While the visuals are much brighter and the tone has a greater swashbuckling vibe, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is still unmistakably a Plague Tale game: the emphasis on a personal narrative journey and the skin-crawling horrors that will haunt your thoughts are key giveaways. Focus Entertainment’s latest installment of the franchise takes us back 15 years before the events of A Plague Tale: Innocence and A Plague Tale: Requiem, and introduces us to a young Sophia. Fans of the series will recognize Sophia as a plunderer and the captain of the Rascasse, who invited the protagonists of the previous game aboard her ship. Now Sophia has an adventure all of her own, but the details around that adventure are slim. Curious fans of narrative-focused adventure games like myself have questions, and these are my top five.
What’s Sophia’s Story?
We know a little bit about the story of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy. We know that Sophia was abandoned in a convent when she was young, only to escape and join her father’s band of bandits, where she embraced a life of crime to become one of their most competent members, in both the smarts and tail-kicking departments.
However, after a dangerous job in Venice goes awry, Sophia has no choice but to skedaddle and leave her crew behind. With few options left, Sophia sets sail for Minotaur Island, drawn there by a mysterious lure that’s affected her since she was a child.
But that’s all we’ve got to go on so far, so where will the narrative take us from this engrossing premise, and what will we learn about Sophia? What we discover in this game could reframe how we saw her in A Plague Tale: Requiem.
What’s so special about Minotaur Island?
There’s something odd about Minotaur Island, and I’m not just talking about the ancient mechanical puzzles and locking mechanisms still in pristine working condition (nothing a little elbow grease and Sophia’s notebook can’t handle).
Some sort of supernatural entity is drawing Sophia to this Island, almost like it wants to send her a message. The island resonates with something inside her, and she even receives flashbacks dating back to the Minoan era; yes, even further back in time. It seems the legend of A Plague Tale goes back far further than anyone realized.
How will these visions impact the story? And what connection does Sophia have to these ancient warriors? Do the Minoans of the past hold the secret of the origin of Prima Macula?
How Does This Connect to Prima Macula?
Speaking of, how does any of this connect to Prima Macula? Players of the previous games will know Prima Macula as the ancient curse that plagues people, much like it will young Hugo in the future. It grants devastating power to its host, which in the previous games involved controlling avalanches of plague rats that destroy anything in their path.
Except we don’t see any rats in the gameplay trailer, nor do we see any hint of a storyline about possession or a Grand Inquisitor. We do hear about soldiers, however, so the ruling authority may have an inkling about the secrets hidden on Minotaur Island. Either way, they aren’t likely to be allies of Sophia, who is not only trying to beat them to whatever mystery the island has, but is also a wanted criminal. That will explain why Sophia’s primary form of ‘hello’ is a knife in the eyeball.
Who Are the People Getting In Her Way?
Sophia has been drawn to this location ever since she was a child, and she isn’t the only one. The Island is littered with cutthroat soldiers, all seeking some sort of fabled treasure and all willing to eliminate anyone who gets in their way. They come in various shapes and sizes but, luckily, Sophia is an adept combatant who can use a variety of tactics to defeat multiple foes. While the previous titles in the franchise had a heavy emphasis on stealth, Resonance leans more towards combat, as Sophia can dodge, parry, and even use a dagger and rope to pull enemies towards her or off of high places.
But who are these soldiers exactly? And what other enemies can we expect to encounter as we battle through this hazardous isle? Sophia might be handy with a blade, but will that be enough to fend off the upcoming threats?
What On Earth is Happening On That Island?
Finally, I want to draw your attention towards the final part of the gameplay trailer, in which a terrified Sophia sneaks past… something. Whatever it is, it appears dangerous and metaphysical. It seems to be sucking particles towards it, and getting caught in that inhalation is presumably very bad.
What on earth is this thing? Are there more of them? Could it be connected to Prima Macula? Those particle effects are reminiscent of the rat hordes from the previous games; perhaps even a progenitor? Does that mean Sophia could be partly responsible for the rat plague in the previous game? It would certainly recontextualize some of the scenes in A Plague Tale: Requiem.
Well, that was supposed to be five questions about Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, but it became more like fifty. There’s so much to unpack from the information revealed so far, but we’ll need to wait until the game is released to sate our eager curiosity.
You don’t have long to wait. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is out on August 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
