A Plague Tale: Innocence

 Xbox One
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 629 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 556 out of 629
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 629
  3. Negative: 29 out of 629
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  1. Mezzer
    Jun 5, 2019
    7
    A game that has artwork that far exceeds it's gameplay and at times frustrating design. There are moments of pure enjoyment throughout the game but also frustration and hassle that's not needed in a game...it takes the fun away. Hellblade does this style of game better. Hugo,the brother you are protecting is both a pain in the arse and has a voice that will get on your nerves. He seemsA game that has artwork that far exceeds it's gameplay and at times frustrating design. There are moments of pure enjoyment throughout the game but also frustration and hassle that's not needed in a game...it takes the fun away. Hellblade does this style of game better. Hugo,the brother you are protecting is both a pain in the arse and has a voice that will get on your nerves. He seems flat and is just out of his depth as a character. The review of 7 is about right in my opinion.… Expand
  2. SuperkenGaming
    May 18, 2019
    7
    A Plague Tale: Innocence
    Plagued with.. actually nothing really bad
    A Plague Tale is a stealth puzzle game where you play as Amicia as she sets out to find a cure for her sick little brothr hugo Immediately this game reminded me of shadwen, This almost felt like a more polished AAA budget successor The game takes place during the plague, there are rats everywhere and guards for some    A Plague Tale: Innocence
    Plagued with.. actually nothing really bad
    A Plague Tale is a stealth puzzle game where you play as Amicia as she sets out to find a cure for her sick little brothr hugo
    Immediately this game reminded me of shadwen,
    This almost felt like a more polished AAA budget successor
    The game takes place during the plague, there are rats everywhere and guards for some reason that’s up to you to find out trying to capature your little brother
    This is a 12hours tale full of emotion and great story telling
    Im so happy to see games wit ha narrative focus still thriving in a gaming world all about online and loot boxes
    The narrative here pulls you along and is the highlight of this game for me..
    I always love it that no matter how frustrated or over a section of a game I get that there a good story that’s pulling me forward to see whats next..
    Thankfully a plague tale isn’t full of frustrating moments
    This game isn’t challenging one bit, however it still manages to be engaging,
    Its no walk through the park, you have to distract guards and use fire to get your way through the sea of rats
    You aren’t completely defensless though, you’ve got a sling
    You can gather materials throughout the world to craft different items for this sling, you have a rock that can be used to distract guards or head shot them and as the game progress youll unlock new abilities such as setting fire to burnable object to scare the rats just to name a few…
    This adds a styx or even a dishonored layer of theres more than one solution to moving onto the next section of the game
    and chckpoints here are great, so youll rarely have to redo large sections of the game if you fail..
    And thankfull A plague tale does a great job of keeping the environment fresh as well as the gameplay, however this is where my biggest issue with the game comes into play,
    A plague world goes for a tense feel rather than a fun kids creating mischief feel which is fine…
    This means that you cant just run through the game crafting whatever whenever…
    you need materials to upgrade your arsnel and certain materials are scarce
    These items are more for I have no other option…
    but this also means that 12 hours of stealth can get taxing…
    A plague tale doesn’t suffer from pacing problems, in fact it does a great job most of the time at giving you a break from the action to just enjoy story pieces and sets.. but I would’ve liked more of this… more slow walk, talk, enjoy the plague moments…
    All in all A plague Tale Innocence is a unique experience set in an intriguing world with a well written and directed story guaranteed to keep you hooked
    I give A Plague Tale: Onnocence
    a 7/10    … Expand
  3. fbnaulin
    Jun 7, 2020
    6
    A good overall experience. Great story and art, but mediocre gameplay. Some sequences were very offensive in the design department, having to guess the 'correct answer' how to beat them, after more than enough tries. Another 'game' with these same problems, that's the real plague in the AAA (and some AA) industry today.
  4. horrorpunx610
    May 15, 2019
    7
    This game, for the majority if it, was surprisingly good, even great, but its handful of flaws start to wear on you towards the end.

