A compelling narrative and solid cast of characters tarnished a bit by rancid gameplay. The more they tried to develop gameplay systems or offer new abilities the more things fell apart.
A game with instant fail states all over the place mixed with mechanics that are at times in shambles isn't a good mix.
A game with instant fail states all over the place mixed with mechanics that are at times in shambles isn't a good mix.
fun, incredibly engaging, beautiful, and great characters. does start to fall apart a bit narratively in later acts, but overall a good experience.
This is what unbounded creativity looks like. The AA video is alive and well.
An excellent story driven campaign let down slightly by the later acts especially the final boss fight. A must play if you have game pass.
I only tried this because I was stuck for something to play and it was on gamepass. I was extremely pleasantly surprised. It's a wonderfully presented engaging story with interesting characters and well done stealth/puzzle gameplay. It's feels like something that's definitely going to become looked on as a "hidden gem" in years to come.
amisia amisia
good stealth and using a sling as a weapon was neat. story was pretty good but i've seen better.
I heard lots of good things about this game, but I never expected it to be this awesome! What an experience this was! A fantastic story, outstanding voice acting and music, amazing graphics… I loved everything!
Even though the gameplay is pretty linear, there’s just enough variety in it to keep everyone interested. The tale of two innocent children in this dark, chaotic medieval world made me feel as if I was in a 'Game of Thrones' episode. Every minute is suspenseful and fun, definitely a must play for lovers of the action-adventure genre.
'A Plague Tale: Innocence' rivals any AAA titles, and if you ask me, it has easily outdone games like 'Death Stranding', 'Devil May Cry 5' or even 'Resident Evil 2'.
Even though the gameplay is pretty linear, there’s just enough variety in it to keep everyone interested. The tale of two innocent children in this dark, chaotic medieval world made me feel as if I was in a 'Game of Thrones' episode. Every minute is suspenseful and fun, definitely a must play for lovers of the action-adventure genre.
'A Plague Tale: Innocence' rivals any AAA titles, and if you ask me, it has easily outdone games like 'Death Stranding', 'Devil May Cry 5' or even 'Resident Evil 2'.
weirdly the worst thing about this game was the voice acting. or maybe i just hate french people
The rat physics/visuals are quite pretty and the stealth is passable. Game grinds to a halt if you fuck up a rat puzzle or make a wrong step, especially if you get unlucky with the checkpoints. Upgrades and combat nothing special. Some of the voice work did my fucking nut in.
I want to pet all the rats they are cute
Sooooooo, I bought A Plage Tale on a pretty big whim. It came on sale for about $20 CAD, and I'd had my eye on it for a while, so I decided to get it and see.
I was SO IMMEDIATELY ENTHRALLED. I literally played through it once, waited a day, then played it all again once more.
The fact that this game's story is goddamn original and fresh is only exponentially exploded by the fact that the visuals are pretty as all hell. Like, this is the medieval/dark ages visual setup that The Witcher wants to be, and with a less of a lot less pointless horniness!
Jokes aside, children are a wonderful vehicle for storytelling and powerful narratives. I'm not saying that eeeeevery single character here was perfectly formed (looking at you Melie), but it did a hell of a lot of things very well. Some other little details:
SOUNDTRACK: A+++
UI DESIGN: Pretty good, not perfect
GENERAL GAME DESIGN: Quite cohesive at some points, others not so much
SECRETS: Good god, does this game know how to reward completionists. Give me my damn loot for looking around that corner, HELL YEAH.
Check out my favourite game screenshot and more here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2237224387
I was SO IMMEDIATELY ENTHRALLED. I literally played through it once, waited a day, then played it all again once more.
The fact that this game's story is goddamn original and fresh is only exponentially exploded by the fact that the visuals are pretty as all hell. Like, this is the medieval/dark ages visual setup that The Witcher wants to be, and with a less of a lot less pointless horniness!
