4/5 ★ – BEEF_'s review of A Plague Tale: Innocence.

SPOILER FREE -------------------------------------------- Background Fluff -- I've been forcing myself to play more games that are both expressly not AAA and not boomer shooters/retro FPS. Okay, 'force' sounds harsh, I do really enjoy playing these games. I don't normally play *just* AAA games, I actually find a lot of the previous generation's (XB1/PS4) games to be boring as hell and uninventive and...what is it...*not* fun. It is a jaded perspective but I'm personally tired of those games where you rhetorically ask the creators in your head "Why didn't you just make a movie?". That is where A Plague Tale: Innocence comes in. I've been avoiding this game because glancing at the box art, a few screenshots, and a few seconds of gameplay made me roll my eyes in the same way that I have been at AAA games for the past 6 to 8 years. *Whip* out the flagellum (so sorry) because I was wrong. Alright enough, let's talk about- The Game Itself -- Set what feels like thousands of years ago (You look at the year '1348' and tell me it doesn't feel like that) during the Black Plague, you navigate an incredibly dark 'European Location' as 'Some European Kid' as you try to save your little brother from some bad folks trying to steal him away for his very important blood. I'm being deliberately vague here, because this isn't a long game (about 8 to 10 hours) and I knew essentially nothing when I went in. I think its best that way. The presentation and initial opening are paced well and gorgeous, but you can't help but think 'Oh no, here goes another AAA walking simulator with decent writing and acting but fuck all for gameplay'. This is until- THE RATS -- Easily A Plague Tale's shining peak is its rats. Its zillions of fucking rats. Mechanically and thematically this one aspect alone propels A Plague Tale passed quite a lot of the AAA games of the same generation. We know the Black Plague had rats, those assholes caused the thing, but A Plague Tale has literal seas of rats EVERYWHERE. When you are not watching the well done cutscenes, slowly walking and talking for way too long, or navigating enjoyable yet basic stealth sections, you are using light and dark to navigate dark alleyways filled with more rats than you have ever seen in your life. You are using corpses and fantastical alchemy to herd thousands of rats away and towards you and others in a desperate attempt to save your family and friends. These rats turn what you think was a historical fiction game into historical fantasy. This is where the game shines. However, that's not to mention the- Actually Good Resource Management -- When I see 'loot' in games I smile and groan at the same time. A proverbial Box of Chocolates, resource looting and management can be a coin flip in modern games. Luckily A Plague Tale pulls it off rather competently. You pick up crafting resources throughout the game. The catch is that they both made these resources tied to crafting equipment upgrades and throwables *and* deliberately made these resources scarce. They force you to choose helpful passive equipment buffs or being able to easily navigate the game itself. Its a delicate balance that was pulled off beautifully here. Without extreme planning, you will not be able to upgrade all of your equipment. You must use the alchemical resources for throwable items to survive. Fine I'll mention- A Gripe Or Two -- The game runs beautifully, looks great, and is constantly engaging with its atmosphere. However, i've been passively mentioning some of the issues I found with the game throughout this review. These are entirely subjective and not a slight on fundamental aspects of the game itself. There are sections of the game that overstay their welcome, specifically sections of 'walk n talk' and general downtime. I know they serve their purpose of providing a story and showing interesting interactions between all of the kids in the game, but when your medium is 'interactive media' you have no excuse when it comes to showing and not telling. This problem with telling becomes especially grating when the characters in the game have dialogue that plays after a certain amount of time in a puzzle section. It seems like a good way to make hints more immersive, but it ends up giving away how the puzzle works without any effort on the player's part. Make the character quips less specific and make the puzzles signpost themselves better to push the player to figure it out. One final bullet point, the ending was a weird mixed bag. (no spoilers I pwomise) The final boss fight is easily one of the best choreographed boss fights i've played in a long time. Very very well done...but then the game just kind of ends. Very abrupt ending. Anyways game is great. Must play even. Excited for the sequel bye ;)