The Plucky Squire Review

The Plucky Squire Review

As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent navigating through various game worlds, I must say that “The Plucky Squire” has managed to capture my heart with its enchanting charm and innovative design. The book-themed mechanics, combined with the seamless transition between 2D and 3D environments, felt like a refreshing twist on a classic adventure formula.


At its core, the game titled “The Plucky Squire” initially offers a typical yet lively adventure, but soon evolves into an incredibly engaging mix of various game genres. This unique blend keeps you entertained, almost from the very beginning to the end. Admittedly, there are some design choices that could use improvement, such as the straightforward mini-games and simplified puzzle-solving challenges. However, these minor flaws fail to significantly impact “The Plucky Squire“. This game is a delightful find for those seeking uncomplicated, family-friendly entertainment, perfect for anyone in search of pure fun. The developers at All Possible Futures have created a precious gem indeed.

“The Brave Esquire

The Plucky Squire Review

The 3D space is limited, though, as it’s supposed to be a child’s desk space for their creative efforts. It’s neat how the desk layout changes with each chapter, simulating changes in time outside the book that also coincide with the story. Despite the small size, these 3D areas are a good break from the walking left, right, or up that makes up most of the game. It does suffer from what most older players will discover after only a few chapters: that the puzzles just aren’t that difficult. Most consist of simply replacing words until the way opens to progress forward or to obtain an item that will help finish the area’s puzzle.

The Plucky Squire Sparks Curiosity With Its Story

The majority of this game involves transitioning between different locations, but for those who can become engrossed in the narrative, there’s almost a peculiar feeling of nostalgia that permeates from it. This may stem from being read to as a child or even reading to their own children; older players might experience an unexpected wave of emotion as they engage with the game.

The Plucky Squire ought to wear this badge with pride, as not many games can engage users as deeply as it does. This immersion also fosters curiosity about what will happen next, much like a book that hooks you from the start and is hard to put down. Additionally, there are several entertaining mini-games for defeating bosses, reminiscent of older titles, which provide enough diversity to keep users engaged on their initial playthrough.

The Plucky Squire Review

In these boss fights, there’s a noticeable shift in style as they often take the player out of the usual 2D or 3D gameplay environment to engage in various mini-games. These mini-games can resemble simplified versions of games like Punch Out!!, where you box, or an archery challenge against numerous angry hornets and their queen. This abrupt departure from the main game world is a daring move, and whether players will find these boss fights enjoyable largely depends on their personal preference towards mini-games.

The Mini-games, though not challenging enough, are a visual treat and help progress the story!

The game lacks challenge, yet it’s visually appealing and maintains the narrative well. Some players might become dissatisfied when mini-games don’t appear as frequently as they anticipate. It’s an unusual predicament resulting from having a fun game but needing to limit its appeal because it’s so engaging.

The Plucky Squire’s Visuals Compliments The Story In The Best Way Possible

The Plucky Squire Review

Visually, the game shines at creating adorable and straightforward designs for its environment and characters. The adversaries in the game are not intricate in their design or behavior, which aligns with the narrative being a story conceived by a young child. This simplicity is also reflected in the level design. The depictions of terrain are transformed into hills by folding paper in such a way that it feels like climbing a large hill. These sketches may seem fragmented, but players can move seamlessly between them, giving the impression of a vast expanse.

Players will enjoy an exciting feature: the seamless transition of items and characters from the game’s 2D scenes into its 3D environments, and back again. Early in the game, there’s a captivating scene where rocks tumble down a mountain on the pages of a book. As they reach the edge of the page, they seemingly leap out of the book, rolling off-screen onto the 3D landscape. This visual trick emphasizes the magical aspect of the game consistently. The most enjoyable and tricky puzzles are those that demand players to navigate through both 2D and 3D areas.

The Plucky Squire Review

One intriguing facet of the gameplay is the significant impact of flipping through book pages, a feature not fully exploited yet. For instance, certain riddles necessitate turning back and forth within the book after gaining a capability before reaching the midpoint. Players might have to retrace their steps several pages, dive back into the page, leap out with the needed information, then return to their previous position. This mechanic is engaging when incorporated in a book-themed game, but regrettably, players can only traverse areas within the current chapter they’ve explored, thus missing opportunities for puzzles that would necessitate delving deeper into past pages. Introducing such challenges could potentially disrupt the difficulty level the developers aimed for.

The Plucky Squire Review

During gameplay, you might encounter occasional technical glitches where certain interactive or mobile items would freeze or stop functioning, but simply quitting and restarting the game resolved these problems. Some aspects of the combat design may seem unusual to players, like Jot being able to throw his sword into objects and then retrieve it back to his hand from a distance, yet the sword doesn’t harm enemies on its return journey.

This game removes a battle option that might seem unusual initially, yet the simplicity of the game ensures that even with an unconventional approach to combat, it’s not particularly tough. In essence, this isn’t a demanding combat adventure game, but it more than compensates for its lack of combative depth with its appeal, design, and overall fun factor.

The Plucky Squire Review

For those seeking a tough test, they won’t discover it in “The Plucky Squire”, but any player searching for something delightful and endearing will be captivated by the tale of Jot and his companions. Although it may lack complexity, it can still be thought that many players would want to complete the story once they begin. Its originality and level designs help transform a common experience into something beautifully engaging. Whether it’s for children who remember their parents reading stories to them or for parents who remember reading to their kids, both will find an abundance of nostalgic excitement in “The Plucky Squire”.

The game titled “The Plucky Squire” became available on September 17, and it can be played on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. For the purpose of this review, we received a PC access code from Game Rant.

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2024-09-19 13:24