Customer Reviews

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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".

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.

If you've played Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, this game will be familiar to you. It's basically the same puzzle but with more levels, places to go.

Challenge of the Warlords was really a fantastic game, a surprise hit, very addictive. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Galactrix. Even though the puzzle is the same, same addictive RPG elements, there's some things they took away / changed for the worse.

*Took away the character difference. Instead of different characters with different power-ups, you now buy your skills ( space ship add-ons).
*Completely style control ONLY, some times, it's not very accurate on the main map. Slow to react when you try to fly from Point A to Point B.
*Long Long loading times, every single screen takes a long load time. For a minute there, you would think this is on PSP, never played a ds game with this much load time.
*Weak tutorial - even though you kow how to play the puzzle, but the rest of the game is a bit confusing. How experience builds up, etc. Need to read the manual.

Really, the biggest flaw is the long load times. I don't see much graphic improvement over Warlord, if there is, rather have the same old graphics & shorten the load time. 1 hour of game play, 10 minutes spent on load screens.

Received this a couple of days ago and have been trying it out. I like the new puzzle screens and battle system, but I don't like the wait/loading between almost every screen change. Also, since the movement across the galaxy is via portals, it's hard to remember which portal to use to get to where you want to go. All in all it's a good puzzler, but has a couple of disappointing quirks.

I would give this between three and a half and four stars, so I'm giving this game the higher just because I loved Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Galatrix is very much the same game with a different setting, in space. You still have primary quests and side quests, dozens of differents ports and systems to visits, enemies to fight and capture.

You will be able to create weapons for your ship and buy and sell cargo you have either mined yourself or won in battle. You level up by selecting where you want your skill points to go, and on your battle page you have a selection of items to use against your opponent - these are either purchased or created by you, occasionally given or won in battle.

Moving around the game field and inventory screens is exactly the same as Warlords, but I agree with another reviewer that it is very slow. The screens take longer to load. Also, the puzzle battles are shaped like hexagons, and moving pieces is slower and just not as satisfying as the gem board in Warlords. And of course, your computer opponent does get all of the advantages and you will get frustrated quickly at all the unfairness of it!

However, the story is unfolding as I play and it is still a nicely done RPG and action puzzle combination. I will continue to play it until the end, although not as obsessively as I did Warlords.

I'm forced to agree with the negatives listed in other reviews - especially about the jump gates. Clearing an "easy" jump gate requires that 12 sets of tiles be matched in 100 seconds. The game selects the type of tiles in advance. You must match the first tile in the list, then match the 2nd tile in the list, etc. There's no credit for any tile match except the tile that's currently first. It REALLY is the case that a long string of matches during the jump gate game is USUALLY bad - because time is used up to no good effect. There ARE tiles that can be matched to add time, but they aren't all that numerous. You absolutely must be LUCKY in tile placements to clear the gate. Making the gate reseal is mean.

What doesn't seem to have received enough emphasis is how BRILLIANT the AI is. This is evident in 2 ways:

1. The AI gets multiple match chains and bonuses with frightening regularity. Evidently the computer algorithms used to determine the AI's move are very thorough. And there's no way (as in Puzzle Quest) to "dumb" it down.

2. The AI matches far more sets of mines in the process of chaining matches (probably a subset of number 1) than I do.

The AI is also far luckier than I ever am at getting sets of mines to drop onto the playing field as replacement tiles. And luckier at having the player turn end leaving a conveniently arranged group of mines that can be matched on the AI turn. This feature reminds me of computer backgammon games in which the AI had a high probablility of getting the exact die roll needed in tight situations.

This isn't necessarily a bad game. But it is frustrating. If frustration isn't your thing, pick something else.

As the title implies there is a lot of waiting, which a lot of people have already hit on, so I'll go another direction.

I had two enormous beefs with the game:
You had to play *every* type of game in order to advance. In Warlords, you could train mounts with time limits or capture critters in a clear the board game, or collect this many things to make items and research....
COULD...you did not *have* to play those games.

In Galactrix, you *must* play every one of them in order to advance.

This brings me to my beef on mechanics. When playing a timed game, you have to wait for explosions to clear and fills to fall in. This would be ok if the timer stopped, but it doesn't. I was terribly clever once and lost approximately 20 seconds of time because everything kept falling and clearing. But, I didn't get any closer to my goal because nothing exploded that helped me.

I *liked* the new hexagon system. I *liked* the ships and systems, but they hosed the game with the load times, against my will saves and "Thou shalt play every game" syndrome. They don't even have classes anymore and your companions don't 'help' they just signify you can play a new game type.

Which you have to play anyway to get anywhere.

Cheers

What an odd little game. I never played the original Puzzle Quest, but I probably will now, because this game has me hooked. There's something mesmerizing about the puzzles, trying to factor in gravity while lining up your chosen gems, creating massive chains (or trying not to create massive chains in Gates). This would be a great game to sneak into a long, boring meeting. I really enjoy playing it and find myself constantly grumbling when I have to do something other than play Puzzle Quest, and that is one of the hallmarks of a good game. Normally, I'd give it at least a 4 on the fun scale, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how to progress very far through the game, so that drops the fun quotient down quite a bit.
As almost everyone else has mentioned, the load times are unbelievably long. The game acts as if it's deciphering the human genome instead of transitioning between two screens of admittedly rudimentary graphics. It's really not that complex a computing task to transition between planetary systems in this game, so what's the hold up? A better manual would also have helped for those of us who were not PQ-I players. All in all, for a DS game it's a lot of fun but a lot of annoying, too. I can't imagine anybody plunking down cash for a PC or console version, though. This is the type of game that was meant to be played on a handheld.

In a nutshell, if you were to tell me you planned to buy this game, I wouldn't laugh at you and call you an idiot, but I think there are better games out there, even for the DS.

Given, this is the Puzzle Quest sequal, it already had a lot to live up to, unfortunately, I'd have never let it past QA...

Liked:

The amount of customizablity of your ship: There are a large number of ships to chose from, and a far larger pile of components to fit it with, ultimately allowing far more customization then the first Puzzle Quest.

The ability to play multiple roles: I like the mining aspect, I guess it throws me back to the good old days of 'Tradewars'

Hated:

The User Interface: Dear God, how did this ever make it out of Alpha??? For a game that ONLY uses the touchpad, its horribly inaccurate. Sometimes you get your menu option on the first try, more likely on your 4-5 try, though I've taken as many as 11 to enter a port. Really annoying when your trying to jumpgate while hauling contraband... The overall galaxy map is clunky and prone to random jumps. Then there is the wrong moves in puzzles. For a game that penalizies you for making non-matching moves, this is just horribly wrong

The Jumpgates: When you first start, you think this is kinda neat. When your on the fourth mission of the main quest and have already hacked 10 some gates, you start to realize just how many annoying gates there are.
When you hit your first Hard gate, you realize its all dependent on lady luck. When you start seeing hacked gates going back offline, you throw your DS in frustration... Really, what developer thought this was fun???

Crafting: Seems horribly complicated and ultimately pointless... Conceptually its fine. Obtain plans, gather materials, build items. However, plans seem to drop fairly infrequently, I'm level 17 and only have 3, including the one from the quest. Gathering materials can be a pain trying to remember where that asteroid is, at least until you find the sector with 6 roids in it... Then you have to go through the building puzzle... Now, when you put all this in the light of 'I can buy X component for 5K, and can easily mine around 200k+ an hour'... you won't be doing this unless there are unique items only available for crafting...

Ultimately, good game to kill a couple of hours, but no where near what it could have been