    While the gameplay does have a few unique tricks up its sleeve, it's *extremely* derivative of games like The Last of Us (the stealth, crafting, AI companions, environmental puzzles). The story, for about the first half of the game, is very intriguing and    This game, for the majority if it, was surprisingly good, even great, but its handful of flaws start to wear on you towards the end.

    While the gameplay does have a few unique tricks up its sleeve, it's *extremely* derivative of games like The Last of Us (the stealth, crafting, AI companions, environmental puzzles). The story, for about the first half of the game, is very intriguing and has a great sense of mystery, but it takes a turn for the ridiculous at around the 4th quarter.

    My biggest complaint is the sudden difficulty spike during the final chapters. The difficulty was almost perfectly balanced leading up to this, then suddenly devolves into cheap trial and error.

    For a budget game, it's definitely better than you'd expect, but it's not something I'd encourage anyone to rush home and download. If anything, I'd say wait for a price drop. It's worth your money, but not $50 of it.    … Expand
  5. Joellemm
    Jul 19, 2019
    5
    A beautiful, dark and believable world offered through a linear, neatly designed experience. The game includes just enough gameplay variety, and just enough of an interesting story, to hold your attention throughout. Nothing is bad with A Plague Tale. However, it also never felt like i was playing through a "AAA" experience. The protagonist is probably my biggest disappointment regardingA beautiful, dark and believable world offered through a linear, neatly designed experience. The game includes just enough gameplay variety, and just enough of an interesting story, to hold your attention throughout. Nothing is bad with A Plague Tale. However, it also never felt like i was playing through a "AAA" experience. The protagonist is probably my biggest disappointment regarding the narrative, as she is not particularly interesting, and the hinted-at conflict with her mother/brother is never developed further. I also wish greater tension was built during the slower gameplay sequences to really exploit the detailed but horrific world that had been created. Its a simple game that has genuine qualities but is far from being a must-play.… Expand
  6. BradMorgan
    Apr 18, 2020
    6
    Although it seems like you are playing a game on last-gen, this game has been very surprising in certain aspects. Despite many points that prove that this is not an AAA game, it brought enough for a fun linear experience.

    Positive points: - Atmosphere and world - Slingshot combat - The rats as a gameplay element: innovative and fun! - Mysterious condition of the little brother -    Although it seems like you are playing a game on last-gen, this game has been very surprising in certain aspects. Despite many points that prove that this is not an AAA game, it brought enough for a fun linear experience.

    Positive points:
    - Atmosphere and world
    - Slingshot combat
    - The rats as a gameplay element: innovative and fun!
    - Mysterious condition of the little brother
    - Introducing new gameplay elements later in the story
    - Playing in French for total immersion

    Negative points:
    - Graphics are outdated
    - The character moves to the direction you look at
    - A lot of unnecessary deaths because of unclear level design
    - There are just a couple of enemy character models. I killed the same guy over and over again
    - The last two chapters it became repetetive
    - Still had to look up what was going on to make sense of the story.    … Expand
  7. Mindkiller7522
    May 19, 2021
    7
    3.4.21-3.7.21 100% Story 100% Side Quests

    I almost gave up on this one and I'm glad I didn't! The story follows a young girl who is pretty quickly tasked with a quest to protect her younger brother while they sneak through a city and countryside infested with deadly rats and evil men. The game is not really great at the beginning, but it does begin to improve and you wind up    3.4.21-3.7.21 100% Story 100% Side Quests

    I almost gave up on this one and I'm glad I didn't!

    The story follows a young girl who is pretty quickly tasked with a quest to protect her younger brother while they sneak through a city and countryside infested with deadly rats and evil men.

    The game is not really great at the beginning, but it does begin to improve and you wind up really getting invested in the characters by the end. If you can get past the fact that you spend most of the game escorting an annoying kid around, you're in for some really cool moments.

