3.5/5 ★ – benhmedia's review of The Plucky Squire.

I was leaning towards rating this a 6 for much of my playthrough. The first half of this game is very hand-holdy, with lots of dialogue stopping the action, and the combat remains pretty basic throughout the entire game. However, the further I got the more I was won over - by its 3rd act I was hooked. It really is such a charming game that’s clearly made with a lot of love and TONS of creativity. The puzzles are clever and never that frustrating, I loved the shmup section on the toy container, the rhythm challenges were fun, and then they bring everything together at the end for an excellent conclusion. By the time the credits rolled I almost felt like ranking this at an 8. But there’s one thing that really brought the whole experience down for me: The Plucky Squire does not run well on the Switch. It was fine enough in 2D sections, but it really struggled with a lot of the 3D elements. If a game is available for the Switch that’s what I tend to gravitate towards since I like having the option of handheld mode. But man, I’m now wishing I had purchased it on any other platform. It didn’t totally ruin the experience for me, but now seeing gameplay footage of it on other platforms, I can’t help but feel a bit envious. It’s a very enjoyable time, but I can see why some aren’t vibing with it as much. It’s simplistic, very cutesy, and the storytelling sometimes gets in the way of gameplay. But for me, it’s got enough charm and creative ideas that I wasn’t too bothered by all that. Good game!