I make no excuses about my love of the game Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. I originally bought the game for the Nintendo DS … then the PSP as soon as it came in stock locally (about a week later), then another DS copy to play with the kids, then the PC, the Mac, then the Wii, then the mobile version for my cell phone, and finally the iPod Touch version. Yes – I have bought this game 8 times!

Back in early 2008 in my txa1265’s “Baker’s Dozen” Best RPG’s of 2007 I awarded the game “Casual Meets Hardcore and Loves It!”, saying:

Every version except for the Wii is worth a full price buy – as I say in my review “take a Bejeweled style ‘match 3′ game, come up with a load of variants on that concept, wrap a classic fantasy RPG story around it and what do you have? Possibly the best game of the year!

Most genre-melding efforts fail to produce anything that fans of either genre enjoy, but Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is both a great puzzle game and a great RPG. The puzzle aspect is a simple variant on the jewel matching game that millions have enjoyed since Popcap introduced Bejeweled in 2001, while the RPG is an interesting mix of Japanese and Western styles, with a high fantasy setting and characters presented in a distinct anime flavor.

This game was brought to the PSP and DS handhelds in early 2007 and has recently been introduced to the rest of the world in versions for the PC, PS2, XBOX360 (on XBOX Live Arcade) and Wii. All are essentially the same game we played back then but with a slight twist for the controls of each platform. The way in which the RPG and puzzle genres are combined in Puzzle Quest is truly inspired, and it’s also the reason that the gameplay is so addictive”.

Sadly the follow-up Puzzle Quest Galactrix wasn’t nearly as wonderful. I bought the PC and DS versions, and reviewed them, saying:

the story is bland, the quests simplistic, the quest log overly limited, hacking leapgates becomes insufferable, and the new gameplay mechanic feels entirely too random to satisfyingly reflect your advancing skills. None of which makes for a great game – but as I say, it is a decent game, it just pales in comparison to the original and even the expectations set by playing the demo.

Since then we have heard small amounts about the sequel, and everything to date makes it seem like the developers are returning to what worked before, but expanding it in a way that makes sense and will produce more compelling gameplay.

We are now getting our first full look at the upcoming game by D3Publisher and Infinite interactive. Check out this minute long video:

The publisher description:

A brand new adventure from Infinite Interactive, the award winning developer of the supreme puzzle-rpg experience. Featuring a hallmark blend of match-3 gem matching and fantasy, Puzzle Quest 2 offers a captivating, rewarding, and accessible journey for players of all skill levels as they make their way to reclaim the once peaceful village of Verloren from the evil clutch of the demon Gorgon. Players will get closer to the Puzzle Quest action than ever before with a more intimate viewpoint of the world and choose from any of four character classes, Sorcerer, Templar, Barbarian, or Assassin, each providing interesting twists on class-specific mechanics for hours of replayability. Players will level up their character to progress through the adventure in Story Mode or dive into Instant Action, Tournament Mode, or Multiplayer Mode for a rich and diverse gameplay experience.

Puzzle Quest 2 is currently scheduled for release on the Nintendo DS and XBOX Live Arcade in late June. While other platforms are certainly hoping to get this gem, this was the official word from D3 on their Facebook site:

Puzzle Quest 2 is only announced on DS and 360 at the moment but we are looking at other platforms. We will be sure to share with everyone over Facebook when news comes in.

Source: Puzzle-Quest.com