Puzzle Quest Galactrix

by D3 Publisher

Product Features

• Three distinct gameplay modes and wireless DS multi-card play available via Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.
• Over 150 battles within story mode.
• Action that blends addictive head-to-head match-3 puzzle gameboard battles that Puzzle Quest fans know and love an a compeling mission play.
• Redesigned, hexagonal puzzle board that?s easier for new players, but adds extra layer of strategy for pros.
• Negotiate with factions, mine for commodities, hack leapgates, recruit crew members, acquire companion aliens, craft weapons, and more.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0016Y9Q5O
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 4.8 x 0.6 inches ; 4.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 24, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,767 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #69 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > Puzzle
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Nintendo DS

Amazon.com Product Description

An addictive blend of color-based match-3 puzzle solving, role-playing, and strategy, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is a brand new adventure from the brains behind the popular Puzzle Quest franchise. In it players are tasked with the salvation of humankind in the face of an unthinkable alien-led genocide. To do so you must create a persistent pilot who is able to accumulate skills, crafts items, maneuver among the universe's political factions, and upgrade the ultimate space fleet via puzzle battles against AI or human opponents.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix Players: 1-2 Wi-Fi options: Wireless DS multi-card play available via Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.

Fast-paced match-3 puzzles. View larger.

An engrossing story. View larger.

Battles covering many planets. View larger.

RPG style skill & item upgrades. View larger.

The game utilizes a new and innovative circular puzzle board featuring hexagonal gem pieces that allow for an increased range of strategic depth when it comes to how players approach Puzzle Quest's infamous match-3 battles. Here the DS' puzzle space now heeds story-based conditions such as varying degrees of gravity according to a player's location in the game universe. This combined with a rich and detailed storyline and other fresh gameplay elements make the world of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix a captivating new adventure to explore and conquer.

The Story
In Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, mankind has spread across the galaxy into hundreds of solar systems with the aid of an inter-dimensional travel technology known as a leapgate. In this distant future four powerful mega corporations have recently managed to establish control over all technology as well as all forms of government. True to the corruptible nature of absolute power, the result is infighting between the corporations that leads to a horrifying experiment gone wrong which provokes an alien race to attempt the extermination of humankind in response. Players assume the role of a rookie pilot tossed into this expansive and dangerous world as they seek to improve their skills, build up the power of their vessel, negotiate with alien races they come across as they traverse the vast reaches of space and in the end, defuse the pending threat to humanity.

Gameplay
Like Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords before it, gameplay in Puzzle Quest: Galactrix features a unique and addictive combination of story-driven mission play and match-3 puzzle solving. Players begin by creating a character, which can be either male or female, then proceed to make their way across the galaxy building up experience by taking on missions for the four mega corporations controlling Earth. These missions bring players either directly or indirectly into conflict with the different space-based factions and characters that populate the game. The result of these conflicts are head-to-head, match-3 puzzle battles between the player and opponents within the puzzle space on the lower screen of the DS. The goal in these battles are to match like-colored gems in groups of three or more, primarily using the DS stylus to make your moves, all the while with attention given to the fact that the different pieces on the board represent different elements needed to level up your character and space ship and do damage to your opponent's ship during your turn. A battle is won when one side's shields and health both reach zero, at which point the winning player can distribute points to themselves in various aspects of gunnery, engineering, science, and piloting. Leveling up is important because the amount of each element available to a player's ship during battles depends on your current level. Another consideration for players is that these battles are turn-based, meaning that although they are fast moving, they also entail a good deal of strategy as players try and beat opponents not only to key pieces that they need for victory in the battle, but also to level up their character. Within this turn-based format players can also choose to forego matching up standard gem pieces and attack opponent's health and shields directly with a weapon or by matching special 'mine pieces' that do similar damage to opponents during battle.

A final gameplay aspect players will encounter are portals called leapgates. Leapgates allow players to cross vast distances in space and become relevant as players finish off available missions in the area of space that they are in. The challenge of these are that they are locked and to open them players access the puzzle space where leapgates are 'hacked' by gathering a set amount of specific gem formations within a specified time period.

Brand New Puzzle Board
In Puzzle Quest: Galactrix the familiar head-to-head, turn based, match-3 puzzle system familiar to players from earlier games now includes hexagonal shaped board pieces and a round puzzle space, making for a new level of strategy. Through this system battles can occur in both space and on planets, each with different gravity mechanics. On planets, gems replenish from top down due to gravitational pull. However, space battles are conducted in zero gravity, with gems replenishing from all directions that the player can control. Board pieces consist of tokens that provide damage to enemies (black, numbers on them = points of damage); Power (red= weapons, green= CPU, yellow= engine, blue= shield); PSI tokens (purple); and Intel (white). This new gameplay element gives the game a whole new potential for strategy, as now you must predict what color gems will fall into the spaces vacated by the gems you've just matched up.

