E3 2017 - A Plague Tale: Innocence Presentation Details

While at Focus Home's booth, I saw a 15 minute presentation on A Plague Tale: Innocence from Asobo Studios. It takes place in 1349 France as the Black Death is raging through Europe and follows a 14 year old girl and her five year old brother as they try to survive the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HaPvRrmA8Y

Players control the older sister as she protects herself and brother, dodging inquisitors and rats. The two seem to be searching for their mother, at least in the demo that was presented to me. The sister is the only character player's control, but the younger brother helps along the way as well. Each have their own abilities to keep moving, solving puzzles along the way.

The rats play a key part in the game and will come in many different forms than what were seen in the trailer above. They are repulsed by light, and there will be some puzzles based around that mechanic, such as lighting a brazier to repel some rats so you can reach a lantern. It obviously plays a role elsewhere too, as you saw a lantern get destroyed and a guard swarmed by rats. There doesn't appear to be any direct combat in the game, killing the guard in this case was just a piece of the puzzle to solve.

The developers stressed A Plague Tale: Innocence wasn't going to go into the realm of fantasy, but the game would be grounded in having to deal with people (the guards) and the different rats encountered along the way.

The central theme of the game will be the relationship between the brother and sister and how that grows over the course of the game. Other than that, not a lot was revealed about the story or where it was going.

Right now, A Plague  Tale: Innocence is looking at a late 2018 release date, so there is a lot more information to be shared. It will be releasing on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

If you want to know more about this and other announcements happening at E3 then be sure to check out our E3 2017 Coverage Hub.