The Plucky Squire review: A storybook journey

Once upon a time, developer All Possible Futures wrote the story of a young hero. He's the defender of the land, beloved by the people, and especially loved by his friends. The studio met a publisher called Devolver Digital. They teamed up to introduce the story of The Plucky Squire to the world. Everyone lived happily ever after, especially those who sat down to enjoy every moment of this incredible adventure.

It's dangerous to go alone

The Plucky Squire is the story of the ongoing adventures of a children's storybook hero. The valiant Jot picks up his sword and ventures forth across the land of Mojo, regularly defeating the evil wizard Humgrump and foiling his plans to take over the kingdom. While Jot is at the center of this battle of good vs. evil, he's supported by a core group of friends. The wise mage Moonbeard offers helpful counsel, while his miniature cohort Minibeard offers in-game hints whenever possible. Jot is also accompanied on his journeys by his two closest friends: Violet the magical girl in training and Thrash the heavy metal mountain troll.

The story takes a turn when Humgrump somehow discovers the nature of The Plucky Squire's series of books. His magic somehow evolves to the point where he can break the fourth wall and breach the written page. His latest plan involves banishing Jot from the book entirely, taking the game from an animated 2D adventure to a rendered 3D platformer.

The game's gimmick feels innovative. It isn't often that players can capably go back-and-forth between two distinct adventure and art styles in an instant. However, it's All Possible Futures' execution of this premise that makes The Plucky Squire stand out. Even with the 3D element added in, the game's story still unfolds the way that a children's storybook would. When players move to a new area, a page will flip and sometimes they'll go straight to the next area or they'll watch illustrations pop up accompanied by narration. The story between the covers is presented like a children's book come to life.

However, there are greater stakes beyond Jot saving the kingdom, as he learns about the young boy reading his story. There's a grander theme of inspiration through heroism and bravery on display. It comes through Sam, the young boy who keeps Jot's book on his desk and will eventually come to pen his own series of children's books, assuming The Plucky Squire can maintain its happy ending before Humgrump ruins it. It also comes through the storybook's characters, like Violet and Thrash, who each grow in their own way and are inspired by Jot's gallantry.

Journey forth

The bulk of The Plucky Squire sees Jot battling enemies in a 2D Zelda-like adventure. Jot's trustiest weapon is his sword, which he'll use for most of the game. Over time, the sword can be upgraded by collecting light bulbs dropped by defeated enemies. As a tribute to Zelda-style games, The Plucky Squire is a strong effort. However, All Possible Futures doesn't stop there.

In both the 2D and 3D spaces, All Possible Futures explores a multitude of different genres. Within the storybook, players will find boss encounters that unfold across boxing fights styled in the vein of Nintendo's Punch-Out series, rhythmic Pong-like battles, shooting galleries, and a Bust-A-Move puzzle tribute. Outside of the book, the game thinks even farther outside the box. To find the tools he needs to proceed, Jot will run through stealth sequences, take part in space battles, and rush through a prehistoric action section while wielding a giant axe. As one might expect when mixing all of these parts together, not everything works. The stealth sections felt half-baked, but they didn't last very long. The rest of the ideas felt like a fun diversion from the core Zelda formula and something that helped The Plucky Squire stand out as a totally unique effort.

Something else that helped The Plucky Squire feel unique was the addition of fourth wall mechanics. Players will frequently need to jump in and out of the storybook in order to access different areas on a certain page, taking advantage of portals that show up in specific places. The fourth wall manipulation also extends to select parts of the game's narration.

As players move forward within the 2D storybook, text narration will pop up in the overworld. However, Humgrump's magic has led to some of the words on the page becoming dislodged. This leads to one of The Plucky Squire's coolest ideas, which involves taking the core idea of Hempuli Oy's Baba Is You and applying it to a 2D adventure. Words can be switched around to change the rules of Jot's surroundings. For example, halfway through the game, Jot will be on a beach with the items he needs on some islands across a body of water. Players will observe a statement on the ground about Jot being on a beach atop water, but there's more text in a different section where the word "Ice" is dislodged. Jot can carry these words back and forth and by switching them, the water can turn into ice. This might sound confusing, but All Possible Futures has planted Minibeard throughout the world and his hints are always crystal clear for those who need them.

In addition to being able to jump out of the book, Jot can also use his abilities to manipulate his story from the outside. By collecting stamps scattered in the 3D world, players can manipulate the book itself and solve various puzzles. For example, there's a mechanic that allows Jot to tilt the book's pages at an angle, which can move certain objects to a different place. The manner in which these puzzles are implemented is wonderfully clever, made so much better by the way in which the 2D and 3D art styles all complement each other. Not all of the 3D art styles are the same, either, as they'll vary depending on what outside world Jot explores. It all feeds the motif of a fictional realm that inspires imagination and creativity.

The power of imagination

The Plucky Squire is a memorable fairy tale enhanced wonderfully by the imaginative usage of the outside world. As an adventure styled in the vein of games like The Legend of Zelda, it mostly excels. The main negative is that players can upgrade Jot's power throughout the story, but upon getting to the final section, it doesn't end up meaning anything. Without spoiling the final battle, Jot's sword strength and abilities don't factor into it at all. The resolution still ends up satisfying, but putting my swordplay to use one last time would have been fun.

At the end of the day, The Plucky Squire is an incredible feat. Even if it had stayed a 2D adventure, it's still a marvel to watch the story unfold through dazzling illustrations. The actual art within Jot's storybook itself is beautifully colorful. Once the game starts to mix in the outside 3D world, whether it's the rendered objects on the desk or the different art styles from some of the other worlds out there, it becomes a wonder to behold. It's not every day that a game can blend together so many different visuals, make them all look so good, and mix them all together with such a sunny narrative. All Possible Futures has done that and all without overstaying its welcome, as the game wraps up neatly at roughly six to eight hours.

One of the central focuses of The Plucky Squire's story is that it's a tale that inspires hope in all of the children who read it. I'm hopeful that this game will inspire any would-be developer who plays it, because it's a true expression of what's possible through gaming.

This review is based on a Steam code provided by the publisher. The Plucky Squire is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch for $29.99 USD. The game is rated E10+.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?