Key Game Features:

• Over 150 battles within story mode.
• The return of the incredibly addictive head-to-head match-3 puzzle gameboard battles that Puzzle Quest fans know and love.
• More control of the puzzle board as you manipulate the puzzle gems in zero gravity, controling the direction the gems refresh.
• Redesigned, hexagonal puzzle board that’s easier for new players, but adds extra layer of strategy for pros.
• Collect a fleet of customizable spaceships which endow your player with new skills and abilities.
• Negotiate with factions, mine for commodities, hack leapgates, recruit crew members, acquire companion aliens, craft weapons, and more.
• Battle across the galaxy in multiplayer battles and compete for rankings in online leaderboards.
• Short easy pick-up-and-play battles, with incredible depth and RPG-style character building.
• Three distinct gameplay modes: single player story mode, multiplayer vs. battles, and instant action quick battles on the go.
• Wireless DS multi-card play available via Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.

Factions
Because Puzzle Quest: Galactrix takes place in a universe filled with other space-based races, an ongoing knowledge of the in-game factions you will have to deal with is all important. As players make their way through space during mission play and during mini-games they will find that every planetary system, station, ship, etc. that they encounter has an affiliation to one of these factions. Some of these are human-based, but most are alien in nature. Good, or at least careful relations relations with these is critical to ensuring safe passage, optimal tariffs and support during conflicts.

Product Description

In Puzzle Quest: Galactrix a horrifying scientific accident has provoked another race to attempt extermination of humankind; players will create a persistent pilot who gains skills, crafts items, maneuvers among the universe's political factions, and upgrades the ultimate space fleet as they attempt to end the genocide. An innovative hexagonal puzzle board allows for a wide range of strategic depth as it heeds to gravity according to a player's location in the game universe. A rich and detailed storyline and fresh gameplay elements make the world of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix a captivating new adventure to explore and conquer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Filled with frustrating garbage., March 16, 2009

By 

Schwa (OH) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Puzzle Quest Galactrix (Video Game)

Galactrix has taken Puzzle Quest's main conceit and applied it somewhat successfully to a very different context - I was surprised at how well the hex grid ends up interpreting activity in microgravity. The good things pretty much end there.

People have already complained at length about the loading times, so I won't harp on them too much. Let it suffice to say that Galactrix's loading times are frequently longer than those of Gamecube games, and it sometimes manages to compete with the PS1.

My main complaint is that the gameplay is incredibly badly designed. The original Puzzle Quest suffered somewhat from random gem drops putting you in a bad position after moving, but because gems can fill the hex grid from any direction, every move can lead to lengthy chains which frequently end by dumping mines handily configured for your enemy to blow up in your face. This system punishes taking action so harshly that it is almost always a better idea to use one of your items that can end your turn without disturbing the board, rather than risk eating dozens of damage because the game decided to line several mines up for your opponent.

The minigames are nearly as bad as the combat, and not nearly as interesting as, for example, Warlords' capture minigame. Moreover, unlike Warlords, where you could simply choose not to play any minigames you didn't like, in Galactrix, it is nearly impossible to acquire money or crafting materials without playing the mining minigame, nearly impossible to afford items without playing the haggle minigame, and literally impossible to do anything without playing the incredibly frustrating hacking minigame. This last is the worst, since in order to move from one system to the next, you need to open LeapGates by matching a specific sequence of colored gems before a timer runs out. This minigame is plagued by the same random drops problem that the combat is, as you will frequently fail hacking puzzles because the game did not generate gems of the correct color, or (since the timer continues running while the gems' disappearing animation plays) because your time was wasted by 5 and 6 match long chains that clear many gems, but all of the wrong colors.

And these are only the problems that the designers intentionally included. The stylus controls are awful, and frequently register touches really far from wherever you've touched. This is a minor annoyance on the map screen, since it will recenter your view, but a significant problem in combats, where illegal moves mean losing your turn and taking 5 damage. Doing anything on the world map involves touching planets and stations, then poking at the "Get Mission" or "Shop" options and hoping that it registers, rather than trying to fly your ship to the map location under the options window. Spending 30 seconds watching my ship spin around a planet instead of just opening the inventory screen is not my idea of a good time.

Galactrix took an interesting idea, and ruined it by forcing the player to slog through tedious, frustrating minigames, all for the dubious reward of combats that ultimately depend more on randomness than the choices the player makes. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was fun. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix sucks.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Liked CotW, hated Galactrix., March 15, 2009

By 

Asher Densmore-Lynn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Puzzle Quest Galactrix (Video Game)

They've tied progress to a minigame play mode that's random, timed, and can't be affected by levels, powers, circumstance, or equipment.

Don't know who thought that was a good idea. I'm not doing this. I'm not. I liked Challenge of the Warlords, but I'm dropping this one dead.

Think I'm over-reacting? Look for people discussing "Gate Hacking".

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing sequel..., March 9, 2009

By 

R. Chang (Redondo Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Puzzle Quest Galactrix (Video Game)

The wait wasn't worth it for this game. LOVED the original Puzzle Quest, but this sequel is disappointing on so many levels. As other reviewers stated, the load times are horrific, to have to remember the map points is just silly, and the amount of luck required is too frustrating. I played for about eight hours and then I just gave up. The frustration level can't equate the amount of "fun" playing the game. Save your money and buy something else. Wish I had waited to read reviews before I purchased.

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