The Bottom Line
- Clever combination of genres.
- RPG elements add strategic elements to puzzles.
- Lots of quests and sub-quests.
- Not a lot of puzzle variety.
Description
- ESRB rated E10+ -- published by D3 Publisher -- game profile -- screenshots
- Graphics: Anime-style character art and cutscenes make a nice complement to the bright jewel-like puzzle graphics.
- Sound: Gets a bit repetitive, but it sounds good and changes to suit location and situation.
- Gameplay: The puzzles are simple to learn how to play, but challenging to master; moving around the board is simple.
- Multiplayer: Ad Hoc allows two players to pit their characters against each other. Not complex, but still a nice addition.
- Replay value: High due to different character types and different ways to level up, added to the addictive puzzling.
- Recommendation: Buy this one, you'll almost certainly play it enough to make the purchase worthwhile.
Guide Review - Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
That isn't to say it's not a good game to take with you for waits at the dentist or long bus rides, just as long as you listen for the receptionist to call your name, or look up once in a while to see how close you are to your bus stop. Especially at first, the puzzle combat is pretty quick (though it does go on longer as your opponents become more challenging), and the game auto-saves for you after each achievement, so you don't need to worry about forgetting to save when it's your turn to get your cavities filled.
What it doesn't have is a lot of variety in the puzzles. The main puzzle--that used for combat--is a variation on the "match three jewels" type game, and there is a "clear the board" game that works on similar principles. The real interest comes with the addition of items that give your certain abilities or tip the odds in your favor and with learning new spells that you can use in various ways. It means you can't win simply by matching colors. You have to plan which colors to match, because that's how you collect mana to power your spells, and it's also how you level up, do damage to your enemies, and make a bit of extra gold.
All-in-all, Puzzle Quest is one of those simple but brilliant games that are super easy to learn, but take lots of playtime to master. And since it's also so addictive, you won't feel that putting in that time is at all a chore.
