The Plucky Squire PS5 Review. Having set tongues wagging with its initial dimension-bending announcement trailer over two years ago, The Plucky Squire has been on more than a few people’s radars for some time now.
The Plucky Squire PS5 Review
A Plucky Adventure Brimming With Ideas
Showcasing its storybook visuals alongside some eye-popping transitions from 2D to 3D, the maiden release from developer All Possible Futures has got some sizeable chops behind it, with both long-time Pokémon developer James Turner and the designer of Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones, Jonathan Biddle, at the helm. Rest assured, it all works about as well as you have hoped.
What’s immediately obvious upon starting the game up is just how gorgeous The Plucky Squire is, a picturesque storybook in every sense of the word, one which is positively bursting at the spine with both personality and vibrancy. Animations are expressive and crisp, the writing is snappy, and the transitions between both the pages of the book and the outside world are near-seamless. Playing much like a traditional Zelda effort but within the confines of two pages at a time, the game has you moving horizontally or vertically depending on the set of pages you find yourself in – or indeed, on.
Prior to delving into the story there are a number of options on the accessibility front to tinker with, namely assists such as invincibility, one-hit kill, and the option to disable falling platforms. And that’s complemented by the ability to select either ‘adventure’ or ‘story’ mode from the get-go. Within the gameplay sub-option menu it does also mention the ability to adjust the difficulty but no such option is present, instead presumably the story mode option fulfils that purpose.
The world of Mojo is beautifully crafted, and through the game’s ten-chapter story you’ll encounter numerous townships and locales chock-full of quirky characters in your quest to foil the plans of the dastardly Humgrump who is hellbent on becoming the central ‘hero’ of the story. In true fairytale fashion, much of the game is narrated by an omnipresent voice and this goes a great length in servicing the game’s writing and letting it flourish.
Touching on gameplay mechanics – of which there are an impressive array – our hero Jot comes equipped with a sword and dodge roll, both of which feel satisfying to use, particularly when you unlock new abilities. However, one of the real stars of the show is the bevy of gameplay mechanics and sequences that The Plucky Squire throws your way.
Beyond your standard enemy fodder that can be batted away with a slash or two of your sword, the initial thrust of the gameplay revolves around manipulating some of the flavour text found within the world. In basic terms, this has you adding or replacing words within sentences which can then alter objects within that particular page.
This starts out simple, with the introductory piece involving a gate which requires you to search for the words ‘gate’ and ‘open’ before being able to proceed. But it soon becomes more layered as the words you can change end up having a tangible effect on the landscape, and you may have to switch between different world states or go back multiple pages to find the correct word to use.
There is also a light upgrade element insofar as you can purchase different skills, levels for said skills, and collectable art scrolls with light bulbs that you find dotted around the world, typically from uprooted shrubs or giving trees a good whack with your sword. Despite the titular Squire being very much front and centre, we would be remiss not to mention the plethora of side characters you get to interact with and sometimes play as is, too.
This is another opportunity the game takes to introduce new gameplay elements and it does so in a fashion which is conducive to each character’s personality traits. You have Violet, the trainee witch, whose minor gameplay sections play out just like a game of Puzzle Bobble, or Bust-A-Move as it is known on these shores. The parallel of the bubbles doubling for elemental magic is indeed a nice touch.
On the other hand, there’s Thrash, a mountain troll with a penchant for drumming who hails from a land of ‘sign of horn’ salutes and searing guitar riffs. Relatedly, his boss sections are rhythm-based where you must time a return shot of an item thrown by a boss to the beat of the song playing in the background in order to reduce their health bar.
Other characters do show up along the way, with varying degrees of prominence, each either introducing a momentary mechanic or even a full-scale delightful riff on some celebrated games of recent memory. We won’t name names just to keep the element of surprise somewhat.
What’s important, however, is that nothing outstays its welcome. Just like the recently released Astro Bot, The Plucky Squire is just as happy to throw away mechanics as quickly as they’re introduced. And better yet, each one delivers a consistent level of quality coupled with a runtime that feels just right. There isn’t a massive amount of mechanical depth in each, mind, but that’s beside the point given the comparative length of these sequences.
There is a confidence here in the marriage between all of the game mechanics and it’s no mean feat. Popping out onto the pages and watching the scene within continue to play out is positively joyous, and more so when you begin to see the effects of your meddling to it also. What is marginally less successful, however – and only be a hair – is the 3D sections, and that’s largely down to them not controlling as tightly as its 2D counterpart.
These are set sections throughout the story which thrust you out into the bedroom where the storybook is kept in order to find items that will alter how you interact with the pages of the book itself. Though a little more contrived, there are neat elements at play here, particularly that of some of the tonal shifts, sneaking sections, and perhaps ironically some clever use of 2D side-scrolling on some unusual plains. There’s even little cardboard trees to replicate what’s found in the book in terms of collecting those all-important light bulbs.
Outside of these sections, the bedroom is out of order effectively, the lights are turned off and you’re restricted in where you can move to, which is particularly stark when compared to the bustling whimsy of many of the locales found within the pages of the book. The powers you do find within these sections, however, neatly fold into the progression of the story and they add a layer of complexity to the puzzles that follow.
Take for example the tilt gloves which allow you to fold up either side of the book causing the contents of the page to spill over to the other side. This is used to good effect in multiple puzzles, and as you would expect, is built upon further by the more power ups you find. It never gets particularly complicated, but should you need a push in the right direction, there’s Minibeard – a bite-sized version of Jot’s mentor, Moondbeard – who is on hand to point you in the right direction. This extends to the minigames, too, which do have the option to be skipped if you so choose.
It also employs a camera that is a touch too suggestive in terms of showing you the point of interest, particularly in that of the bedroom. But then again, given the target demographic we’ll call that a moot point. By the end of the game, you’re making use of everything at your disposal and it’s a satisfying sequence to watch play out as you traverse between both 2D and 3D to affect it.
Though overall a polished experience, there were a number of occasions where we had to restart a save in order to progress, be it a certain book prompt not appearing or Jot skating across the terrain without the correct walking animation playing out. Granted, both were quickly remedied but worth noting all the same. On a similar note, performance itself is quite solid, with no particular slowdown evident in any areas, be it in either 2D or 3D.
All told, Jot’s maiden adventure is a resounding success, a confident melding of mechanics, personality, and charm, all executed with a degree of confidence that few developers can match for a first release. The seams of its ambition are seldomly seen, certainly not to the degree where it would overly detract, and as result within the eye-catching pages of The Plucky Squire lies a story that everyone should give a read.
The Plucky Squire is now available on PS5 and also forms part of the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium games lineup for September 2024.
Review code kindly provided by PR.