Is A Plague Tale: Innocence worth buying?

What's so good about A Plague Tale: Innocence?

A Plague Tale: Innocence offers one of the most comprehensively excellent singleplayer experiences of 2019, combining a rich and emotional story with superb gameplay systems, gorgeous visuals, incredible music, and expertly designed horror atmosphere.

A Plague Tale: Innocence summarized

• Gripping story and well-written characters.
• Fantastic gameplay mechanics and design.
• Stellar presentation and atmosphere.

Tugging on the heartstrings

Set in medieval times in France and during the spread of the plague by ravenous rats, you play as Amicia, a young teenager who has to take care of her five-year old brother, Hugo, amidst the growing crisis. To make matters worse, a cult called the Inquisition is trying to capture Hugo due to a strange condition he has that they think may lead to a cure for the plague, and they're willing to kill Amicia in order to get their hands on him. This forces Amicia to to terrible things in order to keep him safe, and this leads to heartbreaking situations that make you want to reach through the screen hug the poor kids.

However, the emotional toll that these events take on Amicia and Hugo lead to them leaning on each other for support, and as they fight to survive, you grow to truly love both of them and get to see how meaningful their familial bond is.

The fight to survive

A Plague Tale: Innocence is both a stealth game and a puzzle game, with the two styles often crossing paths and merging to create fun, interesting challenges. As Amicia is a thirteen-year old girl, she can't do much to fight against fully armed and armored Inquisition soldiers or swarms of rats conventionally. This means that she and Hugo need to use cunning and strategy to get through the horrors that lie in store for them. This ranges from distracting and tricking guards to figuring out how to scare rats away with light. It sounds simple and easy, but the game is designed in a way where every new situation feels like a engaging and enjoyable challenge to figure out. The presentation of the game is also fantastic, featuring beautiful graphics, a superb musical soundtrack, and great overall voice acting.

Between the stellar storytelling, excellent gameplay design, and fantastic presentation, you should absolutely pick up A Plague Tale: Innocence. So far in 2019, it's my favorite singleplayer game of the year, and it's one of my favorites in recent years overall, too. This is a title you shouldn't miss. For more information, check out my full in-depth review.