and my extremely handy sling to light
it, protecting him from the rats while
we made our escape.
Trying to avoid killing whenever
possible forced me to use all of my
alchemical skills and stealth, bringing
out the slight but still engaging
puzzle side of A Plague Tale. And this
continued, even after I discovered
that the game doesn’t actually give a
shit how you overcome its obstacles.
Hugo and other characters do
comment on deaths you’re
responsible for, and clearly Amicia is
being hardened by her harrowing
experiences, but there’s no karma or
alignment system, and no way to
influence Hugo beyond what’s
scripted. Part of me was disappointed
that all this stuff pushing me to set a
good example was illusory, but while
it didn’t have a tangible impact on
Hugo or the game’s ending, it did
create a lot of tension, and made it
much easier to think of myself as this
protective sibling wrestling with this
unexpected responsibility.
I’m glad it didn’t punish me for
the times when bloodlust took hold,
and when the nightmare was over, I
felt like I’d been a great sister, and
that Hugo was happy because of the
decisions I made, even if it was
always going to end this way.
Don’t worry – you don’t
need to carry him
everywhere.THE GAMES WE LOVE RIGHT NOW
NOW PL AYING
You get to make some
choices, but the prince’s
ultimate fate is set.I
’ve always been
dreadful at the Total
War games. Neither
the real-time battles
nor the wider strategy
of conquering the map have ever
felt quite under my control, and
I’ve always ended up burning out
from sheer incompetence.That was fine back when they were
all historical – I just avoided them,
because Romans and Napoloeans are
boring. But ever since Creative
Assembly started making some of the
best Warhammer games on PC, it’s
been painful to my brand to not be
able to embrace the series.
Dutifully I booted up Total War:
Warhammer III, expecting to once
again revel in the attention to detail
of its grim fantasy world, but barely
scratch the surface of its tactical
depth. But lo! CA may have finally
found a way to bring even a fool like
myself into the fold.
Before you get started with the
game’s campaign, you’re invited to
play a prologue. This mini-campaign
leads you through the events that
kicked off the main story – namely a
Kislevite prince’s journey to find a
missing bear god.GRIN AND BEAR IT
Narratively, it provides a lovely bit of
context before you start empire-
building in earnest. But, more
importantly, it serves as a gentler
mechanical ramp into the game than
the series has ever had before.
Rather than a full map, the
prologue takes place along a linear
chasm of frozen mountains. The
series’ usual complexities are
stripped right down to bare bones,
and gradually reintroduced as you
progress. Battles start simple, and as
they add more unit types and grow in
scale, the game explains the logic of
each piece of the strategy jigsaw.
‘Yep, that’s what a tutorial is,’ you
might say, snarkily, but this feels far
cleverer than just that. Together the
tightened scope, carefully constructed
scenarios, and even the story being
told provide a brilliantly accessible
window into an intimidating series.
Jumping from there into the main
campaign, I discover that I’m still
rubbish. But I now feel like I know
how to get better. The ideas the
prologue taught me are the
foundation I needed to start learning
as I go, playing with mechanics I now
understand the context of. I might
conquer the Old World yet.Leadership training in TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER III
“A gentler ramp
into the series”
ROBIN VALENTINE
THIS MONTH
Discovered the strategic value
of big, angry bears.
ALSO PL AYED
Pathfinder: Kingmaker,
Strange Horticulture