An absolutely beautiful art style and heaps of fun nostalgic gameplay, All Possible Futures debut game might be an instant classic.
For me the Zelda series have always been 2D, I grew up with the top-down adventures and spend hours and hours squinting at a tiny handheld screen.
THE PLUCKY SQUIRE immediately evokes that memory as I played through a short preview and then chucks in some of the best the different gaming genres have to offer.
Most of all I cannot wait to just lose myself in the adventure crafted by All Possible Futures when it launches next month, I'll be counting down the days.
Last year I had the pleasure of chatting to Jonathan Biddle for a nice extended interview from the floor of PAX Australia and the promise was laid out, THE PLUCKY SQUIRE was a loveletter to games he and fellow co-director James Turner loved about gaming.
These veterans of the industry aren't new to games, but this is the first time they've worked together and from what they've delivered so far it's an utterly charming genuinely joyful experience.
Each level has you jumping back and forth into different scenarios, playing with the story as you go, picking up words and using them to change the world around you, in a way similar to BABA IS YOU.
These verbs are just one part of the puzzle, Jot literally steps off the page onto the desk the book sits upon, in something reminiscent of the 2D-3D levels in SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY.
In fact, there is just so much referenced here, so many little ideas that make for lots of varied gameplay.
In one level I was tasked with saving some woodland creatures from a swarm of flying insects, unable to dispatch them with my trusty sword I moved into the 3D environment to discover a card from a Magic-like collectible card game, meeting Alowynia, the elf ranger who passed me her golden bow.
I took out the insects with my ranged attacks and then I confronted the big bad boss bug, emerging victorious.
Each moment in the couple of hours I played was filled with childlike nostalgic joy.
I remember the time in my life when my imagination ran wild like this, I could have easily been the kid creating the 3D world that Jot explores.
It's just gorgeous to look at with each 2D or 3D environment kept surprising me.
I would say to myself as I played "oh I remember that"
It's delightful and wonderful, fun and varied. THE PLUCKY SQUIRE has easily jumped up to one of my most anticipated titles for 2024.
A limited build of THE PLUCKY SQUIRE was provided to SIFTER for this preview.
