Gather ’round for a tale as odd as the time a talking snowman walked around playing with children. Ye will hear the tale of a game that mixed two seemingly incompatible genres and lived to tell the sweet tale. It was as if Romeo and Juliet were not the star crossed lovers after all. This, my humble readers, is the story of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords.
Putting aside the silly Olde English, the last big puzzle game to make a splash was Lumines. It combined sound and simple gameplay to make an unforgettable experience on the brand new (at the time) PSP. Since then, there have been other puzzle games that tried to capture some of the magic but never quite got there. Puzzle Quest (original name, huh?) blends RPG elements with a puzzle board that many internet users have seen before, Bejeweled. If you haven’t played Bejeweled, you are supposed to match three colors in a row to make them disappear before more jewels fall on the screen.
This same principle is the backbone of gameplay for Puzzle Quest. You match colors and skulls in effort to gain points and, with the RPG twist, harm the other player. Puzzle Quest takes the RPG system as far as offering moves like making the opponent miss a turn to obtain the upper hand in a puzzle battle. This is the reason why Puzzle Quest is so entertaining because the game can go either way with some well thought out strategy.
To explain why you are fighting all these “battles” is a story that is like any JRPG out there. You are the reluctant, chosen one who is the only one that can save the world. Add items that give your stats bonuses call it a full blown RPG with puzzle battles. You can check out shops and buy new items and weapons that change stats to add more RPG depth to the simple puzzle gameplay. As you traverse the map you will come into contact with some random battles towards your treks to quest sites where you have to puzzle battle bosses to deliver messages or help a town. The quirky mix works surprisingly well, far beyond what you might expect.
Aside from the lengthy main quest, there are other options to tickle your puzzle fancy. You can jump right into a battle or you can find another Puzzle Quester to battle it out head to head (sorry online fans, Puzzle Quest is LAN/Ad-Hoc only). If the main single player mode did not give you enough gameplay, these extra modes will put you over the top. The 2D graphics are nice to look at on the PSP and the DS. Out of the two versions, the PSP looks cleaner and crisper overall while the DS has the pixilation touch screen owners have had to deal with. Sound passes with flying colors on both systems with some soaring ancient themed tunes that get your mind pondering the next move. The DS beats the PSP version in one area, and that is load times. The PSP has to frequently load and it is a small annoyance but tolerable.
Puzzle Quest is now my personal favorite puzzle game of all time. It takes the idea of Bejeweled and increased the amplitude by making it a battle between gamers and AI then throwing in all the trimmings of a RPG. The innovation in Puzzle Quest is second to none, any doubts need to be put to rest. I want to know how this game escaped my radar for so long because it is a classic game that will be remembered. Even though Puzzle Quest hits every technical aspect out of the park, it won’t appeal to everyone as the RPG elements might be too heavy. Still, Puzzle Quest gives a huge shot in the arm for the puzzle genre and I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store next for this franchise.
