10 Video Games MUCH Better Than We Thought They'd Be

1. A Plague Tale: Innocence

A Plague Tale: Innocence admittedly looked pretty great from its trailers but it was a weird one to get on board with because it’s made by Asobo Studio, who had at this point mostly helped out making content for games like Zoo Tycoon and The Crew 2.

Which, even if you know nothing about either of those games, clearly not a lot of overlap.

Beyond that, the game was published by Focus Home Interactive who admittedly do publish a handful of really great AA games and a handful of really average ones. As a result, it was hard to know what side of the fence A Plague Tale: Innocence would land on. Luckily it wasn’t just a fairly impressive outing for both studios, it was a smash hit success. Finding spots on almost every best of the year list, this game launched as a bit of a sleeper hit in the middle of the year in 2019 but once word spread of just how good it was, more and more people started getting on board.

Its endearing cast, enthralling setting, and engaging story made for a game that was incredibly difficult to put down.

The clever puzzling mechanics combined with the overwhelming sense of dread journeying through plague-rat-riddled France during the mid-1300s made for a gaming experience many people felt like they’d never had before. The world was frightening and oppressive, the stealth and action components balance well, and, to reference the Brooklyn 99 meme, we’ve only had our little brother Hugo for a day and a half but if anything ever happened to him we’d kill everyone in this game and then ourselves.