Puzzle Quest 2

10 Review to this product

• 

  Adam Ruining
  August 31st, 2010 on 7:08 am

  Rating

  The sick thing is, no matter how repetitious and predictable this game is, I can’t stop playing.

  If you’re reading this and don’t know what “Puzzle Quest” is, I’m honestly surprised. Go read my review of the first game and know that this one is… Well, kind of different.

  Too lazy? Okay. “Puzzle Quest” is “Bejeweled” crossed with “Dungeons & Dragons.” But not D&D 4e; no d20 systems here or anything. This is all about matching three things and winning.

  Except, you can win. This is an epic advancement over the first game. The original “Puzzle Quest” would string four- and five-length matches together repeatedly until you were dead. Sometimes you didn’t even get to play a round before you lost. You would click on an opponent, challenge them, and immediately face a screen explaining that you’ve lost.

  “Puzzle Quest 2″ fixes this. I’m certain the game is still cheating, but to make up for it, the game also has artificial idiocy programmed. Every so often, it skips an opportunity to run your face into an orc’s backside, allowing you the chance to run the computer’s face into an orc’s backside.

  The problem is, who cares? It’s still just “Bejeweled” and weren’t we supposed to be tired of that in 2005? I guess not, because I’m still matching fist gems together to earn enough action points to throw a knife into a goblin’s eyeball.

  The other major change is everything else. Instead of clicking on a map and moving to a point on a giant board game overview, now you stomp around in an isometric view like that old NES wizarding game, “Snake Rattle & Roll.” While “Snake Rattle & Roll” had you bouncing around garish neon landscape eating smaller snakes to grow bigger, here you’re slowly plodding through a garish neon dungeon eating smaller enemies to earn basic ingredients to upgrade your own equipment. Very slowly plodding. On the upside, because this world is made of magic and electronic bits, there’s a guideline constantly pointing you toward the next quest goal, so even when you’re lost, you’re not.

  Man, I wrote way more about this stupid game than I thought I would. And that angers me. It angers me that I’m still playing it and it angers me that I could type this much. Because I don’t really like the game. There’s no plot, only one town, and the game totally cheats when you’re playing the looting minigame.

  But I want to get back to playing it now, for some reason. So, you know, whatever.

  It’s okay.
• 

  A. Daily
  August 31st, 2010 on 3:47 pm

  Rating

  Decent game just not a worthy sequel to one of my favorite games.
  
  Some will like this game more than the first. It is easier, the layout is different. They even added action gems and a new mana color.
  
  But for most hard core gamers this game lacks the “magic” PQ 1 had. Pun intended.
  
  It removes the mounts, castle sieges, weapon creation.. well this list can go on with the things took out of PQ 2.
  
  The thing that hurts it the most is the lack of true customizing to your class compared to the first.
  
  On the plus side, parts of the puzzle game itself feels more balanced.
  
  Overall just felt rushed and put out way too soon. The script writing and story even feel rushed and half done.
  
  If you must have anything Puzzle Quest get the game, if you liked the first but felt it was too difficult get this one.
  
  But for hardcore gamers just be aware it is not Puzzle Quest 1.
• 

  Lindsay Sheffield
  August 31st, 2010 on 9:41 pm

  Rating

  I picked this game up after hearing Scott Johnson mention it on one of his podcasts (his website is [...])
  
  I figured it was going to just be a bejeweled remake, a puzzle game that I would get bored of in a few hours since it had no real “purpose”. I was (pleasantly) surprised at how wrong I was! This game definitely has solid RPG features, including class choices, gear and stat customization, along with an arsenal of spells and abilities to chose from, as well as constant and long quest chains. There are a number of different games and mini-games, all based on the “mana” gem switching puzzle game. I’m many hours in, and only partially done with it! The story is fantasy based (orcs, goblics, wizards, undead, all that good stuff) so if you don’t like that kind of thing, you’ll probably want to steer clear. Once you get started and get the hang of using your spells and figuring out what order to pop gems in, you’ll have to be careful you’re not staying up all night playing this!

  TL;DR:
  
  Fantasy-based bejeweled-type puzzle game, with solid RPG features
  
  Intuitive controls, 95% using the stylus
  
  High replay value
  
  Tons of quests and dungeon crawls, which are all a lot of fun, as there is always a new mini-game popping up.
  
  Can pick it up/put it down whenever, as there are no check points

  Highly recommended!
• 

  I. R. Smart.
  September 1st, 2010 on 6:19 am

  Rating

  Puzzle Quest 2 is a really super update to the original, offering a whole new quest, new classes, new minigames etc. This game BEGS to be played with a touch-screen interface, so the DS version will always be preferred to the upcoming XBOX 360 Arcade version, despite the 360 version having much better graphics and sound.

