels in epilogue after all.

  • @ArcanePath360
    @ArcanePath360 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I didn't think of him at the end as being in a crucifixion stance. Just a general way that the macula had bound him there with his arms out.
    Thanks for the video, it helps with dealing with the emotional tatters I'm now in having just finished it. I'm always sad when I finish a long game, but this one hit like nothing else since Innocence. But this time it's worse as I'm pretty sure it's the end of this series.
    Asobo are criminally underrated as is this game, which mean this will likely not get any more sequels.

  • @Henlak-
    @Henlak- 8 วันที่ผ่านมา

    It's frankly ridiculous that your channel is so small.
    Your content is up there with the likes of Luke Stephens and Skill up, this is the best A plague tale video I've seen period.
    Really great work being done here, keep it up!

  • @TheZanzibarMan
    @TheZanzibarMan 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Subbed, great work on this, and the Pacific Drive video.

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thanks! Glad you liked them

  • @FinnaWoken
    @FinnaWoken 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I think he'd enjoy spiritfarer a lot

  • @rimcogr8450
    @rimcogr8450 25 วันที่ผ่านมา

    when i first played a plage tale requiem i didnt expect it to be that strong emotionaly.A few years back I got Xbox game pass for the first time and went on a storygame-playing spree. I stumbled across the first plage tale and liked it enough to want to try the new game once i learned it was coming. My expectaions were not that high since the first game was very good but not THAT special. However after I finished Requiem I could not believe what a masterpice of gaming art I just witnessed. Your video was great, you covered almost everyting and pointed out things that I noticed myself on my playthrough. Good job 👍
    Sidenote: If you think about it, amicia's last kill was hugo! Idk if its just me, but I think thats wild

  • @Liam_Phoenix
    @Liam_Phoenix 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Great video 10/10
    I loved both games, absolutely adored every minute, I love Hugo and Amicia and their relationship, but I will die on this hill but I hated the ending, far too many games recently have ended on such a depressing note and I hate that this is one of those games. I hated that they gave you hope them quite violently ripped ot away from you and I hate it! Why can't we just have something nice for once? Hugo and Amicia didnt deserve that, Hugo at 6 fucking died because of something that wasn't his fault and Amicia, watched her Father die only to later murder so many people, leaving her clearly traumatized then later she watches a crazy bitch murder her mother.
    At every single step this 16 year old is traumatized further and further until she has to kill her own brother! The ultimate form of trauma and they didn't deserve it!! And I hate it!

  • @snowfloofcathug
    @snowfloofcathug 2 วันที่ผ่านมา

    "Some of my best friends are AAA" brilliant
    Edit: the discussion of a bigger team and more financial backing making the game more difficult because it now must aim higher and subsequently experiences different difficulties is a very interesting one, but as you already expressed it so well there's nothing for me to add, so all I got for you is a small acknowledgment of a good throwaway joke

  • @This_Guy-
    @This_Guy- หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    its a solid game not gonna lie but its dragged out pretty long and got little dull , No diss to the game but thats just my opinion . Sometimes bold moves falls flat for gamedevs look at jusant which was different but it didnt manage to move copies for the studio .

  • @piousphilosophy7538
    @piousphilosophy7538 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I'm curious what you think of the alternate Lucas ending. Even though it doesn't change much, I personally think it was unnecessary.

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  6 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Yeah, I didn't mention it explicitly in my video since it kinda feels like an afterthought to account for people (perhaps in playtesting?) who simply refused to end the game themselves. My opinion is that the Lucas ending kinda undermines the main themes of the game by letting you escape the difficult decision you have to make caused by buying into the illusion of control you think you have over the macula.

  • @mrdinosaurproductions9507
    @mrdinosaurproductions9507 24 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Beautiful graphics, beautiful story. Best game I’ve played so far.

