Product Info

Platform

Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC

Publisher

Sega

Developer

Sega

Genre

Puzzle

Players

1-4

File Size (Minimum)

1.3 GB

Release Date (NA)

Dec 8, 2020

Release Date (JP)

Dec 9, 2020

Purchase From

eShop

PSN Store

Microsoft Store

Steam

It’s been just under six years since the first Puyo Puyo Tetris release in early 2014. The announcement of a sequel to the crossover puzzle game came as a surprise, but Sega made sure the upgrade was worth it. From better user interface to an additional mode, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is a qualified successor.

Puzzle History

Tetris, a tile-matching puzzle game, was first introduced in 1984 by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. The rights of the game didn’t return to Pajitnov till 1996 but has been published by many companies over the years, notably by Nintendo for the launch of their Game Boy system. It has received multiple awards and worldwide recognition, including placing #2 in the Top 50 Console Games of All Time in the “Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2009.” Additionally, Tetris is now recognized as the birth of casual gaming.

In Tetris, geometric shapes called “Tetriminos” appear at the top of the screen and descend to the bottom. To play, players can rotate and move each Tetrimino laterally before connecting to other Tetriminos or to the bottom of the screen. The goal is to fill at least a single, horizontal line with blocks so that it will disappear. The more lines completed, especially at the same time, the higher the score.

Puyo Puyo was first released in 1991, developed by Compile. The game originally was a spin-off to a dungeon-crawler game, Madō Monogatari (aka Sorcery Saga). Hence, a few characters in Puyo Puyo came from this RPG. It wasn’t until 1998 that Sega officially owned the franchise, with the Sonic Team being the developers since 2001. Puyo Puyo works similar to the popular puzzle game Tetris. Puyo, which are blob-looking objects, appear at the top of the screen and fall to the bottom. Players can rotate each falling piece to connect four or more Puyo of the same color. The connected Puyo will “pop” and disappear. You can connect Puyo pieces horizontally and/or vertically but not diagonally.

Both puzzle games end the same fashion. In Puyo Puyo, the game ends if a Puyo reaches the “X” mark. In Tetris, the game ends if the Tetriminos pile up over the top of the playing field.

The Puyo Puyo Tetris series takes both popular puzzles and combines them into one unique style of gameplay. Fans can still play each puzzle style separately, but be prepared to play both games when going through the Adventure mode.

Have We Met Before?

The storyline picks up after the events of the first game. Ringo, one of the main characters, loves her Puyo Puyo battles. Unexpectedly, she encounters Tee, who happens to fall from the sky in front of her. Tee is a captain of his spacecraft and battles with Tetris. However, something feels off. The two characters and others along the way have met before, but their memories are fuzzy on the details. Regardless, the story continues as players chase after the culprit trying to bring the worlds of Puyo Puyo and Tetris together. Motivations on why are revealed halfway through the story. If you’re not familiar with the first game, you can still get through the game with the dialogue provided. To have a better experience, it’s advised to play the first Puyo Puyo Tetris or catch up elsewhere.

When first starting your adventure, you’ll be prompted to set the difficulty on auto. The game determines how tough your battles will be, but this can be disabled in the game’s settings. By the time you are halfway into the story, you’ll be facing some tough challenges. No matter how many combos made through Tetris or basic combos in Puyo Puyo, matches become frustrating. Oddly enough, when victory finally came in some of these battles, it came fairly quickly using simplistic puzzles moves. What once was constant, brutal beatdown was suddenly a breeze. Whether it’s the auto difficulty taking pity on this player, an erratic CPU, or just plain luck is anyone’s guess.

Turning the auto difficulty off seems to alter the difficulty somewhat but not by much. Regardless of the setting, it doesn’t solve the problem of the different waves of CPU difficulty. The game doesn’t hold back no matter what, so you’ll need to battle with knowledge of both puzzle styles. At the very least, there’s a lesson mode to learn the basics for both puzzles styles if you need a refresher course.

Then and Now

Compared to the first game, the user interface (UI) has seen a number of improvements. First off, players now have the option to do a quick marathon with either Puyo Puyo or Tetris right from the start screen. Also, the opening screen used in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is much more lively. The music on the menu screens and in the game are much more energetic as well. Moreover, in battles, the game introduces additional character animations at the top of the screen, giving battles more energy. To see these animations, either you or your opponent has to create a certain amount of combos.