Jokes aside, children are a wonderful vehicle for storytelling and powerful narratives. I'm not saying that eeeeevery single character here was perfectly formed (looking at you Melie), but it did a hell of a lot of things very well. Some other little details:
SOUNDTRACK: A+++
UI DESIGN: Pretty good, not perfect
GENERAL GAME DESIGN: Quite cohesive at some points, others not so much
SECRETS: Good god, does this game know how to reward completionists. Give me my damn loot for looking around that corner, HELL YEAH.
Check out my favourite game screenshot and more here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2237224387
this is such a good game i love these children so much and i definitely cried
A mix bag of Last of Us, Death Stranding, Heavy Rain... You know the deal:
- cutscenes all the time
- lazy button-prompts to try to remind you that it's a game, not a movie
- some simple puzzles now and then
If this "interactive movie" type of game is your cup of tea, take it.
- cutscenes all the time
- lazy button-prompts to try to remind you that it's a game, not a movie
- some simple puzzles now and then
If this "interactive movie" type of game is your cup of tea, take it.
This review contains spoilers
English/German Below
This trip took 11 hours and 11 minutes. Amicia and Hugo were two great characters and overall I really enjoyed the game. With its stealth focus it is not entirely in my preferred gameplay genre, but the relationship between the characters, the music and the oppressive atmosphere in general were just right.
story
The journey of the two is beautifully told in chapters and the scenery is underlaid with breathtaking music. So as far as Amicia and Hugo are concerned, everything was done right for me. There are clear differences between the companions. Lucas, as an inquisitive young alchemist, was very personable. Unfortunately, the thieves and also Rodrick fell away more clearly for me, even if the latter gets his moment at the end.
As far as the antagonists are concerned, everything was kept relatively simple and unfortunately not quite as interesting, especially the inquisitor should have been designed better.
Gameplay
Too much focus for my taste on pure and at first very stupid stealth game play in which the AI then of course also behaves stupidly. Throwing things with stones to lure opponents is not so exciting for me. But if you add significantly more mechanics towards the end of the game, you at least have the option to design the path a little more differently.
And as soon as you can control the rats you immediately feel very powerful, unfortunately there were only a few options in the game to test it out. With the rat control and also the spin control, the controls became a bit cumbersome in general.
The crafting had very nice gimmicks or improvements that really helped, unfortunately I couldn't create everything because it would have required so many Mats, which surprised me in such a linear game. You really have to graze every corner if you want to fully craft the equipment.
The puzzles were all too easy.
Graphics / presentation
In places it looks incredibly good and conveys a really strong atmosphere, which is mainly created by various very depressing backgrounds, scenes or moments. The MUSIC has to be emphasized that was just perfect.
Only the very stiff facial expressions of the characters sometimes prevent the evocation of emotions, often just the mouth moves. But the synchronization is very successful.
Conclusion
Very nice linear story with smaller but bearable quirks 4/5 rats.
-----------------------------german-----------------------------------
11 Stunden und 11 Minuten hat diese Reise gedauert. Amicia und Hugo waren zwei tolle Figuren und insgesamt hat mir das Spiel gut gefallen. Zwar liegt es mit seinem Stealthfokus nicht ganz in meinem präferierten Gameplaygenre aber die Beziehung der Charaktere, die Musik und überhaupt die bedrückende Atmosphäre waren einfach stimmig.
Story
Die Reise von den beiden ist wunderschön in Kapiteln erzählt und die Szenerie mit atemberaubender Musik unterlegt. Was also Amicia und Hugo angeht wurde für mich alles richtig gemacht. Bei den Weggefährten gibt es deutliche Unterschiede. Lucas als wissbegieriger Jungalchemist war sehr sympathisch. Leider fielen die Diebe und auch Rodrick für mich deutlicher ab, auch wenn letzt genannter am Ende seinen Moment bekommt.
Was die Antagonisten angeht war das alles relativ einfach gehalten und leider nicht ganz so interessant, insbesondere der Inquisitor hätte besser ausgestaltet werden müssen.
