brave squire This is a game that literally jumps off the page. It takes place in a storybook world and is endearingly two-dimensional thanks to co-directors and former directors. Pokémon Artist James Turner. But at some point, the heroic protagonist can venture into the real world and solve puzzles that mix 2D and 3D in creative ways. Sometimes, you move objects between dimensions; Sometimes you’ll rearrange words in the book to create new results. It’s cute and creative and follows Sony’s astronomy robot This year has been a really good year for family gaming.
The game puts you in the role of Jot, a brave squire with unusual abilities that exist outside of the books he stars in. , while the real world is appropriately dark and realistic. They are very different, but through Joate, the two worlds intersect as he sets out to save the book from an evil wizard. Solving puzzles requires flipping through pages to extract items from the past, using language to get around obstacles, and sometimes punching a bear. It’s silly yet sincere, at times reminiscent of 2D sequences in classic Nintendo games super mario odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
“The idea of contrast is very important to the game.”
For Turner, the original idea for the game came about during his immediate hiatus. Pokémon Developer Game Freak, but has not yet started working at All Maybe Futures, the studio he co-founded with Jonathan Biddle. “I left Game Freak, and then I had nothing to do,” he said edge. “To fill this gap, I started drawing an online comic.” That comic was called universeincluding some of the characters and ideas that would eventually go into brave squire As the storybook narrative takes shape.
For Turner, who often posts fun mash-up illustrations and has designed famous Pokémon like Polteageist, one of the goals of the game was to create a unique clash of styles. Not only should the size brave squire They play differently, but they should also look different. The idea came about early in development. Initially, when Choate jumped into the real world, he was cel-shaded to maintain his cartoonish look. But ultimately we found that more realistic, almost toy-like versions of the characters worked better.
Image: All possible futures
“It significantly reduces the realism of the outside world in a weird way,” Turner said of cartoon rendering. “Even though the outside world is very real, if the objects you see 90% of the time [isn’t]it starts to affect how you see the rest of the world. He added, “The idea of contrast is very important to the game.”
A good example is the early brave squire While Choate was looking for a bow and arrow to complete the mission. This involves walking through a portal into the real world, navigating a very messy table filled with obstacles, and then jumping onto a card torn from a piece of paper. Magic: The Gathering Fight the elves. When Choate finally reaches his destination, three different art styles appear on the screen: storybook 2D, realistic 3D, and detailed fantasy art. “I think the clash of styles is the most jaw-dropping,” Turner explains.
“There’s a big gap outside of Nintendo.”
In addition to visual effects, brave squire Remarkably, it is an experience suitable for all ages. The action and puzzles are deep enough to keep them satisfied without being intimidating to younger or less experienced players. It’s like a streamlined Salda Adventure, with some nice quality-of-life features, such as an optional hint system that doesn’t reveal too much. It’s a style of gaming that’s hard to find outside of Nintendo (including upcoming games) echo of wisdom). But the title is like astronomy robot and brave squire is showing other developers that this is possible too.
“There are a lot of people who want to play these games, but they’re not getting the satisfaction they deserve,” Turner said. “It feels like there’s a really big gap outside of Nintendo, and it would be nice if we played these games more often. They’re needed.
brave squire Now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
