A Plague Tale: Innocence Review

The technical showpiece is the rats, thousands of them simulated as a fluid that will not cross into torchlight, and Asobo builds every good puzzle in the game out of that one rule: extinguish a brazier to open a path, light one to hold a tide back, push a burning cart forward and walk in its shadow. It is a clean mechanic and it makes the horror of the swarm functional rather than decorative. Amicia and Hugo are the reason it lands emotionally, since her transformation from a resentful older sister into someone who will kill for a child she barely knew is played in small increments rather than speeches.

The medieval France it draws, all mud and burning villages, is beautiful on a mid sized budget. What it lacks is variety. Stealth is a single system that never develops, the sling is the answer to almost every obstacle, and the last third abandons its historical grounding for supernatural spectacle that the story had not earned. Excellent atmosphere, repetitive hands.