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Working in a creative industry in 2024 is stressful.
I love what I do, but the rise of artificial intelligence and an ever-evolving media landscape mean I can never truly take my work for granted. Many in the video game industry face a familiar plight. There are creative individuals working on games because they adore the medium and want to leave their mark on it. But their potential impact is often at the whims of megacorporations like Microsoft that couldlay them off in an instantif they deem it necessary for “alignment” and “to organize our business for long-term success.”
That frustration — the constant push and pull between those who want to create and those who want to control — ia felt at the center ofThe Plucky Squire. The adventure pits its Link-like hero and his artistic friends against a villain who wants to reshape the storybook they all live in into his own dull image. Thankfully, developer All Possible Futures’ first game chooses to be optimistic about that, oozing creativity with its presentation, its perspective-hopping twist, and constant tributes to iconic games that inspired this medium.
Although it’s not particularly challenging or deep from a gameplay perspective,The Plucky Squireis a postmodern celebration of what it means to be an artist and one of the most delightful games of the year.
An artist’s quest
In-universe,The Plucky Squireis a fairy tale about a hero, Jot, and his artistic friends, who fight a stereotypical fantasy villain named Humgrump. The journey starts as expected, but upon confronting Humgrump, Jot learns that he now possesses the power to pull objects in and out of the book they’re living within. Humgrump forces Jot out of the book, but this allows him to travel between the storybook, the real world, and other drawings on the desk of the kid who owns the book.
From there, Jot goes on a quest inside and outside the book to defeat Humgrump and ensure the story isn’t corrupted.The Plucky Squireis a little slow to start, but once it gets going, the story deftly touches on how art inspires — and how that inspires jealousy in talentless hacks who don’t want to put in the effort to make it themselves.
It’s intentionally meta, but that never comes at the expense of the story; rather, it’s whatThe Plucky Squireis about. As someone in the thick of a creative industry that AI-loving techies seem to despise, I appreciate the narrative’s toothy themes. Whether someone has a job that requires them to create a piece of art or not, it’s important to learn about the importance of art, the struggles artists face, and how creativity is tied to inspiration and legacy.
Those themes can get heavy, butThe PluckySquire explores them in an approachable way that’s much less aggressive and adult-oriented than something likeImmortality. Even for kids who might not be able to fully relate to all that the first time they play throughThe Plucky Squire, it’s still an entertaining hero’s journey.
Not by the book
The Plucky Squireisn’t content with just telling players why they should be creative; it’s an unbridled, charming art piece on its own. Artist and All Possible Futures co-founder James Turner, who you probably know for their work on thePokémon series, has an instantly recognizable style thatThe Plucky Squiregoes all-in on. It’s not overly complex, but still full of charm and personality.
If I had a book that looked like this as a kid, I would’ve read it to death.
Every inch of artistic real estate on each page is used, down to the narration text that appears on them.The Plucky Squireis a short and succinct adventure, and every time I turned a page or hopped out of the storybook, there was something gorgeous to see and explore. If I had a book that looked like this as a kid, I would’ve read it to death.
The Plucky Squirelooks great whenever Jot has to venture outside the storybook too. All Possible Futures used this premise to experiment with different art styles, like those ofMagic: The Gatheringcards or colored pencil sketches.The Plucky Squirelets players in on the creative process too, as its main collectibles are art scrolls that show off concepts from development and give a bit more insight into how everything was created.
While a series like Pokémon is bound to a very strict visual style, the team had no problem experimenting and exploring their wildest visual ideas withinThe Plucky Squire. It’s gratifying to see the game ooze the same creativity its narrative preaches about.
A tribute to creativity
When in the storybook,The Plucky Squireplays out like2D The Legend of Zelda games. Jot has his trusty sword, can roll around to dodge attacks, and even upgrades his combat skills using light bulbs collected throughout the adventure. Combat feels similar outside the storybook, although there’s more of a 3D platforming edge to gameplay. It’s polished, if not particularly original or difficult. Generally,The Plucky Squire’sgameplay doesn’t have much depth, but that’s because it experiments a lot with different ideas instead of overdoing one.
Beyond combat, puzzles often involve Jot manipulating the storybook itself. This starts with changing the text on the page to reshape the world and solve puzzles. For example, one area has me swapping out the word water for ice, turning an impassable ocean into a surface I can run over. The best puzzles inThe Plucky Squirehave Jot hopping out of the book and using his powers to flip through or tilt its pages entirely. Sometimes, the solution to a puzzle might be found on a previous page, or you might need to close a book so a heavy block slides from one page to another.
These kinds of puzzles are always the highlight of the adventure, but sometimes, the genre changes entirely. At various points during the story, I found myself in minigames inspired byPunch-Out, Super Mario Bros., Rhythm Heaven, and more. Some of these, likeThe Plucky Squire’s occasional 2D platforming segments or its pixel-perfectFantasy Zonetribute, just feel great.
Others, like thePunch-Out-andRhythm Heaven-inspired minigames, feel much worse than the games they are based on. I commend the fact thatThe Plucky Squirewants to pay tribute to the games that inspired its developers, which plays back into one of main themes of how art informs future art. I’m also glad that players have the option to skip these minigames if they don’t like them. This jack-of-all-trades approach to gameplay variety means some parts ofThe Plucky Squirearen’t as fun as others, which can lead to some momentum-halting moments. As the adventure takes some time to wind up, you may be left a bit underwhelmed by the gameplay if you don’t enjoy certain tributes
Once the story finally starts delivering on its themes in the back half of the adventure and Jot obtains all of his storybook-manipulating abilities,The Plucky Squireis a joy. We’re entering a postmodern era for the video game industry where the art itself can start discussing what came before, who made it, and why it was made.The Plucky Squirefinds itself standing tall in the middle of that trend. It’s a must-play if you want to understand why game developers, artists, or any kind of creator makes things in spite of so many forces trying to blot their work out.
