Being adorable is great and all, but there's a better way to accomplish things...
Stop me if you’ve heard this, but The Plucky Squire melted my heart during its 2022 announcement. A mixture of rendered 3D and animated 2D worlds, it screamed creativity, wholesomeness, and pure joy. While it retains those elements, it’s also extremely important to point out that The Plucky Squire was supposed to be released in 2023 and would have fared far better then. In 2024, it sadly pales in comparison to the game-changer that is Astro Bot.
A local offering from the certainly not Sony-backed All Possible Futures, The Plucky Squire puts you into the shoes of Jot — a hero of epic proportions — as he learns that he’s not a traditional bonafide protagonist but one that’s been created for a series of childrens’ tales. Jot’s nemesis is the one that makes this realisation possible, using magic to eject you from a storybook so he can change fate and reign supreme. As a result, Jot becomes able to venture back and forth between the real world and the book, embarking on an adventure that’s real (and I guess not).
The Plucky Squire exists in two main formats. Inside the storybook, you’re largely in a top-down view, and with gameplay reminiscent of running through Pokemon‘s towns, or fighting in an early Zelda iteration. Storybook world also incorporates quite a few fun mini-games including one that’s ripped straight from the likes of Punch-Out.
Whilst inside the book, All Possible Futures presents the chance for children to learn things about sentence structure. Is a gate that you need to travel through closed? No matter! On that same page, target the word “closed”, whack it with your sword to dislodge it, and head to another page to liberate the word “open” in order to swap them out.
A bit trickier, though, is when this mechanic is presented in your first real puzzle. While swapping out two words to change the layout of a level is easy enough, the actual reality of the ever-changing world — one in which you need to reposition an object so you can get it to a goal between the two realities — requires a bit of spatial awareness that its target audience may not have.
Outside the book, our hero shifts into 3D, venturing through a makeshift castle made of cardboard, construction paper and felt — adorned with doodles and cartoons made by the child as decoration — and fighting fully-formed versions of the enemies that were once flat on the page in front of you.
While the tech behind the transition between worlds is amazing, the gameplay in the real world is not. I had huge issues — as in I disagreed with them, not was stuck at them — with stealth sections that devolved into one-hit kill scenarios. As evidenced by Star Wars Outlaws actively dialling down its own, similar sections, let this be a message to all developers.
My real issue with The Plucky Squire is that it’s adorable as all hell and will be best enjoyed by youngsters — who will greatly benefit from a range of accessibility options which will help combat and platforming — but that Astro Bot is too, and is largely far superior. Whereas The Plucky Squire teaches with a lot of exposition — sometimes required, due to the 3D and 2D nature of the game — I’m playing Astro Bot at the same time, and it can articulate entirely new gameplay systems with a couple icons and, perhaps, a short video.
While both titles are about creativity and joy, The Plucky Squire manages to get in its own way in comparison. The result is jarring; if you’ve not played Astro Bot as yet and are interested in this title, I’d advise playing this first.
That said, of course, All Possible Futures is a local studio and doing it as a proper indie. For the price of $43.99 AUD digitally — and up to $58 AUD in physical form — The Plucky Squire represents some quality, wholesome content for an extremely reasonable price. Engage accordingly.
The Plucky Squire heads to Windows PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch today, 18 September.
The Plucky Squire was reviewed using a promotional code on Windows PC via Steam, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.
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The Plucky Squire18 SeptemberPC PS5 Switch Xbox Series S & X
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