The Plucky Squire Overview (PS5)

The Plucky Squire leapt out at us from the very first second we noticed its debut trailer, teasing the dimension-hopping capabilities of its central storybook hero. We’re happy to say the total sport delivers on this core premise handsomely; Jot’s journey throughout the pages of his e book and past is filled with distinctive moments and enjoyable concepts. When you’re after a family-friendly journey, this debut title from All Potential Futures does the job with actual model.

The vast majority of the sport takes place throughout the pages of The Plucky Squire, a youngsters’s storybook starring principal character Jot and his vibrant associates. The narrative is a reasonably easy one, although it would not take lengthy for it to get very meta; the conniving wizard Humgrump learns that his actuality is confined to a e book on a toddler’s bed room desk, and develops a particular magic that may rid him of Jot finally. In any case, if the titular plucky squire is now not a part of the story, he cannot thwart Humgrump’s evil plans.

After all, issues aren’t that straightforward, and with assist from his allies, Jot is ready to hop between the pages of his e book and the 3D realm past them. Although you may solely transfer between dimensions at given spots, it is impressively seamless. Jot’s motion and fight really feel very related regardless of the change in perspective, that means it by no means feels jarring to go from one to the opposite.

The catch is that your primary strikes are quite simple. Fight contains easy sword swings, and whereas you’ll unlock some fancier assaults like a sword throw and charged spin, they hardly ever really feel vital. You will get by fairly comfortably together with your primary combo and a few dodge rolls. We weren’t anticipating Satan Might Cry, in fact, however the fight is not notably partaking to say it performs a reasonably large half within the sport.

Once you’re not smacking baddies, although, the sport is rarely wanting concepts. One recurring puzzle has you swapping particular phrases round to vary the surroundings round you, reworking a forest right into a wreck, for instance. Although by no means notably difficult, it is a actually good puzzle that matches the sport’s literary setting. Whereas this comes again in numerous methods, it is the various different mechanics that come and go which afford The Plucky Squire a way of actual creativeness.

We do not wish to spoil these an excessive amount of, as a giant a part of the sport’s enchantment lies in its ingredient of shock. Nevertheless, the earliest instance sees one sequence play like a spherical of Punch-Out!!, and that is simply the beginning of it. One other favorite is a mix of rhythm and stealth that might actually be its personal sport. There are many moments like this, punctuating the primary story with brief, novel ideas that type a number of the highlights of the expertise.

Jot himself positive aspects numerous new talents all through the journey, too, though these really feel a little bit underutilised. Early on, you may learn to flip the pages of the e book whereas within the 3D world, permitting you to show again to earlier areas and clear up puzzles. It is a actually neat idea that makes essentially the most of how the sport operates, however it would not come up an terrible lot. The identical might be mentioned of the flexibility to tilt the e book, transferring sure objects inside its pages; once more, one other actually intelligent mechanic, however one we would have preferred to see extra typically. Given these are everlasting talents Jot unlocks, we really feel they might’ve maybe come into play greater than they do.

Nonetheless, the near-constant introduction of recent concepts is compelling, and it occurs inside and outdoors the e book. At sure factors you may must go on excursions throughout the desk, choosing up some non permanent power-ups, corresponding to a rocket to spice up your bounce. These brief however candy jaunts fold in 2D segments as you bounce into drawings plastered throughout blocks and toys within the surroundings. Even higher are moments the place you end up on the facet of a mug, or inside different 3D objects; it is these sections, combining The Plucky Squire’s two dimensions, that work finest, together with the aforementioned page-flipping and book-tilting. All of it feels easy.

On prime of that, the presentation is constantly charming. The storybook’s artwork model matches its setting completely, with thick outlines, blocky colors, and jolly characters. Whereas this artwork is much less current within the 3D realm, the desk surroundings is modelled out properly, and scaling numerous toys and objects because the diminutive Jot has its personal sense of caprice that is exhausting to disclaim.

All of it provides as much as a brief however very candy motion journey. It has an awesome core idea and it has been executed very nicely; the beautiful artwork, enjoyable characters, and parade of playful concepts all befitting the child’s storybook setup.

Conclusion

The Plucky Squire is a pleasant journey that surprises with enjoyable concepts in each chapter. The world throughout the e book presents distinctive puzzles and challenges, which is compounded by Jot’s skill to leap from its pages into the third dimension. Although the fight’s kinda flat, and a few parts deserve for use extra typically than they’re, there’s an plain pleasure to the sport’s fixed imaginative concepts. It is a brief however candy sport that’ll win over gamers of all ages.