The Pucky Squire – Review

For me, The Pucky Squire was love at first sight. The trailer showed the adventure taking place inside the pages of a picture book, mixing many of the gameplay ideas with 2D views from above and from the side. And finally, the revelation came: the adventure also took place outside the book, and the hero would discover a realistic-looking room!

This was just a taster that intrigued us, and All Possible Futures developer and publisher Devolver Digital knew how to use the gradual discovery of The Brave Squire to show just how special this game is, full of color, ideas, and innocent joy. In fact, “special” is a good word to describe Pontino’s journey to save the Kingdom of Mana.

The idea of ​​mixing book and game fits perfectly, it is a beautiful example of metafiction applied well. Metafiction is a story that speaks for itself and as a result reveals itself and reflects on its own nature. To better explain, let us use the game itself: we see a book on the table. To walk, we move across the page, and to change the scene, we turn the page.

The work reminds us at all times that it is a book, with characters, paper, ink, a reader and a place to read. Of course, it also reminds us that it is a book within a room that can be real, whether within a video game that we control in real life. In this way, our engagement with the game is deepened on three simultaneous levels of interactive metafiction: with the real game The Valiant Squire, with the virtual room of a boy named Sam and with the fictional book The Valiant Squire.

To understand how this medium works, let’s start with the visuals, which are a show in themselves. The cartoon lines are clean, the animation is smooth, the colors are vibrant, and the paper is textured and there are small imperfections in the printing, which is most noticeable on pages with a lot of black, as happens on real paper.

The full aspect of the real book is further enhanced by the contrast with the realistic drawings on the table where the volume is located. In addition to the different textures and the beautiful play of light and reflections on the metal surfaces, we see many details, such as the paint tubes, the wood scratched by colored pencils, the wet watercolor palette, and more diverse objects scattered throughout, the light reflection in the logo on the pencil body and the distortions in the beetle’s armor.

In this way, the alternation between 2D and 3D visuals, as well as the representation of different game perspectives, contribute to one experience deepening the other, forming together an artistic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In the end, the result is a beautiful and excellently executed artistic direction.

The coming and going of dimensions also fits into the gameplay like a glove, of course. Before explaining how this happens, it’s important to clarify that The Brave Squire aims to offer much more creative fun than challenges.

Few moments required more thought or forced me to try the fight more times, so my participation relied more on aesthetics, charisma, and innovation and less on inciting problem solving and winning battles.

The game also has a difficulty selection for those who want a little more leniency, and if that wasn’t enough, the accessibility menu provides options that will make the adventure a walk in the park. It seems overkill to me, but they are optional features and don’t interfere with anyone who doesn’t want them.

However, the essence of low challenge is an important point that can determine the experience according to each player’s expectations. After all, in terms of game design, The Valiant Squire is an adventure that mixes narrative and puzzles, and although the puzzles gave me satisfaction with their ingenuity, they did not provide brain-burning fun. Therefore, although it is full of very innovative concepts and contains some exciting moments, the implementation of the gameplay tends towards simplicity.

The main basis of the game’s dynamics is moving back and forth between 2D and 3D perspectives to externally influence what’s happening inside the book and discover new entries for the role. There are also large 3D sections that go through the models Sam builds on his table, which are a highlight of the game.

The second central concept is manipulating the words of the book to change the internal reality of the pages – what happens if you change the word “closed” to “open”, “large” to “small”, “day” to “night”, “scattered stacked”?

However, don’t expect anything as complicated as Papa is You. In general, the interchangeable words are straightforward and you just need to follow the logical flow to use them correctly and continue the journey. Sometimes, you need to use words from different pages to make them work. To ensure your success, there is also a specially created character to give hints at each puzzle location, but thankfully the help is completely optional.

As a third key element, there are the minigames scattered throughout the campaign, providing an interesting rhythm and taking the opportunity to reference other games, such as boxing in Punch Out and turn-based combat with a chat option, as in Persona and Undertale, and shooting in a cylindrical space, as in Resogun.

However, such minigames happen on schedule and follow the heroic logic of making Pontino and the person playing win without much hindrance. So, while they are good ideas that can entertain us for as long as they last, they need to be deepened. Since they are all good moments, I wish there was an option to revisit them, which would fit nicely into the game’s menu as an add-on after the journey is over. And here’s a tip, all possible futures!

On the surface, the plot is simple enough, with the hero Pontino having to defeat the supernatural wizard Invisaldo to save the book and everything in it. There is talk of how stories inspire us and nurture our growth, with that great fantasy of fairy tales that rejects digression and realism, relying on the power of its own real life. Squire Valiant knows exactly what he is and uses it to his advantage, proud of his childlike vitality.

You can see this in nonsense situations and numbers, which fortunately have been adapted well to Brazilian Portuguese. For example, the snail writer refers to Machado de Assis instead of Shakespeare.

The narration is dubbed into Brazilian Portuguese by Mauro Ramos, a voice you’ve certainly heard in Pumbaa, Shrek (from 2008) and Sulley (Monsters Inc). He did an excellent job, which made me regret that he’s the only voice actor in Pontinho’s history. Despite this feeling, the narrator’s entrance is always a highlight, so I understand that the format is perfectly suited to the type of production and I don’t consider this limitation a flaw for Square Valenti.

It took me 8 hours and 30 minutes to finish the campaign, but I still had to find about a third of the collectibles; to find what’s left behind, there’s the chapter selection. For some, this time may seem short, but ultimately, the duration of this entire story is short Simply charming, without falling into sterile nonsense or losing its identity.

For those who love happy, creative and linguistic adventures, the passion is almost certain, but those expecting complex battles and puzzles may be disappointed. Fortunately, the game has the advantage of being in the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe catalog at launch, so it is easily recommended that subscribers give it a chance to surrender to the charm of the art direction and review the ideas created with the aim of opening a smile on our faces and hearts.

The game was reviewed on PS5 with code provided by Devolver Digital.