Review - The Plucky Squire
Play a Storybook adventure with lots of charm
The Plucky Squire
Devolver Digital, All Possible Futures
James Turner, Jonathan Biddle, Kitty Crawford, and James Turner
September 17, 2024
PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series Consoles
Played on Xbox Series X
The Plucky Squire was in my top ten most anticipated games of the year. It’s received positive reviews but has gotten some less-than-stellar ones mixed in due to a glaring weakness in the game. So, would the hype live up, or would this be one of the more disappointing games I’ve played?
Plot and Characters
The game is set in a Toy Story concept, where a children’s storybook and its characters are alive and must now deal with the consequences of an evil wizard using the real world to alter the book's ending. Jot, the titular plucky squire, teams up with friends Violet, Thrash, and the wizard Moonbeard to ensure the book sticks to its ending and inspires its owner. It’s an interesting plot that explains the storybook art style and escapes it now and then to explore the room outside the book.
The characters are not exactly deep but are likable, similar to many Nintendo franchise characters. The world’s charm and imagination add to their presentation and leave a good impression on you. They even play with the characters' personalities to move beyond the typical fantasy setting. Moonbeard is the typical wise wizard but has more of a “cool uncle” personality, Violet’s magic is based on art, Thrash and the Mountain Trolls is built around music, and Jot is an author when not going on an adventure. Multiple side characters don’t have much time but have their charm. That’s one of the words you’ll use a lot when playing this game - charm. The characters, animations, and plotline feel like a mix of Pixar storytelling and Nintendo. Every character and setting is filled with personality and doesn’t disappoint.
Gameplay and Fun Factor
Despite its simplistic nature, The Plucky Squire doesn’t let up on giving you various ways to play. One moment, it seems you’re playing classic 2D Zelda, then it’s outside of the book in a more 3D natural setting battling bugs, then you’re jumping into a trading card for a turn-based RPG fight, then jumping into a coffee mug’s art to help a friend, and boss battles with multiple minigames. The game wants to feel like a toy you can’t help but keep playing with. When it's doing this, the game is at its best. The times I loved the gameplay were when I had to explore parts of the room. You play one part Zelda and one part platformer during these sessions, with some surprises like the ones I mentioned.
That being said, these moments don’t last as long as the trailers showed. You mostly play inside the storybook, which goes back and forth between classic 2D Zelda and a simple sword-slashing game. The combat mechanics are as simple as you can get, but it didn’t bother me because I don’t mind simple mechanics if you make up for it with something else, and the charm and concept did that. Most of the puzzles you have to solve are pretty basic and quick, but they use the book in interesting ways that deserve credit for their creative thinking. You can use the book’s pages to tilt objects, replace words to open pathways and use your abilities to leave the book to find secrets in pages.
With all that being said, one major thing that can annoy or, as I’ve seen with some reviewers, ruin the game for you is constant interruptions. The narration, text-based dialogue, and continuous exposition dumps could drive you crazy. I believe some are overreacting to it, but I did start to feel like it was getting old, as the charm and whimsical nature of the game lost its allure the closer you got to the end. I didn’t think it was that bad (outside of Chapter 3), but it became noticeable during the second half of my playthrough. You could hear yourself screaming, “Just let me play!” as random and unnecessary interruptions happened. The characters talk too long, and you’ll finish a puzzle, and one of the side characters has to explain how you solved that puzzle. It can get maddening.
I do think that for early gamers at about age seven or eight, this won’t annoy them as much as it can be seen as a semi-visual novel title. That’s the thing, it’s perfect to play with young kids around or to help younger gamers try new experiences. The fact is, this is the primary audience for the game. At the same time, we can play this as older adults, but its main demographic will be kids.
Graphics, Presentation, and Soundtrack
The strongest areas for The Plucky Squire are the art direction and music. The game screams personality and, as mentioned before, charm. The storybook art and animations will bring a smile to your face and make the transition from book to room easy, as the styles don’t clash enough to take away the style. With graphical fidelity hitting ceilings, The Plucky Squire shows how art direction will bring new life to the presentation of games. Even the more harsh critics have pointed out how good the game looks, and it’s the one thing you’ll walk away the most happy about. Sometimes, simple can be better.
The other aspect of the game I loved was the music. A game or movie’s score can really add to a story and its personality. The soundtrack for The Plucky Squire does just that. From sound effects to music, it melds perfectly with the whimsical charm that the art direction and game deliver. Whenever I compare a game to Nintendo, it's high praise coming from someone who admits to a Nintendo bias, and I can say this game's soundtrack sounds like something Nintendo’s composers would churn out. I’m not going to say it’s my absolutely favorite soundtrack of 2024, but it’s up there with Star Wars Outlaws making you feel the world with audio.
Grade - B
Recommended!
The Plucky Squire is one of the most charming, whimsical, and happy-feeling video games I’ve played recently. If Doom makes you feel like you’re in a rock music video, The Plucky Squire is the closest to a Toy Story feel in a game. Jot and friends deliver a game that is best played around young kids or can bring the child in you out. However, you’ll be stuck with some of the most annoying exposition dumps and narration interruptions you will ever experience in a video game. It makes Paper Mario’s long text speeches feel short. There are also a lot of minigames, and one or some may not hit with you (the rhythm-based one I really disliked). For me, its a game that was a solid playthrough that gave me what I was hyped for, but also left me down with the hassle of the consistent stoppage. There is a masterpiece in here, but it fails to reach it. I want to see them learn and eventually get a sequel out. Despite the interruption issues, it’s a good game that I would recommend.
Pros
+ Charming presentation and art direction
+ Likeable characters
+ Feels like a toy in video game form
+ Perfect to play around young kids
+ When it’s not interrupting, it’s super fun
+ Interesting concepts and ideas around puzzle-solving
Cons
- Interruption after interruption can leave a sour taste in every play session
- Basic combat
- Despite cool ideas, the puzzles, for the most part, are pretty basic and easy
- Minigames are hit or miss
- Again, WAY TOO MANY interruptions and exposition dumps
I'm so curious as to how you get around interpreting the player with exposition? Is the story that riveting that its needed? So many non-RPG games keep their story to minimum to avoid this.
100% agree. It could be because we're not the target audience, but there are a lot of interruptions and it's very simple, but still very charming and fun. Couldn't agree more with this review.