Regardless of whether we refer to it as The Brave Squire o The Plucky SquireJota’s adventure does not change one bit. The expectation surrounding the work of All Possible Futures has been very big since its presentation in 2022 and the seal of Return Digital promoting the project, the guarantees of success seemed to be present.
However, the title navigates dangerous waters, as from time to time it lurches towards monotony and an unnecessary pause, along with other moments in which originality and surprise brighten your game. That dichotomy prevents it from shining with all the light it deserves, although it is notable enough to value it, but I’m going to stop beating around the bush.
Damn Grumpy
All Possible Futures wants to tell us a story, from all possible perspectives and with all the implications that this entails. The plot puts us in the shoes of Jota, a young man who joins his friends to put an end to Grumpy’s evil plansa kind of magician who breaks the balance of the history of the pages in which they live.
Not only that, but Jota himself will be able to move beyond the two-dimensional plane and explore the desk on which the book rests. From the first moment, The Brave Squire It goes all out to transmit the energy of a carefree trip, of a children’s story that you could find on the shelf of any library. One of those comics that you would surely have read and reread until exhaustion when you were little, because the sensations it provokes are very positive.
There are no script twists or convoluted plots, simply a series of truly peculiar characters and the unusual obstacles they will have to overcome to achieve their goal. The artistic style reinforces that idea of a childhood book, with very rounded shapes and striking designs that are accompanied by a fantastic explosion of color. Each of the pages that are visited in The Brave Squire They are beautiful, passing through areas such as beaches, swamps, kingdoms or, of course, the real world.
It is not a region that is rarely visited, since it will frequently be necessary to go beyond the limits set by the book to solve both internal and external problems. Thanks to this, one of the keys around The Brave Squire.
The meta joke
Surprisingly, in All Possible Futures they have made a narrative decision with enormous playable and comic possibilities. And many of the characters, like Barbaluna, are perfectly aware that they are part of a story and that is what they have to play with. The puzzles, mostly consisting of moving a block to a slab that activates a mechanism, take advantage of this idea and lead to cool situations.
For example, Jota gains the ability to turn pages and return to previous points of The Brave Squire. In this way, it is possible to grab an essential object to take it to the place where it was in the first place in order to continue moving forward. In the same way, it is possible to close the story firmly, causing huge stones or other elements to change places when the pages are glued together.
The festival does not end here, as there are tools that stop the enemy, object or anything we want in time within the world of the work. The introduction of bombs ends up being an effective weapon against armored enemies who can be bombed from the outside to see how they explode from within, but also to get rid of that huge block that so inopportunely hinders progress.
If the equation already seems rich enough, the text of each story must be added to the formula. Jota and company happily advance through areas full of rivals, NPCs and a handful of collectibles. Among them are the words that tell what happens in each chapter, with the particularity that can be extracted from sentences to fit them into other. If “the morning full of light” illuminates the entire sky, extracting that last word and replacing it with the one that says “the cave was full of darkness” will cause the change to night. A basic sample of the range of possibilities, although the matter does not end here.
Since Jota can seamlessly switch between 2D and 3D, the progression is as natural as jumping into a Post-it note and out another one at the top of a toy castle on your desk. The argument is taken advantage of from all these unique moments to offer little surprises and create constant jokeseven with references to other genres.
Any help is welcome and Jota resorts to the most unusual ones, such as Magic cards, mugs with jetpacks in their drawings or Martian-killing laser beams. In a moment The Brave Squire It becomes a turn-based RPG, a shoot’em up, an imitation of Punch Out!, a nod to Bubble shooters and even a rhythm game if necessary. A constant tribute that allows us to add variety and a completely different challenge than the one we are used to in the video game.
Exhausted storyteller
If the consequence of that The Brave Squire be a story and assert its condition is that we laugh at its jokes, it is also exasperating with the constant rhythm cuts. The narrator’s appearance is too frequent to glorify Jota’s every small step, as well as the dialogues that provide absolutely nothing more than a waste of time.
All Possible Futures seems to have never wanted to stitch without a thread, so each wall that opens will have its corresponding camera shot to show it, Each new objective will be explained from beginning to end by the character on duty and the cinematics will happen constantly. No sin on its own, but because of how it frustrates the feeling of the game by robbing us of control of Jota more than necessary.
On the other hand, along with all the previously mentioned easter eggs, The Brave Squire It mainly uses direct action mechanics. Jota has a sword that delivers thrusts, spins around itself and throws it as if it were a boomerang, all in order to annihilate numerous opponents. However, the developer has put so much weight into it that, despite the improvements that can be purchased in the store, the same dynamic of facing waves of beings ends up becoming tiring.
The pity is that the differences between the real world and the imagined one are null, since everything boils down to practically the same thing in each of them. Does not take advantage too much The Brave Squire those contrary aspects between the planes, since you always have to kill the bugs on duty. All in all, exploration is encouraged, as there are various conceptual arts scattered around the corners of the title, as well as small beings that are hidden and ready to be collected.
iGamesNews’s opinion
The Brave Squire He never aspired to become a GOTY candidate, but he certainly had hoped that it would be one of the most exciting revelations of 2024. Although much of that promising material that we saw in the trailers is fully present, it is not It is less true that the shadows that hang over him prevent him from breastfeeding.
The same concept of The Brave Squire It’s fabulous and the comic extreme to which All Possible Futures has taken it deserves applause. The puzzles are affordable, the twist with what is a book in itself is worth taking your hat off and artistically it is a delightespecially between the pages. To this we must add a variety, which is appreciated, of unique mechanics with a very accessible entry door, since they are still references to the classics of the industry.
A game for the whole family with all the letters, even in its most repetitive action proposal. The fights end up being boring, without a spark to inspire them and seasoned by constant cuts in the rhythm. Less chatter and more sharing the candle or rack your brain to solve the puzzles. In any case, the first step of the study ends on a clearly positive note and with such a creative flow in the minds of its members, it is most likely that their next production will surprise more; if it is possible.
Price of The Brave Squire
You can get The Brave Squire in digital format for 29.99 dollars on the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch platforms. On the other hand, the physical edition for PS5 and Nintendo Switch will arrive on February 21, 2025 for 35.99 dollars as RRP
The Plucky Squire – Switch
*Some prices may have changed since the last review
Duration of The Brave Squire
It took me just over 8 hours to complete. The Brave Squire and I have managed to unlock all of Jota’s skills. I still have less than half of the concept art and a couple more collectibles left, so I estimate that with a couple more hours of playing, 100% can be achieved.
The Brave Squire
| Platforms | PC (reviewed version), PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | No |
| Developer |
All Possible Futures |
| Company | Return Digital |
| Launch | September 17, 2024 |
The best
- Artistically it is a beauty
- Grab the concept of what a book is and play with it
- Metajokes and references to other genres
Worst
- The combat ends up being repetitive
- He has a bad habit of wanting to tell something all the time.
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