Gameplay
Für meinen Geschmack zuviel Fokus auf reinem und zu Anfangs doch sehr stupidem Stealthgameplay bei dem sich die KI natürlich dann auch blöde verhält. Dinge mit Steinen abwerfen um Gegner hinzulocken ist für mich nicht so spannend. Kommt dann aber gegen Ende des Spiels deutlich mehr an Mechaniken dazu hat man wenigstens die Möglichkeit den Weg etwas differenter zu gestalten.
Und wenn man die Ratten kontrollieren kann fühlt man sich sofort sehr mächtig, leider gab es im Spiel nur noch wenige Möglichkeiten das auszutesten. Mit der Ratten Steuerung und zusätzlich der Schleudersteuerung wurd die Steuerung ganz allgemein etwas umständlich.
Das Crafting hatte ganz nette Spielereien oder Verbesserungen parat, die wirklich weitergeholfen haben, leider konnte ich nicht alles auscraften weil es einfach soviele Mats benötigt hätte, was in einem solch linearen Spiel mich doch verwundert hat. Da muss man wirklich jede Ecke abgrasen wenn man die Ausrüstung voll durchcraften möchte.
Die Rätsel waren allesamt zu leicht.
Grafik/Präsentation
Es sieht stellenweise unglaublich gut aus und vermittelt eine richtig starke Atmosphäre, die vor allem durch verschiedene auch sehr bedrückende Hintergründe, Szenen oder Momente erzeugt wird. Die MUSIK muss man hervorheben das war einfach perfekt.
Lediglich die doch sehr steife Mimik der Charaktere verhindert manchmal etwas die Hervorrufung von Emotionen, da bewegt sich oft einfach nur der Mund. Dafür ist aber die Synchronisation sehr gut gelungen.
Fazit
Sehr schöne lineare Story mit kleineren aber doch verschmerzbaren Macken und damit 4/5 Ratten.
This trip took 11 hours and 11 minutes. Amicia and Hugo were two great characters and overall I really enjoyed the game. With its stealth focus it is not entirely in my preferred gameplay genre, but the relationship between the characters, the music and the oppressive atmosphere in general were just right.
story
The journey of the two is beautifully told in chapters and the scenery is underlaid with breathtaking music. So as far as Amicia and Hugo are concerned, everything was done right for me. There are clear differences between the companions. Lucas, as an inquisitive young alchemist, was very personable. Unfortunately, the thieves and also Rodrick fell away more clearly for me, even if the latter gets his moment at the end.
As far as the antagonists are concerned, everything was kept relatively simple and unfortunately not quite as interesting, especially the inquisitor should have been designed better.
Gameplay
Too much focus for my taste on pure and at first very stupid stealth game play in which the AI then of course also behaves stupidly. Throwing things with stones to lure opponents is not so exciting for me. But if you add significantly more mechanics towards the end of the game, you at least have the option to design the path a little more differently.
And as soon as you can control the rats you immediately feel very powerful, unfortunately there were only a few options in the game to test it out. With the rat control and also the spin control, the controls became a bit cumbersome in general.
The crafting had very nice gimmicks or improvements that really helped, unfortunately I couldn't create everything because it would have required so many Mats, which surprised me in such a linear game. You really have to graze every corner if you want to fully craft the equipment.
The puzzles were all too easy.
Graphics / presentation
In places it looks incredibly good and conveys a really strong atmosphere, which is mainly created by various very depressing backgrounds, scenes or moments. The MUSIC has to be emphasized that was just perfect.
Only the very stiff facial expressions of the characters sometimes prevent the evocation of emotions, often just the mouth moves. But the synchronization is very successful.
Conclusion
Very nice linear story with smaller but bearable quirks 4/5 rats.
-----------------------------german-----------------------------------
11 Stunden und 11 Minuten hat diese Reise gedauert. Amicia und Hugo waren zwei tolle Figuren und insgesamt hat mir das Spiel gut gefallen. Zwar liegt es mit seinem Stealthfokus nicht ganz in meinem präferierten Gameplaygenre aber die Beziehung der Charaktere, die Musik und überhaupt die bedrückende Atmosphäre waren einfach stimmig.
