Review: Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

[BonsaiK]

The first puzzle quest is a lot better. The new one is still good, but definitely not as good.

Well, I've just got the first Puzzle Quest over steam now, and I'll get Galactrix when it drops in price.

That's probably very sensible. Just wait for the next markdown or Steam sale to get Galctrix.

Another thing I forgot to mention in Galactrix is the music is meh. The first one had some pretty good tunes though.

 

[Same River New Water]

Good review!

I tried the demo on Xbox and was going to buy it (partly because a friend of mine is one of the engine programmers), but I found the controls a little unwieldy. I'd get it for DS, but apparently that has issues with loading screens etc. So maybe PC, but I don't use my PC that much. Can anyone recommend a version? Are the Xbox controls ok once you get used to them?

From a purely gameplay point of view, is this Puzzle Quest or the first one better/funner?

From what I've played (which is just the demo), the actual puzzle game itself is a bit more fun in Galactrix because there's a bit more variety and strategy. I'll leave it to others to tell you whether the game in general is better than PQ, cos I haven't played it enough.

Another thing I forgot to mention in Galactrix is the music is meh. The first one had some pretty good tunes though.

Ha! My friend knows the guy who did the music, so I'll pass that along. Actually the music in Challenge of the Warlords on DS gave me the shits and I prefer the music in Galactrix on the Xbox, but that might just be because the big console has inherently better sound than the portable.

 

[BonsaiK]

I've only played both on the PC if that's of any help.

For controls, Galactrix has no serious control issues on the PC. The interface is a little "odd" for PC perhaps (signs of a console port), and it's definitely a case of "too many clicks" when progressing through missions. It could have been streamlined, certainly. But there's nothing game-breaking and nothing to get strongly worked up over.

As far as music goes, what annoyed me about Galactrix's music was that it didn't really have enough "sci-fi" vibe to it, most of it could have fit right into Challenge Of The Warlords without anyone batting an eyelid. But aside from that, the tunes in Warlords are just better written and create more atmosphere. Once again though I'm talking about the PC versions, I can't comment on the music on other platforms. Except for Warlords on the mobile mind you, and that has truly hideous music, heh...

From what I've played (which is just the demo), the actual puzzle game itself is a bit more fun in Galactrix because there's a bit more variety and strategy. I'll leave it to others to tell you whether the game in general is better than PQ, cos I haven't played it enough.

I agree with this generally. Six ways to match instead of four, plus the fact pieces can come from any direction, definitely does open up another level of strategy. However this positive is balanced out by the fact that the game is way too easy, even up until the very end. If Puzzle Quest had a way to set difficulty level to make enemies either smarter or just with more hitpoints, and if Bola Mines and the turn skip modules were removed (or their effectiveness was reduced or compensated for), it would be strategically an awesome game, better than the first.

 

[Ilosia]

Judging by the video this game has the original massive problem that it's predecessor had, that being the fact that the computer is a cheating bastard, in the original while addicting you could never fully suspend your belief at the absurd number of combos that would be made by the new pieces dropping in from the top of the screen, even less when you added the fact that almost always your combos were useless while the computer always got gigantic ones that give it huge convenient advantages if not winning the match outright. The video suggests that these absurd cases of 'luck' are still there and they annoyed me badly enough in the first game.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Good review. You have convinced me to get the DS version.

This way the battery can die, forcing me to realize that I've been playing for 10 hours straight. Or I could play and charge at the same time...

 

[BonsaiK]

Judging by the video this game has the original massive problem that it's predecessor had, that being the fact that the computer is a cheating bastard, in the original while addicting you could never fully suspend your belief at the absurd number of combos that would be made by the new pieces dropping in from the top of the screen, even less when you added the fact that almost always your combos were useless while the computer always got gigantic ones that give it huge convenient advantages if not winning the match outright. The video suggests that these absurd cases of 'luck' are still there and they annoyed me badly enough in the first game.

That's a common complaint. It's not true in reality though - it's an illusion generated by the fact that the computer does all its turns instantly whereas players tend to think carefully between moves. It makes it look like the computer is just pulling moves out of its ass. However, if you're a reasonably good player and were inclined to actually sit down with a pen and paper and write out each move and score in a game versus the computer, you'd find that the computer isn't really that much of a hotshot. The game designers were however aware that players felt this way about the first Puzzle Quest, and I believe they did make an effort to make Galactrix's A.I. "play stupid" a bit more so people wouldn't feel this way. Which is a pity because it's really easy to beat now.

