Amicia and Hugo’s journey in A Plague Story: Requiem is fraught with strife and outlined by anguish. Because the rat recreation‘s protagonist begins to crumble below the load of a hostile world, her psychological state unravels, twisting right into a PTSD-driven spiral. PCGamesN caught up with Charlotte McBurney, the BAFTA-nominated voice actor for Amicia, on the bottom at WASD to debate how each she and her character advanced throughout Requiem.
McBurney is a soft-spoken, well mannered Englishwoman, whose nervous pleasure matches the excitement of WASD itself. It’s a busy time for Plague Story: Requiem, which has been nominated for a number of BAFTA Video games awards within the wake of final yr’s considerably disappointing Recreation of the Yr Awards. McBurney is up for greatest performer in a number one function; one thing she has greater than earnt.
As mentioned in our Plague Story: Requiem overview, McBurney’s Amicia is now not the harmless younger lady of Asobo’s first recreation. As an alternative, she’s hardened, battle-ready, and ruthless in her pursuit of a remedy for Hugo. She kills with out concern and punishes with out remorse, but the violence has taken its toll on her psychological state. Affected by PTSD, the story recreation‘s focus is as a lot on psychological well being as it’s the rats, and McBurney admits that taking part in the a part of a shattered teen was no stroll within the park.
“Once I learn the script at residence, I might cry,” she tells PCGamesN. “I used to be positively drawing on issues that I’ve been via, issues individuals I do know have been via – actual [things]. I used to be positively channelling loads from my very own experiences.
“It was very enjoyable to discover in a really bizarre, macabre means, as a result of it’s not usually that somebody says ‘right here, let unfastened.’ We did one part the place they stated ‘can we simply stand you in entrance of the mic, and may you simply cry?’ So I simply stood and wept for like, 5 minutes. That’s in all probability essentially the most cathartic factor that I’ve ever carried out – not that I’m hurting, however it’s a superb factor. We must always all strive it!”
Amicia’s feelings are what make her so relatable – it’s one of many causes I fell so in love along with her as a personality. With a smile she says “I form of considered [the recording booth] like a wreck room – you realize these locations the place you go in and wreck plates and issues – that’s what engaged on Requiem was like; it’s like getting into there however with my feelings and simply letting unfastened.”
“Once I learn the script for the primary time I used to be like ‘oh my god [the writer] has seen proper via me, it’s terrifying! Why has he written me as a personality?’ after which after I spoke to [him] about it [he] was like ‘oh, I’ve written myself.’”
Trauma, nervousness, and psychological well being transcend temporal boundaries, and that’s one of many issues that makes Requiem – and the Plague Story sequence as an entire – so highly effective. For those who haven’t performed but, I actually counsel you are taking the sport out for a whirl; simply guarantee you’ve gotten some tissues close by and probably a bath of ice cream.
For those who do, we have now a rundown of the Plague Story: Requiem system necessities to ensure your rig can face up to the may of the Macula, or in the event you’ve already performed and had your coronary heart damaged, we have now an inventory of the perfect stealth video games to maintain you entertained.
Interview performed by Nat Smith at WASD 2023.
