[PSP/DS/PC] Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

[Cid Highwind]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a game developed by Infinite Interactive and published by D3 Publisher. The game combines RPG with strategy and puzzle elements. Currently it is available for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. A personal computer version is still being developed with a demo currently available, while an Xbox Live Arcade version was announced on May 1, 2007[1]. A Wii version is currently in the works and it's scheduled for Fall 2007.

So much for the official information about the systems on which it is available. As seen in the thread title, I am currently playing the PSP version of the game. Right now I've been playing it for over a week, several hours a day, and I think I have a pretty good impression of what this game has to offer, good enough to write up something decent for you guys

I don't exactly know how I got in contact with this game, probably when just looking up some info on PSP games. Fact is, as soon as I read about this title being based on the Tetris Attack style gameplay. I have always been looking for a new game in this style, thus immediately being interested in this game. What they promise is a Puzzle/Strategy/RPG hybrid set in the "Warlords game universe". I never heard of this universe before, and to me it seemed like just another medieval fantasy setting borrowing a lot from the Dungeons and Dragons settings. After having downloaded a PC demo, I really got hooked to it, and decided to get myself a sealed copy on Ebay, where it can be had for a fair price.

So, what's this game about you ask? Well first of all, you have to create yourself a character to play with. You can choose from the following classes: Druid, Knight, Warrior and Wizard. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, which makes me think there might even be a rock paper scissors method to it, but of that I'm not sure. I chose the Druid on my first go, simply because it seemed interesting because it's a bit spell focused.



You start out on a world map, where the basics are explained. The first time you visit a town, menu or battle you will get to see a tutorial slowly explaining everything there is to the game. This is really well done and I haven't seen a single thing that wasn't explained the first time I encountered it. So it's easy for new player to pick up the game without even having to need to refer to the manual.



So starting out on the world map, you can point towns, ruins and other locations and go there to see whatever you can find. In towns you can usually visit the inn to gather background information and rumors, shop for items that boost stats and give other bonuses and of course get quests. Later in the game you can also lay siege to another town to capture it and generate an income for you, which can be used to purchase better equipment or raise stats at the temple. The temple is one of the town buildings you can build, along with a dungeon and mage tower. The latter two allow you to respectively capture an enemy and learn enemy moves/spells. Also is it possible to ride an enemy (a mount) such as griffins or giant rats () that will give you a 7th spell to be used in battle, and an additional bonus point to one of your stats depending on the level of the mount, which can be trained in town to a new level, by puzzling of course



Now what do you actually have to do in this game? Well first of all, there's some sort of a background story about the undead threatening the lands, orcs invading and stuff like that. It's a nice detail and it adds a bit to the game, basically it's what will be pushing you forward in the game, and I think the game would feel rather empty without it, no matter how simple the story is. Then again, I haven't come that far in the story, since I always do all sidequests first before moving on, which takes up hours if you want to capture all kinds of enemies and get all spells and runes. After you get your quests at towns you will be send to a certain place on the map, and there you will find yourself an enemy to battle. Usually it's just some simple "defeat that monster" or "retrieve that item" quest, the regular excuse to get some action, nothing wrong with that though. So after you did that, or used a certain amount of limitless retries (you can't really die in this game ), you go back to the castle to do a report and get some extra money and EXP.



As you gain levels, more spells will be opened up to you, these range from doing direct damage, to throwing up mana draining shields, healing and making half the screen explode only to be refilled immediately afterwards There's quite a lot of variety in them and each class will have its own spells. Spells cost mana, which can be gained by aligning 3 mana gems in a row, 4 or 5 will do as well of course, they give you bonuses. A 4-in-a-row will give you an extra turn, and a 5-in-a-row will give an extra turn and a wildcard. A wildcard is a multiplier that can be linked up with any other row of a random colour. There's also the purple stars, that give bonus XP, and gold coins, to give extra money. Skulls obviously will do direct damage, and the +5 skulls will destroy the entire 3x3 grid around them, so be careful with those, and be sure the enemy won't link up those



This type of turn based gameplay really keeps you excited because you will constantly be looking for 4-in-a-rows and ways to get the mana you want to cast your fav spells. Also, like I said you can capture enemies to either ride them, or learn their spells. This will give you a different kind of game, as can be seen in the screenshots below. This is what gives you a puzzle where you need to clear the screen. The first ones are easy, and I managed to get 4 or 5 of them in one go, but you really need to be pretty insightful to pull that off. Anyone who can help me with capturing this Wight should certainly do so, because after an hour I still didn't manage to solve this puzzle.




After you have captured an enemy you can go to town and visit the Mage Tower, where you can learn spells. This gives a third type of game, where you have a full grid like in regular battles, but where you need to collect large amounts of mana, and spell scrolls. These spell scrolls don't come falling down, instead they appear only after a 4 or 5-in-a-row. When you have no moves left you will have failed and you will need to start over. Unlike in regular games, where this will cause a Mana Drain, causing you and the enemy to lose ALL mana and having the entire field be reset. This can be either a life saver, or your worst enemy.



The final aspect of the game to explain is the creation of items. This probably is one of the most exciting features because it allows you to create weapons or other accessories by combining three runes. These runes are obtained by searching ruins and other locations and by beating Rune Keepers, which are extremely tough versions of regular opponents. These require both skill and strategy to defeat. In town at the Blacksmith you can pick three runes, each that will define a certain aspect of the item's bonuses, and combine them. This leads to a game that's pretty similar to the learning of new spells from enemies.



