Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy PS5 Review – After two successful and incredible adventures with Amicia and Hugo, Asobo has moved away from the sister and brother duo to tell a different story in the Plague Tale franchise. I didn’t know what to expect from the departure, but after playing through Resonance, I can say Asobo has done a masterful job not only with the game but with the franchise as a whole.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy PS5 Review
A Heart-Breaking and Heart-Pounding Story
Set 15 years before the events of A Plague Tale: Innocence, you take on the role of Sophia, the pirate thief we were introduced to in A Plague Tale: Requiem when she helped Amicia and Hugo in their travels. We learn that Sophia, just like Hugo, was experimented on as a child by the Convent.
Instead of being able to control rats like Hugo, Sophia could see the past, in particular the mysterious island of Crete. Crete, of course, is the island where the Minotaur resides, and the Labyrinth was built in Greek Mythology. The island is said to hold King Minos’ treasure and has been sought after for generations.
Sophie is rescued by her father, the leader of a band of smugglers, who takes her to the island to use the images she depicts in a journal. He vows to find out what the visions are trying to tell her and save her from them. Sadly, he passes away on the island, and his second in command, Faro, takes over, promising to take care of Sophie and carry on her father’s goal.
The game picks up years later with Sophie now an adult and a trained warrior for their band of smugglers. Faro and the smugglers have been exploring the island and uncovering its secrets for over a decade but haven’t found what they were looking for. Faro discovers that the Italian military in Venice is holding a mysterious sphere, which is a key needed to access many areas on Crete, and decides to steal it.
Hooked Me From Start To Finish
As you would expect however, things don’t go according to plan. I won’t say more about the story, but there’s fantastic tension throughout the game, with lots of swerves that make you question what actually happened on the island of Crete and whether the Minotaur is real.
Its pacing is so well done that I was constantly driven to keep going to uncover the island’s mystery. The other portion of the game sees you playing as Theseus from the past as he takes on the trials of Crete for a chance to face off against the Minotaur and, eventually, if victorious, be crowned the future King.
Sophia’s and Theseus’s stories are intertwined, leading to a spectacular finale full of rage, anger, sadness, and despair. It’s a story worth experiencing and left me with a lot of emotions.
Most of the game takes place on Crete, where Sophia and her best friend, Erin, explore the island while being chased by the Italian military. The entire experience reminded me of the exploration in Tomb Raider, the puzzle-solving in Uncharted, and the combat of classic Assassin’s Creed.
The first two Plague titles were heavily focused on stealth, while Resonance abandons stealth for the most part. There are some parts later in the game that absolutely require it, but for the most part, combat has become the focus in Resonance.
Great Combat That’s Visceral And Brutal In Its Animations
Sophia can string basic combos together for damage, but the bulk of combat relies on you stunning your opponents. Parrying attacks is the best way to do so, and the parry window is fairly generous. Once stunned, you can score a critical strike on them by holding the attack button and charging up an attack.
That’s the fastest way to deal with foes, but you get plenty of tools to achieve victory. Sophia can kick enemies to break their blocking stance and later to break through shielded enemies’ guards. You can also pick up dropped items or items like bottles found in the environment and lob them at foes.
Your adversaries attack in various ways as you’d expect; normal attacks can be blocked and parried. Enemies will have a yellow and red glow as well, which, if you parry a yellow attack, has a high chance of stunning an enemy, while a red glow means you can’t block or parry them and have to dodge the attacks.
As much as I enjoyed the combat, it started to feel a little repetitive, especially when you kept seeing the same kill animations over and over again. The game also didn’t really make enemies more challenging; instead, it just threw more of them at you in the latter half of the game. It became quite difficult to take on three archers, two rogue fighters, two shield men, and two heavy knights all at the same time.
Rewarding Exploration
You can collect Resonance Points as you explore the island and use those points to unlock new abilities like being able to parry red glow attacks or counter an enemy attack and push them at another enemy.
The island is full of secrets and is worth exploring as you find hidden tombs to collect new swords and various collectibles. You also find upgrades for Sophia like hairpins and rings. One ring, for example, will provide a small chance of an enemy dropping a throwable weapon. But as you find more rings, the chance goes from Small to Medium to High.
There is plenty to find, including eight different swords, each with a different bonus. One sword increases your critical damage while another sword removes your ability to block but increases how quickly you can stun enemies by parrying their attacks.
The game’s various locations are a treat to explore. Caverns beneath Crete, Ancient ruins from Minos’ kingdom, secret passages, and massive colosseums, and of course the Minotaur Labyrinth. Each location is filled with fantastic architecture and wall paintings. Off-beaten paths also unlock unique conversations between Sophia and Leni as well as more clues about Theseus and his journey.
Fun Puzzles Perfectly Designed For The Environment
Puzzles are another positive here, and though I only found a handful of them really challenging, I still had a blast solving them. Most of the game’s puzzles involve moving mirrors around and lighting up pedestals to open doors. There are other, more complex conundrums, but those involve spoiling locations linked to the story.
Resonance is absolutely stunning. The Plague Tale series has always been graphically impressive, but Resonance provides some of the most haunting and devastating visuals I’ve seen in a long time, especially in the latter half of the game.
Stunning Visuals And Audio Work
The game runs great on Performance Mode as well; for the majority of my time with it, I didn’t run into any frame drops. In the latter half of the game, when things really started to pick up, I did encounter some screen tearing, but it wasn’t enough to deter me or really impact the game.
The voice work and soundtrack are top-notch; everyone delivers an incredible performance, and the facial animations truly capture every emotion Sophia expresses. The soundtrack is another standout with incredible Mediterranean tunes as well as visceral, dark, atmospheric tones. It really makes you feel the true dread that Sophia goes through as she explores the worst of the island.
As much as I loved everything about Resonance, some things did irk me from a story perspective. The idea that Faro needed this mysterious tool to get through the island becomes irrelevant when you learn that Faro and Sophia’s father were able to move about the island and reach locations that are literally at the end of the game without the key, which made the whole journey feel wasted.
The Mility also comes in and starts blowing up walls and doors, proving you don’t really need the key to get anywhere because the Mility arrived on the island after you and found themselves appearing in the room you just opened that was supposedly sealed for years.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is another fantastic entry in the Plague Tale franchise. It may not be the continuation we wanted after the events of Requiam, but it’s still a worthy game, especially with some revelations that connect to the previous games. Fantastic exploration and puzzles mixed in with great combat round out one of my favorite games I’ve played all year.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy releases on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC on August 27, 2026.
Review code kindly provided by PR