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Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night Review
by Levi Buchanan - IGN.com | 26 July 2010 12:00Symphony of the Night meets Puzzle Quest.
When first announced, the cocktail of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Puzzle Quest was too much to resist. How could the strengths of these two great games – Castlevania's haunting atmosphere and Puzzle Quest's match-three battle system – slammed together produce anything but an iPhone spectacular? Well, it's pretty amazing what some nagging control issues can do to dampen your enjoyment of a game.
Castlevania Puzzle is essentially another look at one of the greatest entries in Konami's long-running Castlevania series: Symphony of the Night. As Alucard, you must explore a labyrinthine castle room-by-room, closing in on Dracula's lair. But the platforming and combat has been entirely replaced by puzzle play. Aggressive gem-matching contests reduce each combatant's health until only one remains standing. Every match potentially injures your rival, so you must be fast with lining up at least three like-colored jewels as well as adept at setting up combos. Once a battle is won, any spoils are doled out and it's off to the next room.
This is pretty much the basic formula behind the celebrated Puzzle Quest series, but Castlevania Puzzle introduces a handful of big changes. Instead of each fighter hovering over a single board, there are two on-screen. This is not a turn-based fight. You are constantly making matches in hopes of out-playing your opponent. This keeps the battle moving, but without the ability to really study your rival's moves, Castlevania Puzzle is not much of a strategy game.
The other change is that instead of Bejeweled-style match-three puzzling, Castlevania Puzzle plays more like Puzzle Fighter. More obtuse than Bejeweled, you drop pairs of gems into your playfield and line up more than just lines of three. You can also create shaped strings of jewels. Plus, certain gems that must be "freed" by setting them next to a match before they are able to be used in a future move. It's much tougher and fast-paced than Bejeweled. I expect the pacing and the sheer smallness of the pieces (Puzzle Quest's lone field started looking really good about an hour into this game) will frustrate some casual players.
Tiny, tiny gems slip through your fingers.
There is a lot more happening in Castlevania Puzzle than just match-three puzzling. There are some serious RPG elements at play. Alucard collects experience and loot after battles. Leveling up results in skill point that can be applied to health, luck, attack strength, and more. Collected items can be assigned to "hot keys" for use in battles, such as extra health in the event your opponent gets the drop on you. (However, dropping a used item into the field as a gem and then being forced to match it to get its benefits seems a little mean.) You also need to equip Alucard with gear such as weapons and armor, many of which have special powers beyond just increasing attack or defensive strength. I'm not done yet – there are magic spells to unlock, too, which can be used against monsters.
I mentioned earlier that the Puzzle Fighter action might be a little much for somebody just looking for a fun puzzler to burn a few minutes with here and there. The RPG stuff, too, makes Castlevania Puzzle inappropriate for casual gamers. There are at least five layers of loot management and deployment happening behind the gem-matching. And though you can ignore it for the first twenty minutes, you will not get remotely close to Dracula without diving deep to collect powerful gear and spells. And then you have to find the right balance of using them while puzzling over the jewels. Puzzle Quest fans will eat it up.
One last note: Can you believe there's no multiplayer in here? No way to challenge a friend? That's such a bizarre exclusion these days.
Closing Comments
The inclusion of the RPG elements gives tremendous depth to Castlevania Puzzle. Couple this with the incredible exploration – the castle is gigantic and loaded with sights and sounds from Symphony of the Night – and Castlevania Puzzle really looks like an essential play for fans. But though I consider myself a Castlevania fan, I cannot overlook how frustrating it is to play Castlevania Puzzle at times. I have lost battles because of unintended moves. And no amount of sweet Castlevania music could drown out my horrible, horrible cursing.
Supplied by IGN.com
