Time for a little evangelism. I'm on a zero-man crusade to try and let some more people know about Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for DS and PSP, which is due out in March. I'm convinced this is going to be one of those great games no one ever plays. It has one of the more intriguing concepts I've ever seen, combining two vastly different genres together to create something that is unique, yet built on solid battle-tested mechanics.
PQ is one part quest-based RPG, complete with several classes to choose from each with their corresponding skills/spells, one part Bejeweled. No, I'm not joking.
The combat grid is 8*8 squares, and on it you'll find mana gems of 4 colors (red, green, blue, yellow-each corresponding to an element) as well as purple gems, coins, and skull gems. when you match 3 or more in a row (by exchanging the position of two adjacent stones ala Bejeweled) they are removed from the board and you also derive some form of benefit from the particular stones you collect.
For instance, match three yellow gems, and your character gains three yellow (Air) mana, which is used to activate spells. Collecting coins gives you money (surprise). Collecting purple gems gives bonus experience. Collecting skulls does direct damage to your opponent.
You and your opponent alternate turns on the same board, so you have to be careful not to set up your opponent with moves that will hurt you. Creating 4 in a row of any gem/coin gives you an extra move. Creating 5 in a row gives you an extra turn plus a wild-card gem. Wild-card gems match any color of mana gem have a multiplier (I've seen 2x to 5x) which modifies the amount of mana collected. There are also special skull gems that do extra damage and collect all the surrounding gems when they are removed from the board.
During your turn, provided you have the mana for it, you can activate a spell instead of making a move on the grid. Some spells do direct damage to your opponent. Many of them seem to manipulate the board in some way. In playing the demo, my newbie knight had only an ability called Thrust which could be used to destroy/collect any one square on the board. These abilities are really going to help differentiate the gameplay from being a simple clone, yet the game is fun and getting started is so intuitive, since most people have at least seen Bejeweled before and the fundamental concept is so simple.
Incidentally, if you make an invalid move (that doesn't remove anything from the board) you take damage. Furthermore, the time limit on taking a turn can be infinite or set between 4-16 seconds (not sure on the interval). This should allow for people that want a more action-packed game to get into this and not leave people like me that want a more relaxed experience out in the cold.
When combat ends you are presented with a reward screen that shows you the experience and gold you gain for defeating the enemy, plus any bonus gold and xp you gathered along the way. Characters are level-based and when you gain a level you receive skill points that can be spent in several areas, including one for each mana type as well as battle, cunning, and morale. Cunning determines who goes first and likely has other effects. The mana masteries will increase the amount of mana you gain when collecting gems of that color, and presumably open up new abilities. Battle likely increases the yield from collecting skulls.
I haven't even mentioned the map yet. There's an overhead map that shows places you can visit. If there are quests available at a locale there will be a yellow exclamation point over the town, or if the quest is part of the main story arc, a red one. Selecting a locale pops up a menu of stuff to do, such as obtaining quests or visiting shops. You can buy items in shops that give you combat bonuses. I believe you can equip one helm, one weapon, a piece of armor and one miscellaneous item. Apparently, as the game progresses you can also capture towns and build special structures that give you bonuses, but I didn't get a chance to see that.
Other stuff I've read but not seen myself:
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.
You can also apparently get companions to join you, though I'm not sure in what way these aid you.
In addition to the quest mode (with over 150 quests), there's a single-player instant-action mode as well as a two-player vs mode. You can level up your character in the instant action or 2p modes then hop right back into the main quest.
Almost forgot to mention that the game is also apparently going to appear on the PC and on the 360 at a later date.
Well, I think I've covered most everything. This is my most anticipated game on any platform right now. I had some concerns about how well they'd be able to mesh the puzzle-based gameplay with an RPG, but after trying it for a few all-too-brief minutes (30 of them passed me by in what seemed like 5) that is no longer a concern. I've read the main quest is expected to hold 40+ hours of gameplay. It remains to be seen how well balanced the game is as you progress and whether or not the different classes really feel different, which would add some replayability.
As far as PSP versus DS, I played the PSP version, and it looked nice enough, but I don't think it was pushing the system too hard. I think the DS version will look fairly comparable, though the gems are going to be smaller and I hope it doesn't become heavily squint-inducing. The DS version apparently does support using the touch screen for the combat grid. One bummer about the DS version is that there are apparently only two save slots, which stinks when there are four classes to try. The PSP version is said to allow as many saves as you have room for.
Last edited by Misguided; 02-04-2007 at 07:57 AM.
I'll help your viral marketting a bit :)
The guys who made Warlords worked on this. Now they're working on bringing Warlords II to the DS.
Their page about Puzzle Quest:
http://www.infinite-interactive.com/puzzlequest/
Looks like I'll be getting this game for my DS for sure!
Capcom Puzzel World AKA Puzzle Fighter is coming out this Tuesday.
Did I mention Puzzele Fighter is the only puzzle game that is better than the (Gameboy) Tetris?
Yeah, I forgot to mention that the game is set in the Warlords universe. Thanks.Originally Posted by CustodianV131
Wow, this sounds really interesting. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I used to love Warlords III, and the way they brought the puzzle and adventuring/RPG aspects together sounds fun.
Do you know if there will be any differences between the PSP & DS versions? I like picking up the "superiour" version of multi-console releases.
Aside from the difference in number of available save slots, I haven't seen any differences mentioned between the two versions. There have been previews up at a number of places like IGN and Gamespot for a while now, but I really get the sense this one is flying below the radar, hence my post. I can't even reserve PQ at work, because it isn't in the system.
A few interesting tidbits from developer Steve Fawkner this morning (from a thread on the official forum). He's addressing the points of another post based on an old PC demo from a couple of years ago, but there are some things of interest here:
"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."
