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A perfect fusion of two different gaming genres creates something new

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 75 / 75
Date: March 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you've done any research on Puzzle Quest, you know it's a fantasy RPG where combat is done in a "match 3" Bejeweled style puzzle game. That's a good summary, but it doesn't do the game justice - the fusion of two different games is complete and total, making an RPG whose gameplay, though familiar, is done in a completely different manner than we've come to expect.

At the core of the game you create a character from one of four classes. Moving around on a stylus-guided map, you travel to various areas, get quests, and battle assorted monsters. The combat is done on a grid of icons you line up - skulls (which you line up for a physical attack), coins (to get bonus gold), stars (to get bonus experience), and mana gems (to get one of four kinds of mana), and wildcards. Special abilities let you go beyond simple line-up-the icons to do damage, alter the puzzle board's contents, affect your opponent, and more. You can figure out cascading combos that are just as satisfying as any fighting game.

Alone, this would be a reasonably fun game. However, the game is both a complete puzzle game and a decently-detailed RPG. You level up your character and gain new abilities and add to existing skills - which can affect gameplay radically. Equipment also affects gameplay and varies considerably - a whip does damage when you collect yellow (air) mana, a suit of armor helps reduce damage, a ring may heal you as long as you keep your blue (water) mana above a certain level. You'll find yourself mixing and matching abilities (you can only have six ready at a time), equipment, and more to find new and better strategies.

However, the game then takes this one step further with adding even more - you can capture enemies and use them as mounts (and train them) or learn their special abilities, craft items with runes you can uncover, and build up citadels and bring other towns under control of your Queen. Throw on a lot of optional quests, random monsters, and more and you've got a satisfying RPG experience with plenty of ways to play.

Finally, the icing on the cake is how the plot is handled. It's a sadly standard plot, but it's told with some interesting characters (such as a motormouth dwarf or a scheming princess whose father knows her all too well) and some little details in the game that flesh out the world.

If there are any flaws, its that the presentation graphics are a bit mixed, from an OK overhead map, to barebones status screens, to some very nice character artwork (each class has 4 possible character portraits, 2 of each gender). It's good enough, but I felt the status screens and maps could have been done a bit better.

The only caveat I will add - this is not exactly a casual game. Each combat is very intense and can take a few minutes to play, and you definitely have to think as the AI certainly will. It's not something I can reccomend to truly casual gamers as it takes some investment of time and brainpower.

Overall? A fantastic experience deserving of the hype, and a step forward in gaming.

More fun than you would even think

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 33 / 33
Date: March 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is so MUCH fun! I sort of felt blah about the idea of another Bejeweled style game, and though the combat takes on a Bejeweled like interface and general idea, it has so much more to it! Each type of thing you connect means something different for your character (connect 3 skulls and it does damage to your opponents life, connect 3 piles of money and you get gold, connect stars for experience or orbs for different types of mana!).

It's Bejeweled at the very core but it plays like an RPG. You have a character that levels, has spells, equipment and gets quests. It's incredibly fun and more addictive than you could possibly imagine.

I also want to mention that the art, interface and music are fantastic. This game is top notch in my book, just plain fun!

An RPG that plays like Bejeweled?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It sounds crazy but it works. Who'd have thought such an odd combination of genres would have turned into such an addictive game? You've gotta try this.

Believe the hype about this game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was initially skeptical regarding how fun this game might be. Fate would have it that I had a little time and money and wanted to a game for my DSL. This game caught my eye when searching GameSpot and I was intrigued on the possibility that this merging of genres might actually be fun... and boy am I glad that I picked up this little gem!

You can find plenty of reviews on the details of the gameplay and such elsewhere. I will just tell you that this game "WORKS" and is plenty of addictive fun for anyone; assuming that you at least like a game, such as bejeweled, at some basic level.

I will also mention that the DS version ONLY uses the stylus for gameplay. None of the buttons or D-pad work in this game. I had to get used to that at first, but I want to mention that this, too, works beautifully. In fact, there are higher level situations in this game that require you to solve puzzles against a timer; I don't see how this would be anything but frustrating if I had to use the D-pad to search through the grid vs. being able to just tap away with the stylus.

Beautiful game that is likely not to be readilly recognized by the gaming masses, purely a 10/10 in my opinion.

