Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns Reviews
I may have expected a bit more polish from the remaster, but everything that’s important — namely, the simple and satisfying gameplay — remains intact.
More than a decade after its initial release, Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is a worthy upgrade of a solid match-three RPG. It adds new quests and new classes for both veterans and newcomers to enjoy, and manages to resist the 'freemium' business model that plagues a lot of games in the genre these days. It falls down a bit on graphics and presentation, with the artwork particularly showing its age, but if you're after a surprisingly deep puzzle adventure to get lost in, then look no further.
While the series may not be anywhere near groundbreaking by this point, Puzzle Quest still returns to its roots in strong fashion with all the previous content and more on the Nintendo Switch, making it great for prior fans and newcomers alike.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is still the same game but that isn't a bad thing. Bundling in all the DLC and adding some new classics, this match-3 RPG hybrid is just as addictive today as it was over a decade ago.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns puts the classic 2007 puzzle-RPG on the Switch, with loads of content and some frankly baffling performance issues.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns stands out from its RPG peers - in fact, it stands out so much it runs the risk of not being seen as an RPG but as something else, given its influence of simpler and more immediate works. None of that stands on the way of a fun experience, it must be said: with over two hundred missions, an addictive gameplay and involving soundtrack, Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns may not be your typical RPG but that absolutely must not be used in a pejorative way, quite the contrary.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Puzzle Quest was a highly addictive, wonderfully designed game back when it was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS and PSP back in 2007, and it’s equally addictive in this updated and expanded release for the Nintendo Switch.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is a good combination of addictive puzzle gameplay and RPG character-building. While it will likely play best to fans of the 2007 original, its central mechanics are still fun, if a bit dated. Despite sometimes slow battles that don't always mesh its puzzle and RPG sides well, Puzzle Quest is still worth a look for fans of puzzle games.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns for the Nintendo Switch is a perfect match for the Switch's "get up and go" philosophy. While the core of the gameplay is still the time-honoured design of matching 3 tile,s Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns manages to add enough RPG elements to keep it fresh board by board. If your a "match 3" fan and enjoy fantasy settings then this one must go on your "want list"!
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns might be a relic of a bygone time, but that isn't the same as being a bad game. Most of the modern match-three games owe something to the original, and it shows. It might not have Marvel characters or shiny graphics, but it's an accessible, enjoyable and fun puzzle game that is excellent to play for a few minutes at a time. For $15, you'll get more fun than you would in spending that same amount on microtransactions in other games.
If you've never played Puzzle Quest before, The Legend Returns will be a nice surprise.
Purely based on its battle mechanics, Puzzle Quest is excellent, but it's held back by the forgettable flourishes.
Even with all of the huge AAA games flooding the shelves, Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns manages to provide an addictive formula that'll easily hold your attention for longer than most big budget titles and it's a heck of a lot of fun, too.
While fans of the old school original game likely won’t even need to read this review, it’s worth noting that though some elements of this classic from the DS may be a little behind the current curve you can still easily see how it blazed a trail for the concept of a Match-3 Battle RPG genre...
Does Puzzle Quest on Switch end up feeling like more of the same, or is that enough to satisfy a puzzle fiend?
Despite my issues with Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns, the game is still one heck of a great experience, twelve years later. Battles are as exciting as ever, while the new wealth of classes and quests ensures that even series veterans will be able to get lost in this world all over again.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is the RPG that I didn’t know how badly I needed it on Nintendo Switch until now. The match 3 gameplay mixed with RPG elements is superbly done and with the diversity among classes and skills, you really get to customize your character how you want to. Visually, the game looks fantastic and while some of the enemy designs do feel plain that doesn’t stop the rest of the game from looking gorgeous. The RNG elements along with the lengthy battles do hold Puzzle Quest back from being the perfect RPG, but nevertheless, this is definitely worth picking up for any RPG fans collection. There are hours upon hours of content here and I know I’ll be coming back to Puzzle Quest for quite some time.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns manages to hold true to the things that made the original Puzzle Quest title so fun and addicting the first time around. That being said, on the whole it does feel just a bit less fresh and original given that this formula has been copied and tweaked many times over the last decade. That being said, Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns still gets a lot right that many of its spiritual successors don't and it is absolutely worth playing if you are a fan of this hybrid genre.
Having played numerous Puzzle Quest offerings, including Nintendo DS and Xbox 360, as well as iOS, Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is the definitive way to play the first adventure, despite the slowdowns and occasional crash. It’s both beginner friendly with improved tutorials as well as veteran compatible with new content.