Do You Need to Play the Other Plague Tale Games Before Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy?

TL;DR

• No — you do not need to play either Innocence or Requiem to enjoy Resonance. The developers confirmed this officially.
• Resonance is a standalone prequel with a self-contained story and a new protagonist, Sophia.
• Newcomers will get the full experience. Key lore — like the Macula — is explained in the game itself.
• Series veterans will get extra payoffs — deeper character connections, lore callbacks, and emotional weight that newcomers will miss.
• If you want the richest experience possible, playing Requiem first is the best order — not because you need it, but because it makes Resonance hit harder.
• Innocence takes around 10 to 12 hours to beat. Requiem takes around 15 to 17 hours. Both are available cheaply and frequently go on sale.

Do you need to play the other Plague Tale games before Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy? It is one of the most common questions players are asking right now — and the answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. The short version is no, you can start with Resonance and have a great time. But the longer answer depends on what kind of experience you want. This guide breaks it all down clearly, for both newcomers to the series and players who have been here since Innocence. For everything else you need to know about the game, check our Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy Review, get up to speed on the protagonist with our Who Is Sophia in Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy guide, read our Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy Beginner’s Guide before you start, and check our Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy PC Requirements if you are playing on computer.

The Official Answer From the Developers

Asobo Studio and Focus Entertainment addressed this question directly in the official FAQ for the game. Their answer is clear: there is no need to have played either A Plague Tale: Innocence or A Plague Tale: Requiem to enjoy Resonance and get the full experience of it. That is not a hedge — it is a design decision. The game was built from the ground up to work as a standalone story. Newcomers are not playing a lesser version of Resonance. They are playing the complete game that Asobo made.

Resonance is set 15 years before the events of Requiem, follows a different protagonist in a different country, and tells a story with its own beginning, middle, and end. You do not need to know how Innocence or Requiem ends. You do not need to know who Amicia or Hugo are. The game does not assume you do.

What Kind of Game Is Resonance — And Why That Matters Here

It helps to understand just how different Resonance is from the earlier games. A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019) and A Plague Tale: Requiem (2022) followed siblings Amicia and Hugo de Rune across stealth-survival adventures in medieval France. Both games shared a tone, a setting, and a gameplay style built around sneaking, resource management, and avoiding danger.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy changes almost everything. It stars Sophia — a different character, a different country (a Greek island near Crete), and a gameplay style that leans into direct combat rather than stealth. The vibe is brighter, more action-forward, and more adventure-oriented. One reviewer who skipped Requiem entirely before playing Resonance wrote that it did not affect their ability to follow or enjoy the story at all. The game stood completely on its own.

This tonal and gameplay shift is one of the reasons Asobo felt confident making Resonance accessible to newcomers. It does not just share a universe with Innocence and Requiem — it carves out its own distinct space within that universe.

What Newcomers Get in Resonance Without Playing the Other Games

If you start with Resonance having never touched the series before, here is what you will experience with no gaps:

• A complete, self-contained story about Sophia, a young smuggler searching for answers about her past on a mysterious Greek island.
• A full explanation of the Macula — the ancient supernatural force at the heart of the series — introduced naturally through dialogue, Sophia’s notebook, and story moments.
• A satisfying character arc for Sophia that requires no prior knowledge of who she is or what she has done before.
• All of the gameplay systems — combat, light puzzles, grappling hook, the dual-timeline mechanic — explained and tutorialized within the game itself.
• A complete emotional journey from start to finish, with a meaningful ending that does not depend on you having seen the endings of either previous game.

Nothing critical is hidden behind prior knowledge. The game is generous with context. You will not feel lost.

What You Miss as a Newcomer — Honest Answers

Here is where the nuance comes in. Not needing prior knowledge is not the same as prior knowledge adding nothing. There are real things that hit differently when you have played the earlier games:

• Sophia’s presence in Requiem. In that game she appeared as a supporting character — a ship captain who helped Amicia and Hugo. If you played Requiem, you met her and wondered about her past. Resonance answers those questions. For a newcomer, she is simply a new character with an interesting backstory. For a returning player, she is someone you already care about.
• The Macula’s significance. In Innocence and Requiem, the Prima Macula destroyed two children’s lives across two games. You saw what it cost. In Resonance, the Macula is a central mystery but its weight lands differently when you already know what it is capable of doing. Newcomers understand it intellectually. Veterans feel it.
• Lore connections and callbacks. Resonance fills in gaps in the wider series mythology — answers to questions left open by the first two games. A newcomer will appreciate these moments as interesting story beats. A returning fan will have those satisfying “so that’s how it connects” moments that feel earned after 40 to 50 hours across two games.
• The ending’s full impact. Without spoiling anything, the ending of Resonance will mean more to players who know where the wider story ends up. It contextualizes choices and connections that are genuinely moving for returning fans.

