Nostalgia is a powerful tool. The gaming industry has been going through some changes in the last couple of years and games have been very hit or miss. So when a game like The Plucky Squire comes along, which showcases gameplay that plays to old school platforming and mechanics with a modern twist, it can be incredibly enticing.
Right off the bat, The Plucky Squire is a visually beautiful game. The unique format of a story book to tell the narrative, is well done. The art style is captivating, with smooth animations and transitions that make the game feel like a story book come to life. The characters don’t talk, with the exception of the occasional cheer, but the overarching plot is conveyed by a fantastic narrator that does a great job from start to finish.
The characters are fun and quirky, and while the plot isn’t going to blow your mind, the presentation makes it an enjoyable experience from start to finish.
As a game, The Plucky Squire blends 2D platforming and combat with 3D through “meta magic”. Meta magic allows Jot, the plucky squire, to literally break the fourth wall. The evil doer Humpgrump unleashes a spell that forces Jot out of the story book, which unintentionally gives Jot the ability to jump in and out of the book whenever magic swirls are present.
There are abilities that allow Jot to manipulate the pages of the book, mess around with words to change the reality of the book, and fight Humpgrump’s minions to restore order.
While an overall enjoyable experience, The Plucky Squire suffers from pacing issues and a lack of depth of gameplay mechanics, which become more apparent as the game goes on.
Every boss encounter in the game plays to a specific gimmick; typically nods to old school games. For example, Jot’s first boss fight early on is an homage to Mike Tyson’s Punch Out. In it, Jot becomes a jacked boxer who needs to fight a badger. It’s something that older gamers will notice and appreciate.
However, the tedious pacing of the game, along with the incredibly low difficulty make it feel out of place. Way too often, control is taken away from the player to pan over the scene or to provide exposition that makes the game way too easy. As a result, it feels more like it would be ideal for younger players. This is why the inclusion of references to a game like Punch Out feel so out of place. After all, the first one came out in 1987.
The other boss fights are incredibly similar. One involves shooting colored balls at an approaching wall, matching colors to clear them before they hit the bottom of the screen. This is a game that I’ve seen recreated in mobile games and old computer games with a million different names.
It’s fun, and while I can appreciate the references, it takes away from the gameplay identity of The Plucky Squire. Boss fights are often defining segments of the games, and every single one in The Plucky Squire is an homage more than an original idea.
Granted, each one is done well and plays cleanly. But why is there a random rhythm game sequence near the end of the game? It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the offering and it doesn’t add anything new.
It’s weird because the platforming elements are done very well. The world is unique, and while the book sequences focus on platforming in a fantasy world, the desk segments are unique and offer a lot of variety. On the desk there are sheets of paper that allow Jot to switch between 3D space and 2D space to navigate. As the plot progresses the desk gets reorganised and the set pieces change. Jot can go from climbing around a doll house to running from dinosaurs in a prehistoric jungle, without it being jarring. It feels like running and jumping around the play sets like everyone wishes they could’ve done when playing growing up.
The platforming is the strongest aspect of The Plucky Squire, and I wish there would’ve been a bigger focus on the mechanics that make The Plucky Squire standout.
Again, everything the developers do in the game is done well. It never felt unfair or mechanically broken, so it is definitely a success as a game when it comes to paying homage to gaming classics. But again, The Plucky Squire is not hard and the people who are going to fully appreciate those references are going to be the people who find the game incredibly easy.
The pacing issues do get better as things progress, but these could be easily fixed by allowing player movement while the narrator speaks, instead of locking the camera and making you sit and listen.
Performance wise, The Plucky Squire plays well for the most part. There is some stuttering in the 3D sections, but this seems to be more of an issue when transitioning from 2D to 3D more than anything else. There does appear to be an issue with memory leak during extended sequences, because some puzzles stopped functioning properly during my playtime, only to be fixed when I restarted the game. Thankfully, auto saves are frequent, and I lost at most a minute or two of playtime.
Overall, if you know what you’re getting when you boot up The Plucky Squire, you’ll be in for a very enjoyable experience. The plot in the second half is very engaging, the visuals are stunning, and the mechanics introduced are all done well. They may not have the mechanical depth that I was hoping for when I booted things up, but they were fun.
The Plucky Squire doesn’t overstay its welcome either, and it took about six and a half hours for me to play through. Going for collectibles and playing around with some of the mechanics can pad that time out if you want it to, but it’s a game that can be finished in a weekend.
Despite its flaws, this is a game that achieves what it wants to in a fun and accessible format. If you’re looking for a cute platformer, then The Plucky Squire is worth playing through at least once.
From Page to Play: The Plucky Squire’s 2D-to-3D Adventure – https://www.thexboxhub.com/from-page-to-play-the-plucky-squires-2d-to-3d-adventure/
Buy The Plucky Squire on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/the-plucky-squire/9nc3fhgqrs88