Last edited by Misguided; 02-05-2007 at 07:32 PM.
This looks really interesting. March you say? I wonder if it's on schedule.
Not sure, though I've seen March mentioned in some of the previews and Nintendo.com says March 20. Gamestop/EB still don't have this title in their system, which is frustrating.
You're working on this game, Misguided? What do you do for it?
I'm totally on board with this little thing. I've got a final or final-ish build that's gotten its hooks into me. It's got the same bit of leveling addictiveness that SSG/Infinite Interactive put into the other Warlords games, and they've done a superlative job of folding the leveling into the Bejeweling.
I spent a good deal of time the other evening just leveling my mount. Now I'm trying to capture different creatures to see what they do. I even rolled up an alt and I'm leveling her by just playing skirmish games. Sheesh, now even casual gaming isn't safe from the insidious lure of RPGing...
-Tom
I've got to repeat Soldat's question: is there any reason I should get the DS version versus the PSP? I'd prefer the PSP because 1) the screen is bright and beautiful, and 2) my PSP gets more usage than my iPod when I'm on the road. Is there something special about the second screen or touch controls? Thanks.
No, not at all, Tom. Sorry if I gave that impression. While I did a bit of game publishing on the pencil and paper side and thought about trying to get involved with electronic game development at one time, I have no involvement with Puzzle Quest other than being a gamer who is intrigued by the concept can't wait to get his hands on it. As I said at the start of the thread (admittedly, a long post) I think this one is flying under the radar of most people and I wanted to bring a little attention to it for the benefit of people that might be interested in such a game.
It's great to hear that you've been enjoying it, as I have had good luck picking up titles that you enjoyed (Test Drive: EoD and Excite Truck--also Smuggler's Run for GC more recently, but I haven't had a chance to play it much just yet).
Last edited by Misguided; 02-05-2007 at 06:23 AM.
Actually, it's in EB's system now for both platforms, marked as March 20. Feels like a real date to me.
Ah, I think I was confused, Missguided, because you were quoting Steve Fauwkner in first person ("We still haven't officially announced the 360 version").
I've been playing on the PSP, but now that I see there's a DS version, I'd definitely recommend going with that. I played a lot of Zoo Keeper on the DS, and being able to use the stylus is, for me, a huge deal in a Bejeweled clone. Having said that, it really is bright, colorful, and easy-to-read on the PSP.
Oh, also, there's multiplayer so if you have any friends getting this, your choice of platform will matter. I think you can play your leveled up characters against each other.
-Tom
I thought that might be it, and when I first made the post, I had forgotten to indicate I had taken that quote from a thread on the official forum. I fixed that earlier today.
Re: DS vs PSP my only real concern is that the graphics will induce squinting since they'll be smaller. Aside from that I don't see it really losing much.
@Hiro_Antagonist: Hmmm....I checked today and it wasn't there. Weird. I hope you are right. I actually emailed the corporate office about this earlier today.
I'll probably reserve two copies so I can play against my son (and not have to share the cart ;) ).
Last edited by Misguided; 02-05-2007 at 07:33 PM.
There's a new interview with Steve Fawkner over at 4color rebellion. There's a nice overview of the game as well as the first detail I've seen on how the capturing, training, and synthesizing mini-games work.
The second part of the interview has some info on Warlords DS and Galactrix. In discussing Galactrix, the names Elite and Starflight came up, which I founf really intriguing.
There's a nice preview at Gamespot
I'm really psyched to give this game a whirl. I love my DS, but I haven't had a reason to play it in a long time, and now that Panzer Tactics has been pushed back I'm hoping this one will fit the bill.
There's a nice demo in the "On the spot" show (03/01/07) at 20 minutes in.
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/featur...eo%3bvideo%3b0
They are really enthusiastic about it... then again they seem to be that about everything...
But sure is looking like a great fun game. I've mine preordered which is a first for a DS title :D
Same here. :)
Where did you guys preorder at?
It would kind of be in bad form to invite a producer/artist/whatever of game X on your show and go "meh."
That and "excited" hosts make the show more appealing. That's why hosts are generally exaggerated on TV. I watched Button Mashing recently and the host was trying to get the contests animated. It was mildly funny. In person, gamers seem to be a fairly civil bunch. The internet must be our full moon.
Local EB wouldn't give me a preorder on either the PSP or DS version -- they said that's usually a sign that corporate has no idea when the game is actually coming out.
Assuming I can get my hands on one I'm pretty psyched though... man would I love a 360 XBLA version. :)
Same here, though the website still says 3/20. Which is weird, because they don't usually list a date when they don't know the date. (Or rather, if they're guessing, they usually mark is as the first of the month.)
From play.com: Your order for Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords has been posted.
Hooray! :)
..except that orders from play.com usually take 5 business days to arrive to Finland... :(
Yay! Same for me! Delivery takes up to 3 weeks though at times, so here's hoping this one will arrive in only 5 business days. Silly since I'm in the Netherlands and one would guess it not taking that long.
Still its on its way!
Hiro and Xemu, listen up. The game can't be preordered from EB/GS.
However, get the store to fire off an email to the comments/suggestions hotline in their POS system, and the folks at inventory control will be sure to earmark some copies for that store. Have the store manager get your name and phone number and call you when it comes in.
I've got 5 copies of the DS version coming to my store (because I'm buying three of them and wanted a couple of extras) and a couple for PSP.
What is the best SKU to get this on? What are the differences? Is the stylus/touch used in the DS SKU?
I broke down and ordered the DS version from Amazon instead of Gamestop. They claim shipping on March 20... looking forward to it!
Can't say as I blame you under the circumstances.
PSP will obviosuly sport better graphics. DS gets touch screen jewel action.
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