Is Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy worth buying?
Short version: if you have Game Pass, yes — it's free there today, decision already made. If you're paying $49.99 with no launch discount, hold on. The reviews are genuinely split in a way that makes a day-one purchase a gamble.
The review split, in plain words
The critical consensus disagrees with itself. Windows Central's review says it's "the spin-off that's better than the originals" and one of the best narrative games they've played all year. The r/Games review thread describes a "strong adventure" that blends puzzles, combat, stealth and narrative well. On the other side, one of the early takes (shared in r/APlagueTale) lands at "safe, derivative, 6/10 at best 7/10" — polished, competent, but doing the A Plague Tale formula again with better combat.
The number that mattered most isn't missing anymore: Steam user reviews. A month in, 5,513 of them sit at 93% positive — Steam's "Very Positive" band, checked September 28, 2026 — which is warmer than the critic split above. Word of mouth went the other way from the review scores.
The case for playing it now
- Game Pass. If you subscribe, this is the easiest yes of the week. Full game, day one, no extra money. Even a 6/10 costs you nothing to test.
- No spoilers, yet. Story games get spoiled fast. If you're in the A Plague Tale fandom, day-one play is the only way to go in clean.
- Sophia's backstory. Requiem fans already like this character. Her origin story is new territory, not a retread.
The case for waiting
- $49.99 at full price, zero discount. Focus Entertainment games discount regularly — this will see 20-30% off within a few months.
- Still full price. $49.99 a month after launch with no discount yet (checked September 28, 2026). The community verdict is in and it's good, so the thing left to wait on is the price, not the game.
- Day-one patches. Launch week on PC has been rough for several big releases this year. Waiting a week costs nothing.
Verdict
This is one of those rare launches where the price question has a clean answer. Subscribers should just play it — it's the best possible deal for a split-reviewed narrative game. For everyone else, the case to wait got thinner than the critic scores suggested: 93% positive across 5,513 Steam reviews means it isn't the dud the middling reviews implied, so what you're waiting for is a discount, not a verdict.
Steam price as of Sep 28, 2026. No discount. Day one on Xbox Game Pass.