For a game with such a simple premise it will suck you in, immerse you and make you wonder why it went underappreciated.
Gameplay: 9
Even if you're not a fan of puzzles or RPGs, one has to admit the idea of combining the two is certainly unique. And this uniqueness is what makes the game stand out from all other puzzle games. Game play centers almost entirely around orienting various game pieces into 3, 4, or 5 of a kind in order to clear rows or columns of the same type of game piece. Sounds like any run of the mill "match and clear" puzzle game right? Now add in RPG elements to it, particularly that the game board is representing a fight between you and some nasty creature, and things get a lot more interesting. The four colored gems that you can clear represent mana points that you can (often times desperately need to) use to cast spells to make the fight end quicker or last longer. Skulls can be cleared to cause direct damage to your opponent and are the main stay of damage dealing for most encounters. Stars and coins also litter the board and will give you experience and gold, respectively. As in any RPG, higher levels and more gold to purchase upgrades mean you will be kicking butt quicker and better than before. And who doesn't like to have bragging rights in multiplayer by having that level 50 warrior hauling around the big old Black Axe o' Death or whatever weapon suits your fancy? If multiplay at home or via LAN gets old there's always the internet for searching out fresh meat to beat on or get beat up by. The difficulty can be set between three stages (easy to hard), however, since game pieces are generated randomly during a battle you can find yourself in nasty situations against any opponent. Careful selection and some planning will help in most battles but don't be surprised if you find the computer getting good "random" drops more often than you and dealing out some horrifying combos.
Graphics: 6
If you come into Puzzle Quest expecting dazzling graphics on par with Assassin's Creed and the like, then you're going to be sorely disappointed. The game is geared more towards an old school presentation; somewhere between 16-bit and PS1 days. The graphics during a battle are quite well done. The game pieces are bright and colorful. Special effects from cleared pieces and spells add to the excitement of the match. Go to the quest map and you start to notice the problems. The colors again look great but the sprite characters are too small and look like they could have rendered just a little bit better. Cut scenes treat you to some fantastic comic book like art but that's where the kudos ends. The characters are just that: stationary comic book characters. The same art piece is used each time said character has something to say with only a change in the backdrop. If you're going to appreciate anything graphically, be sure to keep your expectations low and think more along how well drawn everything looks since the artists did a great job with character creation.
Sound: 8
From the very start of the game you will notice the superb music scores. Battles feel more immersive too as various scores kick in depending on the situation of the combatants. The only down side I've noticed is, like many RPGs, there's only a limited number of music scores shipped with the game. I'm sure after playing hundreds to thousands of matches this once great music will get repetitive and will likely be turned off for whatever musical diversion the gamer prefers to have on. If there is a way to import some additional music to game (I did note a MODs folder in the game folder) I suggest doing so if only to help increase the number of available music scores. Battle effects sound good too and you will learn to both love and hate the sound of +5 skulls as they explode with a deep concussive blast. No voiceovers during the cut scenes, however. Which might be for the best since the old saying of "if you can't make a decent voiceover, don't make one at all" may very well have been adopted here.
Value: 9
If you can find this game it certainly is well worth the price. And that is the catch: finding this game is very difficult now. It has barely been four months since its initial release and already it's near impossible to find in any retail stores. Check the internet and keep your fingers crossed. The base game play is so simple that anyone can pick it up and yet there are so many extras it can draw in even the most hardcore gamer. Replayability has been brought in nicely here as four character classes, each with their own unique abilities, presents a different challenge each time. Customization further helps replay as you have total control over where all level points go in the seven character attributes that gives to bonuses to how game pieces will respond during battles. You can further augment your character with recruitable party members, mountable creatures, spell learning from captured creatures, item creation, city capturing and earnable awards. For a game with such a simple premise, it adds in so many extras that it becomes quite immersive. And you will notice this as countless hours will be sucked away as you go from one battlefield to the next all in the name of trying to become stronger. Or perhaps it's just an addiction that makes you say "just one more battle then I'll turn it off!"
Tilt: 10
I love games that can provide you with an immersive world and countless ways to customize the way your character fits into it. The story pans out like any good old RPG with the good versus evil and good must find a way to triumph over said evil. There are a few places where you are given the choice to effect minor outcomes so be sure to keep a back up copy of your player file somewhere safe before making big decisions as you cannot revert to a previous save state. The game also provides that age old playing field to settle arguments; that is for families who want to give up any current methods of Ro-sham-bo they currently employ. An additional good note is that the game has very low system requirements. While the cursor may move slightly slower on older machines, it still boots up and plays on computers with slower (at least 1 gig) processors and no high end graphics cards. I managed to get it working (and working quite well) on an old laptop that has certainly seen far better days. That's portable addiction for you right there. Puzzle Quest is also quite kid friendly (no animated violence or blood) and can help aid in pattern recognition, good decision/planning making and basic math. So kids, be sure to show that previous sentence to your parents when you're trying to convince them to buy this for you! The only drawback I've noticed so far is that when you start a battle you have to finish it (win or lose) before you can save and exit the game. So be sure to only start a battle when you know you have plenty of time to complete it as some can drag on for several minutes.
Overall: 8.4
Puzzle Quest certainly lived up to its "Best Game No One Played" award. Finding it in stores is a near impossibility and yet its worth goes far deeper then some of the garbage you find on store shelves these days. Granted, this game is not for everyone as it is geared more towards lovers of puzzles and RPGs. But if you're able to give this game a few minutes of your time you will likely find yourself playing it for many hours if only to get away from some of those more demanding and aggravating "next generation" games.