The Plucky Squire is one of the many indie games fans the world over have had their eyes on, in part for its unique premise and also in part for how it serves to be All Possible Future's first title. One of the biggest draws to the title may very well be the involvement of James Turner, a former Pokemon series designer, whose art style makes up the entirety of The Plucky Squire's 2D world. However, despite his history in the industry, both dimensions of the world will appeal to those who enjoy other adventures while still remaining a breath of fresh air. When Jot the titular Plucky Squire is pulled out of his storybook, players will travel through 2D and 3D worlds to beat the villain Humgrump in ways that may be completely unexpected.
With characters such as a wizard with shades, an artistic mage, and a drummer mountain troll, The Plucky Squire very much gives off impressions of Zelda rather than Pokemon. At the same time, it most certainly borrows humor cues from Paper Mario, where characters are aware that the fourth wall is completely gone and that the adventure at hand has more meta implications for the book-bound, star-shaped world of The Land of Mojo. The Best War Games recently got to explore The Land of Mojo and the child's room beyond it in an extended preview of All Possible Future's upcoming action-adventure game, specifically playing through the first four chapters.
The Plucky Squire - Official Sneak Peek Rocket Ride Gameplay Trailer
Devolver Digital and All Possible Futures give players a sneak peek at The Plucky Squire, an upcoming action-adventure planned for release in 2024.
The Plucky Squire is a Love Letter to New Ideas and Retro Gameplay
The Plucky Squire's art style is exceptionally charming, with bright colors making each and every page into a gorgeous illustration that truly feels like a living storybook during gameplay. However, as the premise is hardly hidden, the book sits on a desk from the very beginning; allowing paper clips and stray playing cards to sit on the edges of the pages, teasing the world beyond and leaning on the fourth wall until it eventually shatters. In both 2D and 3D, the Squire plays and feels exactly the same, if only with a bit of metaphorical weight behind his motions in 3D as they adjust to once fans make the leap. These controls are left rather simple as they mainly use a few buttons at a time, with optional moves being unlockable through in-game currency.
This also keeps combat rather simple and helps The Plucky Squire shine the most in terms of difficulty with its puzzles. With its dimensional differentiation, players are given plenty of challenges that encourage them to keep Jot's book-jumping powers in mind, but not to exclusively rely on them. Some solutions aren't what they seem, but some are exactly as they appear when fans might be thinking too heavily, which adds to the challenge. The puzzles offer so much variety in the first four chapters that any specific design choice is hard to pin down; no two levels are solved in the same way, with each using environments to elevate the design and difficulty rather than simply complement it.
Zelda fans should indeed feel at home with The Plucky Squire, especially as Jot cuts down bushes for items and hearts with spin attacks and sword-swinging combos. As colorful and playful as this dimension-hopping adventure is, its generosity with hearts doesn't mean that it holds the player's hand the entire time. Its level design is intuitively designed to teach fans as they go with the option for hints, but these hints don't help with everything, leaving players to figure things out as the game progresses in a way that might remind one of Mega Man's level design.
By taking cues from retro games in terms of its game design underneath its storybook presentation, The Plucky Squire makes itself welcoming to gaming veterans while also a delightful experience for more casual players. It even has a "breezy" Story Mode to allow players to take in the visuals and plot without having to get stuck with any difficulty spike with puzzles, and most bosses are turned into mini-games for even more variety. No two boss modes, or even the way to get there, are the same between stories, and fans are better off not expecting anything in terms of how to proceed with things like a Punchout reference being their surprising next challenge.
Combining these retro aspects with a story about keeping childhood wonder alive to inspire adults makes The Plucky Squire a story that embraces creativity in gameplay.
The Plucky Squire Has Fun Dog-Earing Its Own Pages
Despite its 2D and 3D gimmicks being a selling point, it seems players will spend a fair amount of time in the book rather than out of it. However, it makes it clear there's a world beyond the illustrated story by having pencils and paperclips lurking on the edges with the curve and sheen of a page visible at all times if one isn't too absorbed in the art. The game seems to lean on the fourth wall from start to finish, and while some references once Jot can jump in and out of his story may test players' suspension of disbelief, it ties into its themes rather well and gets a bit cheeky with how it teases players with the outside world. Things such as the book shaking due to magic or a beetle crawling across the page when players may be more invested in the book than the world beyond do a great job at engaging the game's immersive aspects. Other parts take advantage of the fact that most of the game is within a story, such as finding Humgrump's villainous monologue written onto a splash page, serving as a great environmental exposition of his motivations.
However, once the dimensional hopping makes itself known, players are almost thrown into the deep end as Jot has to explore the room beyond his story in the dark, without his sword, while avoiding beetles in a surprise stealth section. Getting spotted by the beetles has the Plucky Squire getting eaten before players' eyes in a way that's fittingly jarring for the tense moment and mysterious world around the lost storybook character. It sets up the idea that unexpected surprises can also be found outside the book, which seems to continue in future chapters. From what the preview showed, it seems that players will still spend more time with puzzles found on the pages with select sections allowing Jot to explore the world beyond it. However, the Zelda-like presentation makes room for some Baba Is You-esque wordplay where Jot can change words in a sentence to solve bigger puzzles. The adventure within the book isn't at all stale and might even be the more challenging part of the game than the 3D sections overall.
From the preview we got to play, The Plucky Squire seems like a very intuitive game that will make players think about not just one game world, but two. It seems to value creativity as its core theme, and every well-developed piece and puzzle emphasizes that fact. It has great potential to be a very memorable platformer for those who give it a chance, and the inclusion of a concept art gallery is just the icing on top of such an artistically-driven game.
The Plucky Squire is set to launch for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S on September 17, 2024.
The Plucky Squire
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
- Released
- September 17, 2024
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- All Possible Futures
- Publisher(s)
- Devolver Digital
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
WHERE TO PLAY
The Plucky Squire follows the magical adventures of Jot and his friends - storybook characters who discover a three-dimensional world outside the pages of their book.
When the malevolent Humgrump realises he's the villain of the book - destined to lose his battle against the forces of good for all eternity - he kicks the heroic Jot out of its pages and changes the story forever.
Jot must face challenges unlike anything he's ever seen if he is to save his friends from Humgrump's dark forces and restore the book's happy ending.
Jump between 2D and 3D worlds in this charming action adventure - solving puzzles, boxing badgers, flying with a jetpack, and enjoying many more delightful and surprising mini challenges as you become the hero of a living storybook.
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
