Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Review: A Major Leap Forward

Asobo Studio is known for many things, particularly in the realm of flight sims and their historical fiction series with Focus Entertainment, A Plague Tale. After two bouts with Alicia and Hugo, we now see Sophia (from A Plague Tale: Requiem) in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy on her own journey prior to the events of the first game. Sophia has suffered as much as, if not more than, Alicia and Hugo. Yet this story is exactly what is needed to move Asobo Studio’s franchise forward, as it details how she becomes a key part of the series.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy continues the historical twist on tragic events by taking us to a mix of Italy and Greece to delve into the mythology of Minos and the Minotaur. Sophia has suffered since she was a young girl, tortured at a young age at a ministry. She lost her father to an expedition in search of unknown treasure on a mysterious island and receives visions of a nightmarish beast possibly hidden there.

Once she reaches adulthood, Sophia begins to contribute to the quests for more tools and keys to breach the island’s secrets. But their latest mission for a key ends in betrayal, and Sophia’s home is burned to the ground. In the wake of death and destruction, Sophia and her closest surviving ally make their own journey to the island to discover why she seems drawn to it and its past. 

Sophia makes for a fantastic protagonist in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy.

A Plague Tale is full of tragedy and familial bonds and Resonance follows that same trajectory. The suffering Sophia goes through is well balanced by great voice acting by Anna Demetriou that makes every shout and bit of pain come through. However where the story shines is its ties to the distant past. 

Because of Sophia’s upbringing, she’s seen visions of an ancient Greek society and of a monster hidden beneath it. Turns out, she is closely tied to Theseus and their attempt to be chosen by King Minos to delve into the fabled labyrinth. While we don’t really learn about how these two are connected, it’s heavily implied. The shifts between Sophia and Theseus are story-specific. Each time revealing just a little more about what this past presence knows to help the present solve the ultimate mystery. 

And what they know links itself to what is causing all this death on the island. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy takes a classic Greek myth and fits it perfectly into the lore of this universe. The mystery of the Minotaur and the plant-like monster hiding in every dark corner push us through the story, not just Sophia, and is ultimately the biggest part of the story that feels the most interesting. 

Asobo Studio develops its own worldbuilding, opening the franchise up for greater exploration. 

Sophia’s goals are selfish at times, but she’s already seen so much despite her young age. We see glimpses  of this in the opening moments and at key parts of the game during its fourteen chapters. All of it makes her drive through the chaos of the island all the more believable. 

As the game deals with the myth of the Labyrinth, it also ties in Daedalus, the inventor of the Labyrinth. The mix of mythology and medieval history allows the game to play a lot into its design and storytelling. Seeing massive machinery still operate, and their uses make sense as more of the story is revealed. 

The story in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy does well with tying the game to its two previous entries. It shows why Sophia has tied her boat to Alicia and Hugo by the end of Requiem, and sets up much more about the Macula that’s cursed Hugo. It also helps drive the series forward by showing Asobo Studio can adapt its own lore and worldbuilding into history and cultural mythology to make sense in-universe. Thus, opening it up to explore much more of Medieval Europe through different cultural lenses. 

The fights and Sophia’s combat abilities are a major highlight.

Even the gameplay moves away from its almost pure stealth-surv to a more action-adventure focus, another great step in the right direction. Sophia has been trained since she was young to be adept with a sword and dagger, nimble to navigate terrains on the fly, and to fight dirty. 

Think of everything playable as a medieval Tomb Raider. Specifically the remake trilogy from 2013. But instead of guns, you have a sword. Combat is much more of a focus this time around to emphasize Sophia’s skills. While simplistic, its pretty engaging given its more cinematic look and enemy variety. It’s not constant fighting either.

But when they do, you’ll be on the back foot a lot. Sophia’s sword skills involve parrying attacks, dodging swings, throwing bottles and knives dropped by foes back at them, and grappling archers hiding higher above. Fights also evolve with a special rechargeable ability obtained later on in the story, one that does big AOE damage. 

The action shines through its embrace of variety. 

Being aggressive is key. Killing foes is the only way to recover health mid-fight. Plus you’ll need to balance taking out weaker or more nimble enemies while chipping away at larger, more armored ones. What is a blast, though, is kicking people off the edges. In some parts, you can punt five, ten people off into a pit just because they got too close. 

As for fights, it takes on a basic action RPG aspect. You get signaled if an archer is about to shoot at you. Some enemy attacks flash colors, like yellow for big parry attack, or red for non-parryable. Performing the right action build a stagger gauge on each enemy, which when filled stuns them. You can then follow up these moments with a heavy critical attack to deal three to four pips of damage. Which for most enemies insta-kills them. 

Boss fights especially play with the variety in combat to make them challenging experiences. Some even evolve over the course of the fight and change the boss’s combat style, abilities, and even dangers in the arena. 

The navigation shows significant signs of improvement following Requiem. 

Combat is also affected by how much you explore. Looking at every nook and cranny in every location will reveal trinkets that build up stat boosts, weapons, or talent points (or lore-based treasures, too). The trinkets don’t require being equipped.

They all provide passive bonuses, like an increased likelihood of having an arrow miss you, increasing the parrying window, or even bringing you back if you die in a fight. Weapons are strictly swords that don’t change how much damage you do. They instead give you additional bonuses, for instance one that lets you deal more stagger damage when parrying but you can’t block attacks anymore. Then the talent points, called resonance points, unlock new combos and combat abilities. One that felt really essential was the ability to block red attacks. 

For exploring, the wonderful design of every environment can lead to going down lots of dead ends. Anything can hide a secret to be discovered, and exploring everything is simply a blast. On top of that, the navigation has vastly improved since Requiem. You’ll utilize a grappling hook and Sophia’s jumping skills to navigate harrowing environments and fast-paced chase sequences, or get around each chapter quickly to get to your next objective.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy takes a giant leap in the right direction.

When events involving the monster of the island begin, you’ll be doing more and more tense jumps or navigating areas quickly to get away. The monster is actually a beast in some form, with plant-like growths that chase those who aren’t stealthy enough in its presence. It corrupts them, leaving them in a stone-like state, and even turning them into zombie-like beings as the game progresses. Its only weakness is light, and as you learn different uses of light in the game, it adds to the whole puzzle aspect and gameplay evolution. 

The coolest part of the gameplay is the puzzle aspect. Daedalus and his mythos play a major part in the level design. You use tools he’s created to manipulate environments, solve light-based puzzles, and find new ways to avoid the monster. A light orb is your primary puzzle-solving t which allows you to enter specific combinations or line up beams of light to match three spots hidden on the walls. For such a simple approach, the variety of challenges thrown your way is quite impressive. 

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is a giant leap in the right direction that takes us back in time, exploring more of the Plague Tale lore that opens the series’ doors wide open to exciting possibilities. The storytelling, combat, and exploration are all highlights that never overstay their welcome as levels shift focus from one to the next. Asobo Studio has simply done it again. They have much more to give in their unique historical fictional world exploring different plagues throughout history, and how we as humans approach the fantastical and unknown out of our own greed or fear. 

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is available August 27th on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.