This outrageously beautiful game just confirmed why ultrawide PC gaming can't be beaten
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy hooked me nicely
One of my favourite gaming franchises of recent years has been A Plague Tale, a great example of how humble beginnings can lead to great things. The first game was a fun little stealth adventure with a rat-based twist, and the second took that to its zenith with expanded gameplay and some genuinely ravishing visuals.
Now the series gets a rat-free prequel in the form of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, and for all that I think the title is clunky, I've had a really fun time with this action-adventure title.
Resonance takes the enigmatic pirate Sophia from the second game and gives her a prequel that's frankly crazy in its storytelling ambition. It explains how she came to be so knowledgeable about curses and secret islands, and weaves a tapestry that takes in Greek mythology and the story of Theseus and the Minotaur in really fun ways.
Crucially, though, it's no longer a stealth title (barring some brief sequences), instead juggling between puzzle-solving as you explore and combat arenas. The new combat system is simple but generally pretty fun, although I can't pretend to love it as much as the old The Last of Us-style stealth from previous games.
Sophia is a fun central character, though, and has obvious overlaps with Amicia from the older games, including her insurmountable ability to come through harrowing moments without just dying on the spot.
What's really taken me aback as I've played through Resonance, though, has been its visuals. As I already said, I think the Plague Tale games already punched way above their weight, and that trend has continued in some style here.
This is straight-up one of the loveliest games I've ever played, with vistas that'll have you rubbing your eyes each time you round a corner to see them. Whether it's the crumbling ruins of a massive ancient arena, the dramatic clash of waves against a rugged coast, or the charming beauty of a cliffside nunnery, there have been too many gorgeous sights to really list.
I mean, just look at the screenshots below – all the images in this article are shots I took while playing, but they don't half look like marketing shots, eh?
Crucially, I've been playing the game on an ultrawide monitor that I can't quite name yet, for media embargo reasons, and it's been an added treat that really confirms what's great about PC gaming. Sure, I love my PS5 Pro and play it multiple times a week, but there's nothing quite like playing a game at a frankly silly aspect ratio for ludicrous immersion.
Since ultrawides generally come at silly resolutions, it's also a great way to stress test your PC and a game's optimisation, and I've been having a lovely time playing Resonance at maxed-out settings and a steady 60fps – all at 5120 x 2160. That's on my Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, so I'm not even boasting about a 5090 here.
I'll be able to be clearer about my monitor of choice later this week, but back to Resonance. I'm just a big fan of the way Asobo Studio structures and unfolds a story, and how cleverly it pipes a player through areas that sometimes feel more open than they actually are.
The game is a bit of a throwback, frankly – like an Xbox 360 action game, but with the visuals and sound design of a 2026 release, which is intended as a compliment. I think that the move from a really fleshed-out stealth system to a far simpler combat model is ultimately one that makes things less memorable, but that hasn't stopped the game from getting its hooks into me.
I've finished it, at a time when there are about five other titles sat on my various platforms waiting to be played – and ahead of a busy September, that's an even more thorough recommendation than it sounds.
