Puzzle Quest for DS/PSP

[Misguided]

Puzzle Quest info at QJ

Weird...it looks like Bejeweled with RPG elements (spells, equipment, etc).
Graphics look nice. Color me really intrigued.

This is the first I've heard of this one.

[Gratch]

Huh, I'm intrigued.  I burned out on Meteos, so I need a new puzzler.  Although I might have to break down and pick up the Disney Meteos when it's released.

[Misguided]

Huh, I'm intrigued.  I burned out on Meteos, so I need a new puzzler.  Although I might have to break down and pick up the Disney Meteos when it's released.

While I like games like Meteos/Magnetica/etc my real preference is for games I can play at a very deliberate pace. This looks like it might fit that bill.

[unbreakable]

Hmmm... I just realized how strange it is that so few games are released on both the DS and PSP.

[EddieA]

I guess this proves they can mix anything with an RPG

[Lee]

I guess this proves they can mix anything with an RPG

Yep, Popcap made an RPG out of Bookworm, it's actually pretty good.

[Misguided]

IGN has some videos posted. It looks like you may have to pull off combos to use magic, which sounds cool.
I'm also under the distinct impression that the colors of gems on the field are linked to types of magic,
so there'd be an added element of strategy to group certain colors you needed to pull off a big attack.

I really love bejeweled, so if they can somehow manage to make this work and balance the difficulty,
this has a ton of potential. And this is shipping in March? That's the part that worries me, that the
developer had no publisher until now. And with all due respect, D3 has published at least one real stinker on DS
(Break 'em All).

Apparently, the company co-developing this with the Warlords people is also making a virtual pet game for DS that is to be published by Konami.

Edit again: Well I'll be damned...they're also making the Marvel Trading Card Game for DS, which I've had reserved for months.

[Misguided]

I've seen a couple more pictures of Puzzle quest over at QJ

Check out the image on the right.
You can see a battle taking place here and I think I'm getting a better idea of how this
is actually going to work. It looks to me that the gem colors are like mana for schools of magic.
When you make matching sets, you gain mana of that color to use in the battle (you can see the
green, red, yellow, and blue mana bars) and different spells require mana in varying amounts
and colors (you can see the powers listed below the mana bars with the casting requirements).

I think this is going to add a really interesting strategic layer to the basic Bejeweled-type gameplay.
I'm thinking here that you and your opponent are working off of the same board. Note you can see
what spells your opponent has. This means you'll be collecting certain colors while trying to avoid leaving
easy matches for your opponent in specific colors.

Have I mentioned I'm really excited about this one?

[Misguided]

Great news!

I got a chance to play a demo of Puzzle Quest for about half an hour today, and I'm really pleased.
I had a chance to play two tutorial battles, one of which was against a practice dummy that didn't fight back.

In addition to stuff mentioned earlier there are some other wrinkles.
• Matching skulls does damage to your foe. There are skulls that do extra damage and also blow up when matched
  to take out the surrounding tiles.
• There are wild card gems that can be used to make matches with blue, yellow, green, or red gems. These have a multiplier
  that increases the amount of that color mana you receive.
• If you match a line of 4, you get to take another turn, so you will almost always want to do so when you can.
• Matching 5 gives an extra turn plus a wild-card
• Classes include: Druid, Warrior, Knight, and Wizard

I started a Knight. The one power I got to use was Thrust, which destroys one gem (or coin/skull). When you do so, you
get the benefit of that item as if it had been matched, and it can be useful for making matches. My second opponent had
an ability that removed all of the experience gems (purple) from the screen.

The AI on the one knight I fought was very passive, but I'm assuming this was because this was a tutorial.
He actually started to fight back harder towards the end of our battle.

There's a world map with locales on it. If there are quests at a locale it gets a ! over it, yellow for normal quests and red
for storyline quests. There are also shops and other things, but I didn't get a chance to see that.

I'll admit I was a bit worried that trying to merge two disparate ideas like this might end up not
working quite right, but those concerns are gone. Hopefully the game will be well balanced difficulty-wise.
No idea whether the classes will increase the replayability, but one would hope so.

[stiffler]

This game looks great.  Thanks for the added impressions, Misguided.  Can't wait for it to ship.  Need more puzzle games!

