The Plucky Squire Hands-On - Unreal Engine Delivers a Brilliant 2D/3D Genre Hybrid

[@danpatrick7176]

I'm reminded of the 2d flat segments of Mario Odyssey and Zelda a Link Between Worlds. This takes that much further. So good

[@davidaitken8503]

It also reminds me of the excellent Lost In Shadow for the Wii that Hudson made.

[@alexsilva28]

Thank you. I couldn't remember what games had the same 2D/3D mechanic

[@V3ntilator]

@@davidaitken8503 Still Wii exclusive. Perhaps a remaster is coming.

[@dethskullcrusher]

This is the kind of game we need more off

[@420beffjezos]

I agree, wish it came stutter free though.

[@Gigi-zr6hp]

Yet the most hyped games are the ones focusing on realism like GTA 6

[@matthewjuarbe5826]

i agree we need more of these unique games

[@SENATORPAIN1]

A steep discount would be nice.

[@Choteron3]

This game looks so fresh and original

[@someusername1872]

That's because the vast majority of modern games, especially UE ones, go for a "realistic" look and forego having an actual art direction because of it

[@WAGLB]

Sadly Will be a Flop, like everything today that is not a Souls like game

[@UltimateInkling]

​@WAGLB wdym is gonna flop ive seen a ton of hype for it.

[@zenyousapprentice3732]

nah comix zone ripoff next

[@DBTHEPLUG]

According to people online, we had to believe that unreal engine looks the same and it could only produce the same generic photorealistic looking games.

[@ToddParker]

This is a PS5 day 1 must buy for me. Credit to devolver - I think the market needs more games like this; fun and joy with high levels of development putting a modern gloss on an intertwined world that flips from a 2d to 2.5d to 3d story. Old school Zelda to Mario Odyssey to something new altogether and I am here for it.

[@BoomChikBoomm]

part of ps plus games catalogue on launch

[@ShanGamer1981]

Must buy

[@S1X_Bucks]

Gonna be free on ps plus extra if you have it

[@tyo101]

3:26 I appreciate Tom's honesty and humour here!

[@ScyrousFX]

Wrong timestamp? That’s John talking

[@tyo101]

​@@ScyrousFX I wanted to use a timestamp that gave context, before Tom's comment!

[@raulgalets]

​@@tyo101 I noticed recently this is bad practice. people are used to go back a little for context

[@AgressiveStephen]

@@raulgalets lol, "bad practice" in KZbin comments.

[@ScyrousFX]

@@tyo101Ah, fair enough. Might’ve been better to provide a range of timestamps then, like 3:26-3:40 :P

[@or1on89]

This will be glorious on Steam Deck. The stuttering on level load is a UE issue that honestly clearly shows why we still need independent engines for these type of games…

[@earlyriser03]

Yet when John featured a game, Penny’s Big Breakaway, that uses its own independent engine, many of the comments complained that he was shilling for the devs and the game wasn’t worth coverage. It’s good to see a DF viewer with an open mind, but I fear too many here are not only narrowly focused on their idea of “valid” coverage, they’re nasty about it, too.

[@evilzinabyssranger5695]

@@earlyriser03 its CLEAR and sci back it up that newer generations are DUMBER than their precedents. Never seen ppl "shame" indie devs for making their own engine. Free will for the devs are welcome. iTS INSANE ppl nowadays are addicted to complain. They NEED to complain about everything, its a dumb way of being that some call critical think. Yes, im complaining here but, More power for Indie Devs and for the big ones too. Thats the only way we can get nice thing from all sides.

[@Saif0412]

Also aking their own engine requires far more effort on the devs part, as opposed to using Unreal. Shame many devs just going Unreal and not having the knowledge and skills to properly optimise their games.

[@RADkate]

Engine tak is also really stupid because it doesnt matter. Ue shader stutters arenonly a thing because they dont precompile by default

[@earlyriser03]

@@RADkate lmao you’re commenting on a Digital Foundry video. It matters here regularly. Don’t be ridiculous.

[@GameChronicles]

This is the biggest genre mashup since It Takes Two.

[@cheese5194]

Im so hyped for this game.

[@MrBoop4345]

Me too! Looks like it is going to be one of those unique gems.

[@shingetsu10]

Translation for those over 12: He's excited for the release of this game

[@Fatman4our2wenty]

@@shingetsu10 thanks captain obvious we'd never figure that out ourselves.

[@vedomedo]

This game looks incredibly creative, I'm really looking forward to playing it

[@SurvivalHorror100]

Looking very well lately John I must say. Beard suits you.

[@DM-of7ys]

He definately looks better with the beard

[@4IndieForever]

Stud!

[@Hsdout]

Agreed!

[@MikAlexander]

There's a game called Styx Shards of Darkness made in ue4, and there is absolutely no stutter whatsoever.