    Most of the gameplay is stealth-based, which is easy enough to not be frustrating. The puzzles were also very clever-using the vast array of tricks that you learn to make you think outside the box.

    The dialogue and voice acting was not really that great, but it does get the point across and it's fairly bearable. I think the story was interesting enough to carry everything through.

    The level design is probably the greatest thing about the game. As soon as you find yourself making your way across a rat infested battlefield trying to hide in the shadows while using the rats against the guards, you'll be hooked.

    Definitely a highly recommended game! I don't know that I would play through it again, but worth completing for sure!    … Expand
  8. Adamsfamily
    Jul 31, 2021
    7
    The game itself is really similar to Last of us.The levels are linear and the puzzles are pretty straightforward.The combat can be annoying as hell .The archers can take you out even when you are behind a barrel or some other cover.
  9. happymaik
    Jul 27, 2020
    6
    This game had enormous potential. I was pretty surprised by its dreadful, gothic atmosphere built by the soundtrack (a work of art), and the story. Also, the most important thing in a story about a pair of siblings is the writing of characters. This is done very well in this game. I have a terrible problem of remembering people's names, therefore, the game deserves some credit because I amThis game had enormous potential. I was pretty surprised by its dreadful, gothic atmosphere built by the soundtrack (a work of art), and the story. Also, the most important thing in a story about a pair of siblings is the writing of characters. This is done very well in this game. I have a terrible problem of remembering people's names, therefore, the game deserves some credit because I am capable of this: Amicia, Hugo, Roderic, Arthur, Lucas, or Mélie which clearly states that they were credible in their emotions and actions. The graphic is good, nothing special. It fits the atmosphere and the rats are impressive. However, the game suffers from its gameplay, which is its big negative. This is a stealth game in which the protagonists are a teenager and a 5-year-old boy. What completely destroys the credibility and immersion is that they are a pair of young Garrett's children. They can sneak almost under a guard's legs unnoticed as if they were trained by Corvo. In other stealth games (Thief, Dishonored, etc) we play as a professionalist, that's why this gameplay is not working here. In the game, there are some fights (quite a few, actually) and they are bad as well. The player uses Amicia's sling and JUST that sling. Also, this has many absurds like the above-mentioned stealth mechanics: every guard who has no helmet dies from a single shot from a sling, the main boss which is definitely someone who has no protection on their head has to be shot 3 times. This is just silly. The game losses its edge after 8 chapters and gets really boring. It is worth playing due to the story and characters. A Plague Tale Innocence had the potential to become a medieval 'the Last of Us' but in the end, it does not work well. Still, it is a below-average game.… Expand
  10. Dracosoul
    Dec 3, 2020
    6
    Good story. Ok execution. Horrible crafting system. Frustrating control setup. Too linear to enjoy properly. Freedom of movement is limited. Often times you'll want to run and the game won't allow it. Completed on XB Gamepass, or would have rated lower if I had to spend money on this. You will die in this game due to poor control and aiming no doubt.
  11. Zaki95
    Nov 26, 2020
    7
