This game is an adequate stealth game that didn't quite live up to my expectations. I've heard a lot of people associate the development of Plague Tale to Senua's Sacrifice, so it was hard for me not to compare the two. Maybe it's not fair, but I was expecting this game to graphically match Senua's Sacrifice... though it really wasn't close. Plague Tale's graphics look really nice in stills, but in motion, everything seems extremely wooden, and the graphics are roughly on par with Assassin's Creed games early in this console generation.

The music and voice acting are good, and mostly of the same caliber as most AAA games.

The game performed mostly okay on my PC (Ryzen 1600, GTX 1060, 16GB RAM), but I ran into a lot of odd bugs near the final 25%. The game would occasionally crash to the desktop, and even though I was playing on PC with the game installed to my hard drive, I got stuck on this screen at one point and had to Alt-F4 out of the game (high-quality cellphone offscreen photos incoming!):

The stealth is not terribly complex. Enemies are typically stationary & facing one direction. Sometimes they pace back & forth. In the early game, you get from Point A to Point B by luring enemies away by throwing rocks. Eventually, you need to take out enemies with your slingshot or by other means. When you kill your first enemy, Plague Tale has a 2013 Tomb Raider moment where you're horrified at killing a person. Then you proceed to murder a couple dozen more dudes by the end of the game.

The game is mostly an escort mission. Luckily, your little escort buddy stays close so he can't do anything dumb. Just not usually this close (another weird late-game bug I encountered):

There is some light puzzling interspersed between the stealth sections, but unfortunately some of the exact same puzzles get recycled in the exact same areas. You also gain some unique abilities near the end, but they feel unusually clunky.

And I'm pretty sure that the final boss fight was strongly influenced by Disney's Fantasia...

(This review copied over from Steam, initially written June 24, 2021)

I’ll keep this review spoiler-free. I went into the game without knowing pretty much anything about it and really enjoyed that experience so I would recommend the same.

This review is kind of hard to write. The short of it is that I really enjoyed this game for what it is, though it’s hard to describe in a way that actually expresses that, so I’m going to do my best. The game most similar in gameplay—and somewhat on a narrative level—is The Last of Us, with the obvious caveat that this is a medieval setting. However, if you judged the game solely on that basis, A Plague Tale comes off as is a much lesser version as it doesn’t succeed so astoundingly at everything that TLOU achieves (full disclosure: TLOU2 is one of my top favorite games period and the first game is high up as well). That’s not surprising in that TLOU 1 and 2 are lauded broadly as pretty incredible games and they’re by a AAA studio that has the resources to put into such an endeavor. I still make the comparison for a couple reasons. First, the controls and gameplay work very similarly. The third person looks and feels very much like TLOU, especially with much of the game involving an ally or two following you around as you scrounge up supplies to craft useful tools and weaponry in a deadly setting. Second, the story has a somewhat similar feel at times. It’s not quite to the same level of grit and at times leans a bit toward more of a Resident Evil-style silliness, without ever quite going all the way there. But there is otherwise some similarity in tone with lots of death and destruction in harsh environments and facing cutthroat enemies.

Beyond these likenesses though, A Plague Tale is definitely its own thing. The biggest difference is despite the feel of the gameplay and the fact it’s all third-person action, it’s more of a puzzle game than action shooter. There are for one, a number of puzzles throughout the game that I think hit sweet spot for puzzles, never frustratingly difficult, but also not so painfully easy that they just get in the way to slow you down or act as filler. They instead have at the very least an interesting solution that makes you feel a little clever. I don’t mind puzzles being a little frustrating, but I think there was only one part where I got stuck for a bit so it wasn’t very far in that direction. Thus, I think this game hits right in the middle of that continuum. Further, the combat itself feels more puzzle-like than action, especially for the first 75% of the game. To this point, the encounters are much less about having great aim and more about figuring out the order of dealing with enemies and which tools to apply. While this loses out on some of the great points of a good action game, the fact you’re still having to act fast in any given encounter still feels exciting. The only downside to this is that it does take away from some of the horror element when it feels like you’re kind of supposed to die a few times on the more complex encounters to figure out a path, making death and restarting from checkpoints feel more trivial than a real threat. The last quarter or so of the game is less this way though with numerous ways to get through a given encounter, allowing the game to throw more enemies and obstacles at you for more action-packed fights. Granted, even these encounters aren’t terribly difficult. This actually works out pretty well to give you a bit of the best of both worlds as at this point you get more of a chance to play with all your tools however you prefer rather than trying to figure out what you’re “supposed” to do after you’ve had plenty of time in the earlier game to enjoy the more puzzley fights.

