Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

How good is Puzzle Quest: Galactrix? So good it'll get you in trouble with your mom, as Reviews Editor Tae K. Kim recently found out.

THE VERDICT by Will Herring Will Herring's Avatar Tae can't come to The Verdict, right now, as he's too busy racking up points in yet ANOTHER round of Galactrix. I think it's safe to say that Tae dug this fast-paced, addictive puzzler.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

From: Tae K. Kim
To: Mom
Subject: RE: You're a bad son

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

Hi Mom. It's your second-born son. You know, the one you wrote that hilarious 'article' about in the last family newsletter? The one you titled "Deadbeat son disappears off face of the Earth"? Yeah, that was real funny. Look, I'm sorry I haven't called you or come to visit in a while. I'm reviewing this game called Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and it's been eating up a lot of my time.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

And yes, before you flip out, it is a Puzzle Quest game. I know I disappeared for like a year when I got hooked on the original. The bad news is that Galactrix is as addictive and as awesome as the original. I've been playing it for the past two weeks straight and it's got everything that the original Puzzle Quest had-engaging puzzle-based gameplay coupled with a deep RPG element. But the formula's been improved in a lot of ways. The biggest change is the fact that the direction you move gems now dictates how new ones enter the playing field; make a match by moving a piece down and the board shifts that way. It really adds a nice level of strategy and forces you to think about how you manipulate the individual gems.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

There's a main storyline you can follow as well as a ton of side missions to take on; if I did every mission, I probably wouldn't see you until Christmas at least. The majority of my time so far has been spent getting into battles against the A.I.; it's not the smartest opponent in the world and it wins more off lucky breaks than good strategy but it still puts up a decent fight, even if it does "cheat" every now and again. I'm not a big fan of the game's pacing, though; you have to put up with a lot of tedious leapgate hacking and backtracking in order to complete early quests. But the fact that I keep on playing probably says a lot about how deep and engaging the game is.

But you can stop leaving me angry phone messages because the good news is that I'm going to quit playing the game soon. It's really limited in terms of presentation; the graphics are nice but they're tiny and it hurts my eyes to stare at the DS for long stretches (and really, there's no way to play this game and not have it turn into a long stretch). The stylus controls are also a little stubborn and it sometimes registers the wrong move, which sucks. I also hated the intermittent pauses when the game loads something or saves my progress.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that I'm only quitting so I can move onto either the PC, Xbox 360 or PS3 version when it comes out later this year. After seeing the PC demo, I can tell you that the presentation is much better on one of the bigger platforms. The graphics are crisper, there are neat visual effects and it's probably going to be superior experience. Still, until those versions come out, I'm going to keep on playing the DS version. So I'll just apologize now for all the emails and phone calls I'm not going to return. I promise I'll make it up to you on your birthday. Can you send me a note and tell me when that was again? Just kidding. I love you Mom.

Your son,

Tae

PROS: Deep, addictive gameplay; worthy sequel to the original Puzzle Quest.
CONS: Limited presentation; AI still "cheats"; initial quests require a lot of tedious work.

Comments [9]

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VictoryRed

Lol, silly yet good review. There should be BEFORE and AFTER pics of Tae to show how Puzzle Quest affects his life.

ViciousSid

Great game -- playing the DS version right now and loving it (aside from those constant save/load screens...)

KenTheGreat1

I saw Tae curled up in the demo room the first day we got this, like he was cradling a newborn baby.

babyjabba

lol! I love the new review format...now you just need to link to your moms note so ...you know...we can get the full picture...and learn new ways to ridicule you :P

mew2man

Do not buy this game it sucks!!!!!!!!!! The AI makes it imposible to beat the very first puzzle!! I makes you do the wrong move all the time so you can't win!!! DO NOT BUY!

Cruxis

@mew2man: The AI of the game was a well-known flaw of the original puzzle quest and anyone who has played the game I'm sure has been burned by it at least once. I, for one, didn't let that stop me from enjoying the game to it's fullest potential. The last go around was a good experience in my gaming career and I hope to make this one yet another milestone.

Cloudwall

Galactrix was a game that, especially with the amazing space opera theme and incredible soundtrack, had huge potential. A few more months in the studio and half an ear to the feedback from players of the first PQ, and the developers would've had another potential classic on their hands. Unfortunately, the AI in the new game is (again) bad to the point of distraction. For a lot of fans, this will be reason enough to avoid the game.

Additionally, most puzzles respond to "gravity" and move in the direction of the match. The result is a game mechanic that makes for a completely unpredictable, luck-based experience. You can't think ahead because you never have any way of knowing what will show up next or which way the board will move. There's no planning outside of the weapons or equipment that you can bring with you, which means that real "finesse" in this game just reduces to grinding until you get more powerful stuff. Even then, you can still have the crap kicked out of you by enemies that are supposed to be manageable.

It's also worth mentioning that the tedium of having to "hack" the gate to get to EVERY new location is beyond ridiculous. The puzzles are timed, but it's not uncommon to get a board where there are no helpful matches. This means you have to spend all-too-precious seconds randomly matching things until you get the color you need. Even if you do, there's no guarantee that it will show up in a place that's remotely helpful, so you often find yourself doing hacks multiple times just to explore the board. Enemy factions can even close the gates on you, which means you'll have to open them again and again.

All in all, Galactrix amounts to a lot more hype than hope. If you're itching for quality time with a puzzle game, you're better off picking up PQ: Challenge of the Warlords again of finding a different franchise. Until the developers can avoid flaws that make you want to destroy your electronics, you should leave this one in the box.

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