Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Review (Xbox Series X|S)

If you’d told me there weren’t any rats in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, and that it plays closer to Assassin’s Creed and Tomb Raider than its previous entries, Innocence and Requiem, then I’d have a hard time understanding what makes this a Plague Tale game.

But after solving a plethora of light-based puzzles, creeping past the terrifying monster that lurks within its breathtaking Cretan temples and vistas, and slaughtering more henchmen than any amount of talking therapy could possibly reverse, I now totally get it.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is Asobo’s finest adventure to date.

Now, before I crack on with the good stuff, it's worth mentioning that you’re not required to have played, or know anything about the other Plague Tale games to enjoy Resonance. It's a totally standalone prequel adventure. In fact, I’d even go as far as suggesting I might have preferred going into this one with a little more mystery.

You play as Sophia, a charming bandit haunted by her past. Over the years, she’s experienced visions of ancient warriors and mythical creatures, sketching what she sees in her journal. She’s a scrappy protagonist who's easy on the eyes, as cunning as she is confident, and an absolute tour de force in combat.

The dark and ominous plot stems from Sophia’s journal, which is lined with illustrations of an ancient Minoan civilisation. The drawings lead her bandit dad towards distant shores on an expedition deep into the heart of the Minotaur’s Island, never to return. His disappearance gives Sophia the emotional pep to kick off her own journey, beginning a coming-of-age training montage that transforms her from a wiggle-toothed orphan into the dual-wielding badass we play as for the rest of the game.

I’m not about to spoil anything here, but one thing leads to another, leaving Sophia and her red-headed companion, Leni, in possession of a prized artefact. Pursued on all fronts by soldiers and scoundrels alike, they race to uncover the island’s secrets, hoping to understand who or what has been calling to Sophia all this time.

The series’ unsettling and darkly sinister themes effectively weave the Macula plague into well-known Greek mythology from start to finish. As Sophia descends deeper into the island, her connection to the ancient warrior Theseus grows in tandem. Through a number of jaw-dropping flashback sequences, we’re placed into glorious Minoan armour and pitted against other warriors across a deadly series of trials, all in the hope of facing the fabled Minotaur.

At the heart of Resonance are its flashbacks to Theseus, which present a jaw-dropping setting during the height of Minoan culture. The temples are beautiful, adorned with vibrant paints, whilst scattered petals lead the legendary warrior through grand halls and coliseums.

I often found myself wanting to slow down and take it all in. There’s a clever use of time jumps that creates a real sense of tension. Sophia follows in Theseus’ footsteps, navigating what the island once was and what it has become, decrepit and ravaged by time. Even in the rubble, the world Asobo built is absolutely beautiful.

Thankfully, Resonance rarely feels like it’s dragging its feet in the sand. The story moves at a satisfying pace, with puzzles, combat, exploration and stealth taking turns in the spotlight. It isn’t the sort of adventure that’ll leave you looking daft outside a door you’ve spent the past half-hour struggling to open, and I respected that. But the trials won’t pull any punches either, as I quickly discovered jumping in my seat after a sudden, pointy spike trap caught Sophia’s face off guard.

Light remains one of the series’ defining mechanics. For the most part, puzzling in Resonance requires Sophia to seek out light sources and manipulate them using her spherical key thingamobob.

Where light once served mostly to keep rat tsunamis at bay, this time around it’s more useful as a tool to illuminate paths through traps and reflect beams to open doorways and passages. As you progress through the chapters, new trinkets are socketed into the sphere, introducing new abilities like refracting light into three separate colour beams you’ll need to rotate to fit environmental puzzles, helping keep things fresh. It’s all pretty straightforward stuff, but satisfying to engage with nonetheless.

The game just works because it’s interested more in turning you into a spelunking clever clogs than making you feel stupid. Sophia does a lot of memorising for you, jotting down symbols and solutions in her handy journal whenever you need to refer back.

When it comes to combat, this is where the series evolves the most. As I mentioned before, It plays more like Assassin’s Creed than Asobo’s previous entries. Sophia wields a sword and dagger with enough skill to easily dispatch armoured soldiers. I particularly enjoyed the flair with which she guts her foes, silhouetted by the glow of ancient armour.

What she lacks in ranged attacks, she makes up for with a grapnel hook used to yank foes closer, or send them tumbling into the numerous spike pits and ominous holes scattered throughout the dilapidated Minoan ruins. There’s something glorious about dragging an unsuspecting lad towards you before dropkicking him into the void.

Former protagonist Amicia de Rune was ruthless by the end of Requiem, but she always felt like she struggled in a scrap, as though she was scuffling with her hands tied behind her back.

Sophia, on the other hand, grew up as a fighter. This gives combat a greater sense of depth than in previous games. Our bandit girlie is direct, attacking from the front with a range of light and charge heavy strikes.

She can also block with RB and parry with a well-timed press, which can stun her assailant, leaving them open for a quick counter. Some enemies force you to think fast. When the red glint of an archer appears, be ready to dodge and drag them closer with your grapnel, as well as dropkicking shieldbearers off balance, and manoeuvring out the way of unblockable attacks.

When you’re in control of Theseus, combat feels heftier and more challenging, as you’d expect from a seasoned warrior of legend. Sophia also has the option to collect and swap between swords to switch things up, with each one bringing its own special move. Once you’ve built up your special meter, these can be unleashed in a number of different moves.

As you unlock new skills, fisticuffs become less about surviving. Instead, you’re encouraged to experiment with different builds, play around with new sword abilities, and get creative with your surroundings.

Stealth is where Resonance shines brightest and feels most like a Plague Tale game. It’s also where the whole ordeal becomes genuinely tense and a little bit scary.

Because Sophia is a deft hand with a blade, sneaking around and picking enemies off was never really on the cards. Early on, I wasn’t convinced Sophia could be made to feel vulnerable. But reserving stealth sections for encounters with the terrifying creature lurking beneath the island is much more effective. The series’ familiar stealth is still there, but it feels deliberately tied to Sophia’s character.

As you move through certain areas, particles in the air turn blue, leaving behind a trail if you move too quickly. The big beast (that I refuse to spoil) can track these particles at blistering speed, so keeping calm and sticking close to light sources becomes the only way to survive.

During these stellar set-piece encounters, amongst bones and decay, you’ll need to hide behind walls, pillars, and anything you can find. Although the creature can’t see Sophia, it can sniff her out, pausing to inhale the particles around it. Sometimes, however, you’ll have no other choice but to leg it leaving behind a big blue trail. Sprinting from light to light to escape a gruesome end makes for some truly memorable, heart-in-mouth chase sequences.

Each chapter takes you through the trials areas, hopping between eras as every environment looks and feels unique. You begin at the steps of a grand temple, climbing trees and ruins to find your way inside. Later, you descend into the belly of the island, surrounded by bones and infested with the Macula, hunted by the new monster. In other words, both Sophia and Theseus go through a lot of rather horrid stuff.

My main gripe is a minor one, and it’s with how the story unfolds. It’s end game stuff, so I won’t detail it here, but what I will say is if you’ve played A Plague Tale: Requiem, like I had, having that context slightly subdues Resonance’s climax. It still hits hard, and I even found myself tearing up a wee bit at the end, but by that point I’d pieced everything together and was waiting for the wonderfully acted cast to catch up.

As for performance, I played through the game on Xbox Series X in Quality mode. There’s also a 60FPS Performance option if you’d prefer, but I opted for the environments, characters, and lighting to look their best. Other than the occasional odd behaviour from my AI companion, Leni, who got stuck in places, the game ran perfectly.