[@dthomasfromnc]

I've been waiting on this gane since i first caught wind of it. Had it wishlisted on Steam. But seeing that it's coming to Playstation 5 Day One, I might not get it on Steam. Looks awesome either way.

[@TheCrewExpendable]

9:41 oof They should be using hitstop here to accentuate the attacks, not slowing the whole game down. Hitstop only affects you and the enemy you are attacking.

[@BrotherO4]

a 4080 is overkill for this game me: finally, great performance on UE 5 its made on UE4 me: oh that's explains everything now

[@BrotherO4]

@@kadupse devs don’t really think, they see new feature they use new features without any regard to playability, clarity, and performance. Thus it being on UE4 stops the devs from being Devs. If it was on UE5 they would use nanite and kill the cpu performance, they would turn on lumen and kill cpu/gpu performance. Probably make everything have 100k ploy for zero reasons. Thus a 4080 goes from overkill to undermining

[@AL2009man]

​@@kadupse That's BrotherO4 for you.

[@BrotherO4]

@@kadupse okay, begin to disprove anything I said regarding how lumen and Nanite impacts hardware. Go ahead… We will wait, or you just pulled the classic strategy of coming in like you know it all, assume the wrong shit, and now have to dig in instead of admitting you were wrong?

[@BrotherO4]

@@user-gc4ln9yjk9 it will take to much time for no reason. You basically asking for the devs to spend a 1.5 to 2 years porting it to maybe gain a few % performance on top of what we have. This game will run great on a steam deck. Thus do they really to re invest all that time of money into porting it over?

[@AL2009man]

also, as you already know; there has been games that uses Unreal 5 but doesn't ship any Lumen or Nanite games. *Tekken 8 is literally a example of this* . :P

[@tyo101]

This, Arzette and Spark 3 are reasons why I love the Steam Deck OLED!

[@battman505]

Spark 3 is an amazing effort from one man. Masterpeice!

[@tyo101]

@@battman505 Such a fun game. Hope DF reference it as part of the upcoming preview of Sonic X Shadow Generations before Linneman leaves in September.

[@Fusion05]

​@@tyo101he's leaving?

[@ItsAkile]

Love the plane/Genre switching stuff, its the one thing thats been actually transformative and increased fun for alot of recent games .

[@MKR3238]

that transition at 0:45 omg 😍

[@Datenschutz_Datenschutz]

will give it a try with UEVR injector, too.

[@Damocles3]

The game looks good, but I hope there's an option to disable the screen shake effect when hitting enemies

[@UltimateInkling]

Most likely

[@Eric-yt7fp]

I am absolutely in for this. What a cool concept!

[@BlackMagicFools]

You guys are a perfect match, thanks for this preview!👍🏻

[@PedroTawa]

Looks amazing, love the link between worlds inspiration!

[@EspenSGX]

This game comes out on Xbox Series, PS5, PC and Switch. So what I don't get is, why it's not coming to PS4 and Xbox One. I know, we need to properly go to current gen, but if this game runs on Switch, why leave money on the table?

[@alexsilva28]

My thoughts exactly. Odd choice

[@tomkirbygreen]

Maybe it will be down-ported later if it’s a success.

[@tomkirbygreen]

Are we going to talk about the Dreamcast-esc portal design :-)

[@1Mirimi]

Because it is over for the ps4 and xbox one... get over it... this is not a questiom of if it can run it.... its just over with this hardware after 150 years....

[@BrbZrk]

Bring it to the PS4Pro!

[@KnightMD]

Wishlisted in a heartbeat for the Deck.

[@willisfrkz]

A good mixed genre game I enjoyed was Evoland 2. Can skip the first one as it was mostly a tech demo but the sequel is a full length adventure using different JRPG styles as you progress (and other games). Made for a very cozy weekend gaming session.

[@themoviefan9990]

Getting this free on PS Plus is one of the few highlights of PS Plus this year Animal Well being the other

[@CytronicsGamer]

Visuals & artstyle look fantastic

[@thronosstudios]

The 2D aesthetic gives off Mother/Earthbound vibes. Love it.

[@cruise0074]

This looks amazing. I hope there’s a physical edition

[@claudecabioch1828]

Yes , there will be a physical release... ( Limited édition probably)

[@tomalexander4327]

It needs a plushie release too!

[@twocityfoodies8476]

Between this and Astro Bot 2... gonna be amazing ❤❤❤❤

[@jakubtataj1219]

Loved this game from the first trailer. Can't wait!

[@_mazarico_]

Like a mixture of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Comix Zone, Yoshi's Wooly World, and What Remains of Edith Finch. Seems very charming, both in presentation and in gameplay. Will definitely keep an eye out for The Plucky Squire.

[@in-craig-ible6160]

I'm loving the artstyle of this game!

