Video game players have proven that there’s always room for another puzzle game on the block, even if there isn’t always room for another block on the screen.
On Wednesday, Sega of America posted a trailer for the new Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. The trailer highlights the game’s new Skill Battle mode, which features role-playing game elements.
The first Puyo Puyo Tetris game was already a crossover of sorts. It combined elements of classic Tetris-style games, with the Puyo Puyo series.
The latter features characters who look sort of like the slimes from Dragon Quest.
Perhaps it was the resemblance to Dragon Quest slime which inspired game designers to add RPG elements to a traditional puzzle game. Or maybe, Puzzle & Dragons or Sega’s own Puyo Puyo Quest (which wasn’t released outside of Japan) convinced them to add RPG puzzle game elements to Puyo Puyo Tetris 2.
New Game Skills
Either way, the new combination looks interesting. The player can create a team of three characters, who will help you in your Tetris or Puyo Puyo puzzle battles.
Different characters have different skills. As you battle alongside them, they will learn more powerful skills — just like in any RPG.
Of course, these skills are all puzzle-themed. They involve things such as getting rid of lines, changing Puyo colors, and so on. Some can help you recover HP, which is a thing in this game.
When you send blocks or Garbage Puyos to your opponent, they will lose HP. If you hit zero HP, you lose.
The RPG elements also include item cards, which allow you to improve your stats. Characters can level up, and they have HP, MP, Attack, Defense, and Recovery points, along with EXP.
As the trailer shows, there are also online play modes where four people can compete in Puyo Puyo Tetris battles.
The cute RPG characters look like fun additions to the basic puzzle game formula, which could always use a few new twists. The characters are also similar to the ones from Puyo Puyo Quest.
According to Sega, the game is now available for preorder for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. A Steam release is expected later.