Developed by the French developers Asobo Studio, A Plague Tale: Innocence was one of 2019’s hidden gems. Fans of the title will be happy to know that a sequel has been announced and is set to be released in 2022. In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, Asobo Studio revealed a bit more info on their upcoming game, titled A Plague Tale: Requiem, and how they plan to take advantage of the improved technology of next-gen consoles.
A Plague Tale: Innocence features a touching story of a sister and brother who must stick together in a gritty rendition of a 1300s French town plagued by a rat infestation. The game combines puzzle elements, stealth, and exploration to tell a gripping narrative.
Many of the puzzles of A Plague Tale: Innocence are focused on navigating around and avoiding large swarms of rats. To make it possible to render hundreds of scurrying rats on screen required a great deal of tech magic. As game director Kevin Choteau explains, creating the rat swarms required them to ensure “that just one rat could be really well animated with realistic behavior and path-finding”. However, they also had to “multiply that and maintain the plausibility” for all the rats.
A Plague Tale: Requiem promises to be a beautiful game.
To do this, they layered the swarms in four layers of details. As is explained on the PlayStation blog, the rats furthest away from the player have less detail while the rats closer to the player are more detailed and have full animations.
With A Plague Tale: Requiem, rats will be making a return and there is no plan to reduce their numbers. As Choteau explains, the goal with the sequel is to have “more of everything”.
Asobo Studio has also been paying attention to the next-gen consoles and the power they offer to developers. According to Choteau, “the next generation is about creating as much of a living world as you can. Where everything is moving and reacting to your actions”. Although he never elaborated, it is exciting to think how the studio will use these revelations to craft their next project.
The trailer which debuted at E3 2021 revealed that the sequel will continue the story of Amicia and Hugo. Stunning visuals and intense combat scenes make it evident that it will be yet another exhilarating adventure. Once again, the siblings must face rat swarms, but they seem bigger and far scarier.
A Plague Tale: Innocence will be getting a next-gen upgrade on the 6th of July 2021. The patch will add 4K 60FPS support to an already visually impressive game. For anyone who has not explored this grim yet emotional tale of lost innocence and enduring familial love, this is perhaps the best time to jump into it.
