When I took my brother Hugo’s hand for the first time in _A Plague Tale: Innocence_, behind me was a swarm of rats rushing like a tide, with a torch about to be extinguished in his hand. At that moment, I suddenly understood that this seemingly terrifying game was actually the most gentle sister-brother bond poem in the history of the game.

The game opened in France in 1349. The iron hooves of the religious court broke through the home, and the aristocratic girl I played, Amicia, was forced to take her mysteriously sick brother Hugo on the road of escape. But what really defines this game is not the bloody plague, but every moment when the two sisters and brothers go from estrangement to dependence on each other. When Hugo grabbed the corner of my clothes in the dark because of fear, when he first learned to protect us with the ability of rats, the complex sense of protection reminded me of the past with my brother in reality.

The most shocking narrative takes place in the barn of the second chapter. Hugo attracted a group of rats because of his out-of-control ability, and we were forced to hide in the haystack. In the swaying firelight, he cried and asked, “Sister, am I a monster?” Each answer option I choose is shaping the relationship between us — harsh reproaches will make him close his heart, and excessive indulgence will promote the ability to be dangerous. This night, the game taught me that the real protection is not protection, but understanding.

The use of the game to the group of mice can be called a narrative miracle. Thousands of mice are not only a threat to survival, but also a embodiment of Hugo’s inner fear. In the basement of the Holy Church, when the rats poured down like black waterfalls and Hugo danced with them with his arms open, I suddenly understood Deleuze’s rhizome — these disgusting creatures are essentially an extension of a child who is eager to be accepted.

As the journey progressed, the relationship between sister and brother was tempered into steel in the killing. From the original “I must protect him” to the later “We need each other”, from “Don’t touch those mice” to “Learn to control your strength”. The most touching twist happened when Hugo blocked the judge’s fatal blow for me. The child who once needed my shelter has grown into a warrior who can protect his sister.

Late at night after customs clearance, I sent a message to my younger brother in reality: “How are you doing recently?” The greatest achievement of this game is that it makes me understand that under all seemingly scary appearances, there may be the purest tenderness hidden. Just like those flocks of rats that devour everything, they are just the cry of a lonely child who is eager to be understood.

If you have also shouldered the heavy responsibility of protecting others, _A Plague Tale: Innocence_ will give you the deepest resonance. It will not give you a simple choice of good and evil, but let you experience the true meaning of guarding — the real strength is to learn to grow together with the guardian.