 

[Slycne]

Judging by the video this game has the original massive problem that it's predecessor had, that being the fact that the computer is a cheating bastard, in the original while addicting you could never fully suspend your belief at the absurd number of combos that would be made by the new pieces dropping in from the top of the screen, even less when you added the fact that almost always your combos were useless while the computer always got gigantic ones that give it huge convenient advantages if not winning the match outright. The video suggests that these absurd cases of 'luck' are still there and they annoyed me badly enough in the first game.

There were plenty of match three and turn passes to the other player on both sides, they just are not all that entertaining to watch so most of my cuts were of the big strings of matches. Actually the game seems to be less "cheap" in the luck regard, from what I saw. The AI doesn't go on endless match 4 turns like I remembered in Challenge of the Warlords.

 

[Same River New Water]

the computer is a cheating bastard

I mentioned above that my friend is a programmer at Infinite Interactive. I asked him, and he insists that the AI doesn't cheat. He said the AI programming on Challenge of the Warlords is actually embarrassingly simple, something along the lines of:
1. Look for five of a kind (first skulls, then multipliers, then anything else)
2. Look for four of a kind (ditto)
3. Look for three of a kind (ditto)
There's probably a bit more to it than that, but not much. It certainly doesn't predict what's going to fall.

Here's a quote from the founder of Infinite Interactive at Palgn [http://palgn.com.au/12677/Steve-Fawkner-Interview/]:

I promise you, I give my word, that there is absolutely no cheating. The funny thing is - I'll let you in on a big secret her,e okay - I've written AIs for a lot of games over the years. Puzzle Quest is the first one I've written that doesn't cheat. Every other one cheats, and a few people have figured out that a few of them cheat, many people haven't figured out that they all cheat. They all cheat in various ways, most of them pretty harmless.

To me it's all about making sure that the player has fun, rather than worrying too much about cheating. If it cheats a lot players aren't going to have fun, sure, so we cheat them a little bit to make the experience better. Puzzle Quest? I wrote the AI in one afternoon, it took me two hours - honestly, these days when I write code I'm too lazy to make the game cheat - it would have been so much harder to make the game cheat, but it's a simple little AI. I really should publish it online and show people, but then they'd think I was publishing some fake code I think. It's literally, the AI is about 50 or 60 lines, dead simple, doesn't cheat, it's just pure luck and I think it's just human psychology that people naturally think it's cheating.

 

[Ilosia]

My problem was not with the choices the AI made but with the fact that these massive chains caused by blocks spawning onto the screen could completely reverse the way a game was going, combining strategy and random chance is rarely a good idea, and the way many of my matches ended up was like playing a game of chess when suddenly a rock falls from the sky and crushes all the pieces on one side of the board.

 

[BonsaiK]

Okay. Well you'll hate Galactrix then because blocks can match six ways instead of four, making crazy random combos much more common.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Question Susan: From a purely gameplay point of view, is this Puzzle Quest or the first one better/funner?

Hmm...tricky question. This one has more going on, by way of the different types of puzzles, but the Leapgates are extremely aggravating. The hexagonal board adds a very satisfying new aspect to the basic match-three gameplay, too. But if I absolutely had to pick one or the other...hmmm...I think I'd go with the first one.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Well, I got this for my DS yesterday and the Leapgates aren't terribly annoying yet. I'm having more trouble trying to figure out what to do with my skill points...I'm putting them all into Piloting to increase my shields for now, since I don't have any real energy focus for equipment, yet.

 

[Batadon]

I just beat this game last night... I was pretty disappointed. It's frustrating, too, because the actual PUZZLE is so much better than CotW, but the QUEST... not so much. Just too many bugs that should have been fixed, and the stylus control was horrible. Well, at least now I can finally go back to DSgaea for my OCD tendencies

 

[Hulyen]

I've been meaning to try the demo of the XBLA version of Galactrix - I bought the DS version the day it came out and ended up getting rid of it the next day. Constant loading, horrible stylus recognition; those are big problems indeed, but the deal-breaker for me was the shifting battlefield. They couldn't fit the board and both side's skills on one screen, so it shifts every turn. No big deal, except that it was actually making me motion sick to the point that I couldn't play it.

Honestly, these faults are inexcusable when you consider that COTW is an older game, and had none of these problems.

I'm wondering about how PQ handles with a controller verses a touch screen, but I guess I'll find out when I nab the demo.

 

[Lexodus]

As CAD once said, everything's better with lasers. Well, except Alderaan