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Puzzle Quest: Galactrix: How to screw up a perfect formula photo

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix released about two weeks ago. I can't tell you how excited I was to be reviewing this game. The original title in the series is one that I have purchased on multiple platforms and poured innumerable hours into. And, after investing a considerable amount of time into this new game, you will never see a review for it written by me.

I'm done. That isn't to say that I have finished the game; far from it. If I had to guess, I might be about halfway, perhaps even a third through the main storyline, if that. The truth is that Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is a terrible game, and I refuse to go any further with it.

I do feel that I owe everyone an explanation, however, and that's what this post is. Not a review, but a look at the ways in which Infinite Interactive managed to take one of the most charming and addictive games in recent years and turn it into a steaming pile of crap.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

The first issue with Galactrix lies right at the core of its gameplay: the game board. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords utilized an eight-by-eight square of gems which, when matched, would disappear from the board and send new gems cascading in from the top of the screen. Taking things in a different direction, Galactrix has a hexagonal board that measures eight gems across at its widest points. Gems can now be moved in six directions and how a gem is moved to create a match determines how gems fill in the space created by their absence.

When I first learned of this design, my initial thoughts were that this would revolutionize the way the game was played, changing it into a far more strategy-based experience. The former method lent itself to a lot of randomness that I expected to be reduced. In practice, it has the exact opposite effect.

Due to the size and shape of the board, making chains of cascading gems is an almost entirely random affair. It's rarely possible to see and execute a chain of even three sets of gems even if you are working from one of the far ends of the board. And, due to the number of ways gems can be moved (and all of the increased possibilities that brings), scheming to force an opponent into making a misstep is nearly impossible.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

The result is that success or failure relies more on luck than ever before. Acquired abilities mitigate this, but not any more so than in the original game. An added shield mechanic where blue gems can be matched to recharge defenses helps to prevent sudden loss due to random enemy cascades, but very little.

Another major problem is in regards to how you travel throughout the galaxy in the campaign. Warlord's map system was not great, but it was at least functional and easy to access. The over eighty locations would appear as they became relevant to your quest and travel between them was merely a matter of selecting where you wanted to go, and off you went.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

Galactrix also has a rather large galactic map and it's all available to you from the very early in the game. But the way you move between them has added another step to the process. Star systems are connected by "Leap Gates," a network of linked passages where ships can travel at faster-than-light speeds. The problem is that they're all closed at the start and must be hacked open by way of a puzzle game where you must match colored gems in a sequence within a time limit.

There are about eighty different solar systems in the game (possibly more if some remain to be discovered), and going to each of them requires hacking a gate. Many of them have multiple points of access as well, adding to the number of times you may have to deal with them. And, on top of all of this, gates will occasionally close and force you to hack them again. It's highly annoying to have to open up every path directly and makes the entire process tedious.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

In addition to the interruptions in your travel caused by the Leap Gates, encounters with hostile forces occur as you pass through systems. This isn't new to the series, as practically every path in Challenge of the Warlords would have a monster blocking your path which you would fight or capture. The difference here is that they would appear on the map previously and you could, in some cases, circumvent them by taking a different route.

Encounters in Galactrix are out of the blue. When an encounter happens, you are taken into the system you were traveling through and must either outrun enemies onscreen (highly unlikely) or duke it out. They usually only occur when passing through hostile systems, but not being able to see them can turn an otherwise speedy trip across the galaxy into a painfully slow exercise you might have been able to avoid as you slog through one enemy after another.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

The map is also utterly useless in regards to the information on the solar systems you will enter. Each system contains planets, spaceports, asteroids and so on, effectively increasing the number of places that you can engage in puzzle questing by a magnitude of five (roughly calculated). The map, however, gives no information about a system except for the organization or race which controls it, what kind of government they have and the type of system (industrial, mining, etc.) it is.

