Of puzzles and men

“Crisis averted!” as they say in the business. My NNID recovered thanks to the fine folks at Nintendo. I was keen to keep my old 3DS as a backup, surely thinking that way incase anything went sour (which it most certainly did). It’s nice to have access to all my PicrossE games again, and in a way it’s even better that I get to play them all over as if it was a first time, and fresh fresh puzzles.

It’s a shame that friend code stuff wasn’t tied to the NNID as well, because it’s a bit of a drag to ask for all those friends to code with me again.

I tell you what though. After sending a considerable amount of time on an XL sized (new) 3DS, it’s hard to go back to the smaller original. It’s not just the screen-size itself, (Which is, by comparison… well, yow!) but the boxy design makes it feel old. Which is a weird thing to say, but I guess It just takes some getting used to again.

I sure do miss that eye tracking tech though.

-----

Puzzle and Dragons is a curious sort of game that is equal parts interesting and a little bit dumb. Sure, I can understand the addictive nature of the ‘match-3-and-up’ puzzle grid mixed with battle elements, but the game board feels flawed.

Perhaps it’s the size?

I’m still fairly early into the game, but I’m already riddled with frustration of not having anything to make a combo with, MOST of the time. I could see where people would be coming from if they were to say “Oh, well most of the time those combos are really just sheer luck.” That really shouldn’t be the case. To get a big combo, you should have accomplished that on your own, and not blindly move orbs into place and hope you get it.

Should I mention I’m playing the Mario version first?

It’s that tiny grievance that doesn’t necessarily stop me from playing, but it does slow down my need to. I guess I’m trying to grasp why it has such a popular base in Japan, but I also suppose it’s because it’s one of those free to play games that you can buy items to do more stuff?

I mean, I don’t know, but it’s clear that would definitely be an element missing from that game, if there ever was one.

Still, I be poking around the game ever so slowly, because I like me some puzzles. Though, it does give me an incredibly strange urge to play Gyromancer again.

----

Witcher III continues to be an interesting experience that I feel sad about missing out on two other times before.

The combat is a bit tough when put into the perspective of the way I’ve been playing it. I lack the patience that it’s probably asking for, but I don’t have time to be methodical in most scenarios where I feel otherwise ganged up. Countering is actually easier than most seem to make it out to be (so I hear?), but I always come out of most fights always getting hit way more than I’d like.

The horse is a bit daft too, but I appreciate that it stays on the road and all I have to do is hold a button down. It let’s me choose the ride along option more than fast travel. More than often I always take the long way in a videogame whenever I feel immersed in a world.

The characters in this game so far, are absolutely fantastic and well realized. Each character on Geralt’s journey feels unique and not just a common voice on a different body. There’s so many creatures within this world that also get their momentary story beats and aren’t just quests that fill out on details afterwards (well they still do, Bestiary and all).

I know I’m under-utilizing a lot of what this game is offering me. There’s a whole world of crafting and alchemy that I’m too afraid to touch at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll come around. I’ve collected so many things for crafting materials, but I don’t think I have the right kind of schematics for things (and at least a couple of times now, I’ve acquired schematics for gear at times where it no longer mattered as I’ve long since found something better from a quest or a loot crate).

But I dig it, and will continue on. Although I really shouldn’t, I have plenty of school and work to do.

Also: its should be noted that Johnny the godling has been my favourite character so far.

"I really want to write more. Hell, I really want to write about games more. where the hell is the time going?

I'm still getting to grips with the witcher combat as well. I seem to mostly be struggling against archers, though there's an ability that lets you parry arrows which helps a bit. My current strat is to mind control/set on fire anyone up close and make a beeline for whichever dickhead is holding the ranged weapon. Once they've been taken care of the rest fall into place fairly easily. It's pretty fun hearing about the way people deal with combat in their own unique ways though. @mb was telling me he's putting all his points into the shield and he basically lets enemies kill themselves as they throw themselves at him. I've gone for a much more bloodborne style of rolling and jabbing, as that's just how I feel comfortable playing. It does seem very flexible though, so once you find a style that works for you I'm sure everything will become much easier.

I used to write short freelance Android app reviews for a site. I never reviewed Puzzle and Dragons, but I did review several games that imitated the game to a T. Whenever I hear the guys talking about any "good" mobile game my eyes just glaze over. I wrote something like 630 reviews for that site and mobile gaming is one of the most vile, money hungry industries I've ever seen.