Breaking the mold, but predictably frustrating

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is obviously a fresh idea, combining a role-playing game experience (which usually involves fairly uninteresting combat mechanics) and a casual-style puzzle game (very similar to Bejeweled). You create your character by picking one of four classes (druid, wizard, warrior, knight), each of which has different specializations. You then set off on a series of adventures, traveling around an increasingly expansive landscape, visiting new points of interest, and receiving new quests (up to four active quests at one time).

When combat takes place (which is pretty frequent, and largely the point of the game) the view switches from the map to the puzzle board, which is a grid of tiles of various types. Most of the tiles are colored dots, although there are also gold coins, purple stars and skulls. The object is to take turns with your opponent, trying to swap two adjacent tiles to line up 3, 4 or 5 matching tiles (even better if you can set up a combination or cascade of matches). Matching same-colored dots gives you mana of that color, which can be accumulated and used for spells or special attacks. Lining up gold coins puts money in your character's coin purse, purple stars give experience points used to level up, and skulls do damage to your opponent. The bigger the line, the bigger the effect (more mana, more damage, etc.).

As you gain experience, you level your character up by spending your earned skill points in different skills that have a variety of effects on future combats. You can spend your gold buying new equipment, or improving your home citadel with buildings like a Dungeon, which allow you to eventually capture creatures and learn their spells and abilities, or a Stable which allows you to train captured creatures to be mounts that you can ride.

The interface is very simple, just like any DS game. Everything is done with the stylus, and you can hold one of the shoulder buttons to swap screens at any time. The graphics on the map screen are necessarily small and not very detailed, but the other graphics in the game are very nice, and the music is typical of the Japanese RPG genre like Final Fantasy.

The only real downside to this game is that it can be extremely frustrating at times because the computer is naturally far superior to the human ability to process the entire board and always seems to put together massive combos that I could never have found without spending 10 minutes every turn trying to plan out my move and maximize my gains. The computer also seems to get incredibly "lucky" with the new tiles that drop down when it makes its play... they always seem to get an extra match or a nice cascade that you would never expect because you can't see what tiles will drop to fill in the board... but I bet the computer knows. It also seems like the hint that comes up if you wait long enough without taking a move suggests the move that sets up the computer's next turn, rather than what would most help you. I tend to take the hinted move as an option of last resort. The computer basically NEVER makes a mistake, and sometimes it seems like it makes the first move of the game and already has you at a huge disadvantage, down 20% of your hitpoints and the only move you can make is something that will set the computer up for another devastating attack. This tends to rob the game of some fun, knowing that the computer is always going to make a play that gives the maximum possible effect, even if it's not remotely obvious to you how the combo comes together.

The best thing is, this is a game my wife can enjoy as much as me, even if it's for different reasons... I like the RPG aspect, and she likes puzzle games like Bejeweled, so this is like buying two games in one that we can both enjoy.

Hybrid Theory

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

In the video game world, the puzzle genre and the RPG genre are like apples and oranges. Both are delicious fruits to be sure, yet they're two completely different genres. Certainly genres that no one thought could ever actually come together. Yet here stands Puzzle Quest Challenge of the Warlords. A hybrid of the puzzle and RPG genre, and the hybrid works! Puzzle fans and RPG fans alike will absolutely love this game.

You'll start the game by choosing a profession. A warrior, druid, knight or something like that. And as you go through the game, you'll discover there are tons of RPG elements in play here. You'll traverse worlds, visit towns, collect items and equipment, and most important of all: you'll battle, and this is where Puzzle Quest truly shines.

The only puzzle game which comes to mind to compare this to is Bejeweled, a game several of you have probably played on your PC or cellphone several times over. You're given an 8x8 grid where you'll swap two tiles in order to get three of the same tile. When you match up three tiles the tiles will disappear and three more tiles will drop in to fill the void. If you've played bejeweled, it's exactly that. However, the color of the tiles represents something. The purple tiles, for example, are experience points. Each time you make three purple tiles disappear you'll gain additional experience points from the battle. Skull tiles deal damage. You've also got tiles that represent your mana, and when you take those tiles out you get more mana.

The way in which battles take place is really quite interesting. You and your opponent share the same board and will take turns to clear out the grid. Your goal, of course, should be to go after the skull pieces to deal damage, but it doesn't hurt to do other things as well. Red, blue, yellow and green tiles represent your mana, and each color pertains to a different spell. However, you'll want to snag these too to recharge your mana and cast spells. You'll want to go after the purple tiles for more experience, and after the Gold tiles to get more gold. This is much more than just trying to kill your enemy before he/she/it kills you. You'll also want to try and get more than three tiles at a time. Stringing together combos and getting rid of more than three tiles nets you an extra turn, and believe me, your computer opponents are no dummies, they will take advantage of this and kill you. It's surprisingly strategic, addictive, and of course, it wouldn't be a puzzle game without multiplayer, and the multiplayer matches against your friends are just as fun and addictive.

