Cerise Magazine

September 2007 Issue

Features

• From the Editors
• Craft Check: Handkerchief Dice Bags
• Gaming in the Media: Reflections on Princess Peach...
• Market to Me: Feminine gamers

Interviews

• Blogger Interview: Regina Buenaobra [Acid for Blood]

Articles

• Gender & Live-Action Role Play: LARP and Social Darwinism
  Author: Samara Hayley Steele

Samara continues her series on gender and LARP.

• D&D for Girls?
  Author: John Kim

John discusses a recent incident involving gender and the official Dungeons & Dragons discussion forums, what went wrong and some ideas for making it right.

• Reclaiming Pink
  Author: Olivia Luna

Olivia takes a critical look at the some of the uses of the color pink in the world of handheld gaming.

• Sisterhood is powerful: women-oriented gaming communities
  Author: Andrea Rubenstein

Andrea brings up some of the positive aspects of women-oriented gaming communities.

• Is Gamerdom Really a Bastion of Masculinity?
  Author: Latoya Peterson

Latoya looks at the perceptions of gaming and gamers and what that means for the female gamers out there.

Gamer Stories

• The Dice of Evil
  by Robyn Fleming

Reviews

• Puzzle Quest
  by Olivia Luna
• Nocturne
  by Bonnie Moxnes
• Retro Review: Castle of Dragon
by Abby Wilson

Odds 'n Ends

• The Back Page

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Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, D3 Publisher, Nintendo DS, 2007

Puzzle…Quest?

When Puzzle Quest was released for the Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable in March of this year, it slipped in under most gamers’ radar. It had minimal media coverage prior to its release and there was little to no buzz surrounding the quirky RPG/puzzler hybrid. Word of mouth travels fast however, and interested gamers soon found it nigh impossible to score a copy of Puzzle Quest off the shelves. Riding the game’s wave of underground popularity, D3Publisher recently announced that they will be bringing Puzzle Quest to a slew of home systems later this year, a testament to the power and influence that handhelds can have in the gaming market. But just what is this Puzzle Quest phenomenon about anyway?

Gameplay

If you’ve heard anything about Puzzle Quest, it’s probably that it is a Bejewled-meets-medieval fantasy RPG-hybrid, and this is not far off from the mark. You control a character that moves along set paths on a word map, engaging in countless battles along the way, usually as a means of completing the many quests that make up your journey. All of the battles take place on a puzzle grid populated with skulls, mana gems, gold and experience stars. Battle is conducted by connecting three of a kind on the grid and the object is to drain your opponents’ HP through spells or physical damage. Physical damage is incurred when you line up three skulls in a row, and mana is likewise gathered by connecting three blue gems, three yellow gems and so on. Sounds simple enough, but describing the mechanics of Puzzle Quest does little justice to the way in which this very basic game quickly sucks in and absorbs the player. Puzzle Quest is a fiercely addicting game. Be prepared to sink a sizeable chunk of time into this game as, once you’re caught in its grip, it won’t let you go.

That is not to say that it is entirely enjoyable however. Puzzle Quest fosters a love-hate relationship with the player from the get go. The AI frequently gets off cheap strings of attacks (by matching four or five-of-a-kind, which grant bonus turns) that are much hard for the player to pull off. This happens often enough to become pretty frustrating and it has a significant detrimental effect on the fun factor of the game. I frequently found myself snapping my DS shut in irritation, only to pick up the stylus again thirty seconds later to have another go at it because I just couldn’t stay away. Fortunately, the game counters this imbalance by allowing the player to adjust the difficulty level each time the game starts. If you’re having trouble getting past a particularly cheap enemy, simply dial down the difficulty level and move on. Learning new spells, training your mounts and conquering new kingdoms all follow this game play mechanic as well, which can make the game seem tedious at times. Battles can become pretty monotonous, but by the time you notice you’ll likely be sucked too far in to admit defeat and retreat.

Presentation

Puzzle Quest takes full advantage of the DS’s touch screen capabilities, as virtually every move you make in the game is guided by the stylus. The game doesn’t give you the option to switch to a control pad scheme, but this limitation is barely noticeable. Swapping puzzle gems with the stylus feels smooth and natural, although the smallness of the screen means you might sometimes accidentally grab the wrong piece to move. The graphics of the game aren’t particularly impressive, but they aren’t particularly bad either. The character art is relatively pleasing to the eye, though the world in general is rather bland looking. But then again, who isn’t used to playing incredibly fun but unattractive RPGs? The music is equally forgettable, and when it comes to the game’s plot, well, trust me when I say that it’s the gameplay that will keep you coming back for more and little else. The game’s story is pretty standard fare: pseudo-epic medieval quest, saving the kingdom from terrible doom, etc. etc. etc. Fairly predictable and fairly boring. Where the game’s presentation really shines, though, is in its representation of women.

At the start of the game you get to choose between four different character classes: druid, warrior, knight and wizard. Each class has four avatars to choose from: two males, two females. The art for the females it surprisingly well done; for the most part, the women wear armor that’s as sensible as the armor the men wear and their pictures aren’t overtly sexualized. Choice of avatar doesn’t affect the plot in any way-it’s merely an aesthetic choice for the player. Also of note are the numerous powerful female characters that populate the game. Your protagonist’s allegiance is to her queen, who rules the kingdom with no king in sight. The queen directs you early on in your quest and the protagonist frequently reminds others that her sole allegiance is to her queen. The leaders of the dwarven and elven allied kingdoms are both strong females as well, and many of the NPC encountered along the ways, as well as a few of the companions who join your heroine on her quest, are women. The presence of so many female characters, depicted without the usual litany of stereotypes and tired tropes, is a welcome surprise in a setting that doesn’t have the best track record on feminine representation. Puzzle Quest’s gender balance is a breath of fresh air in the male-dominated RPG genre.

Odds and Ends

Another point worth mentioning is the large number of reports of bugs in Puzzle Quest. While D3Publisher has confirmed a bug in the companion system of the PSP version, it is not quite as clear what, if any, the bugs are in the DS version. Personally, I had no problems with bugs or glitches while I played the game, but I may have just been lucky. At any rate, the game automatically saves your progress after each battle (a mixed blessing to be sure), so any time lost to an untimely game freeze won’t set you back much, should it happen.

In short, this is one of those rare games that actually lives up to its hype. Puzzle Quest is ridiculously engrossing; but of course that’s not always a good thing. It’s two parts fun to one part frustrating, and honestly? By the time I beat the game, it was a relief to finally pull it out of my DS for good and be done with it. That kind of devotion can be draining, but Puzzle Quest demands it. Nevertheless, Puzzle Quest is a fantastic game in spite of its numerous flaws, and its well worth the price you pay for it in both time and money. It’s a blast to play, the gameplay is fresh and unique, and Puzzle Quest has plenty of depth and side quests to keep you occupied far beyond the main storyline. Just be prepared to settle in for the long haul because once you start playing you simply won’t be able to get enough.

Not convinced? Download the free PC demo and give it a trial run!