[Misguided]

More stuff...

In doing some reading of other previews, I've discovered the game is far deeper than I imagined:

There is some form of crafting new items with salvage you acquire.
You can choose to capture some opponents, then learn their skills.

The latter, and possibly both of these make use of some sort of mini-games which are variants
of the main combat mechanic.

There is also something where you can make special buildings in cities you capture that give
you bonuses or abilities. Haven't seen any other detail on this, but it surprises me there would be this much depth.
I tend to doubt this is too involved, but still, the more I read, the more fascinated I am.

I've also found an official forum though there isnt too much there as yet.

[Misguided]

From developer Steve Fawkner on the official forum come a few interesting tidbits:

1. The final game had the story-mode COMPLETELY rewritten more in the style of a traditional RPG (so a little more like Final Fantasy Tactics, I guess). It is now a real story (quite open-ended in many ways) with branching sections & side-stories + all sorts of interesting characters to meet & extra things to collect.

2. We spent the last 6-9 months re-balancing the game. It was very pleasing to be able to fine-tune this game properly. There are now a lot of additions and improvements as heroes progress towards the level-cap of 50. There are still plenty of good tricks to discover with spell + item combo's, but I think there is now a counter to everything.

3. There are 3 levels to the AI... and the AI makes better choices at higher levels. On the top level, it never misses good gem combo's and will cast spells more frequently & intelligently. You get a 25% xp bonus for fighting it on the highest level.

Oh, and to answer a question from Misguided, higher up, we haven't officially announced an XBox 360 version yet. There are various amounts of red-tape that we are still working our way through on this. However, if/when it is announced it would almost certainly be an XBox 360 Live Arcade title.

[Dramatist]

This looks like alot of fun.

[Misguided]

I've had a chance to play a little more, and the game hasn't let me down yet.
I am playing a wizard and and have reached level 5.

You gain access to new spells as you level. You can also acquire them from captured enemies,
though I have not tried this yet (more in a minute). You can carry up to 6 spells with you at any time.
They can be switched out by going into your inventory, which you can do at the various towns/etc.

The spells my wizard has so far include:
direct attack fire spell (red and yellow mana)
increase red mana +5 (all other color mana [3 each])
damage shield (reduces damage taken by 1)
haste (does damage to your opponent whenever you get an extra turn. lasts 10 turns)
mana drain (decreases all your foe's mana reserves by 5)

I haven't lost a fight yet, but they are starting to get more tense.
It's still very early in the game, after all. I've been able to make some
blunders or have some bad luck and still recover thus far. There is a high luck factor so good
strategy may not always enough, though it certainly can help! One of the big keys, IMO is that
some powers use your turn while others don't. There are times where you do NOT want
to have to make a move (e.g. because doing so may leave a potentially major opening for
your opponent's next move). Having the ability to stall by using a spell and forcing your
opponent to go can be big.

There are a variety of buildings you can buy. As an example, a dungeon costs 250 gold.
Once you have a dungeon, you are able to play the capturing mini game. This mini game
can be used when facing an opponent you have already defeated 3 times (haven't actually captured anything yet).
Once you have a foe captured, you can play a different minigame variant to learn the skills it has.
There is also a minigame for synthesizing new items. All of these are variants on the bejeweled-alike
combat, but each has its own wrinkles, such as special gem types.

[Misguided]

Lots of new info in this 4 color rebellion interview

[Misguided]

There's a nice preview at Gamespot

[EddieA]

Looking at their website, they also have another puzzle/RPG, with a dash of MOO 4x space conquest,  in the works called Galactrix.  From the screenshots, it looks like this is based on the collapse type of game rather than Bejewelled.  It's coming to PC first, and then DS, PSP, and Live Arcade.

It's hard to believe these shots are from the same game -

[Misguided]

Yeah, that one looks really nifty too. In discussing Galactrix recently, the names Elite and Starflight came up.

[Kevin Grey]

I normally abhor puzzle games (though I did enjoy Meteos for a time).  But if there was ever a puzzle game that would interest me, it's Puzzle Quest.  Definitely thinking about picking it up when it comes out. 

[EddieA]

GameDaily has a PC demo available here that lets you play up to level 7.  It seems like a lot of fun, and I'd probably register it, but there's no mention of registering the game in the demo.