  • @safi6749
    @safi6749 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    You should also play disco Elysium

  • @paraggupta3099
    @paraggupta3099 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    i want a APT3 with amicia and hugo( as by some theory it is possible hoga can be back ) only. If not then should start a new IP

    • @Loophole23742
      @Loophole23742 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Don’t see how Hugo can come back from death😂😂😂 He’s gone dude.

    • @paraggupta3099
      @paraggupta3099 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Loophole23742 you gotta check some theories

    • @avtogamer-c2t
      @avtogamer-c2t 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Game will never be continued

  • @musashimiyamoto586
    @musashimiyamoto586 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I liked the first one cause it was all different and much slower-paced than other games. But this one, my goodness, excruciatingly slow, the cutscenes lasted forever, and simply walking or riding in a cart a few hundred metres seemed to take ages. And the gameplay was clonky many times, seemingly more beholden to games from 15-20 years ago. And last but not least, I noticed that it was a bit too violent for teens and maybe way to infantile for adults. The worst feature was the constant holding hands of the siblings, the incessant sobbing (almost whining), whispering, gasping, etc. And yes, I think that matters as well when it comes to enjoyment. All in all a very tedious affair. Not even to mention that I still don't understand what the rat theme was all about.

  • @MaxMustermann678
    @MaxMustermann678 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Just to add to your criticism about Arnauld's strange non-reaction to Amicia killing his friends: I myself actually didn't realise for a long time that he was the guy we were fighting earlier. It was only after the game crashed on the island, I reloaded and read the little loading screen text for this chapter that I learned he was that same guy. There was nothing in the story and dialogue between the two that alluded to their previous hostility. Or maybe I'm just a very unperceptive player. I also missed half the souvenirs with all those great character moments. Like the swing you showed in the video.
    Overall I'm a bit more critical of Requiem's story than you. I thought it was all over the place and just nonsensical at times. Like, why do we have to secretly infiltrate that religious ritual? Logically, we could just wait for a day and then ask our new friends the ruler and the priestess all about the island and to show us into the temple.
    Oh, and did you see that very short, final scene of the game? After the second credits. The one with the darth vader breathing or blood pump sound or whatever? I was just wondering because you didn't mention it in relation to a possible sequel to the the Plage Tale series.

  • @adam92682
    @adam92682 17 วันที่ผ่านมา

    They should have just handed Hugo over at the beginning of innocence.

  • @PicassosSister-rj5zp
    @PicassosSister-rj5zp 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I love how they let you act, and not let the cut scene do it.
    Also, my brother, this video is a masterpiece, and I don't say that lightly.

    • @Pixel_Whip
      @Pixel_Whip  3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Massive thanks!

  • @lordiblees
    @lordiblees 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    A Plague Requiem is what TLOU 2 wanted to be but failed. Bold and courageous writing but with cohesion purpose, and not just following through some narrative choices because you felt it had to be done (looking at you Druckman).

  • @Lu-xd2mi
    @Lu-xd2mi 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    This game and TLOU2 are my favourite games

  • @Flipitmixit
    @Flipitmixit 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I know the story is good but Im glad you're one of the few who also talks about the gameplay. Since it's you know..a game. But Damn whats your problem with Beatrice😂😂

  • @eliaramonti
    @eliaramonti 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I find It really unfair to criticize the combat and upgrade system.. you just decided to upgrade your crossbow and found it boring. If you would have gone for other upgrades you would have find it way more interesting..that's how I did and just because of your personal choice you slam down the entire gaming experience.

    • @okage6219
      @okage6219 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      But the game gives you the choice, and you can get it fairly early, just admit it's flawed

    • @eliaramonti
      @eliaramonti 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@okage6219 yeah it gives you the choice but if you are making a review of the gameplay and you get stuck on that it's pretty ungenerous. The different situations can be solved in so many ways that the game has a huge replayability.. that should have been highlighted way more than 'i got crossbow, I killed enemies, too easy '. Above all if you make the effort to make a 40 mins long ass video. But maybe it's just me that expect a bit more

    • @okage6219
      @okage6219 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @eliaramonti where is the replayability? The game is very limited in the ways to approach each chapter.