Is there a port there? How about a shop for new equipment? Will there be asteroids that the player can mine for resources?  Sorry, you're going to have to potentially waste your time checking it out yourself, even if you've already visited it before. It is pointless and frustrating and a problem that could have been solved so easily with just a brief text display. This is 2009 and, while I love my gaming roots, I should not have to keep records for this crap on-hand like I would on a game made ten or fifteen years ago.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

Last in our triple threat of major shortcomings is the game's setting. It seems as though the designers intended to create a universe of interesting species with a deep history (such as can be found in Mass Effect, for example) but there's nothing of the sort here. Despite the character you play being a member of a powerful organization within the galaxy, you are given very little information about who resides within it. 

If you want to expand your knowledge of the world, visiting planets and moons will give you an opportunity to gain rumors. But the rumors aren't seedy little secrets or anything, serving to establish the setting as a whole. So, unless you're willing to really work at it, every group in the game is utterly interchangeable with the next. The story mode is bland as a result and does not inspire the sort of intrigue and adventure which could make such a setting compelling.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

I really hate to say it, but Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is several steps in the wrong direction for the series. Nearly every aspect of the game feels like a mistake, taking the flaws that existed in its predecessor and amplifying them. I can only hope that, in future titles, these sorts of issues will not make a new appearance because there's absolutely no way I could recommend this game to anyone.

The reasons above have literally stopped me in my tracks. If there is some sort of hidden depth, epic story or other gold at the end of the rainbow, it is impossible for me to care about it any longer. There is absolutely no reason why anybody should have to deal with these issues in what is supposed to be a form of entertainment. I am not an impatient man but this is unacceptable. All I can say is that I hope my experience has spared you a similar fate.

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Conrad Zimmerman is Destructoid's News Editor and home to the busiest mustache in the gaming press. An amateur historian and pop culture fanatic, Conrad possesses a nearly limitless wealth of videogame factoids and a passion for the power of games to teach, inspire and entertain. He enjoys reading, writing and turning things which should be fun into work. Likes Mega Man 2, Arcade Games, Books about games, Board games, Having cultural interests that aren't games Meet the rest of the team



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51 comments | showing # 1 to 50
prev next 50 comments

Bulkmailer's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 15:48
Bulkmailer
Funny ass article, my fate has been spared.
AgentMOO's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 15:51
AgentMOO
Conrad thanks for the heads up! Also, has destructoid review policy changed regarding completion?
Tet's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 15:54
Tet
I don't mind it myself, it gives me my puzzle fix, but I fully agree with the hacking puzzle (the most annoying thing in both Puzzle Quests) and the rumors are stupid ("in 2xxx the groups separated into different factions" isn't a rumor, it's a history lesson). I liked the crafting though, and it doesn't end up being you're unstoppable half way through like the first one.
StMcDuck's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 15:55
StMcDuck
After loving the first Puzzle Quest, I tried out the PC demo of Galactrix and was horribly turned off, by some of the reasons given above (but mostly due to the inane board of play).
Very disappointing, but at least I have the original Puzzle Quest to play through again.
Sterling Aiayla Lyons's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 15:59
Sterling Aiayla Lyons
Wow, that's a shame to hear considering how much I loved the first one. Think I'll have to rent this one before I buy it.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:02
Chronic Logic
So...no score?
splam's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:03
splam
Pretty much sums it up for me too. Oh, and fuck the Keck and their Keck Shell. Those who've played will share my disdain.
PappaDukes's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:07
PappaDukes
Damn, well that just saved me $30. Thanks.
Sustenance's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:07
Sustenance
Thanks for the review. You make a lot of well-stated points, but I just didn't have the same experience with this game. Far from it: I'm really loving it so far. The plot is really not that much worse than COTW, except I think people seem to take to dwarves and elves and magicians more kindly than fuzzy aliens and telepaths and ship captains. It's less familiar.

My main frustration with the first Puzzle Quest was the frequency with which the computer would acquire four-in-a-row extra turns... the game would be over in one move. Frequently. This simply doesn't happen a lot in "Galactrix", because you need five-in-a-row, and that just doesn't happen all that often. It's less about combos and extra turns, and more about one-move-at-a-time strategy, and defensive moves -- preventing the enemy from getting those blue gems, or linking those bombs. Games last much longer, and run in smaller bursts.