  The gameplay here is very familiar, but the developers made navigating the game much more intuitive and fun. No longer are you running round a generic map. Now you actually go into towns etc and interact with different people there. It’s much more compelling this way.

  Also, good news for gamers put off by Puzzle Quest Galactrix and its terrible load times. Puzzle Quest 2′s load times are basically nonexistent, so you’ll be happily matching tiles for hours on end without interruption.

  Overall, an excellent DS game. My only complaint after many hours of playing today is that the music sounds quite typically DS “scratchy,” but this is a minor complaint.

  5/5 highly recommended!
• 

  AlexJouJou
  September 1st, 2010 on 7:38 pm

  Rating

  I’ve sunk hundreds of hours in Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. It remains one of my top 5 games on the DS (Dsi). I’ve replayed it three times and still enjoy it. Now that is some bang for your buck!

  I was super excited to get the new PQ2. Now after playing a while I would say that it is a very good game. Very good. However I’d still give it 4 stars. Why you ask?

  Well it just lacks the overall appeal of the first game – visually, sound effect wise, or in gameplay. I don’t know but this one is not as appealing to me as I expected. It looks really close to Puzzle Kingdoms which I enjoyed gameplay wise but that had a “coarser” visual look. More angles, contrast, and comic looking. It’s just not my favorite type of visual feel for a DS game. The other game similar, Puzzle Chronicles, had the same manga looking type characters and setting so I guess it’s just the way it goes and it must be popular now.

  I do appreciate the sense of immersion you get when you walk in the towns and go here and go there following arrows but to the flipside of that is it slower gameplay. It is a trade off – and not one I’m sure I’m loving. Sound and voice acting wise – yeah this game really is weak in this area. The voice acting is just there- and its replay every time you talk to the character gets old (thankfully you don’t have to talk too much to each one!) plus it’s only a sort of catch phrase. That’s kind of lame to me. It’s like fake cheese – it appeals a little bit to you until you get it home and taste it and then, yucko.

  The background music is actually nice at times (when it is creepy and suspenseful and anxiety provoking..they needed a lot more creepy and nerve racking!) BUT it is overshadowed by the sounds the gems make and the board makes when you make your moves. After playing a while honestly those sounds are grating a bit – plus they take a little time – granted not a ton but it leads me to the third thing I’m not fond of – and that is the way the gems are on the board. Graphically they look nice – sharp, great color, clear. The problem: for me they aren’t as fun to play – it lacks the fluidity of the first game. It’s choppier – like the graphics it feels “all sharp angles”. If it makes any sense it feels more square and not so much circle. It’s not smooth.

  As for load times they aren’t long it’s true. That’s a big plus. Autosaving though is something I just really dislike. I’ll save when I want to thank you very much. I prefer not to have the lag between each quest and thing you complete just to save. I can deal with it just fine – it is not a deal breaker but I prefer manual save options. Plus the fact that this has no Dpad support at all also bums me out. I like to have the option to use it for non gemboard play – like looking at equipment and items and such. Again not a deal breaker.

  I was also not fond of the new screens for equipment and items. They are a bit cumbersome to get through – I guess reflective of a regular RPG but I prefer in my RPG’s if the item immediately shows its effect and I don’t have to flip through multiple screens to figure it out. In this one I’m not even entirely sure what it does really.

  My other more major issue is the mana fill “gems” on the top screen too are really hard to pay attention to – the graphical representation in the original PQ was much easier to note and use. I find it really much more difficult to keep track of how much manna I have and what I need.

  However (and this is a very big however!) the addictiveness of the gameplay is still here. The core exists even though it has some new packaging. Although I was expecting this to surpass the first game (and I agree with the other reviewer who notes we should just all collectively forget this one ever existed : Puzzle Quest Galactrix) but for me it just doesn’t.

  What brings it to 4 stars for me (because it would be 3 stars without this) is the mini games which add much needed diversion along with a bit of challenge (on the whole this game is definitely not super difficult).

  So I guess I’m odd review out. Maybe I’m just too enamoured of the original – but to me this one just feels a bit,well, flat. I was easily able to put it down several times and have not played more than an hour at a time since I got it. Considering I called in sick to play PQ1 – the fact I can put this down frequently probably speaks for itself. Now that may be a good thing considering how addicted I was to the first one!

