I think, as we get older, we move away from simple stories for many reasons. One, we start to realise that life is more complicated than good or bad. We like to really spot the difference between black and white until we're so close all we see is grey. However, when you delve deep enough, you sometimes long for something more simplistic once more.
The Plucky Squire is nostalgic, not only due to its art style and game mechanics, which do help, but also in relation to its approach to stories and meta-contextual acknowledgement that we all need something to root for. Though some elements held me back from appreciating it in its entirety, I left the game with a desire to root for it too.
Here's why The Plucky Squire is worth checking out.
As the Plucky Squire, you are the prototypical good guy in a storybook on a desk, who only wants the best for the residents of his world Mojo, and recruits a group of charmingly unassuming friends to help him out. However, he is noticeably the main character from the very start, with those sidekicks intentionally taking a backseat. See the entire game has this nudge nudge wink wink, we all know this is a game, right? Kind of thing going on. But, and I'll say this quite a lot in this video, it doesn't feel cynical and above it all. Its levels of self-awareness don't feel super ironic and insincere, it just feels like it needs to do that to tell the story it wants to.
In The Plucky Squire, Jot, our squire has to take down Humgrump, an evil sorcerer who constantly threatens the peace and tranquillity of Mojo. As you take control, you will flip the pages of the storybook to move from one area to another, setting up the game's central mechanic. The storybook that welcomes you into the game isn't just a backdrop to explain the tale, it is the tale. Well, that's until Humgrup manages to get his hands on a version of the book itself, and uses his quill to finally make him win.
One of the first things I noticed about the Plucky Squire is how good the sound design is. That tranquillity is cemented by triumphant strings, percussive bells, woodwind instruments, and more to add a sense of exploration and joy. This all envelopes not only you but the narrator, voiced by Philip Bretherton, who offers a very warm tone to everything, not only helping to set the mood but encouraging you through the game's more tense moments.
You have a dash, a swing with your sword, and a jump to start. Then, you can collect lightbulbs from taking down bushes and whacking trees to get new skills but it never gets any more complex than this, though it doesn't necessarily need to be. Combat is simplistic and just used to get you from A to B.
When you combine this with the game's cutesy art style, everything about it feels heartfelt and downright cute. But we'll touch on that a little more later. As you are intended to win the book that has already been written, and your story inspires children all around the world, it actually serves really well as a tutorial before finding Humgrump. This includes beating up enemies, using keys, and even a boss fight against a honey badger in the form of a punchout parody. This is not only well done but allows for different styles of gameplay whilst being tonally consistent with the fantasy of the game. Of course a kid would like the squire to get super buff and beat up a badger who has honey on his hands in the style of boxing gloves. Hey, I'd like that too. It's immediately delightfully creative and pretty much doesn't stop until the very end of the game. Practically all of the game's bosses require learning a new mechanic or parodying a different game, which works really well for it as the swordplay is very basic.
You feel the reverbarations of Humgrump's magic as you approach his castle, with the book itself crackling with a menacing energy, which is why, when you are literally ejected from the book, everything starts to make a bit more sense. The Plucky Squire is a game made of two central mechanics.
My Twitter: / jamesmbentley
Thanks, Abi for making the thumbnail and giving feedback on this one! / abigaileshannon
A code was provided by the publisher
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