Microsoft has a rat. Actually, it has a lot of rats, as the publisher announced today during its E3 showcase that A Plague Tale: Requiem would be a launch day game for Xbox Game Pass in 2022 (along for PC and consoles).
A 2019 release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, A Plague’s Tale: Innocence sold more than a million copies, which might surprise those who just judged it on its revolting rats. But those who played it found a good (albeit sometimes confusing tale) stealth adventure about two children (Amica and Hugo) facing a twisted Catholic priest using an Inquisition to spread rats (and his own agenda) in France during the 1300s, one with elements of alchemy and the supernatural. It’s from Asobo Studio, and its publisher is Focus Home Interactive.
Microsoft show a bit on Requiem. We saw more rats, a wave of them, coming at Amica. But was it a vision from Hugo, who was standing on a coastline?
At the end of Innocence, Amica and Hugo had defeated Vitalis, the priest leading the Inquisition. Hugo wound up getting powers (likely supernatural, a no-no in Catholic France) to control rats. And with Vitalis’s death, they are now fugitives (killing a priest is also a no-no in Catholic France). This tale was one of my favorite games of 2019.
And Requiem fits nicely into Microsoft’s Game Pass strategy. It’s an interesting looking game that fits a niche you don’t see often (supernatural stealth adventure with children), and it gives the double-A studio more exposure.