And though I was a huge fan of the original game, Challenge of the Warlords, I actually must confess that I missed out on the second iteration, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. With that being said, Infinite Interactive has given us many more chances at playing through a Puzzle Quest sequel and it’s refreshing to see that they’ve been tinkering with the formula in order to create a more evolved experience of the original game. Take Puzzle Chronicles for instance, the most recent iteration in works that was shown at E3 a couple of weeks ago; here players ditch the traditional turn based puzzle battles and settle for an action packed version of Puzzle Fighter.
Puzzle Kingdoms is another game that was just released by Infinite Interactive and attempts to separate from but also build upon the success of the original title (It’s becoming a little difficult to keep track of Infinite Interactive’s games because they’ve already created games for three different publishers; Zoo Games, DSI Games, and now Konami). And though this game doesn’t really travel too far off the beaten path, it did keep me addicted for about as long as the original game (which is saying something). For an idea of the game’s addictiveness, just follow my convenient mathematical subtitles for the perfect equation to Puzzle Quest gaming:
Double Edged Aesthetics + …
The first thing I noticed when I turned on the game was the beautiful music, typical of any Puzzle Quest game. The music is most definitely one of the greatest highlights of the game, featuring extremely epic scores but it must be noted that they can get a little repetitive after being heard multiple times (which was the case with the original Puzzle Quest). Also, though the DS version’s music was much grainier and muffled than the music in the Wii game, it still boasted an impressive soundtrack. Sound effects felt very reproduced on the other hand, sounding almost all too much like those from Challenge of the Warlords.
Next, the second part of the game that was immediately noticeable actually stood out more like a sore thumb than anything: the presentation. Though I find aesthetics can sometimes be criticized far too much in the gaming media, there is a line that even I must cross when necessary. Here, the DS game was obviously the first experience I had with the game and the graphics seemed very rushed and almost washed out at times. Thus, I was not impressed with the overall aesthetics of the game compared to its previous titles. However, when I began to play the Wii version, I was even less impressed with the game’s graphics; most of the Wii’s graphics were almost entirely identical to those of the DS but only with a higher resolution (but not full screen).
One of the main reasons that I found the game’s graphics to be such a major disappointment is because Puzzle Quest is supposed to be a hybrid of puzzles and RPG aspects and without at least a little gloss, the story becomes all the more bland. This is most certainly the case with Puzzle Kingdoms, where the already generic story loses all credibility under the graphical shoddiness. Still, aesthetics aren’t the only thing that makes a game and luckily, this game makes up for that with its solid gameplay mechanics and depth:
… Limitless Customization + …
The game strangely begins without the ability to customize the main character like in previous puzzle games. I quickly understood, though, once I realized that he/she is merely an NPC for dialogue, as the heroes and troops of the kingdom are the driving force of combat, though I still miss the customization of Challenge of the Warlords. I also have mixed feelings about hero organization in this game as you begin with one hero, a Warrior, and are not given any opportunity to choose your class from the beginning.
The game does end up with literally 20 heroes at your disposal, each of which can gain levels like in the previous Puzzle Quest games and each of which can be chosen for his/her abilities (there are literally over 12 classes in this game, making for a huge amount of customization). However, without the ability to choose your starting hero from the beginning, you may be inclined to skip using some of the later characters if your starting hero is on a high enough level (it takes some time to level up heroes). Thus unless you’re a completionist and really want to use some of the later characters to see what type of skills they learn, there really is no point in changing from the initial Warrior class or first couple of characters.
Aside from multiple heroes at your disposal, this game has many other things that are different from the Puzzle Quest experience. For instance, though you point and click which areas you’d like to explore, battles end up bringing you to an entirely different map full of territories you must conquer. I thought this was very cool but I feel like they could have done a lot more with it (like made the enemy heroes actually move around and attack your own bases). After conquering every territory (through traditional turned based puzzling), you gain control of that kingdom and are allowed to recruit troops & heroes, find spells & artifacts, and unlock new kingdoms to explore.
…Mimicking Other Great Titles + …
Battles are played like Pokémon Trozei where players take turns sliding entire rows of tiles. Gone are the experience and gold tiles from previous puzzle quest games and battles end after all of the creatures in your party have perished (rather than after the hero loses his HP). Thus, there must be an important balance between attack/defense skill bonuses from your hero/artifacts (this raises creatures’ damage and HP respectively), creature type and position (as you progress through the game, stronger creatures are the better choice), and combat spells. In truth, there are a lot of aspects that can be customized but it never feels overwhelming as you’re truly given full control over how you would like to battle.