I completely agree with your assessment of the game and don't understand how this game is so popular either. It's really crazy when you learn that there is a huge wiki built around this game and the meta is so ingrained that it's highly recommended you totally restart your game if you don't roll specific monsters when you start. No thanks.

After watching the Quick Look of Puzzle and Dragons for the 3DS, I gave the original app for the Android a try.

I enjoy a good match-three game, when it's well-executed. Sometimes, I want to play something with low stakes for just a few minutes. Other times, I want something to fiddle with while I zone out or listen to music or a podcast. The little dopamine drip of repeatedly finding matches and looking for better combos and seeing them succeed can be satisfying, albeit short-lived. I wouldn't call it fulfilling. I'd probably say, "soothing".

As a puzzle game, Puzzle and Dragons is not great shakes. It's mechanical tweak of moving a piece around the board instead of just one space over isn't that revolutionary. The minute-to-minute gameplay isn't the draw.

The real draw is the progression. As you play, you see monsters more powerful and cooler than yours, and you want to acquire those monsters. The way you choose another player's best monster to team up with gives you another glimpse of just how awesome your monsters can be... if you only played just a little more. You aren't playing Puzzle and Dragons to solve puzzles; you are playing to build dragons.

But, the goal posts are always moving. You level up your team with "trash" monsters, until they're ready to evolve. At that point, you play more to find the right materials to perform the ritual that unlocks their next level. That new form comes with moderately more powerful stats and abilities. It also comes with more progression. It's harder (aka, more time-consuming) to level up stronger monsters, but they're more effective, so you don't mind having them as long. Plus, they can always evolve again. Eventually, you might even use your powered-up monster to evolve yet another one, because more powerful monsters convey more experience - or even skills - during the evolution process.

I think it's very similar to Pokemon. You don't play it for the game. You play it for the toys. And there are always more toys.

@sweep:I've resorted to rolling a lot more, because there was a period where I would parry attacks from enemies, but they would quickly take to blocking. It's become a lot more effective rolling to get behind a guy.

Not how I imagined a bad ass witcher to fight, but it gets the job done. (And, is it just me or does Ciri play waaaaay better than Geralt?)

@grtkbrandon: By the time I hit stage 3-5 I'm under the impression that they stage things for failure so you have no choice but to spend a life to continue. It's sound a bit like conspiracy, but I restarted that level with without continuing so many time, that I've just been convinced.

@sharpcypher: hmm.. and that's an interesting aspect to that game, but all that upgrading and splicing and what-not has been a slow time coming so far. I don't get much items to do anything, but it makes me wonder about things like combos. Does a better combo to defeat an enemy ensure a greater reward?

Yeah, it's definitely not a conspiracy. Like the guys were talking about on one of the podcasts, they do intentionally create these levels because once someone pays that dollar the first time it suddenly becomes an investment and the player is more likely to spend again.

@bonbolapti: Bigger combos do not affect greater rewards. The rewards are determined by the dungeon you are playing in. Generally, the more difficult the dungeon, the higher-level drops you get. Also, certain dungeons provide drops with specific characteristics, such as elemental affinity or creature type. So, if you are looking for Spirits because you have a max-leveled monster ready to evolve, you can run one specific dungeon to guaranty a Spirit, although you might not get the exact KIND of Spirit you want. There's always some element of chance. Also, these specific dungeons are not always available; they rotate on a regular basis. I'm not sure of the schedule, but I'm sure the regular ones are documented somewhere.

Bigger combos typically just make it easier to progress faster, because they increase damage. Some monsters can also have abilities that trigger off longer combos. So, skill at the matching game only makes it easier to play, not easier to get better drops. Of course, playing more quickly allows you to get more drops in the time you play, which would increase your chances of finding something over time. MATH!

In my experience, being able to run specific dungeons for monsters with specific characteristics adds a hunting-like aspect to the game. It gives you agency in your team composition, instead of just slapping together what you think is the best out of what has dropped. For instance, I ended up with a high-levelled monster that boosts healers in my team, so I started focusing on levelling up and evolving all the healers I had. I ran specific dungeons to find monsters with the same color as my monster, so they'd level up faster when I merged them. Then, I had to run the Spirit-specific dungeon that showed up each Friday to try to get the right color spirits I needed to evolve my Healer monsters.