Heads Up: Puzzle Quest

[Nino]

While you were chainsawing mofos in Gears of Bore and plasma swording people in Halo 2 I was out playing Puzzle Quest all day on my PSP and boy let me tell you. It's great. I initially thought little of it and ignored it because I don't like RPGs or strategy games but this game is my new favorite handheld game since Lumines. It's a weird blend between Bejeweld and an RPG and it works really really well. You basically take turns with your opponent while playing Bejeweld and certain items on the screen represent certain actions. If you combine 3 skulls you do 5 points worth of damage to your opponent, if you collect the colored squares you get mana to do your spells and the purple stars gain you experience to level up your character. This simple concept works really really well and the recent XBLA announcement means that you will be all over this when it comes out, mark my words. I do a poor job at descriptions so here's a little quote from the official website (located here).

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a brand new, genre-bending title that ups the ante on traditional puzzle games by incorporating strategy, role-playing elements and a persistent storyline. Set in the Warlords universe, the game challenges players to save the land of Etheria from evil Lord Bane as gamers engage in battles fought by means of competitive, head-to-head "match-three" style puzzle games in one of three gameplay modes: Single-player, Instant Action or Multiplayer. Victory will advance a player's customisable hero, magical arsenal, creature companions and more—ultimately rewarding gamers at nearly every turn and deepening their immersion into the richly diverse world. The game's remarkable mix of classic puzzle gameplay and an abundant suite of characters, customisations, spells, companions, tameable monsters and more provides a fresh take on the puzzle genre that offers endless hours of replayability. Designed specifically for handheld gaming systems, Puzzle Quest can be enjoyed in long or short doses, cultivating a casual but deeply satisfying and compelling gameplay experience.

(yeah you get to take another turn if you manage to combine 4 of the same items in a row, a key technique to winning your battles)


(world map)


(gameplay)


(gameplay)


(gameplay)
(screenshots from the PSP version)

I drained my batteries twice today during this highy addictive piece of gaming crack, I suggest you check out the PSP demo if you have PSP or get really really stoked for the Xbox Live Arcade release later this year. It's also available on DS but I dunno how that version is. You can thank me later.

Edit: PC DEMO HERE

[Nekro Neko]

What I want to know is, will there be live play and will you be able to level up online, albeit, slower.

[Nino]

Both the PSP and DS versions have multiplayer modes so I'd be surprised if the XBLA version didnt.

[UKJAY]

It looks like it'll be addictive...I still haven't cleared base on Lumines !! but im hooked all the same.

[Chris]

You used your battery up twice? What'd that take, 45 minutes?

[Nino]

Originally Posted by Chris

You used your battery up twice? What'd that take, 45 minutes?

3:45 x 2 = nearly 8 hours. .

edit: here's the PC demo, dunno how it compares though, I'm currently downloading, I'll let you know how it measures up to the PSP version later.

[UKJAY]

think I saw this on WindowsMarketplace...I'll check it out

[Nino]

Demo is pretty cool, almost exactly like the PSP version but in high res.

[Rival24]

_{And with decent controls}

[Nino]

_{Game isn't control-heavy anyway so it's all good}

Have you played it Rival?

[TRIGGER M4N]

God you played this on PSP, that must of sucked so much asssss!

[UKJAY]

Originally Posted by TRIGGER M4N

God you played this on PSP, that must of sucked so much asssss!

If the PSP had a better battery I probably would have kept mine, but the idea of a hand-held wasn't to keep it plugged into the wall all day so I could play something. I only had 5 games with it, but it was all I played before 360 was released, then it never came out of the wardrobe drawer!

And I hear the UK is finally getting the PSP Camera which I imported months and months ago as a tool to sell my PSP in the UK quicker and over-price it. It takes crap video, but good widescreen photos...

[Nino]

Originally Posted by TRIGGER M4N

God you played this on PSP, that must of sucked so much asssss!

Troll failed, several reviews say it's the superior version.

[/PSP debate.] (I mean it, start a separate thread if you want to discuss that system)

Back to the awesomeness of Puzzle Quest:

[UKJAY]

...so it comes across like Jewel Quest Pokemon ?

[Nino]

It has little to do with Pokemon, I suggest you checkout the PC demo so you can see what it's all about, my description is probably lacking.

[Paul Tancred]

PC demo is awesome.

Buying

[Nino]

Paulie knows what's up.

[TRIGGER M4N]

It's really not that good.

[Nino]

Originally Posted by TRIGGER M4N

It's really not that good.

It really is, better than Halo and Gears of Bore combined.

[TRIGGER M4N]

You really can't think that, surely? That fucking shit block sliding game better than Halo and GeOW?

[Nino]

Originally Posted by TRIGGER M4N

You really can't think that, surely? That fucking shit block sliding game better than Halo and GeOW?

Played and enjoyed it more than both of your boring shooters yeah.

[Rossko_UK]

I will be the overall judge, I'm just about to play it now

I'll post my comments in a bit.

It's OK. Not as good as what Nino says it is, but also not as bad as Trig says. Enjoyable certainly, and I'll pick it up for XBLA when it arrives for sure.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by TRIGGER M4N

You really can't think that, surely? That fucking shit block sliding game better than Halo and GeOW?

He's more impressed by watching games be played for him.

 spoiler:

God of War? Ouch? Yes.

[Nino]

Originally Posted by Chris

He's more impressed by watching games be played for him.

 spoiler:

God of War? Ouch? Yes.

Yeah because that's really relevant and I'm the only person on the planet that was impressed by God of War...

[UKJAY]

Originally Posted by Nino

Yeah because that's really relevant and I'm the only person on the planet that was impressed by God of War...

Now he will start shouting about Offtopic post's !!