Story
Die Reise von den beiden ist wunderschön in Kapiteln erzählt und die Szenerie mit atemberaubender Musik unterlegt. Was also Amicia und Hugo angeht wurde für mich alles richtig gemacht. Bei den Weggefährten gibt es deutliche Unterschiede. Lucas als wissbegieriger Jungalchemist war sehr sympathisch. Leider fielen die Diebe und auch Rodrick für mich deutlicher ab, auch wenn letzt genannter am Ende seinen Moment bekommt.
Was die Antagonisten angeht war das alles relativ einfach gehalten und leider nicht ganz so interessant, insbesondere der Inquisitor hätte besser ausgestaltet werden müssen.
Gameplay
Für meinen Geschmack zuviel Fokus auf reinem und zu Anfangs doch sehr stupidem Stealthgameplay bei dem sich die KI natürlich dann auch blöde verhält. Dinge mit Steinen abwerfen um Gegner hinzulocken ist für mich nicht so spannend. Kommt dann aber gegen Ende des Spiels deutlich mehr an Mechaniken dazu hat man wenigstens die Möglichkeit den Weg etwas differenter zu gestalten.
Und wenn man die Ratten kontrollieren kann fühlt man sich sofort sehr mächtig, leider gab es im Spiel nur noch wenige Möglichkeiten das auszutesten. Mit der Ratten Steuerung und zusätzlich der Schleudersteuerung wurd die Steuerung ganz allgemein etwas umständlich.
Das Crafting hatte ganz nette Spielereien oder Verbesserungen parat, die wirklich weitergeholfen haben, leider konnte ich nicht alles auscraften weil es einfach soviele Mats benötigt hätte, was in einem solch linearen Spiel mich doch verwundert hat. Da muss man wirklich jede Ecke abgrasen wenn man die Ausrüstung voll durchcraften möchte.
Die Rätsel waren allesamt zu leicht.
Grafik/Präsentation
Es sieht stellenweise unglaublich gut aus und vermittelt eine richtig starke Atmosphäre, die vor allem durch verschiedene auch sehr bedrückende Hintergründe, Szenen oder Momente erzeugt wird. Die MUSIK muss man hervorheben das war einfach perfekt.
Lediglich die doch sehr steife Mimik der Charaktere verhindert manchmal etwas die Hervorrufung von Emotionen, da bewegt sich oft einfach nur der Mund. Dafür ist aber die Synchronisation sehr gut gelungen.
Fazit
Sehr schöne lineare Story mit kleineren aber doch verschmerzbaren Macken und damit 4/5 Ratten.
Utterly disgusted that this uses the exact same themes as Pathologic 2, came out in the same year, revolves around the most standard storyline structure and dialogue, and somehow managed to win an award for Best Narrative of the Year in three different awards shows.
And when I mean standard I seriously mean every sense of the word, let's hear it for our #1 companions:
-Budget stealth mechanics
-Upgrade mechanics that add very little to anything
-Uncharted gift style items to get as you play
-Walking sim that spends too much time making you go through fake loading screens
I probably wouldn't be so frustrated if the story wasn't so asinine in its construction, you have a family who gets killed with a sister who doesn't get to see her brother often at all immediately come together with melodrama sprinkled throughout with writing so borderline on bad that I really rolled my eyes a few times.
The one positive I can give to the game at all is the aesthetic. It LOOKS pretty I guess???? The dialogue delivery is really strung awfully, and the poor lipsyncing doesn't help.
Man just go play Pathologic 2 why the fuck would you touch this. (5/10)
And when I mean standard I seriously mean every sense of the word, let's hear it for our #1 companions:
-Budget stealth mechanics
-Upgrade mechanics that add very little to anything
-Uncharted gift style items to get as you play
-Walking sim that spends too much time making you go through fake loading screens
I probably wouldn't be so frustrated if the story wasn't so asinine in its construction, you have a family who gets killed with a sister who doesn't get to see her brother often at all immediately come together with melodrama sprinkled throughout with writing so borderline on bad that I really rolled my eyes a few times.
The one positive I can give to the game at all is the aesthetic. It LOOKS pretty I guess???? The dialogue delivery is really strung awfully, and the poor lipsyncing doesn't help.
