The recent PlayStation Showcase boasted some massive moments like the reveal of the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake and the gameplay trailer for Spider-Man 2 alongside delightful indie game trailers like the latest look at The Plucky Squire. Originally announced in Summer 2022, The Plucky Squire is the debut title for indie studio All Possible Futures founded by former Art Director for the Pokemon series at Game Freak James Turner and is being published by indie powerhouse Devolver Digital. While the game looks charming in its own right, it seems to be in a great position to capture the charm of the popular Paper Mario series.
The story of The Plucky Squire follows Jot on a fourth wall-breaking, multidimensional adventure as he and his companions discover the world outside of their storybook and battle against the villainous Humgrump. The core mechanic of this game is the ability to jump between 2D and 3D levels akin to games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds or even Sonic Generations. However, the 2D storybook art style is begging for a comparison to Paper Mario, and The Plucky Squire seems to draw heavy inspiration from the series while also innovating upon it in the best ways.
The Plucky Squire Could Be What Paper Mario Fans Have Been Waiting For
For being such a beloved series, Paper Mario is one of Nintendo's most controversial with many of the recent entries failing to live up to the standards set by fans of the earlier titles. While traditionally a turn-based RPG series, Paper Mario games have experimented with other genres in entries like the action-platformer Super Paper Mario and the puzzle-based combat of Paper Mario: The Origami King. The Plucky Squire seems to be taking inspiration from multiple titles, building upon their best elements while maintaining the charming aesthetic that made the Paper Mario series so popular.
The Plucky Squire shares a lot in common with Super Paper Mario in particular as both games feature the ability to change between dimensional planes and break the traditional notion of a 2D game. While Super Paper Mario limits the player to swapping to a 3D view of the same 2D level, The Plucky Squire seems to take this mechanic to the next level by allowing players to explore a fully 3D world outside its 2D levels, complete with a separate 3D model for Jot. ThePlucky Squire also goes above and beyond the fourth wall-breaking from Paper Mario and takes the concept to its logical conclusion with its 3D sections.
After the success of the early Paper Mario titles, many fans thought that a "Paper Zelda" game would be the logical next step for Nintendo. While that idea never came to fruition, it seems like The Plucky Squire might fill the space left by its potential as much of the gameplay shown features top-down dungeon crawling reminiscent of classic Zelda titles. The 3D sections of the game also look quite similar to the Switch remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in its art style and combat.
It's clear the team at All Possible Futures is pulling from a handful of sources for inspiration, including popular Nintendo series like Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda. However, The Plucky Squire goes above and beyond its inspirations by seamlessly blending multiple concepts and genres within its design. The result not only looks to be a charming adventure, but one that could capture the magic of the Paper Mario series while presenting it in a way that gives the game its own unique identity by taking elements of the Nintendo series to places it has never gone before.
The Plucky Squire is set to be released in 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S.
