14 DAY TRIAL // Puzzle Quest is a mix between a role playing game and a match-3 developed by Infinite Interactive and published by D3 Publisher that arrived on platforms like Xbox Live and the PC, with a version for the PlayStation Portable handheld also in development.
The first thing I complained about when talking about Puzzle Quest 2 was the prevalence of rat based enemies in the initial stages of the game and their ability to defeat a player with a combination of tiny bites, Scatter and mana drains on the board.
But there's one tougher enemy in Puzzle Quest 2, one which will cause more frustration than any animal species: the feared Artificial Intelligence cheater.
We already knew him and his power from the first game in the series, when gems that came on to the gaming board seemed to arrange themselves just so that the computer could pull of long combo chains that more often than not meant the player would need to restart the battle.
It's all a bit more limited in Puzzle Quest 2 as most enemies only get one five gems chain in one battle and just one chance to use a wildcard but there's still a lot of weirdness with how the gems drop from the top of the screen when the A.I. is taking its turns.
It might be just pure dumb luck but the enemy gets good gems coming in roughly at twice the rate that I seem to get them and they mostly provide him with just the right mana type to unleash his most powerful spell against me.
As I also mentioned yesterday Mana Drain situation, when no more moves can be performed, always seem to happen when I am just about to get the mana needed to fire one of my most powerful special powers.
This could just be a result of my overly defensive type of play but I strongly suspect that while more limited cheating is still an option for the computer controlled enemies in Puzzle Quest 2, which might extend the life of the game but certainly lessens my enjoyment of it.
We also have a review of Puzzle Quest 2 that offers more information about the game.