Like you might expect from a game like this, there are a number of upgrades and crafting options throughout. The upgrades are an interesting choice. Since much of the challenge and problem-solving of the game is more about figuring out the solution to a given puzzle, fight, or stealth sequence, almost none of the upgrades are really NECESSARY. This makes them kind of a weird feature in that you know you don’t really need them and almost none are even all that significant. I found them fun little additions, but don’t bear quite the same gravity that upgrades usually do in games like this. However, the crafting in the game is pretty neat. As you progress through the story you unlock a number of new tools you can craft for use in and out of combat. They’re mostly pretty neat tricks that feel like they add something fresh to your arsenal, enabling you to traverse dangerous environments in new ways and make your enemies victims to those very threats.

The story itself I found generally pretty good. It’s not mind-blowing, but it works well for what it is. The characters are mostly likeable and the plot moves steadily with solid developments to pull you along at an even pace. The chapters are also pretty digestible, usually 45 mins-1 hr in length and are gripping enough that I generally didn’t ever stop in the middle of one. That structure worked well for me so I could get a full episode in during one shorter session or play several in a row if I was feeling up to binging for a bit. The plot progression is engaging enough to make those binges pretty tempting at times. The ending sequence is a mix between epic and a little silly as the story gets a little ridiculous, but the game mostly maintains its tone otherwise. While I liked the characters well enough, none of them really stood out much. Weirdly, the character relationships were more entertaining to me than any given character on their own. I think Amicia was my favorite character, which is good since that’s who you play as pretty much all game, though even she doesn’t particularly stand out other than being someone relatively inexperienced having to step up against impossible odds to protect what little she has left. Thus, I mostly liked her as sympathetic rather than as a particularly interesting character.

The game is quite gorgeous. The different chapters offer a pretty wide variety of environments and rarely reuse them. While some of them are a little too dark to make out fine details, much of the game looks really good, regardless of the setting. Exploring the different areas as you go along, especially the outdoors countryside segments, was really fun just to take a look around as a detour on the otherwise linear progression. There are also collectibles to be found that offer interesting historical tidbits as a reward for said exploration. The overall presentation is thus pretty impressive. While not up to the AAA cinematic standard, everything still looks and feels great, helping to break up the darker moments with the levity of pretty scenery and detailed environments, even when depicting some…not so pretty images. On that note, despite the story having some dark turns and pretty grim subject matter, I never really found the game to be too grim or feel like a bummer. It wasn’t particularly cheerful, but character conversations and fun gameplay kept the game from feeling too heavy.

Overall, this isn’t the best game ever, but it’s definitely worth playing. There isn’t much replay value, but it’s a pretty solid ~16-hour story that keeps its gameplay fresh with very little, if any, filler. That said, while it didn’t blow me away, it does what it’s aiming to do and there aren’t really things I think it does particularly bad. The worst would probably be that some of the more outlandish moments can break up the tone and immersion when juxtaposed with the gritty medieval setting and dramatic plotlines. This wasn’t a major problem for me, but I could see it being a bigger deal for some players. All in all, definitely worth giving the game a shot. I’d still aim to wait for it to go on sale. It’s quite good, but with no replay value, I’m not sure I’d want to spend the full $45 or whatever. I, however, was thoroughly pleased with it and consider the $13 I got it for on sale a steal.

A strong narrative experience with some environmental puzzling and stealth sections.

The game takes place in the medieval France times during a sort of black plague. It tells the story of a young noble girl named Amicia and her family. It focuses mostly on her and her little brother who's suffering from illness that will play a significant part of the story. They're searching for the cure while running away from the inquisition who is determined to capture the boy. Traveling through the country trying to evade them as well as swarms of unnatural plague rats.

The story is the biggest focus of the game and the strongest point of the game. Voice acting is top notch and it's just interesting how it plays out.

Visually it looks really good. Especially early on the forest sections are really impressive and I've caught myself just enjoying having a walk through it. The game gets dark pretty quick but looks good all the time. Special mention rats swarms and the battlefield level - piles of corpses look really impressive. It looks good all the time actually so big props fit that.

Gameplay wise the game is divided into a couple of sections. There's the narrative layer with a lot of walking and talking. There's the stealth layer where you need to evade inquisition in a little bit more open levels. This part is really well done. There are multiple ways to cross the areas and you have quite a few tools at your disposal to distract the guards. It might be a little too easy as the guards are usually placed in the convenient places with required tools just sitting about. But it helped with moving the story forward and not getting stuck for too long on some sections. In fact it gave the whole experience a more cinematic feel.

There's also puzzles to solve when going through some areas that mostly consists of figuring a way to pass the rat riddled areas by lighting fires and using the environment to distract them otherwise. The puzzles are generally quite obvious but not boring so no complaints there. They just fit the main narrative just fine - not making one stuck too long on a certain area while still providing things to do.

If I had to complain about something I’d say the resource collection is a bit unnecessary. You need those to craft special ammo for your slingshot or to upgrade your equipment and it means you often need to go against reason to get those shiny materials. And while it makes sense gameplay wise it does break the immersion a little bit when you’re collecting stuff during near life and death experiences. That is even more so as the game tries to offer in depth immersion by allowing an option to turn off all prompts in game as well as offer option for french dialogue to match the setting.