For those of us who aren't great about thinking five moves ahead, this makes "Galactrix" more like an action game, and less like a frustrating chess match, where checkmate is only a few mistakes away.

I suspect this game might actually be more enjoyable for beginners - those who didn't play the hell out of the first game. You just can't play Galactrix like you played COTW.

You're right about warp gates, though: the game forces you to hack these FAR too often. It's a blatant imbalance in the game. The only difference between the hacking difficulty types (for me so far) is the amount of time on the clock, and the number of gems you must match. Apart from that, there's simply no variety in hacking. This is very disappointing.

Again, I suspect those who mastered the first game are going to be disappointed that you just can't play the sequel in the same way. If you try to play it like COTW, setting up huge Supernova combos constantly, then you're going to lose because you don't have as much control over the board. In Galactrix you often have to "play small" and play more defensively and safe to succeed (not everyone is used to that; not everyone will like it).

But speaking as someone who loved the first game but found it frustratingly flawed, it's a step in the right direction for me.
AngelsDontBurn's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:08
AngelsDontBurn
I don't think it's that bad at all either. I mean, it's definitely not as solid as the original. But it's still decent. PEGGLE DS WILL BE BETTER THOUGH!
naia-the-gamer's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:13
naia-the-gamer
@splam: I'm dealing with that now! Those fuckers!

Conrad, all your points are valid. Although I enjoy the puzzle grid. I kind of wish four-of-a-kinds would give you an extra turn though.

I'm curious how the controls are on the PC version. The DS controls aren't always responsive. I've heard rumors they're trying to fix some of that stuff, and hence why we haven't seen the XBLA/PSN versions of the game.

I bitched a ton while playing the first game, so I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt.

At the same time, I've started playing the original again :/
zomginterweb's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:13
zomginterweb
Hacking the difficult leap gates are the worst. You have to just keep trying over and over until you get a divine stroke of luck. Then they just close on you again after a while!

I also feel like the computer opponents are able to calculate ridiculous chains that aren't even on the board yet. I can at best plan 2 or 3 chains ahead. I like the game but I don't know if I'll end up finishing it.
silvain's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:15
silvain
Thanks for the update on your experience. A longer, more drawn out, more luck based defensive game sounds not at all relevant to my interests.
Silverhertz's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:18
Silverhertz
Yeah, I was hoping once I could find the rumours they would open up more sidequests for me to enjoy....but no, just exp and some crap I dont care about. And when I found out those gates closed, I was pissed.***SPOILERISH***You can eventually get past the random encounters though, but they pissed me off to begin with***END SPOILERISH***

@Splam: Keck Shell can suck my dick, its up there with gate hacking in terms of annoyance. Beating them just seems to be an exploit in repeating the battle until I get lucky.
icarus's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:27
icarus
I was waiting to buy this on XBLA, so it saddens me to read about these problems. I hated that some of the battles in the first PuzzleQuest seemed to rely on luck instead of strategy. If it is worse in Galactrix, then I will probably steer clear of this.
ShamblingCat's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:29
ShamblingCat
totally agree with everything you said.

the only thing i have to add is that the ds version is even worse than the pc one. every time you want to do anything at all there's a loading screen accompanying it(loading on a cartridge system?) followed by an autosave screen which makes stopping in systems to look for asteroids or stores is even more tedious. that and the unresponsive controls and ridiculous flying mechanic which serves zero purpose in the ds game other than slowing everything down even more (you don't outrun enemies, they just have a countdown timer above them. if it runs out you're stopped dead in the water until they catch you and attack)

puzzle quest is a game that was made for the ds but in this case the ds version appears to be the most flawed.
Conrad Zimmerman's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:31
Conrad Zimmerman
@Sustenance: No, you're right about the story not seeming to be any worse than it was in Warlords. The issue I have is that they set out to do universe building and then utterly failed. I can't tell one race apart from another as they don't have real distinguishing features. The advantage of the fantasy setting is that the races present are pretty identifiable to anybody who has read Lord of the Rings or any other fantasy work.