I also like that this game takes much of its hero customization and creature types from the Heroes of Might and Magic series. True to that series, the game contains many of the same types of creatures for you to use at your disposal (though you can only have up to four in your party at once). This includes 37 different creatures, each of which has different attack/defense, type/amount of tiles necessary for them to attack, and required kingdom points to include in your party. The amount of customization is literally limitless and perfectionists should have well over 40 hours of gameplay at their disposal if they choose to gain levels with some of the other classes.
As for battle customization, this game is even deeper than Challenge of the Warlords. Aside from differences in hero classes and affinities (coincides with which kingdoms they are more likely to prefer), players are given the ability to choose a number of different things. First of all, you must choose the kingdom you wish to battle under. This can be any of the kingdoms you’ve conquered along the way and these determine the amount and quality of the items, spells, artifacts, and creatures within your party. Each kingdom has a certain amount of points and every one of the abovementioned customizeable equipment/creatures costs a certain amount of points to equip. Thus, there is an art to balancing your party and you can truly make one to your own specifications.
For instance, you could potentially play with a plethora of spells but weaker troops if you’re more accustomed to this style of battle. Or, you could bring along four different dragons, each with high defense and attack power but at the cost of less effective spells and artifacts. I personally began with a strong army, changed my strategy to strong artifacts that pump up a weaker army, and then eventually included stronger troops again once I conquered kingdoms with high kingdom point totals (I didn’t use spells very much).
…Solid Turn Based Battles = …
Within the battle, your creatures are your main mode of combat and thus targeting tiles of their affinity is very important. Similar to spells from Challenge of the Warlords, creatures can be activated to attack once they’ve acquired a set amount of tiles to use. However, if you save up your creature attacks, you can actually create attack bonuses for each extra creature attacking at once. Thus, if you save up and attack with all four of your creatures at once, each of your troops receives a +3 damage boost.
There are attack tiles on the board where if you line up three or more in a row, your hero attacks for a certain amount of damage. However, using your troops and spells are probably your most effective modes of combat. Spells are activated by acquiring enough hero points within a battle. These hero points accumulate for every tile match that is not used on your creatures. Thus, if one of your creatures has a full meter, then the rest of the tile matches of that color go to hero points. Also, different colored tiles that are not included in your creatures’ repertoire are also added to hero points. Spells can be chosen individually and can do anything from giving you extra turns to hurting your opponent’s creatures to changing tiles.
As for the over world, there is a limited amount of things to do. For instance in Challenge of the Warlords, players were able to visit shops and buy equipment. In Puzzle Kingdoms, all of the equipment you find must be searched for in one of the many ruins scattered around the map. Also, new creature and hero recruitment is done by visiting the nearby temples to each kingdom. Every action aside from conquering castles, however, comes at the cost of your gold (which is won during battles). Thus, though gold is a currency, it really acts more like a limitation than anything.
Once you visit temples and ruins, you’ll also get a different flavor of puzzling than that of the battles. In creature and hero recruitment, players must race against a clock in order to acquire enough tiles of each color. This puzzle was fun at first but could be downright impossible for some of the best troops. I actually had to find a way to cheat in order to solve these (by pausing the game after making each move so that the ensuing chain reaction matches did not stall my time). As for the ruins searches, players must solve a puzzle where they must eliminate all of the tiles on the screen within a certain amount of moves (which was also quite challenging at times). I liked the small amounts of variation in the puzzling but I still couldn’t help but get tired of the repetition within the game (thus like in Puzzle Quest, this game is best in shorter bursts than in longwinded gaming sessions).
Crack in a Cartridge
Despite some major problems in the graphics department, fairly repetitious gameplay, and clunky controls at times, Puzzle Kingdoms did everything I expected from a Puzzle Quest game. It branched somewhat from the typical format, extended the series’ customization and depth, and provided a drug rivaling addiction all in one cartridge. And though the Wii version has a higher resolution and better quality sounding instruments, there is not enough of a jump in presentation to make any relevant impact on the game. Thus, if you’re in for another crack-like gaming experience, pick up the DS version so you can play the game anywhere you so desire and fulfill your gaming addiction as you so please.