Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is set to redefine the established formula of the acclaimed series, moving away from Amicia's stealth-focused gameplay towards a more action-oriented experience. In a recent preview, the game showcased protagonist Sophia as a far more athletic and combat-ready character than her predecessors, drawing comparisons to franchises like Assassin's Creed and Tomb Raider. This marks a substantial departure for Asobo Studio's third entry in the plague-infested world.
The preview highlighted Sophia's combat prowess, with the character wielding a sword and dagger. Her move set includes rapid basic attacks, charged strikes, kicks to break enemy guards, and a parry system that can eventually stun opponents. While stealth elements remain, the emphasis is on active engagement. Sophia can utilize a grappling hook to disorient enemies, setting them up for critical hits. Combat is designed to be fast-paced, with quick time-to-kill for enemies and rapid health regeneration for Sophia, encouraging a balance between offense and defense. Larger enemies require different strategies, as they cannot be parried or stunned, necessitating players to find openings to attack.
A special superpowered attack, triggered by a button combination, unleashes a powerful area-of-effect swing that can break enemy armor. The effectiveness of this attack appears to vary based on equipped weapons, as switching between Sophia's basic sword and a Greek sword alters the combat rhythm and available moves. The game is expected to feature around eight weapons to discover throughout the campaign.
Puzzles in Resonance are centered around a mysterious sphere that functions as a flashlight and a puzzle-solving tool. This device can split light beams into red, green, and blue, which are used to activate gems in the environment, opening doors or manipulating platforms. These puzzles are integrated into the narrative and the survival elements, as light is also crucial for warding off the game's titular monster. The preview suggested that these puzzles typically take about ten minutes to solve and that the game features frequent autosaves and a forgiving death mechanic, allowing players to rewind a few seconds.
The game's narrative is set fifteen years before A Plague Tale: Innocence and delves into ancient Greek mythology, featuring playable sequences as the hero Theseus. These historical segments are tied to Sophia's connection to the Prima Macula, a cursed bloodline central to the series. The lore is further explored through Sophia's notebook, filled with maps and drawings hinting at her backstory and the game's mythological connections. The monster threat, a recurring element in the series, is present in Resonance, creating tense stealth sequences.
Resonance offers extensive customization options, including a deep settings menu with tabs for general, language, graphics, audio, accessibility, and controls. Players can adjust hint frequency, enable an invincible mode for easier combat, and utilize various accessibility features such as colorblind presets, remappable controls, and HUD toggles. Options to auto-complete quick-time events and reduce camera shake and vibration are also available. The preview build ran smoothly on a high-end PC configuration at 2K ultrawide resolution with DLSS and Frame Generation enabled.
With its faster combat, intricate puzzles, and visually rich environments inspired by Crete, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy appears to be a significant evolution for the series. While many narrative elements remain unknown, the shift towards action and the exploration of the series' deeper mythological roots position it as a highly anticipated title.