    Como historia me encanta, la interpretación es perfecta, el sonido inmejorable, la ambientación proporciona una inmersión inigualable,el apartado visual es propio de una gran producción no obstante el problema del videojuego radica en la jugabilidad es repetitivo hasta decir hasta, siempre con unas mecánicas similares , los mismos enemigos y muy poca imaginación en cuanto a diversidad deComo historia me encanta, la interpretación es perfecta, el sonido inmejorable, la ambientación proporciona una inmersión inigualable,el apartado visual es propio de una gran producción no obstante el problema del videojuego radica en la jugabilidad es repetitivo hasta decir hasta, siempre con unas mecánicas similares , los mismos enemigos y muy poca imaginación en cuanto a diversidad de retos y de opciones.. Una pena que este apartado sea tan mediocres pues el resto pasan el sobresaliente holgadamente… Expand
  12. Jacho29
    Jan 4, 2021
    6
    Game story with big potential, totally screwed up. Imo game is too long, sometimes pretty boring. Girl can kill armoured guard by throwing a rock.. cmon
  13. Petrogan
    May 4, 2021
    7
    I enjoyed the setting, story and overall atmosphere quite a lot. However, the gameplay itself can not be called smooth. I guess it would be better for the game to make emphasis on the immersion and get rid of badly done and dull upgrade system and looting.
  14. Bochenki
    Mar 22, 2022
    5
    I have t admit that the graphics and the décor of the game is impressive. You can clearly see inspiration from art and architecture history. it feels authentic and real. The characters are well-built the story is pretty interesting. But the gameplay is incredibly boring. Simple mechanics work fine as long as you have something to explore in the world. Here, it's basically a platform gameI have t admit that the graphics and the décor of the game is impressive. You can clearly see inspiration from art and architecture history. it feels authentic and real. The characters are well-built the story is pretty interesting. But the gameplay is incredibly boring. Simple mechanics work fine as long as you have something to explore in the world. Here, it's basically a platform game and the only active elements are those useful for the quest. After few hours throwing stones at enemies and scaring the rats away feels repetitive. Even more so, it was too repetitive for me to finish the game, as the plot was not gripping enough for wanting me to continue. If you lack gameplay, you have to have an incredible story. Here, unfortunately, it's no ore than okay.… Expand
  15. dan-man
    Sep 12, 2022
    7
    Good, just good. It really dragged on towards the end, but at least the ending was nice. If the game had focused on more nice moments like that, developing characters and story, instead of the endless repeititve puzzles and murdering of men, it would have been a lot better. Instead we got a medeival simulator where you play as a teenage girl that can somehow murder hundreds of grown maleGood, just good. It really dragged on towards the end, but at least the ending was nice. If the game had focused on more nice moments like that, developing characters and story, instead of the endless repeititve puzzles and murdering of men, it would have been a lot better. Instead we got a medeival simulator where you play as a teenage girl that can somehow murder hundreds of grown male soldiers with a rock from a sling. Not to mention that only male characters suffer and die horribly in this game. Where is the inclusivity when it comes to women suffering? Males truly are the expendable gender. I am tired of endlessly murdering men in games now, and the same old story progression and character tropes, time for a new hobby I think.