  I still think it is very worth a pick up – after all I’m judging it against its predeccesors but in the genre itself it is well worth the retail price you’ll pay now on launch. As far as hybrid puzzle RPG’s go my two favorites are still Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes.
• 

  LGREGORY
  September 1st, 2010 on 7:44 pm

  Rating

  I love these type of puzzle game, and the added player’s quest makes it even more interesting. I have been playing it non stop since I got the game trying to reach all the levels. I would highly reccommend this game.
  
• 

  Salyn
  September 2nd, 2010 on 4:34 am

  Rating

  Puzzlequest 2 (like Puzzlequest) seek to combine role-playing with a popular matching puzzle with a twist. PQ2 allows character creation which affects puzzle play. If you enjoy RPGs and puzzles then you’ll enjoy this game. This is long-term fun!
• 

  Paul Teevan
  September 3rd, 2010 on 7:19 pm

  Rating

  After the epic fail of Galactrix and the more epic fail of Kingdoms, were right back on form.
  
  The gameplay is back to the orignal Puzzle Quest, only speeded up.
  
  Only negative things I have to say about it:
  
  1) Its easy as heck. After the tutorial area (much faster and more enganing than PQ1′s tutorial area, at least) you face some goblins who can be annoying as they wil just about always go first and pull decent sized chains (though the ai doesn’t cheat as it did in PQ1). Once you get past them however, the diffacutly rapidly plummets, even on the hardest setting. The bosses are A LOT easier than they were in PQ1, though this is partly because they are much less cheap.
  
  2) The game is repetive. Several quests require you to fight the same few enemies several times in a row. This is less annoying than it might be because the battles have been speeded up. Their are a few repetive minigames, but their fast and easy, and nothing like the pain of gate hacking. Their all just varitons of the standard puzzle gameplay.
  
  3) The customization has been severly toned down. I don’t think you can learn spells from monsters anymore, and equipment rarely does much beyond “+X defense or +X attack”
  
  4) The story is even slimmer than the first game….. but you really shouldn’t be playing these games for the story anyway.

  If this isn’t a problem you will find this an excelent and worthy sequal.

  For those who haven’t played PQ, its basically Bejwelled with rpg stuff. If you don’t like bejewelled (unless you could swing a sword or throw some spells around) you won’t like this game. The gameplay is also repetive. If thats not a big deal, welcome and enjoy the party. Just mind the early goblins, their pretty annoying
  
• 

  Ionotropic
  September 4th, 2010 on 8:46 pm

  Rating

  Preface: I played Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords on PSP from start to finish, and I loved it. I couldn’t put it down. I was hooked. I saw little colored gems matching up when I shut my eyes. I consider it one of the best games available. I also played PQ: Galactrix on Nintendo DS from start to finish. It was a painful experience that I don’t wish to speak of any further.

  Quick Impression of PQ2

  Loved: The game sticks to the match 3/4/5 with hybrid RPG elements style of Puzzle Quest 1. It’s not like Galactrix. New classes with emphasis on different play styles. Fun minigames that don’t interfere with progression. Deeper character customization. No loading times. Silky smooth autosave that doesn’t interrupt the flow of the game. Spot-on touch screen controls. Just as addictive as PQ1, if not more so!

  Hated: No d-pad or button support. Would like to take a break from using the stylus sometimes. Boring music, not as catchy as PQ1. Subpar audio quality. Sparse but unnecessary voice acting. Difficult to focus on what is happening on top screen while matching gems on the bottom. Would have preferred this game to be released on PSP (if you played PQ1 on PSP, you know what I’m talking about). So addictive, I’m getting carpal tunnel syndrome again.

  Bottom line: A must-have for any puzzle/RPG fan, and well worth the price of admission for those who are doubting the price point. You’ll get dozens if not hundreds of hours of playtime with great replay value, all in a portable format that goes with you anywhere. Just don’t get so addicted that you stop showing up for work.
• 

  J. Gifford
  September 6th, 2010 on 8:37 am

  Rating

  After trudging through imitations and poor sequels, I was thrilled when Puzzle Quest 2 finally arrived. I didn’t think you could improve the game play but somehow, Infinite Interactive did, with a new cleaner way to handle spells and weapons. As you “walk” through the town, you feel more a part of the story than in Puzzle Quest 1 and this enhances the battles, as winning becomes more personal and important. This game requires more thought than quick reflexes, which allows the player to take the time to make considered decisions as you ponder which spell, weapon, and gem-match will benefit you most. With a clever mix of role play, magic and matching, I foresee hours of game-play and real enjoyment for most any age and every skill level.