How to use the Photo Mode in A Plague Tale: Innocence
Hello everyone,
As promised, our brand-new Photo Mode is available on PC and console! You can now take amazing screenshots of the game whenever you want!
You can easily access the Photo Mode from the pause menu.
You just have to select it to get access to the mode itself. You are now manually able to change the brightness, contrast, the depth of field or even choose to take only Black and White screenshots.
⚠️If you are playing without any interface, the only way to take your picture is to press down “enter”.
All of the screenshots you take in this mode are directly saved to Documents\My Games\A Plague Tale Innocence\Screenshot.
We can't wait to see your beautiful screenshots!
Watch our Accolades Trailer
The press have spoken and A Plague Tale: Innocence is “memorable”, “one of a kind” and a “masterpiece”!
As rats herald the plague, perfect scores and brilliant reviews have heralded the release of A Plague Tale: Innocence. It's an amazing reception for a new IP debut, and we're proud to show it in our new Accolades Trailer, released today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DUQD7vQ3M
A Plague Tale has captured hearts and minds with the dramatic story of Amicia and Hugo De Rune crossing through hell to find safety. A “triumphant” and “thrilling” story has been appreciated alongside the terror and horror of the rats that never let up, and “excellent” gameplay to create something that, as one critic put it, is “as close to perfect as games can get.”
We're delighted and have loved every second of reading feedback from all of you. Reactions have varied, from horror, to delight, to tears, and we feel like we're right there with you.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Watch Sean Bean in an exclusive trailer!
Hello everyone!
A Plague Tale: Innocence is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. In celebration of Asobo Studio’s dark adventure, we’ve collaborated with Sean Bean for the production of a touching and intimate video dedicated to A Plague Tale. The Hollywood star demonstrates his talent with a brilliant reading of one of William Blake’s most beloved poems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtPclEoODrc
Sean Bean, best known for his work in The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, offers a touching reading of The Little Boy Lost. This deeply moving poem sublimes the stunning images from the game, and perfectly illustrates Amicia and Hugo’s journey through a war-torn medieval France. Much of William Blake’s material shares A Plague Tale’s themes of childhood innocence and loss, serving as a source of creative inspiration for the team when developing the game.
To learn more about A Plague Tale: Innocence, why not check out our narrative website experience, introducing the characters and world of this beautiful, dangerous story.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases tomorrow on PS4, Xbox One, and PC!
Watch our Launch Trailer and embark on a dark adventure through a war-torn, medieval France, relentlessly pursued by the Inquisition and never-ending hordes of ravenous rats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjIb9dQgUF0
A Plague Tale: Innocence tells a grim and emotional story, with gameplay blending action and adventure. Follow Amicia and her little brother Hugo, as they attempt to survive a harsh, brutal world plagued by war and the Black Death. On the run from the Inquisition and surrounded by unnatural swarms of rats, the siblings’ rocky journey will not leave them unscathed.
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases tomorrow, May 14, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Pre-orders are still available!
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases next week, on May 14, on PS4, Xbox One, and PC!
Your enemies are everywhere - inside stately homes and lordly cathedrals, down to the very dregs of the world in cellars and basements. Showcased today in our new “Monsters” trailer, while the deadly swarms of rats consume all they come across, harrying Amicia and Hugo’s long journey, far more familiar foes pick their moment to strike with more care.
https://youtu.be/EjjbrmD1Rg4
The English army, local brigands and, worst of all, The Inquisition and their mysterious master, Vitalis. All pursue the siblings with a deadly enthusiasm, spurred on by unknown forces.
Lord Nicholas, the commander of the Inquisition’s forces, is the helmeted face of fear for the local populace under the boot heel of his army, and for Amicia and Hugo as they flee. He is brutal and uncompromising, willing to do whatever it takes to complete his mission to capture and return the siblings to his master. Strong, fast, with zealots at his every beck and call, he will be a formidable and merciless foe.
To learn more about A Plague Tale: Innocence, why not check out our narrative website experience, introducing the characters and world of this beautiful, dangerous story.
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 14. Pre-orders are available now!
Just a couple of weeks to go until the release of A Plague Tale: Innocence on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC! Today’s Overview Trailer goes into how to take on the challenges you’ll face - making the best use of your abilities and those of your allies to combat or bypass the ever-hungry rats and the terrible Inquisition soldiers.
https://youtu.be/_7Jj_G425yU
Amicia is not completely alone in this adventure, as the trailer reveals. Her brother Hugo, while young and sickly, is a vital companion, and his smaller stature allows him to reach places Amicia can’t. Other orphans - thieves, alchemists, and more - will teach Amicia new skills and provide new tools to hide, escape, and even kill. Learn more in our new website narrative experience.
