It’s been a year since we revealed Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy and four since A Plague Tale: Requiem’s release (😲!) In the quiet of Asobo Studio’s office, our team wondered how the A Plague Tale universe would live on.
Asobo Studio’s team on the deck. Now, the release is almost here. Soon, you’ll face countless dangers alongside Sophia and her sidekicks.
At some point, such a spirited and determined character deserved the spotlight. And we were all in: Sophia’s past was barely hinted at in A Plague Tale: Requiem. It was meant to be told. What a challenge for us to revisit our grim, richly-layered world, and yet invite the unknown in!
The coming months are critical: our compass is fixed on testing, balancing, and refining the game mechanics to deliver an experience as challenging as it is unforgettable. Final tweaks, last recording sessions, the closing notes of the score, before we offer you a story forged in the depths and mysteries of the Mediterranean Sea…
Sophia is a child of the seas a fierce fighter, and a free spirit haunted by the secrets of her childhood. Cast out by her old mentor, she defies him in a perilous treasure hunt that will shape her forever. And it all starts here…
By Cara, Lead writer in our narrative crew.
In Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, we explore her childhood and young adulthood. The main story takes place when she's twenty-two, around 15 years before the events of A Plague Tale: Innocence & Requiem, but we also journey through her childhood in the plunderer camp where she grew up, led by her father, Alec.
About Sophia’s flaws and personality.
Sophia is a renowned plunderer and smuggler, nicknamed "The Scorpion of the Seas"... What strikes you about Sophia is this raw strength that she radiates. She's relentless, in complete control of her emotions, and rarely shows vulnerability. You immediately sense she's survived something terrible. And yet, she's capable of unwavering loyalty toward those she chooses to protect.
Sophia evolves in a particularly violent environment where she learned to fight from a very young age. By seeing where she comes from, we better understand how she developed that fighter's mentality we know her for. And most importantly, it gives meaning to the quest for emancipation she'll go through in the game.
She wants to understand what evil has been haunting her since childhood. It seems Requiem wasn’t Sophia’s first encounter with the Macula… Her journey in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy goes far beyond a simple quest for survival: it will change her life forever and force her to confront her past, her ghosts, and to choose who she truly wants to be.
Sophia is above all determined. It fuels her fighting spirit, but it also has a flip side: she refuses to show vulnerability. She'd rather take the hit, keep moving, stay standing, even when she should stop. This same determination manifests in her love for those close to her. She protects those she loves with absolute ferocity.
In her quest for freedom, Sophia will learn to rely on herself and find the right allies. Sometimes, it takes a lot of perspective and confronting your own traumas to recognize them. To get through an ordeal as destructive as the one Sophia will face, you need to know who truly deserves your trust.
Writing Sophia, the challenge behind her earlier self…
We knew that such a straightforward, determined character isn't built without fractures. So, we explored abandonment, grief, and collapsing pillars. These themes felt essential for a character her age, evolving in such a violent environment. Requiem gave us little information: Sophia had been placed in a convent by her mother's family, she'd escaped, she'd found her father again. Having such little info about her was both an enormous constraint and immense freedom.
She is one of those characters we admire for their strength, but who truly touch us when they reveal their weaknesses. What fascinates us about her is that, when she finally accepts her vulnerability, she becomes even stronger. No one is infallible, and that's precisely what makes her real, tangible, deeply human. We don't love her despite her flaws, we love her for them.
By Adonia, associate lead character modeler in our artistic crew.
Sophia was a voice of reason and maturity in Requiem: her exuberant style was, paradoxically, not a deterrent to her fully fledged thoughts: she does not resort to violence unless absolutely necessary and is mostly seen as, quite literally, the beacon of light.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy marks a shift from Requiem’s Sophia and what ensued was a series of aesthetic reworkings, owing to the fact that she was now being cast as the main character of the newest addition to the series. Naturally, her design is as much a result of her “personality” as it is of technical “practicality” . Numerous changes are attributed to the fact that Sophia is now younger, poorer, adventurous and most importantly… sober. 😬
Therefore, we had to exit baggy clothing and vivid fabric dyes, enter dingy leather vests and dull fabrics. We took Sophia’s initial concept design for Resonance and reworked it from the ground up, both in 2D and 3D. What we ended up with was a compromise between Sophia’s carefree attitude, exemplified by loose, wild hair and accessories, as made familiar by Requiem, but tamed by the more somber ingredients of her reworked outfit: worn leather and ample, tattered fabrics spread over her hips. Medallions, beads, strings, coins and scarves are evidently eye-candy material, and also defining visual language for Sophia, so we tried to incorporate them as much as possible. Her coat was also a good excuse for us to add even more simulations, in order to add fluidity and movement to her base animations: the bottom part was split into gladiator-styled strips that made crouching, fighting, climbing more visually enticing
Her tattoos are an integral part of her aesthetics, fidelity to the original Sophia in that regard was paramount to keeping the uniqueness of her persona. A particular point of interest is the flowery patterns adorning her neck as a dichotomy between a sanguine sword-wielder still finding the time to embellish herself with intricate and delicate patterns, even in the midst of a harsh environment.
The most striking aspect of Sophia, and one we particularly enjoyed working on is her untamed hair that gives her an almost “feral” look, one that we personally tried to convey, especially in her depictions as a child.
Sophia is a collector at heart, so part of the bits and bobs she stumbles upon on her adventures are used to decorate her looks: bracelets, coins, stones, seals and hair pins were good accessories to incorporate. We decided not to replace the more exotic parts of her physique, so we did not include haircuts and tattoos, as that would remove part of what makes Sophia herself.
Now, Sophia is calling you aboard. Salt spray stings her skin, the wind howls at her back. She stares into the deep blue. “Where the hell do you hide?”…
Some answers make you go further than you ever planned. Step into the storm with her, and see where chance takes you!
Next Episode 2 - Interview with Anna Demetriou and
Episode 3 - “Into the myth” are coming up soon, don’t miss them!
If you wish to keep yourself updated on Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy (and we bet you do!) you should follow our socials: Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky. You may also discuss with peers, Plague Tale fans, on Focus Together or on Discord.
Thank you for your support,
-Asobo Studio & Focus Entertainment