The first thing you are bound to say when playing The Plucky Squire is some version of, “Damn. This looks good.” That isn’t an understatement, as the art behind this delightful, multi-dimensional Zelda-like sure is gorgeous and nostalgic. Developer All Possible Futures clearly put a lot of time and effort into creating a stunning aesthetic for their game, which releases on September 17 and has players jumping between 2D and 3D environments as a—you guessed it—plucky squire.
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The 2D environments are the most dazzling to behold, as they embrace the storybook world in which most of the game’s characters live. This half of the game’s visual style is defined by an impeccable use of color and simple yet evocative bold lines enveloping every item on the page.
That isn’t to say the 3D world in which protagonist Jot gets jettisoned into early on in The Plucky Squire isn’t equally as impressive, it’s just not what you expect when you start up the game. Yet once you and Jot both get into the world outside of the storybook, the effortless translation of 2D designs to 3D speaks to just how well crafted every piece of this delightful adventure is.
In the final version of The Plucky Squire, all of this varied artistic splendor seems natural, effortless even. But it took a lot of work from All Possible Futures to get to that point. From the initial idea and very first drawings to the game’s final designs, these pieces of concept art show the process of how The Plucky Squire became what it is.
Early character design tests
An early concept of the game’s protagonist
Our hero gets a sword in this art direction test
The plucky squire appears, just with a different name
Goodbye Latch, hello Jot
The storybook setting of Mojo
The world outside of the book
Jot gets a new perspective
Early concept art of the game’s sentance changing mechanic
A scrapped Invisible Ink mechanic
Jot encountering some 3D obstacles
Jot’s dimensional portal hopping takes shape
Jot gets a futuristic makeover for a shoot ‘em up minigame
A mind-bending environment concept
Villainous Humgrump alongside Jot and Moonbeard
Character designs must work in both two and three-dimensions
A trio of buff-enemies for Jot to potentially punch
Early enemy designs, including a few that make their way into the final game
Tennis opponents for Jot to rally with in a scrapped minigame
Some familiar looking citizens of the in-game city of Artia
Jot goes for a ride
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