Puzzle Quest 2 Preview

The folks at 1UP have penned a brief preview of Puzzle Quest 2, presumably after checking out Infinite Interactive’s sequel firsthand during last week’s GDC.

For the actual “puzzle” parts of PQ2, there are a few significant changes. Basically, it’s the same match-three setup, with skulls used for attacking your opponents when three or more of those match. But this time, the purple gems are regular magic-giving orbs now, and don’t contain experience points — XP is now naturally earned after winning battles. A variety of supporting spells return, and to help those along is a new purpose for weapons and armor: abilities. By matching and clearing action point gems (shaped like gauntlets), you raise points that correspond to abilities offered by equipment — which admittedly do very similar things as spells do (like instantly attacking opponents, or buffing you from receiving too much harm), but provide a nice “reserve” of added help should you need it. Loot is also in abundance, which can be sold to earn money for new equipment, or to upgrade existing gear.