Personally, I loathe fantasy literature and adore sci-fi. But one requires more work than the other and it felt like Infinite Interactive didn't want to put that effort in.
The GHost's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:34
The GHost
I found the luck factor in the original to be incredibly frustrating, so it's definitely nice to get a heads-up on this one.
Conrad Zimmerman's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:41
Conrad Zimmerman
@naia-the-gamer: PC controls seem to work just fine. Better than Warlords on DS, which I always found to be a bit touchy. Although I have had problems with my PC locking up while I have the game running. Not sure if that's the issue or not (only variable I can think of atm, though) but I figured I should mention it.
seltzermx's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 16:46
seltzermx
Wow, I was acutally looking forward to this game having missed the first one (well got in too later after release and got voerwhelemed by other games). Now, I guess I'll just get the original Puzzle Quest when I finish all my damn RPGs
Wedge's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 17:02
Wedge
I was hoping I wasn't the only one that felt like this. It really is amazing how they managed to fuck this up, especially with the overabundance of shitty mini-games that feel like you get nothing from them.

TBH I could get over the main combat problems, as you can find enough cool items for your ship to make it possible to kick the shit out of the computer most of the time. But you barely ever spend any time in that "main" part of the game with all the boring crap around it.

I think the fact your character no longer has a class hurts the game a lot too. Leveling up feels almost pointless as the benefits are nothing but the nominal gem bonuses for matching. Having a high powered ship and good weapons on it is far more important than your level in the game, and they are totally independent of each other.
Jetsetlemming's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 17:48
Jetsetlemming
The DS version is far worse. Just selecting options on a planet or space station is a trial as it'll randomly close the menu and fly you off in a random direction when you poke it instead of selecting the option you want.
Hacking is annoying but I think the worst problems how luck seems like an even bigger deciding factor. The AI's basically worthless without getting lucky, and their health, armor, and energy amounts are balanced for them getting lucky occasionally while you're playing for real. It's ridiculous.
Link39's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 18:22
Link39
Dodged a bullet there.

Credit goes to Conrad for the assist.
pyrofreak421's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 19:17
pyrofreak421
I have found the DS controls to be very touchy and on more then enough occasions proved to be my downfall and nothing pisses me off more then not having any control of how the board is going to end up. Hey I'm going to get this simple set of three there aren't any mines that can go off next turn.... wait what where did all those come from ... aw come on 58 damage on a single turn this is BS
njsykora's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 19:37
njsykora
Puzzle Quest is crap, the first one was crap, the second one is crap and every game in the future of this godforsaken franchise which now spawns its seed over every format on the market like an EA Sports game will be crap.

No other franchise gets my anger up like this one.
Pangloss's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 19:52
Pangloss
I like what I've played of this game so far (PC version), and all in all I like the six-sided board.

But some things are getting sort of bothersome. The lack of well-defined character classes (while I understand the desire for free customization) meant that, at least on my first character, my points are all distributed exactly evenly. And the gate-hacking is annoying as all hell.

Also, it might be nice to have somewhere to go and sell stuff to a faction (raise faction points) without being harassed by the ships I'm trying to make nice with. Can anyone tell me if it's even worth trying to stay Neutral with the Keck? Because their ships are so goddamn annoying.
theredpepperofdoom's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 19:54
theredpepperofdoom
thanks Conrad for the advice.
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 19:54
pedrovay2003
I think I kind of agree with njsykora on this one... I never really understood the appeal of the first one, either.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 19:58
Kyousuke Nanbu
I had to mod the hell out of the PC version before I started to like it.

The hacking minigame is shit and just retarded, a luck dependent game where it falls on the game to give me what I need? Yea fuck that. Its a lot of more fun when I have 999 seconds to hack them.

If you do the story, it gets ridiculous as you'll be at like level 7 and trying to fight a level 40 cruiser(you can't win, go grind, seriously, grinding in a puzzle game).

