I wanted to like Plague Tale about as much as I did Hellblade. By all means, it's not a game I should enjoy. It packs some of my least favorite things about gaming into one - Stealth segments, Cinematic Playstation-y over the shoulder design, and puzzles.
But I ended up enjoying Plague Tale... to a certain point. Around Chapter 13 or so, Plague Tale's flaws began to show. The writing of the game fell off a cliff, and ran into the realm of nonsensical with an ending that doesn't really do much for me, personally. And that includes the after-credits scene as well. I suppose one could argue that the ending didn't need to be too complex. Sure. I'm not talking about the writing when it comes to that.
Yes, Plague Tale's writing falls off a cliff. But the gameplay mechanics Plague Tale begins to rely on in the latter chapters expose the game's flawed design. It is an unpolished mess at worst, and frustratingly difficult to wrestle against at times. Hugo gets a mechanic late in the game that feels janky to use until he gets immunity to it later. Later chapters double down on the weak combat as well. I don't like Stealth or Puzzles much, but that's the strong suit of the game, and I was disappointed that they ditched those in the later chapters. Stealth is also hit or miss at times. There were times where enemies just wouldn't hear the rocks I threw to distract them, even when hitting a box of armor, and several rocks were needed to draw their attention. Amicia's sling isn't the best thing to control either, and you have to wonder how she'd fare against Goliath if these were the mechanics she had to work with.
But all of the game's unpolished jank gameplay-wise is topped off by quite possibly the most poorly designed boss fight I've ever experienced. I can't spoil much, but boiling down a boss fight to multiple fail states and one-shotting you in what essentially becomes a floor is lava situation is quite annoying. Yes, I did it anyway. It doesn't mean it needed to be designed that way.
I've dogged on this game a lot, but it just really exemplifies my problem with "Cinematic PlayStation-y" type of games. You bank on your cinematography and storytelling to the point where you forget to make a VIDEO GAME, which should be a priority first before your storytelling. Plague Tale just isn't fun to play and many times during the story I wondered how much more I'd enjoy it if it were a show or movie instead.
I have some gripes with some characters too. They're all kids so I can't critique it much. Hugo is really frustrating and annoying when it comes to how he's written - he acts like a kid should, but it doesn't change the fact that he can be really grating in many of the important story beats. And Melie is just so... ugh. Bland, and unlikable. I didn't trust Melie at all, even when we got to the end of the game.
Amicia on the other hand is fantastic. Her character growth is wonderful, she's well-spoken, she's courageous, she's everything you really want from a female protagonist. Getting good female protagonists nowadays is rather rare, and Amicia should be one of the standouts.
TL;DR: To wrap up, Plague Tale is a nice experience despite how much I've ragged on it. Please don't let that turn you away. I'm just expressing my personal gripes with this style of game because I really want to love Plague Tale, and I do like it, but I don't love it. And I wanted to love it as a big fan of historical fiction, as well as Amicia's characterization.
Score: 80
But I ended up enjoying Plague Tale... to a certain point. Around Chapter 13 or so, Plague Tale's flaws began to show. The writing of the game fell off a cliff, and ran into the realm of nonsensical with an ending that doesn't really do much for me, personally. And that includes the after-credits scene as well. I suppose one could argue that the ending didn't need to be too complex. Sure. I'm not talking about the writing when it comes to that.
Yes, Plague Tale's writing falls off a cliff. But the gameplay mechanics Plague Tale begins to rely on in the latter chapters expose the game's flawed design. It is an unpolished mess at worst, and frustratingly difficult to wrestle against at times. Hugo gets a mechanic late in the game that feels janky to use until he gets immunity to it later. Later chapters double down on the weak combat as well. I don't like Stealth or Puzzles much, but that's the strong suit of the game, and I was disappointed that they ditched those in the later chapters. Stealth is also hit or miss at times. There were times where enemies just wouldn't hear the rocks I threw to distract them, even when hitting a box of armor, and several rocks were needed to draw their attention. Amicia's sling isn't the best thing to control either, and you have to wonder how she'd fare against Goliath if these were the mechanics she had to work with.
But all of the game's unpolished jank gameplay-wise is topped off by quite possibly the most poorly designed boss fight I've ever experienced. I can't spoil much, but boiling down a boss fight to multiple fail states and one-shotting you in what essentially becomes a floor is lava situation is quite annoying. Yes, I did it anyway. It doesn't mean it needed to be designed that way.
I've dogged on this game a lot, but it just really exemplifies my problem with "Cinematic PlayStation-y" type of games. You bank on your cinematography and storytelling to the point where you forget to make a VIDEO GAME, which should be a priority first before your storytelling. Plague Tale just isn't fun to play and many times during the story I wondered how much more I'd enjoy it if it were a show or movie instead.
I have some gripes with some characters too. They're all kids so I can't critique it much. Hugo is really frustrating and annoying when it comes to how he's written - he acts like a kid should, but it doesn't change the fact that he can be really grating in many of the important story beats. And Melie is just so... ugh. Bland, and unlikable. I didn't trust Melie at all, even when we got to the end of the game.
Amicia on the other hand is fantastic. Her character growth is wonderful, she's well-spoken, she's courageous, she's everything you really want from a female protagonist. Getting good female protagonists nowadays is rather rare, and Amicia should be one of the standouts.
TL;DR: To wrap up, Plague Tale is a nice experience despite how much I've ragged on it. Please don't let that turn you away. I'm just expressing my personal gripes with this style of game because I really want to love Plague Tale, and I do like it, but I don't love it. And I wanted to love it as a big fan of historical fiction, as well as Amicia's characterization.
Score: 80
Started off real good, great story and premise. I gotta give credit where it's due cuz with a team of 40 and graphics like that? Mad respect. Buttttttt, as the story progresses you really star to see the amateur-ish side of it? The voice acting sounds like just a girl reading out a bed time story and the dialogue is cringe as hell, game mechanics are mediocre. Not to my liking. 6/10
a amazing story of two siblings surviving the black plague, it matches amazing horror/thriller aspects and does it justice through the entire game.
I completed it in one go, in principle I don’t like games where you need to keep an eye on someone, especially a small child, but here it was less than annoying. A nice stealth game that gives you a choice of how to move forward.
Пройдена на одном дыхании, я в принципе не люблю игры, где тебе нужно за кем то следить, а тем более за мелким ребенком, но тут это более чем не напрягало. Приятный стелс, который дает тебе выбор как идти дальше.
Пройдена на одном дыхании, я в принципе не люблю игры, где тебе нужно за кем то следить, а тем более за мелким ребенком, но тут это более чем не напрягало. Приятный стелс, который дает тебе выбор как идти дальше.
Personagens carismáticos. Estória cativante. A mecânica dos ratos e luz é interessante, porém a gameplay é repetitiva demais. O vilão final é desnecessário e a proporção que chegou é bem ridícula.