Had a chance to play with Puzzle Quest on the NDS. It disturbed me. So think of this rant as therapy. It was strangely fun. I've enjoyed Match-3, enough to write my own, freeware, version. But Puzzle Quest's implementation adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay. Most reviews called it deep and strategic, and heaped a lot of praise on it. Personally, my stomach churned. I was having fun, but simultaneously felt a horrible cognitive dissonance between Match-3 and this very interesting, competitive resource gathering mechanic. Also, the battles seem to take forever, drawing out it's fascinating torture. I want to play it again, but not with Match-3. Something is terribly wrong in it's gameplay! The sky is falling. Cats and dogs are sleeping together. Help me out here, anyone who's played the cursed thing! Are my perceptions really unmutual? Has anyone else here felt its wrongness? Clearly, it's not wrong enough. I think it's been a very popular title. I just hate to think, ten years from now, we'll be running around in FPM-3 shooters.
I dug it. I cringed when I first heard of it, and then someone warned me NOT to play it for it would suck a few hours away from work. It did, by Joe it did. I think the thing that got me was the multiplayer aspect. I was thinking, why didn't anyone come up with a 2 player bejeweled before this? It doesn't have to be combat or anything. Heck, it could be cooperative instead of competitive! So it's really just a simple twist on an old mechanic. One that warrants another game? Sure, why not? Then they went the extra mile and heaped tons of depth to it with spells, buildings, and story (which I skip). Now, if Bejeweled 3 came out with 2 player before PQ, then maybe it would sit differently with me. Though I'll admit that sometimes I want there to be a timer for moves, a penalty for taking too long. That would shorten the battles which I agree can take too long the further you get into the game. Y'all saw the PA comic on this, right? http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/28
I think the cognitive dissonance here is found in mixing a game mechanic that people are used to playing in SMALL chunks of time with a genre whose players are used to playing in VERY LARGE chunks of time. Consequently you find that you want to play for hours but have to stop after maybe half an hour because the mechanic is just not suited for extreme Final Fantasy-style gaming stretches. That's been my experience with it, and I've had that feeling confirmed by a friend of mine as well. It's a strange thing. It'll probably be the first game I've played that takes 40+ hours to complete, I actually DO complete it due to interest, and I never play for more than two hours straight. -Tim
Ahh but that's the common misconception of the casual audience... that they play for short sessions. Not so.
All right then maybe it's just me and one guy I know. We aren't the casual audience I guess. It's real in my brain.
It will happen sooner than you think. This project has been in my pipeline for a while (actually its a rhythm first person match 3 shooter, but same difference.)
Well, I've been playing this game for AT LEAST 30 hours, and it is addicitive. I'm a 36 level mage and I'm kicking butt and taking names in this MATCH-3 RPG...two types of games that taste great together...but I agree with what was voiced earlier...it's an odd thing to come to grips with. I've done every side quest that's come up and I play on untimed mode, which means that battles take a long time...but I don't mind. It's strangely fun. I just played a multiplayer game with someone else here at the office (DS battle) and they were 23rd level. It has a "handicapping" checkbox to try and make the battle more even, but it didn't really help. I creamed him both times...as would be expected, I suppose, but I didn't want to play him again...and strangely, he didn't want to play me again.