Welp, there goes at least a good few weekends - Puzzle Quest is back, and this time, we're back to our roots. D3 is forgetting about that whole Galactrix spinoff business and is unleashing the fantasy-themed Puzzle Quest 2, with more RPG fun, that signature vs-Bejewelled puzzle action, and a whole new adventure.
It was a few years ago now that D3 released Puzzle Quest, and its combination of RPG systems, an interesting little anime-style story, and puzzle-based versus combat was a breath of fresh air. Sure, the DS seemed like it'd be the best place for a game like this, but playing it on the road was a bit of an annoyance - especially if it was a bumpy ride, as any accidental stylus swipes could lose you your turn and incur a nasty little penalty, too.
Not only is that penalty gone in the DS version of the game, but the gem board on the bottom screen is bigger and cleaner. You can still get info on the many new spells and abilities with a simple swipe of the stylus, but now it's just tucked away in favor of the more important parts. The top screen has info on your health, mana of several colors, and your opponent's stats as well.
The Xbox 360 is also getting Puzzle Quest 2 over XBLA, and it gives you the same info but just in a 720p widescreen format. But design tweaks aren't the only changes going into this sequel: it also now gets a more close-up adventure element where your hero walks around not on an overworld-style map but through something that resembles Diablo a bit more. All the graphics are still fairly simplistic 2D sprites, but there's more detail - and the change over to a more realistic Western style looks, in general, pretty good. Some gamers may lament the loss of the anime storyline and style, but at the very least, the signature puzzle game is here.
There's something to be said about the basic Bejewelled-style game board over the hexagonal gems used in Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, the last entry in this series. For me, I think there's a good balance of strategy and predictability to the combos and falling gems, and while I want to think in a puzzle game, sometimes I don't want to think too hard - and Galactrix required you to study a multitude of angles and possible combos, often leading to rushed decisions and AI opponents getting ridiculous-seeming combos that led many to think the game was essentially cheating. No, it wasn't actually cheating, but if it seems like it is, then that's probably not great design.
So we're back to the old board, and the infamous skull gems that fire out direct damage to your opponent are still here, but now the experience and money you come entirely from simply doing battle - there aren't gems for that anymore. There is a new action gem, though, and building up action points by matching those allow you to swipe at your enemy with your equipped weapon. Yep, you now have equipped gear in Puzzle Quest 2, and the four classes - assassin, barbarian, sorcerer, and templar - all have a range of items they can use. They've also got unique sets of spells and abilities that can be activated mid-battle, and depend on different types of mana which are gotten from matching the appropriately-colored gems in combat.
PQ2 does break up the constant questing and fighting with some goofy, fun mini-games, all of which also use the basic gem-matching game. In one situation, a building was on fire, and I had to match blue gems to put it out. Accidentally matching red gems made the fire worse, and getting action points allowed me to unleash a special weapon for the fight: a bucket of water. What made this amusing was that when I did, I got an impressive swooshing attack screen for it, making my bucket-wielding skills look masterful and very epic.
From what I can tell, Puzzle Quest 2 looks like a solid return to form for the series, with the right balance of RPG systems, puzzle-based fights that are challenging but not too tough, and an interesting new visual style. With new features like equipment, sidekicks, and male/female versions of each class, the feature set has been rounded out as well - and the online play over XBLA (and local wi-fi on the DS) means there'll be some opportunities for serious competition with your friends as well. Puzzle Quest 2 is set for release on Xbox Live and the DS this spring.
