A Plague Tale: Innocence – Review

I have come to terms that there are two types of indie-games, ones that wants to tell a story and pull at your heartstrings, and others that are just there to be fun game which are likely parodying off of other genres. In the first example we get some major masterpieces of the indie scene, games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and last year’s Hellblade: Senua Sacrifice. Focus Home Interactive and French developer Asobo Studio’s latest game, A Plague Tale: Innocence, falls under this description.

A Plague Tale takes place in France during the war with the English and the start of a terrible disease that starts to take over the country. You play as Amicia de Rune, the daughter of a Duke. Starting out the game deceives you into thinking that this might be a simple adventure game, only to show you signs of the blight taking over the land and animals being slaughtered by an unknown entity.

To make matters worst, upon returning to your keep, the Inquisition appears looking for your little brother, Hugo. After the Inquisition ravages your home, Amicia and her brother are now on their own, with Hugo carrying an unknown disease and a deadly foe after you.

The story is dark and is played out with very strong character development as Amicia attempts to follow her family wishes and protect Hugo, all while fending off bloodthirsty rats, the Inquisition and crazed villagers. To survive you’ll have to do some morally questionable things which pretty much surmounts to killing people in a variety of different ways, whether you want to or not.

The game itself is an stealth adventure, that borderlines on the Survival Horror. For most of the game, Amicia, Hugo and their companion Lucas, will have to run, hide and attempt to escape from a variety of people and Rats. Hiding from the human characters isn’t necessarily tough as most of them prove to be dumb as nails, getting distracted by noises and staying on specific paths. Getting caught by these people however forces you to attempt to run and hide.

Running and hiding from people causes a problem. Most of Amicia capabilities involve a ranged sling which can throw rocks and other alchedemic items, and generally needs a headshot to kill them. This takes time to make sure the precision is correct and on top of that, there is a chance they might be armoured as well. As the game progresses, Amicia can learn about Alchemy and mix together items that will help her escape, at the cost of items that could possibly be used for upgrades.

While the humans maybe bad, they’re nothing when it comes to the swarm of rage induced rats which seem to come out of every corner in the night-time levels. While they serve more as a puzzle piece than a direct threat, they are a horrific inclusion to the gameplay with just how fast they can be and their affinity to devour anything in sight. They are sensitive to the light, so staying near torches and fire is the best thing to do.

The performances are very well done, especially for Amicia and Hugo who drive the story. Both characters act their age, with Amicia being forced to mature as her world crumbles around her, and Hugo acting like a scared 5 year old who slowly loses what Innocence he has as the game continues. Even as the game starts to have a supernatural flare, the characters keep things grounded, helping the story and the action to find a right pace.

A Plague Tale: Innocence offers about 10 hours of gameplay which paces out action and horror with a great story, and an amazing performance from its two young leads. It is able to keep you interested and I found it hard to put down. That being said, those looking for a challenge might not find it here, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying this well crafted indie.