In A Plague Tale: Innocence, join Amicia and Hugo on a grim journey out of childhood and into a harsh 14th century reality they are ill-prepared for. Pursued by the mysterious and deadly Inquisition, hiding from the rats and suspicious, angry populace at every turn, while desperately seeking a safe haven - this is their life now and you must lead them to safety, no matter the danger.
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 14. Pre-orders are available now!
A Plague Tale: Innocence takes you on an adventure through medieval, war torn, and plague-ridden France with siblings Amicia and Hugo. Our new gameplay trailer showcases world-first footage of a brand new level, showing off a little more of what the game has to offer - careful use of the environment, puzzle-solving, and how light, darkness, and the rats are friend and foe in tandem.
Amicia must make it to the University, past the Inquisition’s worst and through a town racked with chaos - all to find a glimmer of safety in this dark, brutal world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w-k5iScmdw
This is just a taste of everything that awaits in the full game, where your wits, your ability to explore, Amicia’s crafting skills, and her partnership with Hugo are all that will keep you alive. Hugo is not your only companion on this adventure - as those orphaned by war and sickness band together to survive - will everyone see the light of day once again?
A Plague Tale: Innocence is a labour of love from Asobo studio with combined decades of experience in game development. It is an emotional tale packed with mystery, intrigue, and swarming, as ever, with rats.
We can’t wait to get A Plague Tale: Innocence into your hands on May 14, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Get a taste of A Plague Tale: Innocence soundtrack!
All good stories need a good soundtrack. A Plague Tale: Innocence brings haunting, beautiful brilliance to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 14 with the incredible adventure of Amicia, her brother Hugo, the deadly Inquisition, and the endless plague of rats. To match, Olivier Deriviere the creator behind some of the most amazing video game soundtracks such as Vampyr, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag - Freedom Cry, Remember Me, and Alone In The Dark, has done an incredible work on A Plague Tale: Innocence, composing dark themes with his signature instruments to create an unforgettable experience for everyone that plays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVsHfouxedo
Two pieces are included in today’s video, which features the work of art director Olivier Ponsonnet, a speed painting of Amicia, ready for anything, and the rats, covering everything as they do throughout the game. Ponsonnet was featured in the Behind The Scenes series, discussing his approach to designing and creating the dark world of 14th century France - plague, death, warts, and all.
A 12-track Sound Selection from the game is also available on vinyl as part of pre-orders of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions at some retailers. More of Deriviere’s work is available on Spotify and Twitter. We look forward to sharing it alongside the game itself on May 14.
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases May 14 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
For the first time, the press has been hands on with A Plague Tale: Innocence and the response is clear: they love it. From the emotional journey of Hugo and Amicia to the incredible landscapes of medieval France, A Plague Tale has impressed on every level.
Get a look at just how wide-ranging and positive the feedback has been in our new Preview Accolades Trailer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEu7k4OeyPM
“Full of promise” with “everything it takes to be a good game,” A Plague Tale: Innocence is “impeccably polished,” “distinctive and terrifying” with expectations from some of a “game of the year contender.” Doing an “exceptional job at portraying raw, emotional storytelling”, the game also features “haunting art direction” and there’s “a lot more to the gameplay and story than first meets the eye.” Regularly compared favourably to the genre’s best titles, journalists “came away from this preview absolutely desperate for more.”
We can’t wait to read and hear your feedback as well when A Plague Tale: Innocence arrives May 14 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One!
Welcome back to our devblog series where we unveil a wealth of details about the making of A Plague Tale: Innocence, Asobo Studio’s upcoming adventure game coming 2019 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Today, we’re excited to continue to share more info about our main protagonists: Amicia and Hugo!
Genesis
In this first part, we dive into the creative process behind the main characters: Amicia and Hugo.
A glance at video game history makes it clear that a strong character can carry a story and game world alone. With that in mind, how did we create Amicia and Hugo for A Plague Tale: Innocence?
We discussed with Sébastien Renard, Narrative Designer, about the story and characters of the game. Deciding who Amicia and Hugo had to be was relatively quick, but they’ve undergone many changes and iterations throughout the production process.
The story comes from ancient tales. The team worked for a long time on old classical texts, from authors such as Perrault, Grimm and Andersen. Sébastien naturally chose to tell the tale of Amicia and Hugo the same way these authors did: by contrasting the naivety and innocence of children with a dangerous and dark world.
A Plague Tale: Innocence was born from this juxtaposition of the adults’ and childrens’ worlds, between innocence and corruption. In medieval folklore, it’s common to find the idea of purity in youth facing the trickery of the rest of the world.
