896th played so far
Genre: Puzzle/Role Playing
Platform: Various
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Yeah, I’ve kept Puzzle Quest until the end. It’s a puzzle RPG which, to make it easier on myself, I’ll be playing on the DS so I have some TV distraction if I want it. I’ve had a great time with You Must Build A Boat, an endless runner RPG that similarly builds on the match three genre, which makes me hopeful we get something good out of it too.
Our Thoughts
One of the big joys of a match three game are the big combos, where destroying one set of blocks leads to another as things keep cascading down. Even more, to make that happen you do your best to plan ahead and set it up so you get that big five in a row on the next round. That strategic layer is completely lost in Puzzle Quest as you alternate turns with your enemy, which moves your goal from setting up the combinations to preventing your opponent from getting any. It puts a cap on the excitement and progress through the game. Added to that, the gems add up to give you mana, which gives you a chance to fire spells at your opponents. However, as they take up a turn, they rarely seem worth it – board effects aren’t worth it when that’s the case and the damage seems a bit low sometimes. It’s all a bit of a mess and the imprecise controls don’t help, when a wrong move means you forfeit the turn rather than being allowed to try again.
And yet despite of these battle issues, the game is incredibly addictive. It’s grindy, but I kept chasing more as the quest expanded around the world. I had to keep going, grind out another step in the quest, get my stats up and find some spells to use. It’s not the most special story, but there’s a lot more going on in the world that it stays interesting.
Final Thoughts
Puzzle Quest works despite its core puzzle mechanic, not because of it, and I see the places where that could have been changed. There’s a great world here and I am sure I’ll explore it again at some point – and hope the sequel changes as much of this.