Hugo and Amicia were created as a reflection of the dynamic in games like ICO and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and how rats became the disease spreader were among the plot concepts that the team began to develop as a consequence. However, external reviewers were called in during production to go at the game, with most of the critique being very critical. Choteau points out that many of these comments effectively informed them that nothing was holding together, even predicting that the game would only get a 55-60 per cent rating.
