Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Sony PSP

by D3 Publisher

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GH3PYK
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 20, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,799 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Sony PSP

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

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hybrid Theory April 8, 2007

By S. Rhodes VINE VOICE

Platform for Display:Sony PSP

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

In the video game world, the puzzle genre and the RPG genre are like apples and oranges. Both are delicious fruits to be sure, yet they're two completely different genres. Certainly genres that no one thought could ever actually come together. Yet here stands Puzzle Quest Challenge of the Warlords. A hybrid of the puzzle and RPG genre, and the hybrid works! Puzzle fans and RPG fans alike will absolutely love this game.

You'll start the game by choosing a profession. A warrior, druid, knight or something like that. And as you go through the game, you'll discover there are tons of RPG elements in play here. You'll traverse worlds, visit towns, collect items and equipment, and most important of all: you'll battle, and this is where Puzzle Quest truly shines.

The only puzzle game which comes to mind to compare this to is Bejeweled, a game several of you have probably played on your PC or cellphone several times over. You're given an 8x8 grid where you'll swap two tiles in order to get three of the same tile. When you match up three tiles the tiles will disappear and three more tiles will drop in to fill the void. If you've played bejeweled, it's exactly that. However, the color of the tiles represents something. The purple tiles, for example, are experience points. Each time you make three purple tiles disappear you'll gain additional experience points from the battle. Skull tiles deal damage. You've also got tiles that represent your mana, and when you take those tiles out you get more mana.

The way in which battles take place is really quite interesting. You and your opponent share the same board and will take turns to clear out the grid. Your goal, of course, should be to go after the skull pieces to deal damage, but it doesn't hurt to do other things as well. Red, blue, yellow and green tiles represent your mana, and each color pertains to a different spell. However, you'll want to snag these too to recharge your mana and cast spells. You'll want to go after the purple tiles for more experience, and after the Gold tiles to get more gold. This is much more than just trying to kill your enemy before he/she/it kills you. You'll also want to try and get more than three tiles at a time. Stringing together combos and getting rid of more than three tiles nets you an extra turn, and believe me, your computer opponents are no dummies, they will take advantage of this and kill you. It's surprisingly strategic, addictive, and of course, it wouldn't be a puzzle game without multiplayer, and the multiplayer matches against your friends are just as fun and addictive.

Yet the game never puts aside its RPG elements either. Puzzle quest is actually quite a lengthy quest. Complete with sidequests, optional bosses, characters that join your party and everything! Believe it or not, this game probably does span the length of an RPG. That means you could easily spend over fifty hours with this game. To keep its RPG elements in tact, you get experience points from each of the various battles you'll be in. When you level up, you get a chance to distribute points among your attributes. This means giving you a chance to increase things like your strength, HP or your mana skills.

Visually the game is quite impressive. The PSP looks better than the DS version, of course. It just looks more crisp and has more visuals going for it. The manga style artwork is beautiful, and so are the overworld maps and story sequences. This is quite a game to have on your PSP. The only real problem is the load times. Sometimes they can just be daunting, but it's hardly something to worry about. Most PSP games suffer from the effect of load times. By now PSP owners should be used to this.

On paper it doesn't sound like a good idea to mix the RPG and puzzle genre together, but the final product is certainly a fantastic one. RPGers and puzzle gamers alike owe it to themselves to check the game out. This is more than just another purchase of bejeweled, it's a puzzle game with great RPG elements that keep it interesting for hours on end. A fantastic combination.

Pros:

+An interesting hybrid of puzzle and RPG elements that work

+Addictive and strategic gameplay

+The computer is not stupid

+Fun multiplayer experience

+Engaging quest

+Top notch graphics

+Top notch music

+Hours upon hours upon HOURS of gameplay

+The construction of the games elements (tiles representing mana, gold and so forth) is just so well done and put together and it makes for a far more interesting gaming experience

Cons:

-Load times can be annoying

-Sometimes the computer is unrelenting; thankfully, you're not penalized if you lose a battle! Read more ›

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly fun - both an RPG and Puzzle Game July 7, 2007

By Lisa Shea HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE

Platform for Display:Sony PSP

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

PuzzleQuest is an intriguing combination of role playing game and tile-matching puzzle game. There are definitely other role playing games out there - and I own several tile matching games which are this exact same style of gameplay. Somehow the combination of these two games makes the overall gameplay much more fun, because you switch back and forth between the two.

