Best narrative game I've played since the Last of Us and is clearly influenced by that great game. A super super game!
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Starting the game in the beautiful French countryside the developer Asobo Studio works hard to connect you with Amicia De Rune - the main protagonist. Hunting with her father and dog you begin to track a boar through the forest when you discover the blight (plague) which will become the central plot obstacle which you will be tasked to overcome. Amicia witnesses her beloved dog "Lion" dragged and devoured by a burrow in the Earth. The first of many disasters she will have to witness. Lord De Rune, more wise about the world decides to return home with haste and it is there as you try to find Amicia's mother that rumours of a plague circulate around the castle's staff. They all hush and address you halting their murmuring about evil.

Amicia finds her mother and brother, Beatrice and Hugo De Rune, Hugo is sick but before you can gain any understanding of his illness the Catholic Church's Inquisition attacks the De Rune castle. Beatrice guides her children out of the castle and this acts as a tutorial of the stealth mechanics. This game at its core is a stealth game and although you can be more brash in the final act the majority of the game is spent skulking in the shadows. You must choose to sneak past enemies or manipulate the environment to eliminate them. Amicia watches her father and castle servants be killed by the Inquisition and their imposing Captain Nicholas. Every instinct I had was to take out the enemy and exact revenge but I couldn't. The game won't facilitate your instincts, you just have to keep going and let those good loyal people die. The De Rune's reach the edge of the castle gardens, the forest and safety is in sight but they are spotted by Captain Nicholas. Beatrice De Rune pushes her children out into the forest. The wooden door closes and moments later a blade impales through the door. Amicia De Rune must find a cure for her sick brother and somehow keep them both safe. I thought the opening chapter was the best introduction to a game I had played since the Last of Us in 2013.

The main body of the story is about Amicia and Hugo searching for a cure to his sickness called the "Makula" (Spelling may vary). The journey takes them to settlements across the French countryside, forming a band of renegades to help them and learning how to fight the rats which carry/represent the blight. The story captures how the De Rune children are hardened by their environment, Amicia grapples with her morals after she kills for the first time and Hugo is extremely upset when the children sacrifice a pig to save their lives. The helplessness of innocent children is very apparent in the early chapters and it is consistently saddening to watch the characters go through the turmoil of their journey in the cruel Middle Ages. A sad story of the loss of innocence in a cruel world is however permeated by good individuals who buck the trend and give the De Rune's hope e.g the woman in the blight infested village who provides refuge to the children as they flee from villagers who wanted to burn them alive.

I was very impressed with the accurate deployment of history. It brings the game to life, set during the 1340s Asobo has created a counter factual history scenario. What if the rats that carried the Black Death were murderous and more numerous? Nothing is omitted, the God fearing nature of the people and the violent tyranny of the Inquisition in the pursuit of their goals reflects the religiosity of the age. The urban areas visited in the game have white X's on the houses of infected families and they lie desolate either through death or migration. Even the 100 Years War is represented in the game and all these little things in combination create a really accurate background meaning I could make allowances the artistic decisions surrounding the rats in the plot and get immersed in the game/story. The last historical praise I wish to lump on Asobo is the importance they placed on including detailed and relevant medieval artwork. In an age where few can read and the internet obviously doesn't exist paintings were the main way the Church could communicate the Bible's teachings to the peasantry.

I thought it was interesting that the game explores the ideas of class struggle. It's done very subtly through banter between Amicia De Rune and Meile, a thief who becomes an ally of the De Rune children. It is an important fact that the De Rune children are in the 1%. If Hugo De Rune was the son of a blacksmith he would have been taken by the Inquisition at a much younger age. A blacksmith's wife would not know about the Makula and would be unable to read anything about it (most likely). The laity often sought the help of the Church to cure sickness and this is reflected in Christian doctrine. Jesus Christ among many things is a healer of the sick. The fact the De Rune's are of the noble class is what allows this journey and story to take place.

After finding the cure for Hugo it is revealed to him as it previously had to Amicia that their mother Beatrice was not killed on the night of the Inquisition attack and is instead being imprisoned at the Bastion. In the night Hugo leaves the safety of the groups castle and travels to save his mother. Chapter 13 and you now play as younger, weaker, smaller and less equipped Hugo De Rune. The equipment and crafting items you have built up as Amicia are lost and you are back to Chapter 1's gameplay. You must rely on stealth alone to find and save Beatrice De Rune. This is an excellent reset of the gameplay loop and it rehooked me back into the story just as "game fatigue" was setting in. Chapter 14 unlocks a new skill, after being reunited Beatrice teaches Hugo he has the power to control the plague rats. They will move where he wants and more importantly they will kill for him. Asobo makes Hugo into a killer just like Amicia, the cruelty of the Middle Ages strikes again. Beatrice and Hugo are captured once more by Captain Nicholas and brought before Vitalus, the head of the Inquisition. He is an Emperor Palpatine style character who brainwashes Hugo De Rune (Anakin Skywalker in our Star Wars analogy) to join him and continue to harness control over his sickness/superpower. They see the Makula as a gift.

Captain Nicholas and Hugo attack Amicia and the others using the rats to breach the castle defences. Hugo appears different, with hate in his eyes and clear skin for the first time in the game he looks about to set his rats upon the group. Amicia embraces him and sibling love overcomes the Makula, reunited as brother and sister the player now uses Amicia and Hugo's skillsets in tandem to defeat Captain Nicholas, the man who murdered their father. Then the finale of the game has you storm the Bastion and face Vitalus in one final boss fight set in a cathedral. The credits roll. Amicia and Hugo are in a village once more - it's unclear if it is the same one from earlier in the game. Amicia plays a fair game, she has to knock down six rat targets to win an apple. Mirroring the game she played with her father at an apple tree in Chapter 1. You have come full circle , the village is back to life and they are hosting a fair. Hugo wants to go and play but the villagers apologetically shoo the De Rune's along, there is still a warrant for their arrest but this time the villagers don't want to capture you. Amicia races Hugo back to the cart where their mother is being cared for by one of your companions, you set off and it is revealed your other long term companion separated themselves from the group after seeing Hugo's powers in the showdown with Vitalus. I was left wondering if the De Rune's would ever be accepted in a post blight world or would they forever be pariahs?

If Micheal Bay was a game designer he would make Tomb Raider. The game has a really fun and quick pace. It is packed with cool action sequences and set pieces. And it has a great setting - modern day remote island somewhere in South East Asia. Tomb Raider's non-stop action is supported by a great movement system, there are lots of different methods for moving through levels which interlock fluidly. Interestingly more movement options become available as you progress. This is typical (and indeed happens in TR) with weapon upgrades but fewer games regularly expand movement options.

"We shouldn't discount the irrational" Dr Whytman in the early game
Whytman is right, you cannot discount the irrational in TR because if you did there would not be much left. Many people have arrived and never returned from this island for decades and no major international effort has ever been made to discover why. Furthermore, people keep going there expecting to be okay!

"I can do this" - Lara Croft
LC says this a lot in the early parts of the game as motivation to carry on with her mission to save her friends. If she knew how many terrible falls she would survive over the course of the game she would realise she is invincible. There is no better motivation than that,

Tomb Raider is fun, that is the main takeaway and the team actually have placed a little thank you for finishing the game at the top of the credits which was a nice touch. Fun action, plenty of shooting, fun movement in a variety of locations and fun puzzles including in optional tombs which at times are oddly placed during the story. The storyline itself is not Shakespeare nor is it even Eastenders so if you want an enthralling narrative you should play something else.