The Plucky Squire Review – A Joyous Leap off the Pages

The Plucky Squire on PC

There is a kind of magic when reading a good book, where you find yourself transported into the worlds created by the author and wishing that the characters, setting, and the narrative could come alive right in front of your very eyes. That is precisely what you’ll get from The Plucky Squire. However, this irresistibly charming action adventure casts the storybook characters in the limelight instead of playing out from a reader’s perspective, and thus begins the page-turning journey of Jot and friends, one that proves quite hard to put down.

Like most fairytales, the story of Jot, the titular Plucky Squire himself, always ends with him on the winning side, saving the day by defeating the evil sorcerer Humgrump. But after discovering that there was an entire world outside of the storybook, the villain casts out our hero in a bid to rewrite his ending, and it will be up to players to right that wrong to ensure a happy ending.

Even before the action begins, the art direction and lovely design of The Plucky Squire instantly jump out at you, putting forth a vibrant world that is full of life and made better with the hand-drawn style. And when the action comes off the pages and into the actual world, I couldn’t help but smile at seeing everything in place. Everyday objects took on a whimsical sheen, becoming larger-than-life and yet being perfectly in place as they should be, and making any trek outside of the book enjoyable and exciting.

It doesn’t hurt that the colorful cast of characters is full of personality as well. While we have to make do with just the narrator’s masterful delivery, the likes of Jot, the mountain troll Thrash, trainee witch Violet and everyone else exude delightful magic at every turn with the writing and character design. There is clearly much love put into creating these characters as well as the various regions they reside in, and it makes your time spent there all the more pleasant. A shout-out to Moonbeard for his enchanting takes on breaking the fourth wall.

Of course, an action-adventure like The Plucky Squire has to have gameplay that matches up to the high visual bar, and thankfully, developer All Possible Futures is more than up to the task. Throughout Jot’s perilous trek to defeat Humgrump, players will be presented with plenty of platforming, combat, and puzzle-solving opportunities, elements that are familiar to the genre.

Yet, it doesn’t feel anything close to being textbook, thanks to unique tweaks that constantly amaze and change how you approach the challenges ahead. Standard sword swings soon evolve to powerful spinning attacks and a boomerang-like sword throw, side-scrolling sections can tip over to become vertical platforming sequences, and not to mention the environmental puzzles that make full use of the realm-changing formula of The Plucky Squire. They are all excellent ways to shake things up.

From switching out keywords on the prose to transform the world literally to jumping out to use objects and powers to manipulate the book and affect the things on a page, it is such an inventive use of the storybook concept that it is hard to fathom that no one else has done it before. Venturing into the real world also gives players a chance to live out their Toy Story fantasies, and to appreciate the out-of-the-box thinking from the creators when creating platforming sequences out of actual objects, with the verticality involved a pleasant surprise too.

Furthermore, there are special mini-games thrown in for good measure in each distinct region. Think along the lines of a boxing fight, a turn-based roleplaying experience, or even a rhythm challenge—they all tie into the current predicament the crew find themselves in, helping to enrich the adventure rather than feel like they were forced additions. Therein lies the only issue with this astonishing action adventure. These magical interludes only last for that short while, and although the game has many of such gifts in place, it always left me wanting more throughout the 10-odd hours I spent in The Plucky Squire.

Hooking me right from the start and eliciting pure joy all the way to the end, The Plucky Squire has gone the extra mile in rewriting what should be expected out of an action-adventure such as this. By drawing from classic inspirations and adding its own spin on things, this is a game that leverages its creativity in all the good ways and ultimately writes a happy ending not just for Jot and his friends, but hopefully, also for the future of its creators.