    Pros:

    - Lovely music
    - Novel story
    - Pretty graphics
    - Hugo is a great character

    Cons:

    - Awful combat and stealth segments
    - Slightly woke
    - Too long
    - Repetitive gameplay
    - Pretty standard tropes as far as video games go    … Expand
  16. DoctorZid
    Sep 9, 2022
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The plot is interesting, the moments where children see or do some terrible things (for example, when they promote rats to a soldier at a closed lattice) are done perfectly and you experience the desired emotion, it is a pity that this does not affect the characters themselves. At the moment when this happens, they certainly say "oh no, what a horror," but after-nothing. It is especially disappointing, in these scenes, Hugo. What he was at the beginning of the game, he remained, except that he learned to control rats.
    Touching upon Hugo's disease, you really want to know what kind of leprosy this is and what secrets their relatives keep. Unfortunately, this was not fully told. Yes, this is an ancient generic "gift," yes, it can control rats, yes, this gift is associated with rats. But there are no details. Even the mother in the chapter for HUGO says that she will explain everything, but alas, she fell into a coma without telling anything. It remains to be hoped that in the sequel this will be told in more detail.
    Amicia's relationship with her brother is interesting. At the beginning of the journey, she does not love her brother, because because of him, she hardly saw her mother, and even more so she did not see him. But in the course of her misadventures, the sister thaws and begins to truly protect her brother. Although there is a big flaw here. When HUGO overhears a conversation between Amicia and their friends, from which he learns that their mother is alive, he escapes from the castle. Not finding him in the castle, waking up, Amicia immediately ran in search of him, but not finding either her brother or his traces, she returns to the castle and it takes three months until he himself comes to them. So easily abandoned his search and just resigned? After all, she knew that their mother was alive and where she was, but she did not tell her brother. And then he ran away. He did not want to run earlier, he had neither reason nor desire. And then, unexpectedly, they find out where their mother is. Of course, if he ran away, then to his mother. It's a pity Amicia hasn't had that thought in her head for three months.
    The gameplay is revealed only in the last chapter, when you already have all the abilities in your hands. Arenas become more diverse and you can go through them as you want. But before that, all locations are boring and uninteresting. You do not have any variety in the passage, they all go through the same scenario that you see with the naked eye. Here he hid behind a rack with fruit, after which he threw a stone into a box with armor, then a stone at the head of a soldier without a helmet and tiptoed to the next rack. All arenas (except the final ones) have one single path of passage, so passing them is incredibly boring.
    Artificial intelligence is amazing. All soldiers have an angle of view as if they are looking through the visor of a helmet. And if you move on your haunches, then no one in the area will hear you, even if you stomp right behind them. If they find a corpse, they will very very diligently look for you for 20 seconds, and then with the words "oh, yes, they left a long time ago" return to their rails and continue to walk from shelf to shelf. The way they react to rats is especially amusing. Game situation: two soldiers are standing nearby, I lure rats to the first handful, which eat him. The second, after 5 seconds, understands that rats have come running and the detection trigger works for him. He leaves to check the place where I seemed to be, and finding nothing, he goes back, straight to the rats, which, of course, eat him. The soldiers don't seem to see them. All they're smart enough to do is yell "oh no, damn rats" run 2 meters away and wait to be devoured.
    Also, I did not understand at all why in the game there is an opportunity to leave HUGO in place or keep it nearby. I never left him in the whole game (except for the first chapter, in the garden, where it is necessary according to the plot), because there is no need for this. With him, your speed does not decrease, you can still shoot from a sling, and if you leave him and move away, he will scream and give you away. So why leave it? Some kind of useless function and an unnecessary feature.
    Shooting with a sling is interesting, the first 3-4 arenas. Then any interest disappears. Auto-aim will do everything for you, but you can’t turn it off, only reduce it (and even then only slightly). There are enough projectiles, but, again, they are only interesting when you have them. You get to a location that is completely built on the use of a new gadget, you go through it, and then you realize that outside this location it is not very useful. Against people you use a simple stone and acid for a helmet (after improving one of the skills, the need for this acid disappears), against rats you use a stone that attracts them. The remaining shells are needed only for "puzzles".
    Sound,music, voice acting and graphics are good.    … Expand
  17. pivez
    Nov 18, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Setting and medieval environment are superb. The storyline is very interesting, even if I don't really like how they treated the centre of the plot: the little brother's powers. But what I didn't like the most was the fact that the combat system makes use of the sling only. As an enemy gets to you, you have very few options… Expand

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Best Xbox One Game of 2019
14
#14 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2019
9
#9 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Gaming Age
    Jul 2, 2019
    75
    The story isn’t terrible, to be fair, but as I said, it’s built around a girl escorting her mostly useless little brother through peril after peril. Even after he gains a few more abilities later in the game, it still doesn’t make for the most compelling gameplay. On a similar note, you’ll really need to enjoy skulking in the shadows and running for your life if you want to get the most out of the game — which, to be completely honest, I just don’t.
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  2. XboxAddict
    Jun 17, 2019
    95
    Asobo Studios needs to be applauded for creating something so stunning and fantastic in every way. It’s not easy to make you care about characters in a short dozen or so hours, and the fact that A Plague Tale will be etched into my memory is no small feat. I don’t like to loosely throw around the term “Masterpiece”, but this is absolutely one of my favorite games that I enjoyed whole heartedly in recent memory. Needless to say, this is one plague you won’t want to avoid.
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  3. GameGrin
    Jun 10, 2019
    85
    A Plague Tale: Innocence wasn’t even on my radar and I’m ashamed because I would have missed out on this great game and now that I’ve told you, don’t make the same mistake I almost made.
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