To start with, you can be a fighter, paladin, druid or wizard. You can be male or female, and choose your name and image. These little touches really do help to personalize your experience. Soon you're off exploring your kingdom, realizing that evil exists in the world and doing your part to combat it.

When you come across an enemy - say a wolf or an orc - instead of hitting X to slash at it, you launch into a puzzle game. You might wonder how this wolf is smart enough (or has opposible thumbs) to play a puzzle game like this, but you have to suspend your disbelief a bit here. It's the standard three-in-a-row style game, with a twist. You're not just trying to clear the screen. The colors you remove have meaning.

First, there are red, blue, green and yellow tiles - these fill up your four types of mana. You have a variety of spells you can cast, and each spell requires different combinations and values of these mana types. If you're fond of a spell that requires yellow and green mana, those would be the tiles you focus on removing.

Not only that, but if your enemy seems to be fond of a spell requiring blue and red mana, you would do your utmost to clear those tiles before he can get to them, to minimize his ability to attack.

There are skulls that cause instant damage when you match them up, and other tiles that give you extra experience and cash. These come in handy because ...

Yes, it's an RPG too. When you're roaming the world, you can stop into a shop to buy weapons and armor. These give you bonusses during your puzzle stage. You can beef up your main home base, adding on new buildings. The buildings then let you have additional abilities - learn new spells, capture mounts to ride, take over enemy towns, and much more.

There are of course quests to go on - from delivering messages to taking out specific bad guys. There are interesting people you run in to talk to, with personalities and backgrounds to explore. Sure, this isn't a 800-hour multi-class leveller RPG like Dungeon Siege - but it's still a ton of fun.

I love the graphics in the game, and I really love the music. One or two of the songs aren't my favorites, but the rest are songs I really enjoy. These guys did an awesome job with every aspect of the game. If I'm going to find a flaw, it's that the annoying messages that "float up" over the screen when you're trying to play the puzzle game obscure the tiles, so then you have to sit there and wait to see what remains to know what to do next. That and the messages are generic, so you can't tell if something affects you or your enemy. You might think it would be obvious - but sometimes if you do a chain sequence, and then he moves immediately after you, it's hard to tell what parts of the chain are coming on you and what messages are from his immediately following move.

Highly recommended! Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely fun game, but crippled by a horrible PSP bug October 6, 2008

By J. Thomas

Platform for Display:Sony PSP

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

First, let me say that Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is an extremely fun and addicting game. It beautifully melds an RPG-style game with a challenging (yet not overly complicated) puzzle-type battle system. I'm an RPG fan (not so much turn-based) and my girlfriend loves shape/puzzle games (tetris, etc.).
We both had a great deal of fun with the game UNTIL the devastating bug. I'm not talking about the OTHER bug (roll eyes) that makes your companions useless. While frustrating, I could live without the companions.
No, I'm talking about the common bug (for the PSP) which prevents you from looking at your new spells. Yes, the PSP will crash if you try to look past spell number 6 or 7. Not a big deal? Well, if you can't scroll down to them, then you can't equip them. Basically, you're stuck with your first few spells for the remainder of the game, even as your enemies growth in health and skill.
Worse, there is no rhyme or reason behind when this bug strikes. Some people think it has to do with your level, number of companions, mounts, etc. The point is - unless you want to spend the entire game leveling up without reaping the benefits of improved spells while having to fight increasingly difficult foes, you have to start over. And that will only lead to more disappointment.

I like this game alot, but releasing the PSP version with this bug is unforgivable. They could have even released a patch to fix it, but they haven't (trust me, I've contacted the developer and publisher numerous times with no response!).

So while I can recommend the game based on its gameplay, I ultimately cannot recommend it because of the crippling PSP bug and the refusal of the developer/publisher to address it.