Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, the latest installment in Asobo Studio's series, initially struggles to engage players, but eventually reveals its more enjoyable aspects, particularly through its combat mechanics. The game's opening hours are characterized by a slow pace and a drawn-out tutorial process, which can lead to initial disappointment.
The early sections of the game focus on teaching its basic controls, with Sophia being placed in a fighting pit multiple times to introduce combat. This combat system, centered around a single attack button and a parry, does not significantly evolve from this initial introduction. However, Sophia does possess a kick ability that proves to be a valuable addition, capable of breaking enemy guards and quickly dispatching weaker foes, especially after it is upgraded.
Embracing the Kick
The game's tone shifts considerably when players begin to utilize Sophia's kick ability. An early combat encounter sees Sophia kicking an enemy off a ledge, a moment that the reviewer describes as the point where the game "started cooking" and became fun. This enjoyment is further amplified during flashback sequences where players control the Greek hero Theseus. In one notable vision, Theseus is tasked with defeating enemies on platforms suspended over water. Instead of engaging in direct combat, the strategy shifts to kicking enemies into the instant-death water, a tactic that provided significant enjoyment and highlighted the game's potential for creative combat.
This emergent fun culminates in a later scene where Sophia finds herself on a bridge with numerous enemy soldiers. With no railings on the bridge, the primary strategy becomes kicking enemies off the edge. The reviewer abandoned traditional parrying and attacking in favor of this method, using gravity as a combat companion and strategically positioning enemies to be kicked into oblivion. While this approach admittedly led to taking more hits due to a reduced focus on defense and the lack of a camera lock-on function, it provided a brief period of "video game bliss."
A Rewarding Persistence
The latter half of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy proves to be more engaging overall. The vision sequences that transport players to the past offer intriguing narrative elements that raise questions the player becomes invested in seeing answered. Furthermore, the introduction of stealth sections in creepy environments allows Asobo Studio to leverage its strengths, harkening back to the more stealth-focused gameplay of the first two A Plague Tale games.
The game's day-one release on Xbox Game Pass is expected to give it a wide reach. However, the reviewer posits that many players might opt out early due to the game's slow and unengaging initial hours, questioning how many will persevere through the initial disappointment to experience the more rewarding aspects of the game.
This experience contrasts with games like The Duskbloods, where the reviewer quickly recognized it wasn't for them and disengaged. In the case of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, the decision to push through the initial hurdles ultimately paid off with the satisfying ability to eliminate dozens of enemies through environmental hazards, particularly with the game's effective kick mechanic.