None of this makes Resonance incomplete for newcomers. It makes it richer for veterans.

The Recommended Playing Order

If you want to know the ideal order — here it is, honestly:

Option 1 — Start with Resonance (Best for Newcomers)

Jump straight in. You will have a great time. The game is built for you. After finishing Resonance, if the world has hooked you, go back and play Innocence and then Requiem to see the larger story that Sophia’s adventure connects to. This order works well and means you start with the most recent gameplay systems before moving to the older entries.

Option 2 — Play Requiem First, Then Resonance (Best Single Addition)

If you have already played Innocence or are willing to skip it, playing Requiem before Resonance is the single best thing you can do to deepen your experience. Requiem is where you first meet Sophia. Knowing who she is from Requiem before playing her origin story in Resonance makes the whole prequel land with extra weight. Several reviewers who played both games noted that Resonance works much better as a complement to the earlier games than as an introduction to them.

Option 3 — Play All Three in Release Order (Best Overall Experience)

Play Innocence first, then Requiem, then Resonance. This is the full series experience and gives you the richest possible reading of everything Resonance is doing. You understand the Macula’s cost. You know the world. You have met Sophia. And then her origin story hits with maximum impact. At roughly 10 to 12 hours for Innocence, 15 to 17 hours for Requiem, and around 20 hours for Resonance, you are looking at roughly 45 to 50 hours of total playtime across all three — very reasonable for an emotionally rich series.

Quick Overview of the Earlier Games

A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019)

Innocence follows Amicia and her younger brother Hugo through plague-ravaged medieval France. Hugo carries the Prima Macula — an ancient parasite that gives him terrifying power over the rat swarms that have overwhelmed the country. The game is primarily a stealth-survival experience: Amicia is not a fighter, and most encounters require sneaking, distracting enemies, or using the rat swarms against them. It is a dark, emotional story about protecting someone you love at devastating cost. Most players finish it in around 10 to 12 hours. It is frequently on sale and has historically been given away free on the Epic Games Store.

A Plague Tale: Requiem (2022)

Requiem picks up six months after Innocence ends. Amicia and Hugo are searching for a cure to Hugo’s condition. The game is larger, more visually ambitious, and expands the combat options significantly — though stealth remains central. Requiem is where Sophia appears, briefly but meaningfully, as a smuggler who helps the siblings reach their destination. The game takes around 15 to 17 hours to finish the main story. It is the most emotionally heavy of the three games and ends in a way that closes the de Rune siblings’ story definitively.

How Long Would It Take to Play All Three?

Here is a simple time breakdown if you want to play the full series before diving into Resonance:

• A Plague Tale: Innocence — roughly 10 to 12 hours for the main story.
• A Plague Tale: Requiem — roughly 15 to 17 hours for the main story.
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — roughly 20 hours, making it the longest game in the series.

Together, all three run to around 45 to 50 hours at a comfortable pace. Both Innocence and Requiem are available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, and frequently go on sale. Innocence regularly drops to under £5 or $6 in sales. Requiem is widely available for £15 to $20 or less. Resonance is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, and is included with Xbox Game Pass on day one.

What Series Veterans Are Saying About Resonance

Reviews from players who came in as longtime series fans are overwhelmingly positive. The emotional payoffs for returning players are real. Several reviewers described finishing Resonance and immediately going back to replay the earlier games with new context. One reviewer noted that the ending alone was worth the price of admission for anyone who had been with the series since Innocence. The lore connections that Resonance draws between Sophia’s story and the Macula’s ancient origins genuinely expand what the series means, rather than just repeating what came before.

At the same time, the reviewer from Houston Press who skipped Requiem entirely and jumped straight into Resonance reported a smooth, enjoyable experience with no gaps in understanding. So both paths work. They just work differently.

The Bottom Line

You can absolutely start with Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy. The developers built it that way on purpose. You will enjoy it, follow the story, and have a complete experience. But if you have time to play Requiem first — or even both earlier games — you will get more out of Resonance than someone who jumped in cold. Not because the game is incomplete without that context, but because stories are richer when you have walked alongside the world they live in.

Resonance is a great entry point. It is also the best reward for players who have already been through Innocence and Requiem. Both of those things can be true at the same time.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can get it on Steam, PlayStation Store, or the Xbox Store. You can also find more details on the official Focus Entertainment page.