Well this is going to be a game that is really hard to talk about. I saw this game on the Switch several times when I was looking for a unique indie game. But when I wanted to give it a shot, everyone said that it was a horrible game, so I put it off. But then I saw people talking about how good it was. I think what scared me off of it originally was the price tag for it. That was until it was on sale for ninety-nine cents. After that, I had to buy it, for my own curiosity. And so, today, let us talk about Plague Road



In a morbid story narrated por Jim Sterling, you play as The Doctor, who leaves a city after it welcomes foreigners like a fucking racist, fearing that the plague would eventually fill it. But the doctor, for reasons unknown, returns to the city, to find that the plague has taken over the inner city far worse than the outer walls. So now you have to make it to the cities catacombs to find a certain someone. I think the first thing that scares people off was the visuals. Not the art design, per say. It has a very morbid fairy tale design to it and I kinda like it. It reminds me of Alice McGee’s Alice with it’s haunting dark fantasia that looks like a fucked up children’s book. But once the characters start moving is when I think people get upset. Everyone moves in this paper doll animation. But, again, I don’t mind it so much. I think it adds to the dark fantasia charm of the game. I feel like Plague Road is meant to be told like a dark fairy tale, considering the narrator rhymes all the time. But how is the gameplay?
Now while I can argue the visuals, what I can fully understand people hating is the gameplay, because it’s not bad, but it is frustrating and a pain to master. It’s really hard to discuss the combat, because on one side, it is rewarding and challenging, but on the other, it is annoying and stressful. You start out on your own with enemies that can kill you in only a few hits. As you progress through the game, you will find allies around the map, consisting of Nurses who heal, Engineers who hit hard, Soldiers with projectile attacks, Witches who can use magic, and Peasents who can fuck off. You can find them all back at The Farm, your base of operations where you can unlock new buildings to train your allies and get new abilities for them to get them stronger. Notice how I said you have to train them instead of level them up. In Plague Road, enemies do not give experience and there is no leveling up. Enemies only drop herbs which are used to make potions but also to unlock the seguinte area with a certain amount. That means you will never be able to overpower your enemies. If you wanna progress, you gotta do the following. If you see an enemy, run. Run to the exit and hope that the area you mover to isn’t a dead end, since the randomized level designs are very maze like. But if a fight is unavoidable, you gotta learn the enemies distance they can move. You can find yourself really hurting later on in the end game with how tough the enemies get, and you’re really hoping to just max out your team and reach the end, but fights can feel mais rewarding the the typical RPG. You gotta know which of your small arsenal to use, when to heal, and when to stun. It can feel mais like you actually prevailed and makes each fight a challenge, even on small low level enemies. It can feel tough but never unfair…. However!
The final area can suck a fat one for all I care. After running through the insanely difficult city ruins, you find yourself in the catacombs, with all of the hardest, fastest enemies in the game, and remember, randomized maps, so when you think you’re going the right way, you’re actually not, and you gotta run back. Oh, and the best part? No fast travel. That’s right, if you die, or if your me, don’t have the necessary herbs to unlock the final door, you’ll have to grind from the enemies that only drop a small amount of herbs and hope you can bare through it, or die and start back outside the city again, and go through that and the Catacombs again. And when you do… I won’t spoil it, but the ending made me go, “That was it!?”
So yeah, Plague Road is the definition of rough. It’s not the worst indie games I’ve played, but we’ll get to that when we get to it, but it’s certainly a game that I can understand the criticism for. I guess I put it in the same category I put YIIK in, only Plague Road feels much mais competent than YIIK. I mean YIIK was a poorly written disaster that I still enjoy to an extent, but Plague Road is constant but has a lot of gameplay issues. I am curious to see what the studio makes next. I say wait for a sale on Plague Road if you are curious though, as this game can be a rough time all around.

Up next: The Dark Souls of cheap indie games