The character selection screens themselves are cleaned up and gridded nicely compared to the slanted version in the original. Furthermore, the UI design has been adjusted for colorblind support. In general, the designs are not drastically different compared with the first game, but why fix something if it isn’t broken. 

In Adventure mode, the map layout is much more interactive. Instead of a flat level design with stage selection in each box, the navigation between stages now features more animation. However, the map is quite busy, and it can be somewhat annoying when going from stages on one end of the level to the other. That said, level and stage title cards are clean and displayed creatively on screen. Overall, the UI is a great improvement.

The Three Puzzleteers

The game modes from the first game return, along with a new mode called Skill Battle. Skill Battle lets you form a team of three and uses role-playing game (RPG) elements. The game lets you save multiple team setups. Unlike the other game modes, you don’t need to worry about your playing field going over in puzzle pieces, so you can go all out without going over. Your focus is your and your opponent’s health bars. To win, deplete your opponent’s health bar to zero, like any RPG battle.

This mode, along with the other game modes, are integrated with the Adventure mode. To increase your party’s levels and earn item cards, play and win skill battles in the Adventure mode. Unfortunately, there aren’t many skill battles to play in the Adventure mode, so you’ll have to repeat battles.

The game offers a large roster of characters to choose from when creating a team. (As you play through Adventure mode, you’ll unlock new characters to use here, as well as in other modes.) Each one has a unique skill set to aid you in battle, such as healing, increasing attack power, upgrading defense, creating combos, and replacing colored Puyo pieces. Like many RPGs, the team you create can alter its stats (power, health, defense, etc.). Those stats can be increased further by adding item cards to your team profile.

As you collect item cards, you’ll earn a lot of duplicates. Some of those cards can be rarer than others, but the downside is that you can’t merge the same ones together. You have a pocket of 100 cards, so expect to go through and discard the ones you don’t need. Multiple teams can share the same item card, though. The item cards, plus the individual character skill sets, make Skill Battle a fun RPG experience.

Two for One

Players can choose their comfortable puzzle style, except in the Swap and Fusion modes. Both Swap and Fusion require knowledge of both Puyo Puyo and Tetris, and Fusion’s style is more unique than the other modes. With Fusion, both Puyo and Tetrimino pieces enter the same playing field. However, players will be strategizing more with Puyo pieces for combo moves. Tetriminos are still set up to make solid lines, but they can also do more. These geometric shapes can help remove “garbage” pieces (blank shapes given by your opponent) and move your Puyo back to the top, above your Tetrimino piece. You can get creative with your Puyo combos and, when done right, can swiftly change the tide in your favor. It’s recommended that you have a good understanding of how Puyo Puyo works if you wish to become a skillful Fusion player. As such, there’s a learning curve with Fusion compared to the other modes.

With Swap mode, you’ll play two different playing fields, one being Tetris and the other Puyo Puyo. There’s a timer set on how long you’ll play in each field, but you’ll want to be creative with your combos. By creating combos between each playing field, you can negatively affect your opponent’s field and give you a quick victory. Be prepared to swap your strategy and think quickly.

Unfortunately, the online mode was not available to test during the time of this review before its initial release date. Otherwise, players can join puzzle leagues, do free play, watch replays, and view challenge rankings online. Overall, the game brings back the same content back from the original Puyo Puyo Tetris. Returning players may not see much but 

More Is Good

Like in the first game, you earn credits from playing the game. Use them to buy new puzzle art styles, voice packs, and player icons. Player icons can be modified further, letting you change not only the character but also the frame and the background design. These icons act as identity cards on your profile and are viewable offline and in online battles.

Those with the Nintendo Switch will want to upgrade when loading up the game for the first time. A day-one patch will give access to touchscreen capabilities. Xbox One and Xbox Series players patch includes cross-play capabilities. On the PlayStation 5, however, the game doesn’t really utilize the DualSense controller’s features, like the adaptive triggers or the touch pad, at the moment. That said, the game isn’t done yet. Sega announced that after its official release, it will add more content, such as characters, game features, and accessibility options. Stay tuned for further details.

The Final Piece

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is clearly an upgrade over its predecessor. Newcomers have a lot to chew on as veterans, not so much. By taking what was great about the first game and adding fun, new additions such as Skill Battle mode, Sega made a puzzle game sequel well worth playing. Game clear!

A review code was provided for this review, and gameplay footage was taken with that version.