A Plague Tale: Innocence

Yes, it is a "simple" game...No open map or something. But...whatever. This is the best game I´ve played for last 5 years. It´s a story driven game, with fantastic music, voice casting a stunning graphics. First time I get into the game, I tried to change graphic somehow, because it looks like you need a 3D glasses (blue/red). There is a weird blur that I dont like. But otherwise, there are scenes, when I am standing for a 5 minutes and just looking and listening. Music is dramatic and it fills nice some scenes with rats etc. Story is also very good and it makes me to play and play... I just cant leave it. Charlotte McBurney did a very good job with voice acting Amicia de Rune. There are checkpoints/autosaves, but it´s good - they are quite often (not that horrible like in Jedi: Fallen Order). This game is like an interactive book. And I love it.

On paper, there's a lot of elements which would make me not like this game, but lo and behold: Puzzles: I'm terrible at those which can make me frustrated, but they're clean and quite simple. Stealth: Definitely not my strong suit either, but it's doable. The game gives you some flexibility as well to just take the enemies out instead of avoiding them. Horror: I'm not a fan of a horror genre, but this is not a jump-scary game. It's just a very grim atmosphere which adds to the story. Positive notes: The characters are very likeable. I feel for Amicia and Hugo's struggle and want them to succeed. The game is short, but stretching it out more would make it feel less impactful to me so this is perfect. The music takes you on a journey and everything looks amazing. Negative notes: Sometimes it's buggy (a guard not patrolling making it impossible to sneak behind him) which was only restored by restarting the game. The game doesn't pause/slow down while you're switching items, which can put some pressure if you want to do a combination of actions to take down an enemy. All in all the positive heavily outways the negative and I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a story-driving game and doesn't need hours upon hours of gameplay. (Played on PC with a controller as this was recommended to me by a friend)

I came in expecting to love PT:I – I think the industry needs more AA titles, and another story-driven Senua-like adventure was something I was really looking forward to. However, I had an ok time with it, only, and it didn’t make much impact on me. Like Senua, it is a highly linear storydriven game. It mixes simple puzzle, stealth and crafting mechanics that aren’t terribly interesting on their own but their main aim is to support the story. Problem no.1 – it is a very UI heavy system – tutorials, combat indicators, ammo & resource count, weapon, item and crafting menus, popups to order companions to do stuff etc. It’s highly unimmersive and distracting, and it is a problem in game like that. Systems might actually be better than Senua’s but I felt Senua’s UI-less design served better what game wanted to achieve. Problem no. 2 – resource gathering and collectibles forces players out of the roleplay and immersion – there aren’t many ways devs can hide resources in a story-driven linear experience. It’s just stuffing things in places players are unlikely to automatically go to. In game like that it creates a simple problem of rewarding players for doing things contrary to the story. Problem no. 3 – character writing and VO is quite great but I wasn’t engaged by the story. The story has more supernatural elements then I expected, and especially later in the game it gets very silly. Likely the biggest problem is that the “horror” element didn’t make an impression on me. It was gory, but I found rats to be thoroughly unintimidating (result of growing up with a rat pet?) The final battle is especially hilarious and would be better suited for a self-aware Platinum game than what tries to be a serious drama. There is some potential in character arcs but I found the overall story so not relatable that it left me indifferent. That said, it is still good enough to recommend for a modest price. It might become fuzzy with time, but it’s novel enough while it lasts.

Like its visuals, A Plague Tale: Innocence is lush and generous. It tells the tale of two siblings, Amicia and Hugo, caught amidst plague-stricken France and an Inquisition that seeks to destroy everything they love. Its story is its highlight and, when it picks up, it becomes hard to put down. That said, A Plague Tale's biggest fault is just how bad its gameplay is. It is a stealth/puzzle game which, at its best, feels like a sort of medieval Tomb Raider. More often, though, its gameplay is monotonous and benign. Much of it involves sneaking, avoiding rats and solving puzzles. The game's AI is atrociously exploitable and the stealth is very barebones. It often feels like it doesn't build upon its mechanics and instead feels flat. Puzzles rarely increase in challenge and are often just more of the same. Or sometimes they are so specific that the game explains their solutions before giving you a chance at solving them. It all makes for an underwhelming experience. But A Plague Tale makes up for its gameplay with its story and looks. The story is like a pulpy Victor Hugo novel, full of alchemy and intrigue, rats and religion. All of it is conveyed gorgeously through some stellar art design and wonderful graphics. Every chapter is memorable, full of striking scenes and vistas; every cutscene full of tasteful narrative and drama. Now, occassionally, there is an awkward staccato at times to how the story is told; its pacing is sometimes off with story beats happening a bit too abruptly. But the production values are so high that it smooths it over. In the end A Plague Tale is simply engrossing. And this is why it is worth playing. Not once did I truly enjoyed interacting with its systems. Yet the story is well done and the gameplay is not so offensive that I found myself looking forward to seeing it through. And in the end I was satisfied. A Plague Tale doesn't overstay its welcome and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Despite its shortcomings, it really is a great game.

Whilst the game can be considered a tad short, it's one that looks good, runs well and at times tears into your soul. The mechanics are fairly basic and the steady introduction of new ones can be tiresome, but it serves to keep the gameplay interesting and provides you with quite the tool kit on approach to the finale. The game is linear though, and every so often rather clunky, so your frequently left with only one approach to most seemingly open situations. The story is a grim one throughout with the occasional glimpse of a more pleasant world. You have to push the characters to extremes that many adults, including myself, would find emotionally unsurmountable. A couple times I was forced to take a break because of how disgusted I was of my own actions, occasionally being dropped into scenery that churns the stomach doesn't help. This game is very good, but because of it's length and linearity I'd suggest only getting it on sale.