[Gratch]

Thanks Eddie, that demo completely sold me.  I never thought that HOMM3 meets Bejeweled would work...but it does!

[Misguided]

Thanks Eddie, that demo completely sold me.  I never thought that HOMM3 meets Bejeweled would work...but it does!

This demo is exactly like the PSP demo that I've played. If anything, I'd say the graphics work a bit better on the PSP's smaller screen compared to my 24" widescreen. I can't wait til next week...I just hope it doesn't take a week to get to the store after it ships (since I have so many ordered for the store, I'm hoping they'll toss this into one of our overnight boxes with other new releases, but a title like this could conceivably take a long time to show up if it gets put in a regular box).

[Gratch]

OK, I'm confused.  Are they releasing a full PC-only version?  I'd almost rather get that than try to play on the small DS screens, but their official site still only says it's coming out for PSP/DS.

The lack of a registration option (as Eddie mentioned) almost makes me think this is just some sort of "teaser" version for people to get the feel of the game.  Strange. 

[Pharaoh]

Interestingly, I tried to pre-order this at Gamestop, and they said its listed as a title for the 28th of March, but it has no SKU, meaning its not a real product yet.

Not sure what that means, but I was kinda bumed I couldn't pre-order/get myself a copy.

[Destructor]

OK, I'm confused.  Are they releasing a full PC-only version?  I'd almost rather get that than try to play on the small DS screens, but their official site still only says it's coming out for PSP/DS.

The lack of a registration option (as Eddie mentioned) almost makes me think this is just some sort of "teaser" version for people to get the feel of the game.  Strange. 

I think that's exactly what that means. Too bad, really, as it would play great on my crappy PCs at work.

Awesome game in the end. It should do very well.

EDIT: Strangely enough, the forums on the official site talk about a PC demo released 2 years ago or so. But the way that the game was discussed about the old demo does not match up with the one I pulled and played today. *shrugs*

[Dante Rising]

GameDaily has a PC demo available here that lets you play up to level 7.  It seems like a lot of fun, and I'd probably register it, but there's no mention of registering the game in the demo.

Thanks! That demo sold me on the game. I ordered the PSP version from Amazon after a false start at Gamestop.

[Misguided]

Interestingly, I tried to pre-order this at Gamestop, and they said its listed as a title for the 28th of March, but it has no SKU, meaning its not a real product yet.

Not sure what that means, but I was kinda bumed I couldn't pre-order/get myself a copy.

Sorry, thought I'd already posted this here, but I guess I haven't.
The game is real, I assure you.
GS/EB are not accepting preorders because they consider it such a niche title.
However, there ABSOLUTELY IS A SKU for it, just not under reservable stuff.
If they just do a product search, they'll see it.
Furthermore, they can email corporate and request that copies are sent to them.

PQ was initially developed for PC.
At this time, only the DS and PSP versions have been announced, but it's something
of a poorly kept secret that the game will be coming to PC and also to 360.

Playing through this time, I took the chance to try out some things I hadn't done
previously, including building a dungeon to capture critters, capturing a skeleton,
then building a mage tower so I could then research how to learn both of the skeleton's
special powers. Have I mentioned this game rocks?

[Gratch]

Got a chance to spend more time with the demo, and I'm liking the game even more.  The "capture" bit is hard as hell, though, and I haven't even been able to capture the first skeleton.  It's even got a somewhat interesting storyline, which surprised me for a puzzle game. 

The only thing I don't really like is the reliance on luck.  There've been a couple times I had my opponent on the ropes, only to have a lucky stream of +5 skulls fall in from the top.  But I suppose there's no getting around that in this sort of game, and it's a minor annoyance at best.

[unbreakable]

Playing through this time, I took the chance to try out some things I hadn't done
previously, including building a dungeon to capture critters, capturing a skeleton,
then building a mage tower so I could then research how to learn both of the skeleton's
special powers. Have I mentioned this game rocks?

Umm.. wow.  That sounds, shall we say, KICK ASS.

Is there a release date?  I should probably head over to the main page, huh?