The A.I can still do a seemingly useless move and suddenly oneshot you.

I'm amazed at just how terrible the game is without the modding, I pity anyone not playing this on the PC because its the only version that's playable and even then you have to mess around with it.
DougRay's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 20:29
DougRay
If you hated the PC version, then you should surely avoid the DS version. The touch screen controls are flaky, the game autosaves and disrupts play every few minutes, it takes a full 5 seconds to load any screen/game including your inventory, the board slides from side to side when you change sides (making it even harder to read the patterns), the sound is all fuzzy. I could go on and on, but it's safe to say that the technical problems were so bad, I didn't even realize how bad the game itself was. I traded it back for the loss after 2 days. Thanks for the "review," it'll keep me away from the XBLA version as well. My wife and I were both looking forward to this game (the first version was the first DS game she ever played all the way through). So sad.
DF's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 20:35
DF
It's not bad, but...not very good either. As stated, the DS version is kinda bad too. Accessing Data... appears so often that you almost want to pop the back of the DS to find a UMD.

I have no Action Replay so I'm forced with the times on leapgates. What pisses me off is that the timer keeps ticking away when pieces are falling into the board and auto-comboing themselves and I'm unable to do anything! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to just one more match, a simple one move and win--and I get a friggin' Super Nova somewhere else on the board and of course it doesn't involve any of the color I needed. *rage*

Also, wanna know how the gems fall onto the board? I had to look at a forum for this one. The pieces apparently fall in the direction you moved the last piece to make the change. So if you move the match-making piece of the line up, the new part of the board rises up to fill the blanks. I FINALLY understood what controls the board.

Doesn't help that the enemy still gets more lucky shots than it should--and this is made worse than in Warlords because when the enemy gets a long combo, it gets a 2x multiplier, and then a 3x (and possibly more if that's possible). The problem is if the enemy matches some mines...that can very easily one-shot you. Not fun. And if you do survive, he's got full shields and energy, and is probably going to pick you off anyway.

It's all right, but I'm not terribly into it like I was with Warlords. I miss my Knight with the Frozen Staff and tons of Blue Mana. D:
Ffordesoon's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 20:49
Ffordesoon
I find it fascinating that people seem to only be noticing all the issues I had with the first game this time around. I played the hell out of the first game, but I wasn't able to get past the first little bit. Why? Because of the Goddamn difficulty. I set it to Hard mode, but I wasn't sure how they could make it hard. Here's how: the computer cheats like a mofo. I'd match a few gems, and occasionally one row might disappear. The computer would take a turn and always have a Goddamn points orgasm. Why? Because the computer knows which gems it's dropping. It's not random at all; the deck is stacked against you as soon as you start fighting. I've heard that's not the case on Normal, and if I go back to it, I'll definitely play that. The fact that an entire difficulty level effectively breaks the game seems like a pretty significant knock against it, though. That could've just been the XBLA port I played, though; I've heard plenty of people report a radically different experience with the first one.

I was looking forward to Galactrix until I heard about the gate-hacking bit. I have to say, based on my experince with the first game, matching gems to get to an area where I, you know, match gems sounds about as counterintuitive as I'd expect from Infinite. I really felt like I was playing some cheap Korean knockoff of the game I'd read about when I played the first one, and this one sounds like a Russian freeware knockoff of the Korean knockoff. Except you have to pay the price of a full game for it. Horrible.
WormFOODx's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/05/2009 22:48
WormFOODx
Holy crap Conrad, you want bad? Try the DS version that has a stupid LOADING SCREEN whenever you do ANYTHING! I fell asleep while playing because the loading was so boring!!!