These items can give you a true edge in the game. Take this Wightblade for instance, every time you strike, red mana will be blown away from the opponent, preventing it from casting spells. This is very inconvenient, especially for knights and warriors whose spells mostly require red mana. They can also boost stats of course, which will make you do more damage when linking up three skulls, or give a bigger mana gain when combining three of them. (so not getting 3 mana, but 4 or 5). Also, higher stats in Earth/Water/Fire/Air magic will give a bigger chance on random wild cards and random extra turns, the same applies to skulls, money and XP.

Now that I hit the PREVIEW POST button, I realize I've only touched the game's mechanics right now. I suppose I still have the graphics and music section to do

Well as for graphics I can be short, just look at the screenshots and you'll know what to expect. On PSP the game looks splendid, everything is easy to read, the 2d art is of high quality, really bringing a good atmosphere in the game. It's all a bit anime inspired, which reflects in character designs, not a bad thing. The spells have simple, yet nice animations. The only drawback is that sometimes it takes a bit of loading, such as with spells. The main menu is slow to load as well, running from a memory stick solves this.

The music gets the job done, nothing truly memorial so far, perhaps I'll get more epic tunes later on. The battle music never really got annoying so far, and I've played quite a few games. The sound effects are very well done for a game of this kind, they're not annoying at all, and I just love the marble-like sound the mana gems make when falling down. On the world map there's some good sounds whenever new enemies appear on the roads at random.

As for multiplayer, this game supports the Ad-Hoc game mode, where you can use your character to battle against a friend, using all the magic and items you got ingame. If the characters are too far off in terms of power, one player can get a handicap if you want, but I don't know what that does. I don't know if the game is very balanced, and personally I don't think it even matters that much. All I can say is that it was pretty easy for me to beat Industrian's lvl 30 Knight with my lvl 24 Druid. Mainly because I had the better spells, and the mentioned blade to drain him from his most important type of mana. There's also some local rankings, but those aren't really adding much to the game.

Again Netplay would've been awesome, simply to find someone to play with. I really wonder why developers don't realize you need to be freaking lucky to have someone with a PSP live near you, and even then he still needs to have the game as well. Or are they just lazy?

Well it's time to sum things up. I think this is an awesome game that really gives you countless hours of fun. I think there's even level 99 to reach in this game, and many spell yet to be unlocked. There's a great variety in monsters, and even if you don't feel like doing quests, there's always the quick match option. This game puts you up with quite a challenge, some matches are even freaking hard and really require you to put effort in it. If you don't think ahead one turn, you're toast. The art style, sound and music, and variety in gameplay modes help keeping you in the game, as does the story. So if you like your puzzle games, you can't go wrong with this one.

Graphics: 8 (bright, clear, easy to read stuff)
Art: 8.5 (interesting map and locations, great enemy design, beautiful 2d art)
Sound and Music: 7.5 (they get the job done without becoming annoying)
Gameplay: 9 (as good as it gets, both in quality and in quantity)


ps. Thanks to Samor for hosting the images
pps. This was my 10.000th post, hence putting some extra effort into it, cheers guys

[Silenus]

Nice review Cid, and Congrats on your 10k.

[Densetsu]

I played it very little. The basic game mechanics remind me of Bejeweled. Line three gems of same colors to uhh... get points or something with a twist.

[Mad]

I played the DS version.
I liked it, although it was late at night, it got me sleepy

[PsyMan]

For anyone willing to try the gameplay a bit, here's a demo of the PC version.

Nice review Cid.

[Cid Highwind]

Originally Posted by Silenus

Nice review Cid, and Congrats on your 10k.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Densetsu

I played it very little. The basic game mechanics remind me of Bejeweled. Line three gems of same colors to uhh... get points or something with a twist.

Indeed, it's the Bejeweled reference (Tetris Attack to me though) that got me interested in this game. However, this game is turn based rather than depending on your reflexes. The twist is what makes it unique imo, it's a nice and fresh concept.

Originally Posted by Mad

I played the DS version.
I liked it, although it was late at night, it got me sleepy

lol, yeah when Industrian was here we played it till late at night as well, it was the first thing to do in the morning again I noticed that late at night concentration isn't that good anymore and I lost more battles. How is the DS version? Does the touch screen add anything to the game?


I forgot to put up a link to the PC demo in the review, it's worth giving a shot.
Feature - Download: Puzzle Quest Demo - GameDaily

EDIT: PsyMan beat me to it while I was typing, thanks

[kinzuagolfer]

I knew I should of never played the demo. Makes me want to get a hand held even more. This is totally addicting. It's also a lot more involved than I anticipated. You cant just click here click there. You need to plan and see how the board will change every turn.

[Cid Highwind]

Well it will also be released on PC. But these are the kind of games that are just perfect for a handheld. I'm glad you enjoyed the demo. I think you can play a lot in it, it's just that at a moment you'll become too weak because of the level limit.

[JJXB]

i have it on psp and i like it and how long have you had it? i've had it over a week and i'm about level 16/17 at this point.

[Cid Highwind]

I've had it for abou three or four weeks now. And I still enjoy it like the day I got it. I'm playing a Druid and it's a great class. Once he's settled in a battle and harvested some mana it's hard not to win. What he lacks in offensive power, he will make up for with shields and the Forest Fire spell, which does 8-13 damage. Cast it 4 turns in a row, and the enemy won't be happy.

[JJXB]

warrior here. I prefer throw axe since the minimum damage it does is around 10 and extra damage is added for each skull on the field which usually ends up doing at least 13-17 damage still as hard as nails though.