[@justanotherartist5646]

This game looks so fire, can't wait to play it. The transition between 2D and 3D is clever and reminds me of levels in Super Mario Odyssey for those that remember.

[@MasonKing]

Looks really good, refreshing new style of gameplay and presentation!

[@alexisestrada9188]

Gotta say this was a pleasant surprise

[@AceofShadow]

I have noticed a lot of indie devs coming to Switch yet skipping PS4/Xbox one even if their games can run on a baked potato. Maybe Microsoft and Sony have cut off last gen for smaller devs since they want people to move on (big devs have more leverage and will move on eventually) or if they figure anyone uninvested enough in video games that they only have a PS4/Xbone won't care about indies.

[@linkvagar2336]

It's more likely that Nintendo doesn't charge 30% for an indie dev to publish their game on their system like Sony and Xbox do.

[@Maryokutaizero]

It's less about the hardware but more about relevance. The Switch still is the most current system from Nintendo and software sales are generally solid, whereas PS4 and Xbox One have long been replaced by successors and are mostly used by a more casual audience that will most likely never even hear about this game's existence.

[@BurritoKingdom]

​@@linkvagar2336 Nintendo does. Same with Steam. Only one that doesn't charge 30% is Epic and GOG

[@BurritoKingdom]

There are still a lot PS4 games being released. Probably has to do with the audience left in those markets. Like alot Xbox One users didn't upgrade to the Series consoles until College Football 25 came out. Indie games don't appeal to them, it's COD, Fortnite and Madden/FIFA. That's why those games always sell 10 million every year, once those gamers abandon last Gen their owners will buy new consoles. That's why there was actually a bump in Xbox Series sales because college football is current Gen only.

[@youtubevanced4900]

You would probably find that even though there are a lot of PS4s in the wild that consumer base is checked out by now. There probably isn’t much selling except for the latest fifa/football managers and some AAA games with huge marketing campaigns.

[@Schizm1]

Gorgeous artstyle!

[@ErmineViolinist]

This looks so amazing. Big hype. The creativity and genre switching also remind me of It Takes Two.

[@rawrss]

This looks better and more interesting than most of the triple A Studios! Hope the reviews are good, definitely looks like a different experience!

[@timothyzhu]

I can't wait to play the final version. I'm completely sold on this.

[@BooBanana]

This game looks insanely good. Probably getting it for PS5 but I’m hoping the switch port looks comparable since it looks like the perfect game for that console.

[@lt6532]

Simply lovely! Hope it gets the success it deserves.

[@yellowblanka6058]

I appreciate the visual style of this game, but it does seem like one of those games that will be fairly popular for a few months for its graphic design and then forgotten in the long run. Probably ultimately "style over substance", but I could be wrong.

[@Tiwill]

Yeah, I think you're right. I'll play it, but I don't think it will be an all-time indie classic. It looks a bit too... soft. Like it doesn't have any grit, you know? The style itself makes it stand out, but that wears off after a while, and then you're left with a game that doesn't really do anything that engaging or emotionally stimulating with the gameplay, story and music. An experience you go through once, enjoy, and never really think about again. That's what I expect.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@Tiwill Yeah, those were exactly my thoughts. We've had games like the Ori series that were beautiful to look at and also told compelling stories and had great gameplay as well, this just looks too basic gameplay wise to have much lasting appeal. I could be wrong.

[@GunFeverr]

Yeah that worries me too it looks like Tunic with a minigame collection, could easily see this one having an obnoxious meta-game that dominates the latter half like Tunic where the original core gameplay becomes meaningless

[@initial_kd]

Oh they mentioned Comix-Zone for Sega Genesis/Megadrive. That game has the writer taken into the comic and swapped by the villian. Was thinking it had a similar vibe with the book pages in Plucky Squire.

[@rbfndz]

I won’t be able to play it on release because digital copy. But gawd I’m so happy and excited for the announced physical release :)

[@KingVulpes]

A game that's original and well optimized? Count me in

[@tomalexander4327]

Looks wonderful and good to see Tom escaping the world of multiplayer console games.👍

[@Tiwill]

4:36 I have to ask, why don't devs let their games compile all the shaders on launch? Seems like an easy fix to a massive problem.

[@desmondbrown5508]

It would be nice if games released a simple tool pre-launch that ran all the shaders to compile them a few days before launch. Yes, the user would have to remember to run it. But just having something akin to this would've been great.

[@Butcher-m7y]

some games do this like TLOU Part 1

[@Cyphall]

You don't compile the shaders alone. What you compile is the shaders + the context in which theu are used, context that you only know at runtime.

[@unnoticedhero1]

The stutter John was talking about there isn't shader stutter, it's traversal stutter which can't be fixed as easily, it's an underlying UE4/5 issue that most devs never end up fixing.