Overall a great, almost cinematic experience. Highly enjoyed it and would recommend it. There’s really no replay value though so at full price I’d be a little hesitant. As I played on through the xbox game pass - well worth it - as it’s not a particularly long game.

A Plague Tale: Innocence strikes an excellent balance between its dark and compelling narrative alongside stealth action combat that features a hefty amount of variety throughout.

Set in the mid-14th century during the Hundred Years' War in France, the game focuses on a pair of siblings of noble descent and their journey to escape the plague, the Inquisition, and the younger brother (Hugo)'s illness. The game starts out with a heavily dour and tragic tone but the older sister (Amicia) refuses to lose hope in face of everything, and that stubborn optimism combined with a fleshed out cast of allies provides some light in the darkness.

As for gameplay, Amicia starts out with a measly sling and a rock, but soon becomes lethal with a combination of fiery rocks, irritants to remove armor, and manipulate the torrent of rats that infest France. These rats are terrifying (and very well animated!) but fear the light, which balances players between hiding from enemies and pushing through hordes of rodents. The game also has a mild crafting system that doesn't get in the way of gameplay while offering some slight upgrades and opportunities to craft alchemical weapons.

Difficulty is fairly mild, with a focus on narrative and throwing plenty of new mechanics and situations at players. There were a handful of segments that really had me scratching my head (in a good way!) as the player has to make the most of their materials and their surroundings to get through. Whether it's heavy armor goons, rat cyclones, or the spare boss or two there's always something new for Amicia to struggle through. All of these moments complement the narrative very well, with nothing feeling out of place from the horror and fantasy tinged story.

Graphically the game is a marvel on PC. The rats themselves are a sinister masterwork of particle effects and the environments are lovingly detailed and historically accurate (save for the plague hives). Musically the game puts plenty of emotion into its gloomy strings, and it's all very beautiful to hear.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a game that's looking to tell a story of two siblings out to carve a path of light through darkness, and has plenty of fun stealth (and murder! and rat murder!) to make it a worthwhile journey.

I intended to pick up A Plague Tale after I saw it win the Steam awards for outstanding story rich game for 2019. Somehow I got distracted during my post holiday impulse buys and picked up something else. I almost forgot about my Xbox Game Pass for Windows, but managed to redeem the offer from a previous AMD hardware purchase. I was quite tickled to find A Plague Tale there, and it forced me to focus on it since I only had a few months to find things worth playing with the game pass. A little disappointed that I won't be adding it to my library since I don't intend to maintain the game pass monthly subscription, but I don't often revisit games like this. I'll keep my screenshots and the memories of the adventure.

Overall I really enjoyed the story and found the gameplay on the weaker side. I'm pretty biased to these sorts of games because a group of kids setting out on a seemingly insurmountable obstacle hits a nostalgia point.

The story takes off pretty quickly once you're introduced to Amicia and the controls. I felt like I lurched in both the story and gameplay when the stealth part of the game starts. I don't have an answer for intelligent AI that isn't overly difficult, but also believable in a stealth game. It's for this reason, that I'm torn 50/50 on the stealth. It's not my favorite part, but I have to admit it caused me to sit on the edge of my seat in some parts. I found the dialogue while stealthing around a little distracting, but reminds me of being a young kid when you think you're so sneaky and everyone knows you're there but plays along.

The combat was passable. Some fights allow you to be reckless without much stealth, but I didn't really try until much later in the game when you don't really have a choice, or in the infrequent boss fights. Really the combat and much of the gameplay parts seem to be a vehicle for the story to progress. This didn't really bother me because I was really curious to know what came next.

I loved the setting and the music. The game looked great and I was content to be directed on where to go next. I have a surplus of open world games, so to be stuck on a railroad was fine with me. I thought they captured the feeling of young kids being thrown into this nightmare.

I liked the development of main characters Amicia and Hugo. It's not an overly profound development, but they go from barely knowing each other to being tempered by some difficult tests of perseverance. The bond between siblings can be really great, and without knowing what it's like to have an older sister, I felt like it was capture well in this game.

The supporting characters are fine, and the dialogue can be a little stale and clunky at times, but I appreciate having voice actors. Sometimes if I'm just reading the text, I don't develop distinct personalities for the characters, but with unique voices, I find it more immersive. After I finished it, I thought it would have been cool to listen to the French with subtitles, but wow they speak fast! The supporting characters keep the dialogue moving and that's enough. Really it's about Amicia and Hugo.

I couldn't find an accurate time spent playing the game, maybe because I uninstalled shortly after finishing it, but I'd estimate around 10 - 12 hours. My trivia calendar tells me a group of rats is called a mischief. I'd forgotten before I played A Plague Tale, and after I was thinking it was a nightmare, because that's what it felt like. I'd recommend this to anyone who's curious what it's like to know how mischiefs of rats can be terrifying and make you want to keep a candle burning nearby.

It's on sale at the time of writing on Steam for about $15. I think that's a great deal for the adventure, but I'm content with my one playthrough.