This background is perfect for telling a strong, intriguing story. It’s taken a year to reach the current result. Narration is always complicated, and you must iterate a lot and make tough choices to cover all the specificities of a video game, such as level design or gameplay.
Amicia and Hugo were born together on paper, making them inseparable for the team. This unique and strong link makes them realistic. They echo with the child that everyone has been.
It’s been a huge task to ensure they have a goal, desires, and doubts coherent with their lives, building their psyche, and making sure their reactions throughout the game are coherent with their emotional background. Creating Amicia and Hugo’s physiques was also a challenge, because a child doesn’t move, react or speak like an adult, and the team had to stick to the historical period while reflecting their personalities.
The result is two innocent children facing a brutal and ruthless world, in which millions of rats ravage the Kingdom of France - already beset by war and the Black Death.
Linked
Next, we'll be talking about the reasons for why Hugo and Amicia's bond together is so tight, beyond that of regular siblings.
Forced out of their home and on the run from the Inquisition, Amicia and Hugo travel through the devastated South-West of France to find shelter. The brother and sister barely know each other at the very beginning of our story, but they must learn to live and grow together in order to survive the countless threats surrounding them.
Sébastien Renard, Narrative Designer, recalls the origin of the De Rune siblings: “We wanted a heroine out of the ordinary. A partner gives us the opportunity to develop a growing bond between the player and the characters. We want players to gradually consider Hugo as a living and precious character that you want to protect.”
Caring about each other is a core idea for the team. Inspired by the poetic masterpiece Ico, one of the best examples of a game that highlights this idea in story and gameplay, Asobo has worked hard to convey this emotional link in the game mechanics.
It’s a narrative gamble to make Amicia and Hugo initially strangers to one another, despite being siblings. However, it has the benefit of meaning they’ll learn about each other through the story, as the player also learns gameplay mechanics. Narration and gameplay are always tied together.
An example of this is in how Hugo is vital to overcoming many situations, as his small size gives him access to areas Amicia can’t enter. On the other hand, he can’t stay alone for too long, or he may panic and flee or worse…
In the 14th century, fifteen-year-old Amicia is already seen as an adult, but keeps rejecting responsibilities in favor of a playful childishness. Thrust into a brutal and ruthless world where she’s forced to take care of her little brother, she must now take on responsibilities that any adult would find almost impossible to endure.
Five-year-old Hugo is torn between fear and excitement when discovering the world - he is the last link with a life of innocence that Amicia always cherished. “Hugo sees the last remaining scrap of beauty in a ruthless world,” explains Sébastien Renard. “He brings a bit of stability to Amicia, who is his shield against the raw violence unleashed on them.”
Children of The Plague
Finally, let’s zoom on the look of our young heroes, Amicia and Hugo.
You must always first consider how the shape of character will appear from afar. Will it strike an imposing figure, strong and massive, or be smaller, frail, and weak? Will there be a scar, or a specific, recognizable hair color? Sometimes, the story creates these physical characteristics, while otherwise it comes purely from the imagination of the team.
Sébastien Renard, Narrative Designer, explains that setting a face and an expression for a character takes most of the work. You can’t neglect any details as the player will spend hours with the heroes. Amicia must be in good shape, but not too athletic: she is a child from a noble family who never had to fight to survive. As for the story and psychology of the characters, coherence is key for the team. Hair, face, and expressions are the results of meticulous research into their historical and ethnological backgrounds.
Olivier Ponsonnet, Art Director, wanted to convey two main elements:
The physical bond linking two children of the same family, translated by the constant proximity and Amicia’s will to protect her brother. They have to be as one against a hostile world.
The historical details anchoring the game in the medieval era. Haircuts and clothes ensure the player is immersed in 14th century France. Amicia’s braids went through a lot of iteration in development, but now make her a unique and identifiable character. Reproducing it in-game was also a big technical challenge.
The team’s inspirations for young, lively Amicia and cunning-but-fragile Hugo also come from cinema. Movies that showcase frail young characters like Artificial Intelligence, The Sixth Sense, The Shining, or the works of Studio Ghibli were all in mind throughout development.
Finally, the look of our heroes is also linked to the gameplay. As a young teenager, Amicia can’t rush head down into battle. She must think and choose the option that is less risky for her brother. The lack of brute force to overcome enemies is reflected in the character model and forces players to be careful and crafty with the resources they have.
See you soon for more behind-the-scenes information and anecdotes about the creative process behind A Plague Tale: Innocence!
A Plague Tale: Innocence releases May 14th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