Yet the game never puts aside its RPG elements either. Puzzle quest is actually quite a lengthy quest. Complete with sidequests, optional bosses, characters that join your party and everything! Believe it or not, this game probably does span the length of an RPG. That means you could easily spend over fifty hours with this game. To keep its RPG elements in tact, you get experience points from each of the various battles you'll be in. When you level up, you get a chance to distribute points among your attributes. This means giving you a chance to increase things like your strength, HP or your mana skills.

Visually the game is quite impressive. The PSP counterpart looks better, of course, but the DS isn't so bad looking. The manga style artwork is beautiful. Sometimes its a little too easy to make a mistake on the DS version, though, mainly because you've got to use the stylus and more often than not you may tap the wrong piece. It's not too much of a burden, though, and the game still plays just fine. The 3D graphics and story sequences are also pretty good looking on the DS, as is the battlefield itself.

On paper it doesn't sound like a good idea to mix the RPG and puzzle genre together, but the final product is certainly a fantastic one. RPGers and puzzle gamers alike owe it to themselves to check the game out. This is more than just another purchase of bejeweled, it's a puzzle game with great RPG elements that keep it interesting for hours on end. A fantastic combination.

Pros:

+An interesting hybrid of puzzle and RPG elements that work
+Addictive and strategic gameplay
+The computer is not stupid
+Fun multiplayer experience
+Engaging quest
+Top notch graphics
+Top notch music
+Hours upon hours upon HOURS of gameplay
+The construction of the games elements (tiles representing mana, gold and so forth) is just so well done and put together and it makes for a far more interesting gaming experience

Cons:

-With the stylus controls you're bound to do something you don't want to do
-Sometimes the computer is unrelenting; thankfully, you're not penalized if you lose a battle!

Biggerst problem is this game will eat all your spare time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The biggest problem I had with this game was sitting down to play it for 5 minutes and realizing it's hours later and I should probably go eat something.

In theory the game is "just another" columns like puzzle game, with some RPG elements thrown in to keep it more entertaining. However the sum is much more than the total of it's parts, as you'll discover after playing it for hours to try and gain "just one more item" or "to make my pet one level higher".

This is a wierd, but very fun game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It's also very hard to get a hold of =) This is the kind of game you hope for with the DS - something fun and out of the ordinary. The bejweled aspect can get annoying at times, but it just means you need to pay attention. The good part is that if you need to, you can put this down at any moment and pick up again without "dying". Oh, and to that effect, losing a battle still gets you something. What a concept!

Additionally, there are choices you have to make in the game that affect the ending and playstyle to give you some flavor. It's very addicting, challenging, and worth the bargain basement price.

One note, in case Amazon copies this over to the PSP version - there is a bug currently known that you get no credit for your companions. It's only a small help, but still could be a distractor for some. On the company's site they haven't mention if they will have a fix in newer version of the game or not.

The next best thing was actually even better!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I probably wouldn't have heard about this game, except one night I decided to ask on a message board if Bejeweled had ever been released for the Nintendo DS. I thought if ever there was a game that was perfect for the touch screen it was Bejeweled. Somebody replied telling me about Puzzle Quest. I was a little unsure if I'd like a game that was similar but not exactly the same, but I decided to try it out. I guess I'm pretty lucky I found it in a store because I've since heard horror stories about it being hard to find. (though I could have bought it here) Anyway, I found I enjoyed this game even more than Bejeweled. I haven't played a single game of Bejeweled since I picked up Puzzle Quest. A fantastic game. Supposedly the PSP version has prettier graphics, but a game like this is made for a touch screen or a computer mouse. I wouldn't want to be limited to a directional pad when playing this game, no matter how good the graphics are. If you like Bejeweled, get this game. If you like RPG's, get this game. If you like puzzle games, get this game. See? There's something for just about everyone. Ok, maybe not sports fans. Of course, I'd still like to see Bejeweled put out for the DS.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Really great game. An addicting must have for any DS owner. One bug I have noticed though, is that when doing something in your citadel that requires you to fight, if you also level up then the level up screen and the citadel screen overlap, which can be annoying, but not a deal breaker.

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