Man just go play Pathologic 2 why the fuck would you touch this. (5/10)
Diamond.
Did you know that the plague was ended by two French orphans? This is what they leave out of the history books.
I liked the game, it's definitely good. Not flawless but I'll get into my problems later.
This shouldn't be a surprise but the games looks really good, but this is a modern game so I don't expect the graphics to look terrible.
I really like the medieval setting, I mean it's set in the medieval times but that is an interesting time period.
The story is really good and engaging, never really feels too long, which is good because I can't see this as one of those 100+ hour games without feeling really padded out.
The gameplay is good, simple but good. It can be fun being all stealthy and hitting Inquisition soldiers in the head with rocks is really satisfying.
I like the characters even though there isn't much to them. I liked Sir Nicholas but that's probably because he reminds me of Darth Revan from KOTOR.
Now let's get into my negatives.
The load times are too long. I don't know if that's just how they are, or because I'm playing on an Xbox One S, but felt too long.
I mentioned the story was really good, and it is, but the story takes itself seriously for 95% percent of it and then we have a 5 year old boy who can control rats with his mind.
There isn't really a lot to the characters, Vitalis just feels like a generic bad guy.
Also the final boss is one of the most frustrating final bosses I've ever fought.
But other than all that, it's good.
I liked the game, it's definitely good. Not flawless but I'll get into my problems later.
This shouldn't be a surprise but the games looks really good, but this is a modern game so I don't expect the graphics to look terrible.
I really like the medieval setting, I mean it's set in the medieval times but that is an interesting time period.
The story is really good and engaging, never really feels too long, which is good because I can't see this as one of those 100+ hour games without feeling really padded out.
The gameplay is good, simple but good. It can be fun being all stealthy and hitting Inquisition soldiers in the head with rocks is really satisfying.
I like the characters even though there isn't much to them. I liked Sir Nicholas but that's probably because he reminds me of Darth Revan from KOTOR.
Now let's get into my negatives.
The load times are too long. I don't know if that's just how they are, or because I'm playing on an Xbox One S, but felt too long.
I mentioned the story was really good, and it is, but the story takes itself seriously for 95% percent of it and then we have a 5 year old boy who can control rats with his mind.
There isn't really a lot to the characters, Vitalis just feels like a generic bad guy.
Also the final boss is one of the most frustrating final bosses I've ever fought.
But other than all that, it's good.
Cool little game, easily overlooked.
Me gusta mucho el mundo que crea y la historia de los personajes principales. Pero ciertos personajes que añaden y la resolucion no sienta como que tenga mucho impacto. Aun asi es un juego muy inmersivo que probablemente revisite
I'm happy to see a non-Sony studio attempt their style of narrative-driven action-adventure game and they manage to approach that level of quality in many aspects. However, the story goes a little off the rails towards the end and ultimately the lower budget is apparent in the technical side of the game. It is still worth playing and I'm excited to see what the studio does next.
The game is creepy and interesting in all the right ways, but the plot and story start to falter halfway through. The momentum lessens and the scope of the story starts to expand where maybe it shouldn't have. Overall still a good experience.
a smart move to make a game like this, a very wonderful experience overall
Oye, pues me ha encantado. La historia, los personajes, la ambientación, la banda sonora... no conocía al estudio y madre mía, que juegazo.
rather lackluster for a stealth puzzle game
Schönes kurzweiliges Storygame. Musikuntermalung sowie Grafik sind sehr gut. Steuerung geht einfach von der Hand, nur die Schleuder kann bei brenzlichen Situationen einem zur Verzweifelung bringen. Deutsche Synchro ist nicht immer top, aber man gewöhnt sich dran. Hab zwischen zeitlich mal die anderen Sprachausgaben probiert, die ggf. etwas besser sind, wollte aber keine Untertitel auf dauer lesen. Klare Empfehlung, wer dieses Genre und das Setting mag.
a Disney movie about a plucky medieval princess but make it NC-17
One of those "cinematic" games that's way more focused on communicating a vibe through its strong art direction and story rather than through any of its very basic puzzle or encounter design, and y'know what sometimes that's just fine! When the plague rats look this grotesque and captivating I really don't mind too much that they basically amount to reskinned crate pushing puzzles for babies. Played with the French VA for the verisimilitude and because the ENG dub feels just a little uneven.
