The first game is obviously better, but still a decent sequel. It's more of a walking simulator and slower pace than the first one, with fewer cool fights unfortunately. I thought the post credit scene was a bit cheesy lol

Great characters and storytelling. Definitely play A Plague Tale Innocence before this one!

A superb visual design, incredible sound design, and interesting story with well written characters, all severely hamstrung by frustrating gameplay. The game is decent until it just isn't. And it those "isn't" moments punctuate the game with a frequency and timing that just never allowed me to settle into the parts I was enjoying. It doesn't follow the pacing of the previous game and unnecessarily over complicates your weapons and their use from before. I had enjoyed the series up to a point, but Requiem far overstays it's welcome by a little over halfway through, only modestly redeeming itself in the final chapters.

The part that killed it for me overall was the demands they decided to place on your suspension of disbelief. Immediately out of the gate the characters have completely lost their French accents pleasantly present in the last game. Amicia and Lucas have suddenly forgotten all of their previous alchemy tools, some permanently, and get to just kill guards outright with a crossbow that, once upgraded, allows for infinite re-use of bolts. The game pretends to give you options on how to handle every area, but there's always one that's clearly better/easier. New Game+ forces you into the hardest difficulty even though you're only here to complete the the skill levelling achievements, whose mechanics are explained entirely incorrectly and are just sloppily implemented, restricting your gameplay rather than complementing it. They should have remained in the item upgrade tree like in Innocence. Guards are beyond dumb, blind, deaf, and would lose in a footrace with a glacier. The plot armour that keeps the characters alive is ridiculous, and the torture they inflict on them, since they can't kill them but also can't let them come out unscathed, reaches comical levels. The emotional gut punches of the script, by no fault of their own, just can't land as a result. They're just a bowling ball sized cherry they try to drop on a cake that was already smashed hours ago.

I'll still 100% the game in spite and walk away annoyed, frustrated, and a little disappointed, the feelings I carried most often during the game. It had several high points, but if it wasn't for the fact that I have a son exactly Hugo's age, I'd have no emotional investment in anyone outside Amicia, who is a phenomenal character in every design aspect. Her voice actress is absolutely stunning in her role. I hold Amicia in the same light as Aloy and Senua.

I'd only recommend it if you really liked the first one, can get it on a really good sale, and are willing to let it fall short of gameplay expectations.