The Plucky Squire from Devolver Digital and All Possible Futures is a charming storybook adventure that is a must-play on PlayStation 5. Learn more in our The Plucky Squire review!
The Plucky Squire from Devolver Digital and All Possible Futures is a charming storybook adventure that is a must-play on PlayStation 5. You’ll be going on a mission with storybook characters Jot and his friends. One day, they discover there’s a whole other world past the 2D pages of The Land of Mojo that they inhabit, which leads them to experience a colorful world… in 3D! Things take a turn for the worse when Sorcerer Humgrump realizes he’s the book’s villain and that he’s destined to lose against the forces of good for all eternity. Trying to change this loop, Humgrump kicks Jot out of the book. It’s now up to you to find a way to help Jot defeat Humgrump and save his friends before it’s too late. A narrator will join you along the way, as is to be expected of a storybook. He’ll let you know what is going on and what Jot and his friends should be working on next.
As you jump between the 2D and 3D worlds, you’ll have to solve a series of puzzles, fight against Humgrump’s evil forces, and complete a variety of unique segments with Jot and his friends. These will have you, for example, boxing against a honey badger with gameplay that will remind you of the beloved Punch-Out!! series, taking on a rhythm game battle in which having good timing will be a must, flying with a rocket jetpack that will help you clear some tricky platforming segments as you move between 2D and 3D sections… only to end up in a shoot ’em up sequence where you must destroy all enemies as fast as possible.
Since The Plucky Squire is a prolific writer, he’ll be making good use of his words at key points in the game. You could, say, change a word to remove a staircase and turn it into a block so that you can then push the block closer to the edge of a higher area. That way, you’ll be able to jump on top of the block and then jump to a previously unreachable spot. Change night into day so that you can explore a page with greater ease. Make it so that a door swings open so that you can continue with your quest. A humongous bug is blocking your path? Well, what if you could add the word tiny in there so that you can walk past the now much smaller critter?
The game will teach you the basics soon after you begin the first chapter of the story. You’ll be playing through this fun and charming adventure by using the left analog stick to walk through each area. You can use the right analog stick to control the camera. Jot can jump by pressing the X button and can swing his sword by pressing the Square button. Throw your sword by pressing the R2 button so that you can attack enemies from a safer distance. The Circle button will be used to perform a roll that can help you avoid incoming attacks as needed.
The Triangle button will allow you to interact with objects and other characters. You’ll sometimes need to tilt the book left or right, which can be done by pressing the L2 and R2 buttons. This could, for example, move a minecart along a track, which can be used to your advantage so that you can use it to go over a gap. When outside in the 3D world, you’ll need to sneak around by pressing the Circle or R2 buttons so that you can move without making much noise. You’ll be able to sneak past the huge bugs that would otherwise eat you! And once you collect the Turn Gauntlets, you’ll be able to open up the storybook and get back on track to defeat the evil Sorcerer Humgrump for good.
The Land of Mojo is a kingdom of creativity and ideas. Because of this, as you defeat enemies, break stuff, and cut down the tall grass, you’ll be able to collect idea light bulbs. You can use these as currency to purchase new moves and upgrades for Jot’s abilities so that he can have an easier time going up against enemies. Upgrade his Sword Throw, and he’ll be able to hit multiple enemies with a single throw. Upgrade the Spin Attack, and Jot will spin twice after charging up a spin. You can also use idea light bulbs to purchase art scrolls that will add some new art for you to check out at the gallery.
You’ll have two difficulty options to choose from for this journey: Adventure Mode and Story Mode. Adventure Mode offers the standard difficulty, which is a good challenge for those of you with some experience with action adventures. Story Mode will dial things back a bit, allowing you to enjoy the game’s story without having to worry too much about the action side of the equation. There are some accessibility options for you to consider if you want to tailor your overall experience. Along with the aforementioned option of choosing between playing in Adventure Mode or in Story Mode, you can also activate jump assist, disable falling platforms, activate invincibility for The Plucky Squire, one-hit kills so that you can defeat enemies in one go, have helpful hint characters, and making it so that hidden portals are revealed. And no, activating any of these will not prevent us from obtaining all of the game’s trophies!
Speaking of which, the game features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to add to your collection. The list is split into 7 Bronze trophies, 5 Silver trophies, and 8 Gold trophies for you to work on. As you go on this adventure, the objectives to complete will include finding an art scroll, rescuing all Glitchbirds, fully upgrading Jot’s abilities, defeating each of the big, bad bosses in the game, completing the Story Mode, and completing the Adventure Mode. There are some other objectives that I won’t be spoiling here, but rest assured, it’s going to be a fun trophy run.
The Plucky Squire is a charming storybook adventure that is a must-play You’ll be going on a mission with storybook characters Jot and his friends. One day, they discover there’s a whole other world past the 2D pages of The Land of Mojo that they inhabit, which leads them to experience a colorful world… in 3D! Things take a turn for the worse when Sorcerer Humgrump realizes he’s the book’s villain and that he’s destined to lose against the forces of good for all eternity. I was looking forward to playing this one from the moment it was announced, and I’m here to report that the wait has definitely been worth it. The Plucky Squire is out on PlayStation 5 with a $29.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This The Plucky Squire review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Devolver Digital.
