A Plague Tale: Innocence (Play It!)
A great game I wish I had played sooner. I can’t wait to play the sequel that releases tomorrow!
A Plague Tale: Innocence is a game I regret not playing for all this time. It became one of the most heartwarming stories to me, about growing closer to your loved ones and strangers who quickly become friends in this insane rat chaos adventure. To find a mother to help a friend and most of all to take care of your beloved brother and help him deal with a curse he was gifted. I went into this game thinking it was just mediocre, to then leaving calling this an underrated story masterpiece.
A Plague Tale: Innocence gave me an experience I haven’t felt in a while: a straightforward loving story with a decent number of areas to explore until the next section or chapter. It’s not like an insane open world game which is great because the story and world building is focused on most. I’ve gotten open world fatigue, so this was a nice welcome. Seeing Amicia and her brother Hugo grow and meet characters along the way that helped them and show them how to adapt to a cruel world was unique. They added new gameplay elements I haven’t seen before, crafting, exploration and more making the game easier and simple to breeze through but not only that you see how the characters change too.
Amicia who was once afraid on what to do, had to overcome her fear and do what is necessary to move forward; Whether it was killing, sacrificing people to the rats or making a crazy decision to help her brother Hugo. While Hugo himself, still a five-year-old kid by the way, had to grow up fast. In the beginning he was constantly whining and scared – wondering why he had to leave his home. He later had courage to move on and make his own decisions at tough moments too, especially helping out his sister and giving her hope. That’s the thing, these characters are kids! The things they’ve witness and had to endure is crazy – how in one moment they’re living a decent life, then to have it flipped and are deemed demons of the land.
The music in the game is phenomenal. The haunting sound of danger in every tense moment from seeing the inquisition army massacre a village, or the rats eating anyone they see while you escape or sneak around. That track that plays throughout the course of the game and it sets the tone telling you to prepare yourself. Then when you escape/take care of that threat, the song ends in such a satisfying way where you can relax for a bit and be blessed by the amazing scenery.
There’s so much I want to say about A Plague Tale: Innocence but I don’t want to ruin it if you’re going to experience it for the first time. I recommend this game and it’s free on Xbox Game Pass, so give it a try. And with the sequel A Plague Tale: Requiem coming out tomorrow on October 18th, I can’t imagine the obstacles Amicia and Hugo are going to face. But from what I’ve seen so far with the trailers – they’re going to be just fine with the new tools, knowledge and power they’ve gained.
