France in video games is popular, France in video games too. Many titles take the cities, countryside and others for theater. A short overview of video games and tourism.
France is popular in video games. Admittedly, it is sometimes a very idealized, poetic, often bucolic version, but France and its diversity of landscapes suit the visions of the developers perfectly. For several months, decors from north to south have been in the spotlight, and even those from overseas. To travel controller in hand, Tech&Co has selected for you some video games that highlight France and its regions.
Bye
New Caledonia beautified by local developers from Awaceb: it gives a playful and refreshing game. Bye tells the adventures of a little girl who goes to save her father. She discovers strange powers that she will have to learn to master in order to progress. A game that highlights New Caledonian lands and culture through music, explanations of customs, landscapes, but also the language, because Bye is played in French and Drehu, the local language.
It’s not the most difficult game, but its charm lies elsewhere. He transports the players with his childish artistic touch, his cute and powerful scenario, carried by the most pleasant music. We want to learn the ukulele, to build stone statues or to do soul leaps. A real ray of sunshine that feels good.
Available on PC, PS4 and PS5.
A Plague Tale : Requiem
Since the first opus A Plague Tale: Innocencethe adventures of Amicia and Hugo have taken millions of players around the world to medieval France battling rats, plague and the Inquisition.
The brother and sister head south in this suite where they hope to finally live peacefully. But the young boy’s strange illness resurfaces and they must resume their escape, hoping to find a mysterious island and a cure to save him. We recognize the mountains, the fields, the flowery countryside and even the seaside of the South and Provence perfectly recreated by the Bordelais of Asobo Studio.
A game available on PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Steelrising
What if Louis XVI had put down the popular revolution and prevented the fall of the monarchy thanks to his automatons? This is the idea developed by the Spiders studio (Greedfall) which revisits the French Revolution based on a truth: the king’s passion for machines. This time, he made an army of them to stay in place. But an automaton will revolt. Steelrising takes players on a journey through Paris in 1789, from the Bastille prison to the Invalides, from the Louvre Palace to Notre-Dame.
Available on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.
Dordogne
When the memories of a holiday home serve as a framework for a game that is gentle, in music and poetry. It is the strength of Dordogne, a watercolor-style game that hits home. It depicts a young woman thrown back into her childhood by returning to her deceased grandmother’s house.
Using Polaroid photos and captured sounds, the game brings the Dordogne landscapes of its creators to life. It’s shimmering and it will appeal to everyone’s memory images. We would even perceive the smells of our childhood through these hand-painted images. A narrative game in the form of a journey through memories.
Game available in 2023 on PC and Nintendo Switch.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful representations (sometimes criticised) of the Paris of the French Revolution. This game released in 2014 highlighted the capital in a totally stunning reconstruction, the result of years of work by Ubisoft historians.
In the footsteps of Arno, a member of the Brotherhood of Assassins opposed to the Templars who killed his former mentor, the player relive the Revolution of 1789, the anger of the people in the face of oppression. He also meets emblematic figures from the time of Louis XVI to Robespierre, from Necker to Champollion via the Marquis de Sade.
A way to make people love history as much as architecture, trades and the habits of Parisians of the time. A slice of French heritage to play as much as to browse.
Disponible sur PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch et PC.
Remember Me
It is a Paris propelled into 2084 that Don’t Nod had chosen for its very first game. Nilin, hunter of memories, crosses a city as recognizable as it is strange. You can see the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré-Coeur, but everything is mixed with futurism that George Orwell would not have denied.
Launched in 2013, the game shone with its digitization of the streets of the capital and the swing in a certain modernity that emerged from it. A Neo-Paris that we will perhaps know in 60 years and a game that has probably not had the success it deserved, at least for its artistic creativity and its music.
Unknown Soldiers: Brothers in Arms
If you liked the first Unknown Soldiers: Memories of the Great War on consoles, you should try the sequel available exclusively to Netflix subscribers. Unknown Soldiers: Brothers in Arms plunges back into the First World War by focusing on these men and women who were at the front, but also on the black American soldiers who came as reinforcements. With its style inspired by the world of comics, this game retraces France during the Great War with strong emotion and truthfulness of places, events and characters to allow everyone to learn the reality of history.
Available on smartphone and tablet for Netflix subscribers.