Its like... NOW LOADING.... every time.... NOW LOADING... you do anything.... NOW LOADING... it would.... YOU GET MY DRIFT!
peachboy's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 01:26
peachboy
thanks
whormongr's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 02:38
whormongr
I am playing the ds version and it really isn't that bad-
#1 enemies only attack you randomly till you finish the mission where you are tracking down the hidden or whatever they are called-
#2 once you hack the gates open you can go all over (though my wife said that some of the gates close none of mine have yet)
#3 the gameplay isn't as random as you would think, it just takes a while to get the flow, you have to get the hang of how things move on the board and you NEED ship upgrades to give you extra turns.

there are problems though and here they are as I see it:
hacking:
#1 - you cannot pause. Hacking the gates is timed and if you have to stop for a second you are screwed because if you pause the game THE TIMER STILL RUNS
#2 - there is no pause to the clock when a chain reaction hits. I have failed MANY of the hacking challenges because I have like one match left and for a good 10 or 15 seconds the chain will keep going from random gems coming on the board and you just lose because the timer runs out
#3 - there are no bonuses for multiple gem matches. They should give you extra time on the clock when you match say a 5 of a kind or 6 or more gems or something but they don't- and as stated above- that is when the major chain reactions usually hit

mining-
#1 you can't re-mine an asteroid once you have mined it. once you mine an asteroid that is it- it gets hard to get resources after a little while
#2 you can't retry a mining- once you have completed a puzzle that is it there is no retry
#3 if your ship is full you just lose resources. There is no quick way to see the status of your cargo hold when you are tooling around and if your ship is full and you don't notice it you just lose all of the resourced you mined and as I stated, you can't re-mine the rock

other odds and ends:

favor- once you attack a ship in a galaxy you fall out of favor with them and it is damned near impossible to regain favor with with them without totally pissing off some other galaxy

saving- the loading isn't so bad, but everytime you do ANYTHING it has to save the game and you get a "saving" screen

cryptic map- sometimes it is hard to see where you need to go on the tiny ds screen, especially when 2 leap gates are on the same side of the screen

it is still a good game though, especially for the DS and also btw: the music is really good and not as irritating as the first game
RWarrior1CO's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 03:12
RWarrior1CO
Hacking gates is probably the biggest problem. It's boring, difficult, repetitive, and the reward--merely the right to move to the next area--is underwhelming. If they couldn't make it fun, then why did it put in the game?
fabest's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 04:28
fabest
"After loving the first Puzzle Quest, I tried out the PC demo of Galactrix and was horribly turned off, by some of the reasons given above (but mostly due to the inane board of play).
Very disappointing, but at least I have the original Puzzle Quest to play through again."

Agree 100%, I feel the exact same way. I love Puzzle Quest (still playing it, bought it on PC & PS3 & DS, which is by far the worst version) but the demo of Galactrix is a total disappointment.
I remember playing the demo version of Puzzle Quest for hours, and I couldn't even finish the Galactrix one.

Besides I don't understand why some people think Puzzle Quest is too hard and/or the AI is cheating. Puzzle Quest is an EASY game, even on hard setting. At the beginning you struggle a little to progress but when you have access to good equipment & spell it is easy to be almost invincible (and it's fun because you decide the combination of equipment/spells that works well). The only really difficult parts are the puzzles to learn new spells (the ones that are marked as Difficult or Very Difficult). But you don't need these enemy spells, you can easily end the game without learning even one, and they are still possible to complete.

About the cheating, it happens sometimes that the computer got a great chain of 4/5 in a row and red skulls that seem abusive but you get at least as much as it during the whole game if you know how to play. Besides the game is easy so it's really not annoying.
dun19's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 05:11
dun19
I knew I was not the only one who felt this way. Somehow, they royally screwed something that was so good.
DeusPayne's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 07:01
DeusPayne
I completely, 100% disagree with this article. I haven't posted in forever, but I felt a need voice my disapproval of this article. I must say that every problem I read here is nothing more than frustration that it's not a 'straight forward' as you'd like. The hexagonal movement actually doesn't add much movement as you claimed. Many times you can match a row multiple ways, but they'll end up cascading the exact same way. And yeah, while at first it was a bit annoying to see the cpu get 'lucky' matches, and supernova bombs that just rip you apart. But check the intel gathered between your ship and the opponent. If you're close to level, they won't get 'lucky' nearly as much, and if you're higher level, you'll often get the crazy cascades. And how can you say "Due to the size and shape of the board, making chains of cascading gems is an almost entirely random affair." So... you have no clue how to look ahead in a cascade. That doesn't mean it's random. Play enough, and you'll start to see matches 3-4 at a time. Sure supernovas are still pretty much random, but with the fact that you'd routinely get caught in endless free turns in the original, I enjoy that they made the 5 of a kind and supernovas that much harder to match.

