The Plucky Squire Review – A Charming Adventure Brimming with Creativity and Clever Gameplay

Art has always been a big part of my life, and so stories about artists or the creative process are always sure to intrigue me. Of course, I was really excited when Devolver Digital announced they would publish All Possible Future’s The Plucky Squire. The colorful and bright graphics immediately appealed to me, and the idea of a character jumping between the 2D world of a storybook and a 3D environment held so much potential for clever mechanics that I couldn’t wait to see how the developers would execute the concept. Finally, I got to jump into The Plucky Squire – and I’m happy to say that it did not disappoint.

My start with The Plucky Squire was a little bit rocky. The game launched with all graphic settings at their maximum value, turning my PC into a jet engine and my room into something akin to a furnace. While my setup does not boast the highest specs available on the market, the build should be plenty to run almost everything with no issues. Luckily, after some minor adjustments and a restart, a happy middle ground could be found, and the temperatures in my home returned to more bearable levels. Even without the settings at their maximum, The Plucky Squire is gorgeous.

An Artistic Adventure Begins

Your adventure starts in the storybook where you play as the titular “plucky squire” Jot, a classic children’s book protagonist. Beloved by all, heroic, and determined to save the world, he sets off on an adventure with his two friends: the troll Thrash and the magic user Violet. They mean to defeat the evil mage Humgrump. He has realized that he is the villain in a storybook and is fated to be defeated by Jot over and over again. And so, he has taken matters into his own hands, using “meta magic” to change the plot of the book. In the process, Jot gains the power to jump out of the book and into the bedroom of the young writer and artist Sam, who is tasked with saving the plot from the influence of Humgrump. Changing the plot would be catastrophic to all, as Humgrump’s tale would not inspire Sam to continue being an artist, and everyone in the book would freeze in time as their tale is forgotten.

A blend of clever puzzles, charming characters, and whimsical storytelling makes The Plucky Squire one of 2024’s standout indie titles.

Clever Gameplay Between Two Dimensions

As you jump in and out of the book and into other media strewn throughout Sam’s room, such as a TCG card, a collectible mug, or little doodles, the art style and gameplay change accordingly. And so, players will enjoy a wide range of different graphics, all brimming with personality. The attention to detail was particularly nice. For example, in the storybook, the lights and shadows reflect on the textured page as if printed on glossy paper. When you progress in the plot, pages get flipped. Performing specific actions, such as swinging your sword at an enemy and onomatopoeia, are spelled to show how the sound effects would be illustrated in a picture book. Equally, when you venture into the “real” world, small details are sprinkled throughout the levels, giving you insights into Sam’s life and what he likes, such as dinosaurs, rockets, or different art supplies.

Even with its minor flaws, The Plucky Squire offers a polished and imaginative experience that leaves players wishing they could experience it for the first time again.

Ranging from a wizard who routinely breaks the 4th wall, clever references to famous artists or media such as The Lord of the Rings, or even just simple visual gags such as the ordinarily adorable Jot suddenly being drawn as a muscle-bound bodybuilder with rippling biceps, the jokes never failed to put a smile on my face. This is accompanied by an incredibly catchy soundtrack, which sets the mood for a funny, silly adventure.

Fun and Engaging Puzzle Mechanics

The Plucky Squire’s gimmick of switching between 2D and 3D realms offers a lot of opportunity for clever gameplay mechanics, and it does not disappoint in that aspect. The story, soundtrack, and graphics are a delight, but this is not what made it a contender for my favorite game of 2024. Playing The Plucky Squire is… extremely fun. Throughout the 9 hours of gameplay, it ceaselessly offers new, fun mechanics. From being able to pick up words from the written narration in the storybook and switching them with others to change reality and solve clever puzzles to an incredible range of different minigames such as different rhythm games, a boxing match, or shooting aliens while wearing a jetpack, it never gets boring.

You are also given tools to “mess” with the book itself in the 3D realm, such as a glove to flip between the pages of the storybook. This enables Jot to flip back to previous levels, jump back into them, and retrieve a word or object to solve a puzzle in the present chapter.

The Plucky Squire’s transitions between 2D and 3D environments offer endless creativity, making every moment a delightful surprise.

While this could quickly become overly complex or gimmicky, the puzzles are pretty clever but never meant to be too challenging. It is designed to be a fun, charming adventure, showing off a wide range of intelligent ideas and mechanics, and it does this incredibly well. Upon starting a new game, it even offers you the option to play the story mode, in which the player gets to sit back, relax, and enjoy the story. However, even in the Adventure mode, it sometimes makes things a little too easy. The narrator would often tell me the solution to a puzzle before I had a chance to try to solve it myself.

It felt like a missed opportunity to reward the player for clever thinking, especially since each puzzle usually has a little “Minibeard,” a character who offers advice if you get stuck. While it is understandable for newly introduced mechanics, being told what to do for a type of puzzle the player has solved on numerous occasions before was a little disappointing.

Minor Drawbacks in Character Development

I was also let down by the lack of depth in Violet’s character. While none of the characters in the game are meant to go through much character development or even be particularly fleshed out, I expected more for Violet. Near the beginning of the game, she states that she does not feel accommodating, but after discovering she is in a story, she hopes to change her narrative to support the team more. She gets a few incredible moments fighting evil; however, in the end, it does not feel like she can acknowledge her achievement, and she even states that she feels like she has let down the team. I hoped to see her gain confidence and feel good about her accomplishments the way Thrash did.

However, all of these are very minor remarks. I will remember The Plucky Squire as a delightful and charming adventure filled with clever jokes, beautiful graphics, and a range of fun gameplay mechanics. It does not overstay its welcome and offers a polished experience from start to finish. Even though it sometimes holds the players’ hands a bit too much for my taste, I had a fantastic time and wish to play it for the first time again.