[@qwert_au]

really looking forward to this game, been in my wishlist for a while. I think my nephew will really enjoy it too

[@Nate-zz7zc]

Man this looks so fun, also reminds me of the It Takes Two genre and design switching gameplay

[@Harb0eJac0b]

Good to see Ton. Always a delight. Seems like an interesting game.

[@ctrlectrld]

Very refreshing, and straight on to my wishlist it goes.

[@markjames5535]

This looks great. Thanks for the coverage gentlemen.

[@ChriSaito]

Genuinely excited for this game! I've been keeping an eye on it since it was announced and it's only made me more excited to see more of it today!

[@georged7627]

Cant wait for the Switch version

[@RudeGerbil]

More duo commentary content this week! It has been enjoyable so far, so I welcome it!

[@LettuceJUMP]

My most anticipated game when I first saw the trailer months ago!

[@bicks4436]

Thanks for reminding me it exists, been interested dince some showcases a while ago but kinda forgot

[@OrenSaidAThing]

This seems like a love letter to every era of 2D Zelda this looks amazing

[@drifter2185]

Really looking forward to this. Looks lovely.

[@fernandorobles-s5y]

its sad how no one remember Swords of Ditto, a top view roguelike, the previous game from one of the creator of plucky squire, that plays and looks exactly like this game when in 2D. It was good, not great, I played it with my daughter (couch co-op) it was fun. I consider this game a spiritual sequel xD

[@galacticchihuahua5632]

This game looks so cool. I added it to my wishlist

[@macprotips]

please bring this game to Mac!

[@devonmarr9872]

Honestly this is the game I'm looking forward to most this year.

[@gamingtechandbeyond]

I hope it runs good on Switch cause I want it for that console. I do own a gaming PC and PS5, but Switch is my only handheld console I own, so I'm interested in playing it there.

[@vigoroushero8623]

Can't wait to try this one out. Since it's on the Playstation Plus catalog, I can play day one.

[@thefireysoul]

Deluxe physical switch edition preordered.

[@IronicSonic83]

Now this is on my radar. It looks fantastic. Hope we get physical PS5/Switch2 version down the line

[@tdotran]

This looks wonderful. I’m waiting for an announcement for a physical Switch edition. Let’s hope!

[@4IndieForever]

Looks fantastic! What gaming is all about imo.

[@jackk4148]

This game looks so cool, I can't wait to check out this game when it releases.

[@matthewbarrios1028]

Been looking forward to this one for a while. Glad to see it is in good shape

[@MrTASouza]

Never heard about this game but seems like an amazing concept! Really looking forward to it now.

[@Jodrac]

Day one on PS+ is nice!

[@edusszfx]

I can't wait to play this!

[@Nolasco.]

This is genuine an interesting game, thanks my dudes 😊👍🏼

[@MoonSarito]

In a generation with a lot of ultra realistic generic games it's nice to see something with such a unique visual style for a change.

[@JoshuaChild84]

This looks amazing.

[@ehcor]

Finally, a game centered on Super Mario Odyssey's 2D to 3D transitions

[@carllavery4442]

This is one I'm really looking forward to, more so than most of the AAA games

[@damzelfly]

Been waiting for this a long time

[@MichaelLudden]

This will be glorious on switch - perfect portable system for it

[@Datenschutz_Datenschutz]

Ah geil! Das Game hatte ich auf dem Schirm aber den Namen vergessen. Das ist ein Must-Have, v.a. durch die (fast) einzigartige Optik.

[@ProggYT]

This game is gonna be good and we can already see it from here

[@HyggeState]

Wow! Looks like a lovely game. I’ll be playing this!

[@SAUCEyou]

neat little creative game, looking forward to play 👌🏼

[@MinbadTheFourth]

Gah, I can't decide between getting it on Nintendo Switch or Xbox Series S. I hope DF releases a comparison soon.

[@jonr7364]

it runs like ass on switch

[@carlosnascimento9269]

Another great game to play on the Deck.

[@DM-of7ys]

Look really good. I'll definately get it.

[@bigjigyeah]

The only worry I have is that the gameplay, while varied, looks super simplistic

[@ultimablackmage]

I'd love to play this on Switch if the price is right(under AU$40). If it gets a physical release outside of the scumbags at Embracer Group's Limited Run Games so people outside the U.S. can own it, I'd buy it for Switch.

[@ElSelcho77]

The characters look like straight out of Hilda and Gameplay akin to (Super) Paper Mario: two of my favourite things. Sign me up.

[@xxlee1019]

I think this game would benefit from a full technical review by you all. I enjoyed playing it, just wondering how it would stand up.

[@jamois]

So excited for this

[@MaI2Me]

Not really my kind of game but nonetheless this is what videogames should be. Creative, unique, colorful, somewhat challenging and fun to play and to experience.

[@npcimknot958]

This is game of the year for me

[@parkerlreed]

Would capping the frame rate not solve the stutter issues?