The movement between zones is not annoying or slow, only if you make people mad at you. As it stands now, I have all but like 5-6 paths unlocked (with only 1-2 ever closing), and the only 2 races that hate me are the pirates and the souless. And even then, unless I happen to stop at the specific zone, they won't encounter you. But even after that, you get psi powers (which you always have PLENTY of power to use) to avoid battles with certain ships.

Mining (and in a way rumors and crafting) is really the core of this game IMO. You get to avoid the 'annoying' cpu, and it really becomes a puzzle of clearing the tiles the best way possible. Mines can be re-mined later. And you can easily tell what systems have what types of shops/mines/planets. Some are labeled as 'administrative' or 'agriculture' or 'mining' etc. Each one of these is usually the same between races in that certain ones always have a shop, certain ones always have 2+ asteroids, certain ones have shipyards.

Seriously Conrad, did you just get mad that it's not the original? You put in value judgements based on the fact that YOU couldn't do it. For exacmple, you claim that it's "highly unlikely" to be able to outrun ships during an encounter. That is completely 100% flat out WRONG! Notice that ships have a speed? Notice that battleships are slow as hell? Notice that transport ships are fast as fuck? Switch ships, and I guarentee, you'll stop caring about the few 'encounters' that you can't just psi your way out of.

I'll take galactrix over puzzlequest any day, if not only for the fact that galactrix isn't completely broken in terms of balance. If you play the original, and don't have lvl 100 red, with all the +red starting gear, you can't play online. Everyone and their mother just uses the 'add 1 mine per X red...' which fills the entire board, and gives a practically infinite damage.



If there's 1 piece of advice to give to people, it's this: Mine the crap out of everything, and sell to you ENEMIES. They will be your friends fast enough and make movement around the map that much easier.
fabest's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 08:37
fabest
Thank you for your comment DeusPayne, it gives us some hope.

I complained about the demo, which is really not as appealling to me as was the Puzzle Quest one. But I didn't play the entire game so I have to take into account the positive points from someone who played much more than me.

Let's wait for the reviews (this is not one) from people who finished the game.
DF's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 09:21
DF
@whormongr

The problem with your first point is that finding the Lost takes you damn near all over the entire universe and that means lots of Leapgate hacking.

And for mining:
#1.) You actually can re-mine asteroids. I'm not sure if it's after you mine the third asteroid or after the third new one (that is, 1 2 3 and 1 is back, or 1 2 3 4 then 1 is back). If you can stomach the gate for Beta Centauri, you can mine the ring of asteroids to your heart's content. And this is a good place to get a ton of materials to sell too.

#3.) Um...access the menu (Select on DS, and whatever on PC) and click on the rectangle. Bam, inventory screen of what you're carrying. And also to note, your inventory % full is based across all three of your ships, in case anyone didn't know.

Favor: Ever try selling stuff at port? When you sell so much at once, you get a Faction+# bonus which means you become friendlier with the faction represented by the area. When you fight most ships, you lose 10 faction points so trying to become green with, say, Pirates, you're going to have to work, but many missions will have you fighting quite a few different people even if you're already friendly with them.

I'm still playing it. It's still an okay game and all right when compared to its big brother, but it hasn't turned me off. ...yet.
whormongr's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 10:26
whormongr
@Doomsday Forte
I didn't see that you could re mine after so many are mined- it would have made the firs mission with the the ship repair a lot easier- I ended up skipping it till later and I went around everywhere trying to get the materials I needed since I would mine a galaxy and then go to the next and then go back and you still couldn't mine and figured I had to hack a bunch more gates and go on- got frustrated and just got the materials as I went all over the place- the battles were difficult with my little crap ship, but I got through them till I had enough materials-

and what I mean about the access menu is that you should just have a readout on the upper screen- there is room and it would make things a lot easier than constantly switching menus- you could easily have it @ a glance
Ffordesoon's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 11:02
Ffordesoon
"About the cheating, it happens sometimes that the computer got a great chain of 4/5 in a row and red skulls that seem abusive but you get at least as much as it during the whole game if you know how to play."

