Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

by D3 Publisher

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GH3PYA
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 20, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,220 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #68 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > Games > Puzzle
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Nintendo DS

Building upon the addictive and easy-to-learn gameplay of a puzzle game by integrating story and character progression elements found in RPGs. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords delivers a brand new type of game that pushes the puzzle genre to a previously unseen level.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 93 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect fusion of two different gaming genres creates something new March 30, 2007

By Steven Savage

Platform for Display:Nintendo DS

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

If you've done any research on Puzzle Quest, you know it's a fantasy RPG where combat is done in a "match 3" Bejeweled style puzzle game. That's a good summary, but it doesn't do the game justice - the fusion of two different games is complete and total, making an RPG whose gameplay, though familiar, is done in a completely different manner than we've come to expect.

At the core of the game you create a character from one of four classes. Moving around on a stylus-guided map, you travel to various areas, get quests, and battle assorted monsters. The combat is done on a grid of icons you line up - skulls (which you line up for a physical attack), coins (to get bonus gold), stars (to get bonus experience), and mana gems (to get one of four kinds of mana), and wildcards. Special abilities let you go beyond simple line-up-the icons to do damage, alter the puzzle board's contents, affect your opponent, and more. You can figure out cascading combos that are just as satisfying as any fighting game.

Alone, this would be a reasonably fun game. However, the game is both a complete puzzle game and a decently-detailed RPG. You level up your character and gain new abilities and add to existing skills - which can affect gameplay radically. Equipment also affects gameplay and varies considerably - a whip does damage when you collect yellow (air) mana, a suit of armor helps reduce damage, a ring may heal you as long as you keep your blue (water) mana above a certain level. You'll find yourself mixing and matching abilities (you can only have six ready at a time), equipment, and more to find new and better strategies....

However, the game then takes this one step further with adding even more - you can capture enemies and use them as mounts (and train them) or learn their special abilities, craft items with runes you can uncover, and build up citadels and bring other towns under control of your Queen. Throw on a lot of optional quests, random monsters, and more and you've got a satisfying RPG experience with plenty of ways to play.

Finally, the icing on the cake is how the plot is handled. It's a sadly standard plot, but it's told with some interesting characters (such as a motormouth dwarf or a scheming princess whose father knows her all too well) and some little details in the game that flesh out the world.

If there are any flaws, its that the presentation graphics are a bit mixed, from an OK overhead map, to barebones status screens, to some very nice character artwork (each class has 4 possible character portraits, 2 of each gender). It's good enough, but I felt the status screens and maps could have been done a bit better.

The only caveat I will add - this is not exactly a casual game. Each combat is very intense and can take a few minutes to play, and you definitely have to think as the AI certainly will. It's not something I can reccomend to truly casual gamers as it takes some investment of time and brainpower.

Overall? A fantastic experience deserving of the hype, and a step forward in gaming. Read more ›

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More fun than you would even think March 28, 2007

By Brianne Dahlin

Platform for Display:Nintendo DS

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

This game is so MUCH fun! I sort of felt blah about the idea of another Bejeweled style game, and though the combat takes on a Bejeweled like interface and general idea, it has so much more to it! Each type of thing you connect means something different for your character (connect 3 skulls and it does damage to your opponents life, connect 3 piles of money and you get gold, connect stars for experience or orbs for different types of mana!).

It's Bejeweled at the very core but it plays like an RPG. You have a character that levels, has spells, equipment and gets quests. It's incredibly fun and more addictive than you could possibly imagine.

I also want to mention that the art, interface and music are fantastic. This game is top notch in my book, just plain fun!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mom converted to video game geek September 21, 2007

By D. Mundorff

Platform for Display:Nintendo DS

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I am not a gamer. I'm in fact a mom who is often known to be nagging at my kids to turn off their game devices. I fell hard for this game, though. I now own my own DS (pink so my son won't steal it) and have repeatedly played Puzzle Quest. I bought it last spring and played it daily until I just yesterday completed battling Lord Bane in the final Quest. I love strategy thinking without the time pressure - so the bejewel like game is interesting enough, but the added layer of increasing levels of opponents and spells kept me coming back to see how the game play changed. Too much fun.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars RPG Goodness May 14, 2007

By Sir Edmund Hillary

Platform for Display:Nintendo DS

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

At this point in the DS life cycle, there aren't many good RPG titles available to play. PQ fills in some of the void with a solid RPG title that partners gameplay using an interesting puzzle twist. The RPG elements of the game are surprisingly deep and will keep fans of the genre interested for awhile with it's addictive leveling-up attributes. Also, this game does a good job at being "available time diverse". If you only have a few minutes to beat one puzzle and put one microstep forward in the single player campaign, you can do that and have your progress saved. If you want to stay glued to it for hours (like I did yesterday on a long plane ride), then it will keep your long-term interest. The game is definitely fun, but has some drawbacks as others mentioned below. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros

*Deep RPG elements

*Addictive game play

*Long, deep, and interesting story/campaign

*Decent graphics for its intended purpose

*Excellent utilization of the touch screen

Cons

*No variety in the musical score. You literally have to play on mute after an hour of gameplay.

*The requirement of multiple game cards for multiplayer is greedy. I have three DSs for my kids and me to play other games. I am not going to purchase three licenses for this game.

*No WiFi play - this is dissapointing as it would have been a fun experience to play with folks on line.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly addictive mash of puzzle and RPG elements June 14, 2007

By N. Durham HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Platform for Display:Nintendo DS

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

With all the various puzzle games available for the DS, there isn't really all that much anymore that can make one stick out more than another. Puzzle Quest manages to stand on it's own thanks to it being an incredibly addictive mash of puzzle and RPG elements that set it apart from the rest of the pack. Starting out as a typical RPG, you perform combat by partaking in puzzles that are reminiscent of Bejeweled. You take turns moving pieces around and the game even requires some strategy to it as well. The fact that the puzzle and RPG elements are combined here, and that they actually work as well, is reason enough to pick up Puzzle Quest alone. The game's overall presentation is fresh and the main quest is incredibly long and also features some incredibly addictive puzzle gameplay that will keep you playing Puzzle Quest for quite some time. The only downsides to Puzzle Quest are that the puzzle field is cramped on the bottom screen of the DS, and it's easy to miss something in the heat of gameplay. Not to mention that many of the enemies throughout the game can be very frustrating, but the good definitely outweighs the bad here thanks to the addictive gameplay. All in all, Puzzle Quest may sound like an odd hybrid of two genres that have seen well worn entires on handhelds, but make no mistake that this one of the most fun experiences you'll have either way on the DS right now.