Well, throw this one on the special list of games I never gave much thought to only to fire it up via Playstation Plus and lose my damn mind. Essentially a Dan Brown novel in video game form, I really was not expecting this (often gorgeous) budget mashup of Uncharted and Brothers, let alone a really enjoyable rendition of that. I'd always pictured a lot of walking slowly with a torch through catacombs while silly looking rat hordes stream all around you.
And there is plenty of that, but again the rats actually look pretty comical the moment you get past the horror of the scenario itself so horror prudes like me can easily endure it. Likewise, it was quite surprising to realize how much depth there is to the combat system here (the devs name drop The Last of Us rather than Uncharted, and its influence is perhaps most evident in the crafting system) considering how basic the actual mechanics are. While the A.I. is dumb as rocks and the stealth gameplay is pretty boilerplate, by the mid-game there's a decent amount of immersive manipulation more serious gamers can dig into if they want.
While I chose not to hold any of the following against the game, it's worth noting that A Plague Tale often animates with all the charisma of an early PS3 adventure game, imagining a world where motion capture technology never got better than the original Uncharted and faces stalled at Final Fantasy XII. Despite the high stakes and heavy focus on blood bonds, it's impossible to think of a single moment I was truly invested in any of the characters. Imagine a movie with an incredibly evocative production designer helmed by a B-movie director and stocked with community theater actors and you've got the gist of Innocence's vibe.
I found that really worked for this game, though, much in the same way Vampyr took my world by storm during COVID lockdowns in 2020. There's so much ambition on display, particularly in the eye-opening sequences that center on the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War, its many presentational flaws are charming rather than anything to really get unnerved about. The pace is absolutely breakneck, as well, and does an incredible job of switching up what the player is doing from chapter to chapter. What really won me over were the quieter moments, of which there are plenty; while I love Naughty Dog's games, they're undeniably guilty of feeling pressured to throw some game in their game when they could probably let a dramatic moment breath a little more and Asobo Team is pretty good about that here.
Speaking of Asobo Team, it's an absolute riot to look over their gameography. After years toiling on Pixar tie-ins and ports, suddenly they find it in them to openly state they're out to make "The Last of Us meets Brothers", meticulously detail the atrocities of medieval warfare and throw in a little rat magic along the way. Oh: they'll serve up a side of Microsoft Flight Simulator while they're at it, I guess. Truly bonkers development for the Frenchmen and good on 'em.
I found that some of the script's weaker moments were exponentially improved by switching the voice over to French as well; I can only imagine how weird it would've been to hear someone actually say "skidaddle" as the English sub suggested. It's a shame there wasn't a way to keep the Britons speaking in English while the protagonists spoke French but another ultimately minor quibble.
Again, can't really stress enough that I scorched through this in a single, insomnia-addled sitting and had a hell of a time. Unfortunately, the game does seem to have some issues on PS5 and perhaps the latests XBoxes as well, as myself and multiple others have experienced a penultimate combat scenario that's absolutely borked. The auto-aim starts failing (manual aim, at least on consoles, is absolutely useless) while some ranged enemies have an exceptional ability to clip Amicia (and this is a one-hit kill adventure!) which makes for a definitively demoralizing experience. There's only about a half-hour of game left after this moment, but considering that half-hour contains one of the most comical final bosses I've ever seen it would've been nice to be able to play it myself.
But after a solid dozen or so attempts I just couldn't take it anymore. Besides, I'd had such a good time with this game for free that I'd paid full price for its sequel a few hours earlier, and it'd just unlocked on my dashboard. The marathon continues.
And there is plenty of that, but again the rats actually look pretty comical the moment you get past the horror of the scenario itself so horror prudes like me can easily endure it. Likewise, it was quite surprising to realize how much depth there is to the combat system here (the devs name drop The Last of Us rather than Uncharted, and its influence is perhaps most evident in the crafting system) considering how basic the actual mechanics are. While the A.I. is dumb as rocks and the stealth gameplay is pretty boilerplate, by the mid-game there's a decent amount of immersive manipulation more serious gamers can dig into if they want.
While I chose not to hold any of the following against the game, it's worth noting that A Plague Tale often animates with all the charisma of an early PS3 adventure game, imagining a world where motion capture technology never got better than the original Uncharted and faces stalled at Final Fantasy XII. Despite the high stakes and heavy focus on blood bonds, it's impossible to think of a single moment I was truly invested in any of the characters. Imagine a movie with an incredibly evocative production designer helmed by a B-movie director and stocked with community theater actors and you've got the gist of Innocence's vibe.
I found that really worked for this game, though, much in the same way Vampyr took my world by storm during COVID lockdowns in 2020. There's so much ambition on display, particularly in the eye-opening sequences that center on the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War, its many presentational flaws are charming rather than anything to really get unnerved about. The pace is absolutely breakneck, as well, and does an incredible job of switching up what the player is doing from chapter to chapter. What really won me over were the quieter moments, of which there are plenty; while I love Naughty Dog's games, they're undeniably guilty of feeling pressured to throw some game in their game when they could probably let a dramatic moment breath a little more and Asobo Team is pretty good about that here.
Speaking of Asobo Team, it's an absolute riot to look over their gameography. After years toiling on Pixar tie-ins and ports, suddenly they find it in them to openly state they're out to make "The Last of Us meets Brothers", meticulously detail the atrocities of medieval warfare and throw in a little rat magic along the way. Oh: they'll serve up a side of Microsoft Flight Simulator while they're at it, I guess. Truly bonkers development for the Frenchmen and good on 'em.
I found that some of the script's weaker moments were exponentially improved by switching the voice over to French as well; I can only imagine how weird it would've been to hear someone actually say "skidaddle" as the English sub suggested. It's a shame there wasn't a way to keep the Britons speaking in English while the protagonists spoke French but another ultimately minor quibble.
Again, can't really stress enough that I scorched through this in a single, insomnia-addled sitting and had a hell of a time. Unfortunately, the game does seem to have some issues on PS5 and perhaps the latests XBoxes as well, as myself and multiple others have experienced a penultimate combat scenario that's absolutely borked. The auto-aim starts failing (manual aim, at least on consoles, is absolutely useless) while some ranged enemies have an exceptional ability to clip Amicia (and this is a one-hit kill adventure!) which makes for a definitively demoralizing experience. There's only about a half-hour of game left after this moment, but considering that half-hour contains one of the most comical final bosses I've ever seen it would've been nice to be able to play it myself.
But after a solid dozen or so attempts I just couldn't take it anymore. Besides, I'd had such a good time with this game for free that I'd paid full price for its sequel a few hours earlier, and it'd just unlocked on my dashboard. The marathon continues.