Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (PlayStation Portable, 2007)

Puzzle Quest is a perfect blend of puzzle and RPG elements.

You spend most of the game playing bejeweled against various computer opponents that range from ogres, dragons, skeleton lords and so forth. To say this is just a bejeweled game would be a dangerous understatement though, for during your gem matching process, you have a number of spells at your disposal. Matching skulls will damage the other opponent while matching gems will net your mana points of that color. As you accumulate mana, you may then cast spells that you have customized for your charector. These spells can alter the board, you or your opponent. The first person to drop to 0 hp (usually from skull damage) loses. If you lose, there is no punishment aside from having to play that opponent again.

When your not matching gems, you traverse various paths leading to castles, caves, and so forth. Castles have various quests that you can accept (up to 4 at a time), where completing these quests is usually accomplished by battling an opponent.

You can also lay siege to castles. If you beat a castle, you then get a constant income from the building and also get a number of further options which increase the value of the game. Using a castle unlocks the following important features aside from a few others:
- You get to create your own weapons (by matching gems of certain colors before having no more moves left). Weapons and armor do a number of things such as generate you health per turn, giving more damage to an opponent when matching skulls, and/or giving you more mana per gem allignment.
- You can train creatures that you capture in battle and/or learn spells from them. When you fight and beat a monster of the same type, on your third try you can attempt to capture the monster (which is performed by a gem matching puzzle). You can then train some of these creatures, which you will then ride around on the game map (they also offer certain advantages during the puzzle battles). Or you can learn different spells from these creatures, which you can then add to your charector's spell list.

There are a number of additional features to the game as well such as being able to buy new equipment and attributes for your charector(using money you obtain by matching up gold in the puzzles). Your charector can also level up to level 50 where each new level lets you add 4 points to your attributes.

Another feature to the game is finding charectors who can help you as you play. However, I believe there may be a glitch in this game, for the helping charector attributes never seem to have played a role in my game. For example, one charector does an inital damage to the undead. However, I never witnessed this taking place.

All in all, this game is incredible and can be enjoyed in short bursts or for hours. The only reason I would say not to buy this is if you have an xbox360. Xbox Live just released this for download at $12.00. This download features better graphics and a large network for online play. But for those who do not have an xbox360 or simply wish to play Puzzle Quest on the go, then Puzzle Quest for the PSP is a must.

I was a little wary of this combo of standard puzzler and RPG styles. While not mind-blowing, it is certainly as deep and entertaining as most typical tetris clones with its own twist. The basic puzzle setup is similar to Yoshi's cookie and a few others where you have mixed shapes in a box and you have to align three or more of the same. Doing so will gain you some mana of the same color as the shapes you just cleared. This mana fuels spells you may cast to attack your opponent or perform a move without giving up your turn. Four of a kind gives you an extra turn and five or more gives you...something, I'm not really sure. Aligning three or more skulls performs an attack on your computer controlled opponent. There's also gold to align and thus win. Whenever you or your opponent clears some shapes\skulls\gold more fall from atop to fill in the gaps. This changes the playfield so that moves you could have chosen to make before are no longer lined up that way. The quest story compliments the puzzle challenges by giving AI opponents different powers and strategies that make you approach many of them differently. Unfortunately the AI is inconsistent. Sometimes the same opponent will go for your throat, sometimes make some dumb mistakes. There are definitely boss characters and lowly pawns. It will take a few tries to beat the bosses. But even when you fail you earn money and points. Another minor annoyance is that you cant see what shapes will fall when you make a move, which the opponent seems to foresee very well. While you may see this as the game cheating, you may just luck out and get some unexpected combos yourself. The game kind of works out that way. Sometimes looking for the four in a row or combo that'll extend your turn just eats time and it's hard enough to see the one possible move in the current configuration. Also, when there are no more moves available the game clears the playfield, along with all your mana. So it's best to use your spells when they become available. While frustrating at times and a little bland in the story it's always satisfying when you deliver that final blow to a difficult boss. Definitely a compelling time eater.

For fans of Bejeweled and RPG's, this is a match made in heaven. The game is played in a fantasty land with a main quest along with numerous short side quests. Combat is carried out by battling the enemies in a Bejeweled style game, however this game is much deeper than Bejeweled. Your players abilities and magic capabilities will pay a key role in defeating the enemy.

The great thing about this game is you can pick up and play for ten minutes, or you can play for hours. It recently kept meet occupied both ways on a coast-to-coast flight.

They recently announced that this title is coming to Xbox Live. While this will broaden the appeal, I think the PSP is the ideal platform for the game.

I was told by local game shops that if i find the game to jump on it because its pretty rare due to it's popularity. Now that I have played it for a day, I have to agree. The mixture of Role Playing strategy with puzzle solving abilities make this game entertaining and challenging at the same time. Loading time is fast and the game does not seem to eat up the battery to fast. I can't wait to see if the game will still have appeal in six months from now. I would suggest it to anyone that enjoys solving puzzles yet wants more challenge that just trying to clear a board. If your a hardcore RPG player, this game is probably not for you, it may seem a little slow paced.

Possibly the best puzzle game that is set on a mythological/warlord atmosphere. The game combines RPG elements with an addictive puzzle system that doesn't let you put the game down. The characters are very attractive upon game play, from the usual good-looking heroes or heroines, to the scary/ghoul-like villains that make the story more epic. The story is obviously not that detailed, whereas most of the time you will be challenging foes on puzzle battles. Overall, this game is a 9.4/10. Highly recommended, hardcore gamers or not, you will enjoy this game.