One of those "cinematic" games that's way more focused on communicating a vibe through its strong art direction and story rather than through any of its very basic puzzle or encounter design, and y'know what sometimes that's just fine! When the plague rats look this grotesque and captivating I really don't mind too much that they basically amount to reskinned crate pushing puzzles for babies. Played with the French VA for the verisimilitude and because the ENG dub feels just a little uneven.
Original juego de sigilo y aventuras ambientado en el siglo XIV en plena época de la peste negra. Goza de un apartado gráfico increible, puzles sencillos y unos personajes bien trabajados, aunque con un final un poco esperpéntico para mi gusto.
Have you ever tried a game out just out of morbid curiosity, despite knowing very little about it but then after trying it you find that you have completely fallen in love with it? That was exactly my experience with A Plague tale. So one day way back in October of 2020, still spending most of my time at home alone due to the pandemic, I was browsing the PSN store looking for games that were on sale to see if anything caught my interest, that was when I saw this little game, it caught my attention as it took place in medieval/Renaissance times (a period of history I'm quite interested in) and looked quite interesting. I'm not great at stealth games at all so I was a bit worried, but I tried a demo out for the game and decided it was good enough for me to purchase, what happened afterwards as I played through just completely blew me away. The gameplay can be a bit basic if you're a big fan of stealth games, I personally really enjoy them but I'm pretty bad at them so while this one will probably not be a challenge at all to a stealth veteran, for me it was easy enough that I could finish the whole game but challenging enough that I had to think about every move I made and constantly analyze each situation before approaching it. In this game you play as Amicia, a young girl who comes from a noble family who is tasked with protecting her younger brother Hugo (who by the way, has some sort of rare disease that their mother was trying to find a cure to) who is desparately wanted by the inquisition for reasons we do not learn until later. Amicia must travel throughout the country avoiding Inquisition guards, angry peasants, and most commonly the rats. The rats play a huge part of this game as they are one of the main things you have to avoid in order to keep the two siblings alive, the rats only fear is fire so you will often be given puzzles that involve you starting fires and carrying torches around in order to avoid the rats. The other enemy in this game are the inquisition soldiers who apparently have no issue killing children, speaking of which if you get caught in this game it's an automatic death, you have no health bar, no extra lives, nothing, you get caught you die. Thankfully though the game has plenty of checkpoints where you will respawn after you or someone in your party has been killed and you can try again as many times as you need to. When sneaking around the soldiers, you have to use the environment around you in order to avoid getting caught, your only means of defense is a sling that you can use to hurl rocks and other things at enemies or other interactive items (like places to start fires), the only issue here is that the sling is loud and will alert enemies to your position if you use it, and you can only use it to kill a soldier if they aren't wearing a helmet, you get more items you can craft and use with your sling later that will definitely come in handy. At some point, you will also be able to utilize the rats to your advantage by getting them to kill enemies which will simultaneously get them to ignore you so it's a win win. What really made me fall in love with this game though, was its characters, Amicia and Hugo feel so real to me and act like real siblings, while most of the time they get along well and clearly love each other they also fight sometimes or Hugo will sometimes run off if he becomes angry with Amicia or if she says something hurtful to him, the other characters you meet are interesting as well but the real stars here are the two main characters, their relationship almost gives off the same vibes as the ones in the film "Grave of the fireflies" but I promise you that this games ending isn't quite so tragic (not sure if that's a spoiler or not but oh well). Overall, this is one of my favorite games of recent memory, I was so engaged with it throughout its run and for a game that was created by a developer of this size, it's pretty long, I'm not sure if it's considered an "Indie" title but it's definitely not a AAA title either. Still it's well worth your time and I highly recommend it, hopefully we'll also see a sequel to it in the near future.
Interesting story but frustrating stealth mechanics.