A Plague Tale: Innocence & Minit Is Free On Epic

Monday, I found out Kafka’s Metamorphosis got a PC game, and it is available with Prime Gaming this month alongside Battlefield V. David had to go fast in Two Point Hospital as Sonic came as DLC. Tuesday, Ubisoft employees stood in solidarity with those at Activision-Blizzard, and an indie game called Dumpy & Bumpy might be coming to consoles. Wednesday, I covered a week of updated responses to the Activision-Blizzard lawsuit, and I spoke about Take-Two’s upcoming announcement of the new game. Then on Thursday, Alexx spoke of a skating game as I watched Sky Brown win Bronze for Team GB.

First, before I get into what is available this week for free on the Epic Games Store, I need to point out something. Last week I said that Speed Brawl would be available, which was true at the time. However, in an update provided by Epic on Thursday, it was clarified that Minit will take the place on the second game. Previously we’ve covered Minit in this series when it was last free on Epic, and I must say, I quite enjoy it.

Minit is a game that puts you in control of a character that only lives for a minute in a time. You have to go through this whole Zelda-ish RPG adventure for about an hour and a half, maybe two-hours, dying at the end of every minute. It sounds odd because it is, that’s the point. It is a gimmick of the game making it stand out, alongside the monochromatic color palette of the game. Despite the frustration from death repeating while you may be lost in terms of moving forward, I can’t recommend Minit enough. It is a great short little adventure perfect for any trips you might take. It is great for a Switch or Steam Deck in that regard.

Let’s move on to what wasn’t so exciting a week ago, and still isn’t after a little bit of time with it. A Plague Tale: Innocence, something Taylor reviewed back when it was released in 2019. For the record, he quite enjoyed it at the time. Being the resident curmudgeon, I am not as high on a game lacking any original ideas other than turning The Last of Us‘ style of guiding a child through hell into one done by a big sister instead of a hairy dad. Set in 14th century France, there is a plague and that inquisition that if I don’t say it was unexpected I’ll get a lot of emails from people who enjoy kicking dead horses.

You know how this story goes: Big evil bad thing wants small child, the child has supernatural abilities, big sister tries to protect him by going on the run, and they end up in a castle to twiddle their thumbs for a while. Not the world’s greatest plot, but then again the puzzles aren’t going to set you ablaze with their superpowers of boredom either. Think of it like Uncharted, but without Nathan Drake, and instead of killing Russians or brown people (in the first two games) you are fighting the inquisition and lots of rats. The thing is, while there are lots of opportunities for use of the stealthy mechanics, your lead Amicia De Rune crumbles to bits like a digestive dunked in tea.

Despite the overarching grimness and horror feeling surrounding the game, I just don’t get it. There is nothing new, and death is more frustrating as you know where you need to go but keep getting reset just far enough away that it becomes annoying. I don’t understand why it is praised so much. I’d argue there are better games that do all these things better, all with and without the supernatural nonsense.

Anyway, all this week, you can pick up A Plague Tale: Innocence and Minit for free on the Epic Games Store until the 12th of August. However, that takes us to next week, which is a return to a single game, which is the upside. The downside is if you’ve been around long enough, you’ll already have Rebel Galaxy, the first in the series. I quite enjoyed both games in the series, the fact the second game tried to be more broad appeal and pleasing no one notwithstanding. Next week, I might not be so angry or old-man like when talking about Rebel Galaxy, as I like space and I like trucking, so it is time for some space trucking!