But I don't want to have to be a Goddamn gem-matching master to win against a freaking rat. It's entirely possible (hell, probable) that I don't know how the game works and/or suck at it. I'll give you that. My point is that the game DOES cheat. If it "seems abusive" all of the time, guess what? It's probably cheating. I love plenty of hard games like Ninja Gaiden; the difference there is that I know it's MY fault when I die. In PQ, it's impossible to do anything more than guesswork. I'm not in control of what gems fall next, the computer is. I can plan ahead, sure, but the computer KNOWS what's ahead. Maybe there's a pattern to the gems I'm missing, but I shouldn't have to learn that, should I?

Look, I played the game for damn near twenty hours and maybe found five locations out of 80+. I never knew WHY I was doing what I was doing, if I was doing what I thought I was, etc. Even if my cheating complaints are bullshit that I told myself (and I like to think I know when I'm being screwed), I still think there's gotta be something amiss there.
Grande C's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 11:07
Grande C
Waaaah! It's not the same game as the last one.
Knivy's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 11:38
Knivy
I'm enjoying it, even if I have this tendency of wanting access to everything, I have like half the galaxy unlocked already and I haven't really played it that much :P.
DF's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 11:48
DF
@whormongr: Oh yes, I don't disagree with you on having something better on the top screen. I mean, the map is kinda...bad on the DS and I generally ignore it and in vain scroll around the big map when I leave a Leapgate for quests and junk. You'd think they'd allow you to change what displays on the top screen...to be honest, I didn't glean most of any of this stuff until I lurked on a forum for the game. Gee, now it all seems so clear! >_>;

I'm actually miffed that the buttons do nothing. I mean, ABXY and the + should at the very least scroll the damn map because I find myself visiting galaxies on accident trying to do the above search-for-quests thing.
Blackhat's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 12:34
Blackhat
"the game would be over in one move. Frequently. This simply doesn't happen a lot in "Galactrix", because you need five-in-a-row, and that just doesn't happen all that often."

That's total garbage. In the second and third levels of the DEMO, I was killed in one turn. From full health to zero. In one instance, (which I timed), the computer had a 1:56 long turn.

I wanted to like it, but jesus, as the review states, it's basically the first game, with all of the problems magnified by ten.
CountingConflict's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 12:45
CountingConflict
Galactrix is the best game ever and you are a stupid doo doo face!


So THERE...
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/06/2009 13:29
Darren Nakamura
The only complaint I really agree with you on is that the LeapGates go offline from time to time. If we already have to hack each one to get from one place to another, the only reason I can imagine they put that in is so that you never get to a point where you can't hack more LeapGates, in case that's one of your favorite things to do.

The other stuff: I admit it's harder to plan chains out, but it's not impossible. With each move you make, you now have a choice between two ways the gravity can pull the stuff. I'm a little miffed that four of a kinds don't give you a free turn any more, because while they may be easier to come by in this game, the five of a kinds are certainly more difficult.

One last note, on the random encounter thing. The last Psi power you get allows you to avoid all random encounters. This actually helps two-fold. Not only are you able to go directly where you want to go without being stopped in between, but you also then are required to hack fewer LeapGates. Given the choice between hacking one new LeapGate or just taking a roundabout path to a place I've already been, I'll almost always take the roundabout path, knowing that I won't be stopped midway.
Perfidious Sinn's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/08/2009 19:52
Perfidious Sinn
This is a damn shame. I'm still hopelessly addicted to Challenge of the Warlords, and they completely screwed it up with this one.

Just reading about the overly-complex map system turned me off of Galactrix.
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