[Eduardo X]

Playing through this time, I took the chance to try out some things I hadn't done
previously, including building a dungeon to capture critters, capturing a skeleton,
then building a mage tower so I could then research how to learn both of the skeleton's
special powers. Have I mentioned this game rocks?

Umm.. wow.  That sounds, shall we say, KICK ASS.

Is there a release date?  I should probably head over to the main page, huh?

3/20/07, AFAIK.

[Enigma]

I just played the demo from aolgames (gamedaily) as well and it is a lot of fun.  This will be a terrific handheld title.  They should release it on the PC as well...it would do great in the mass market I think.

[EddieA]

I don't really get the reasoning for putting this on the DS/PSP first.  I know there's lots of money to be had with handhelds, especially the DS, but casual games like this are much more popular on the PC.  There are a ton of "match 3" games out there, but PQ would definitely be unique enough to stand out.  I would think the two platforms on which the game would be most successful would be PC and XBox Live Arcade, yet the developer/publisher seems to want to avoid any mention of anything but the DS and PSP versions.  On the DS and PSP, it's a niche product, whereas on the PC, it could have gotten lots of exposure at the big casual gaming sites.

[KC]

Anyone have a view as to which version to get?  The DS has the stylus which would come in handy for the gem portion of the game, whereas the PSP version will likely have better graphics.  Does the gem portion have a time limit to make your move?  If not, then you won't necessarily need the stylus and the PSP version may be the better choice due to the graphics.

[Misguided]

Anyone have a view as to which version to get?  The DS has the stylus which would come in handy for the gem portion of the game, whereas the PSP version will likely have better graphics.  Does the gem portion have a time limit to make your move?  If not, then you won't necessarily need the stylus and the PSP version may be the better choice due to the graphics.

You can set the time for each move in the full version I think. I also believe that the crafting mini-game has time-limits depending on what you are making, IIRC.

Eddie, I'm not certain why the game didn't appear on PC first, seeing as that's what it was developed for. Good question.

[unbreakable]

I don't have numbers backing me up, but it seems like small games like this would be better, as a product to sell, on a handheld console.  I don't get the impression Popcap is making a lot of money on the PC, but could be wrong.  But games like Meteos and Tetris and Brain Age end up being huge sellers.

[Turtle]

All I know is that I'm buying this.

I'm still deciding between getting a DS or PSP, but this'll be one of the first games I get.

However, there is some issue with luck.  Especially since in my game as a Druid, I had problems where my enemies were constantly getting horrific chains of mana, skulls, and 4 of a kind extra turns from drops off the top.  Also my mind isn't geared towards this kind of matching game.

So, despite not liking some things about the game, it's a good indicator that I still plan to buy it.

[TiLT]

I had the same issue with luck when I tried the druid class. I kept my moves well planned, but whenever the opponent did something, he'd get a drop from the top of the screen that caused him to get these insane effect chains that neither he nor I could have planned for. The first time I tried the battle against the knight, I played a warrior and totally decimated my opponent in short order. The second time, when I played as a druid, the battle lasted for about 30 minutes and I kept being hurt badly by my opponent's luck. Ideally new drops from the top of the screen should never create combos, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[Destructor]

Keep in mind that the core game is basically Bejeweled. Random luck drops is the entire point of that game.

[Cleric7]

I don't have numbers backing me up, but it seems like small games like this would be better, as a product to sell, on a handheld console.  I don't get the impression Popcap is making a lot of money on the PC, but could be wrong.  But games like Meteos and Tetris and Brain Age end up being huge sellers.

My impression is that Popcap is making out like bandits with their PC games, but I could be mistaken.

I downloaded the demo of Puzzle Quest this weekend and  ...  OMG .... what a game!! I am very impressed and can't wait to get my hands on a full version! (I have a DS copy preordered at my EB, but am wondering if the PSP version might be better ....)

[Cleric7]

About the random drops, I watched my wife play her first game of the demo Saturday night and we both had the impression that the AI was getting some extremely lucky drops later in the match. When I played yesterday it didn't seem quite so bad -- I got a couple of lucky drops too. I am wondering if some of the massive turns the opponent seems to get are just him casting a spell or two to augment things. The opponent's turn goes by very quickly and sometimes it's hard to keep track of what's going on. Maybe the drops for him aren't as amazing as they at first appear to be....