A Plague Tale: Innocence is a dark, moody, and often macabre look at life in 14th century France where plague ravages the land. During your time with the game, you will walk in the shoes of Amicia and Huge de Rune, two siblings who find themselves on the run after a particularly tragic event takes place at their family estate. With a sequel in the works, A Plague Tale: Requiem, now is a great time to look back on the narrative of the original game. A Plague Tale: Innocence will also be released on the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch on July 6, 2021.
Simply put, A Plague Tale: Innocence has one of the best stories in gaming. This dark tale is filled with mystery, intrigue, plot twists, and somber moments. Fortunately, the story doesn't devolve into convolution but instead relies on strong, well-written characters and poignant arcs. The following points are ten things that you should know about the story of A Plague Tale: Innocence.
10 The Setting And Time Period
A Plague Tale: Innocence takes place in France in 1348, during the Hundred Years' War. The game does take creative liberties in terms of historical events and the like but it all manages to feel real and raw. Amicia and Hugo explore small villages, derelict windmills, grand castles, with plenty of other medieval locations in between.
The plague sweeping the land takes its toll on both the people and the locations. Specifically, in an early game village, the people there hide away in their homes and lock their doors and windows so as to avoid contact with travelers.
9 The Tragedy At The De Rune Estate
The De Rune Estate where Amicia and Hugo live along with their father Robert and their mother Beatrice, an alchemist, is also filled with family staff and servants that tend to their daily lives. It's here that players learn of Hugo's illness that he has had since birth. Beatrice has been diligently pouring her time, energy, and love into finding a cure for Hugo but to no avail.
Early at the start of the game, the De Rune Estate is ransacked by the Inquisition Knights, led by the black knight, Lord Nicholas. The Inquisition slaughter many of the servants along with Robert and Beatrice. But before Beatrice is slain, she ensures Amicia and Hugo are led away from the estate.
8 What Are The Inquisition After?
Essentially the Inquisition are after Hugo because of a mysterious tie between the plague and his illness. While many of these questions aren't answered until much later in the narrative, it's clear they need Hugo and they don't care who they harm in the way. The Inquisition and its black knights, led by Lord Nicholas, stalk Amicia and Hugo through their harrowing journey.
Once Hugo is bitten by a rat and starts to take a turn for the worse, the Grand Inquisitor hears of this and now seeks him vehemently to bring him to the Macula. None of this is told to the player outright until closer to the end of the game but it's enough of a push to avoid the Inquisition.
7 The Rats, All Of The Rats
No surprise here, the rats are the carriers of the plague in A Plague Tale: Innocence. Not only do they tie into the central theme and story, they also tie into the actual gameplay mechanics. Rats are everywhere in this game, living in terrifying swarms, ready to attack anyone and everyone given the chance.
Towards the end of the story, the rats become even more of a focal point with Hugo becoming so powerful that he can actually tame and control them as he sees fit, something that devastates the Inquisition.
6 A Familial Power
One of the central themes in this game is that of family. From the opening beats where Amicia is walking through the Estate woods and learning from her father, Robert, to the poignant and emotional moments between Amicia and Hugo, this game pushes the theme of familial power.
Family is a theme that is ever-present in the story, especially between Amicia and Hugo. They both go through some devastating and downright horrific moments together but when they have each others' backs, they are able to circumvent many of the treacherous situations they find themselves in.
5 Are The Travelers To Blame For The Plague?
While Amicia and Hugo don't encounter a ton of people in this game, it's quite clear that the regular townsfolk don't take too kindly to travelers. The fears during this time are that travelers, as well as rats, spread the plague. It's no surprise then that villagers offer little in the way of hospitality when people pass through.
However, that all changes when Amicia and Hugo meet Laurentius, an elderly and dying man who implores the children to finish their mother's work. Fortunately for Amicia and Hugo, Laurentius' apprentice, Lucas, accompanies them on their journey to cure Hugo. Lucas helps provide some stability for the siblings. Aside from the one-off characters such as Laurentius and Lucas, many people don't take kindly to others.
4 A Forbidden Book
Since a central theme of A Plague Tale: Innocence is that of curing Hugo, a big focus then becomes figuring out what their mother's alchemic work was. With the help of Lucas, Amicia and Hugo learn that there is an elixir that holds much promise. At a later point in the game, Lucas learns of a book called the Sanguinis Itinera. This mysterious and sacred book is said to contain the knowledge they need to finish the elixir.
However, getting to this book means investigating the shuttered university's library. Unfortunately for Amicia, this library happens to be near the Cathedral, the home of the Inquisition. Amicia is dead set on infiltrating this library in order to find the forbidden alchemic book in hopes that it will put an end to Hugo's misery.
3 Our Ragtag Team Of Characters
Aside from Amicia and Hugo, this game's story features plenty of side characters who both seek to help or hinder them. Two specific characters that end up becoming quite major to the plotline are Melie and Arthur, twins who are also on the run from the Inquisition. Melie and Arther are thieves and looters, always doing what they can to evade their captors while causing quite the uproar.
In terms of the narrative arcs, Melie and Arthur stay with Amicia and Hugo for quite a long time, aiding them in their quest to heal Hugo. These two are used to being on their own since they left their abusive father and have had to survive by committing petty crimes.
2 The White Rats
Vitalis, the central villain of the game and the leader of the Inquisition, has secretly been harnessing the power of the rats in order to breed a hyper-powerful type; the white rats. These white rats can only be controlled by Vitalis and are thus a major boon to Amicia and Hugo.
Whereas the regular rats attack at random in order to swarm, kill, and spread diseases, the white rats are mostly benign, only turning to chaos through the control of Vitalis. This perspective shift makes its way into the narrative once Hugo obtains the power to control all of the rats.
1 Hugo's Power
One of the most heart-wrenching parts of the story of A Plague Tale: Innocence has to be that of Amicia's deception. Through the game, Amicia has withheld a lot of information from Hugo regarding his illness in order to protect him. However, this ends up biting Amicia later since Hugo runs away and ultimately gains his special rat-controlling power.
Hugo's power is eventually used for good to defeat Vitalis, but up until that point, it's so painful to watch the powerful familial bond of Amicia and Hugo be torn apart by betrayal and pain.