Resonance Review Roundup: The 35-Point Divide

Scope: this is a score aggregation and buying guide, not a first-hand GamePrimer review. Aggregator figures move as late reviews arrive; this score snapshot is dated August 29, 2026.

Review score roundup

Source	Score	Snapshot context
Metacritic — PC	85	38 critic reviews
Metacritic — PS5	78	58 critic reviews
Metacritic — Xbox Series X	S	84
OpenCritic	82	“Strong”; 86 critics, 84% recommend
Steam players	93% positive	894 reviews checked August 29

The platform figures should not be averaged together: the Xbox sample is much smaller than the PC and PS5 pools. Treat each as a platform-specific snapshot, not three measurements of equal weight.

Score by outlet

Eleven outlets, read on their own pages or on OpenCritic’s listing on August 29, ordered by score. The spread is the story: the same game earned a 9.5 and a 3/5 in the same week.

Outlet	Score as published	On a 100 scale
PlayStation Universe	9.5/10	95
DualShockers	9/10	90
TheSixthAxis	9/10	90
Game Informer	8.5/10	85
Hobby Consolas	83/100	83
Shacknews	8/10	80
Push Square	7/10	70
GameRant	7/10	70
IGN	6/10	60
GameSpot	6/10	60
Eurogamer	3/5	60

What critics consistently praised

• Sophia carries the prequel. Reviews repeatedly single out Anna Demetriou’s performance and the way the story turns a memorable Requiem ally into a complete lead.
• The island is the star. Coastal ruins, Minoan frescoes and the shift between medieval and ancient spaces give Resonance a visual identity distinct from plague-struck France.
• The production is unusually assured. Art direction, cinematic staging and Olivier Derivière’s score—built, in his own account on Focus’s developer blog, from Sophia’s origins and the Greek mythology behind the island—are the closest thing the reviews have to a consensus.
• It respects the player’s time. The route is authored and mostly linear rather than padded into a broad open world.

Why scores fall as low as 60

The criticism converges on three points. Direct sword combat is more frequent but not deep enough to carry every encounter; companions other than Sophia can feel thinly drawn; and the second half pushes its suffering so hard that some reviewers found the emotional escalation numbing rather than moving.

That explains the unusual 35-point span between PlayStation Universe’s 95 and the 60s from IGN and Eurogamer. This is not a simple “good versus broken” split. It is a disagreement about what an A Plague Tale game should feel like.

The online “mid” debate, without the bait

The visible fan argument centers on three design decisions: no rat-swarm mechanic, a new lead instead of Amicia and Hugo, and a move from avoidance toward sword fighting. Those are real series-identity questions. We found no useful basis for turning them into a separate political controversy page.

Should you buy it?

Play it now if you want a focused, cinematic adventure, liked Sophia in Requiem, or prefer combat and environmental puzzles to sustained stealth. Wait for a sale if the rats, fragility and Amicia–Hugo relationship were the whole reason you loved the series.

On Xbox or PC, Game Pass is the lowest-risk recommendation. On Steam, the current player signal is strong, but check the PC requirements first if your GPU sits close to the GTX 1060 minimum. If story context is the concern, the play-order guide explains what you gain by playing Requiem first.

Review FAQ

What did IGN score Resonance?

IGN scored it 6/10 at launch. That sits at the low end of the tracked range, alongside Eurogamer’s equivalent 60/100.

Is it better than Requiem?

There is no stable consensus. Resonance is more combat-forward and more self-contained; Requiem is more invested in stealth pressure and the Amicia–Hugo relationship. The preference usually follows which of those identities matters more to you.

Is the Steam reception better than the critic reception?

Yes. Steam showed 93% positive from 894 reviews when checked on August 29. That is an early, self- selecting owner sample, so it should complement—not replace—the critic spread.