Every now and then, a simple match-3 puzzle game scratches an itch for me. When I was presented with the opportunity to review Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition, I jumped at the chance. Despite having never played the original games, I was excited to scratch that itch and work some brain muscles that have been gathering dust since my Gems of War days. What I didn’t expect was just how big an undertaking a seemingly simple puzzle game would be.

Developed by Infinityplustwo and Published by 505 games , Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition is a faithful, upscaled re-release of the original Puzzle Quest and all the extra content created for it since its release 15 years ago. It serves as a perfect opportunity for folks that have never experienced the series, like me, to jump in.

Fantasy Hors D’oeuvres

When you start a new game, you’re presented with the most important choices you’ll make through the story. Your character class and portrait is unchangeable unless you start a new game. My first, and frankly largest, complaint about the game is just how difficult it is to get a feel for your class abilities before you’re far too deep into the game to consider starting over. Your options are robust: Bard, Blood Mage, Druid, Elementalist, Knight, Monk, Paladin, Priest, Ranger, Rogue, Swordmaster, Warlock, Warrior, and finally, Wizard. Each class uses different types of gems more than others to gather mana, attack, and cast spells.

I wanted the purest match-3 experience I could get so I ended up landing on the Elementalist class. Their sole focus being on the four various colored gems to build up mana and cast damaging spells. How that translates is that each of my many, many ‘battles’ over the course of the game was just making as many matches as I could as quickly as I could while avoiding the gems that award XP or deal damage to the enemy.

After choosing one of fourteen classes, you’re met with twelve-character portraits. Six Masculine, Six Feminine, none particularly noteworthy, but each well illustrated. After deciding on my look, I was off to the fantasy exposition zone. Bad omens are in the kingdom. You work for a queen, investigate problems, gather companions, all the classics. When you know, roughly, what’s going on, you’re released into the wide-open world and pushed in a direction.

The Meat of the Matter

The core of Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition couldn’t be more solid. Each match-3 board is challenging and engaging with your class abilities just enough to keep the formula mostly fresh. In the case of the Elementalist, each of my battles was spent primarily building up different colors of mana to cast a few spells and finish off the enemy as quickly as possible. Your mileage may vary, of course, with the wide variety of classes and abilities available to you.

As an added layer of strategy, once you’ve gathered enough currency, you can remodel the citadel in your home city, allowing you access to various additional features. The forge, for example, allows you to search practically every point of interest on the map for various magic runes. These runes, when combined, create a wide variety of unique magical items for you to use or equip as you please. Each search also requires a battle, effectively doubling the number of puzzles in the game if you choose to pursue them. As ridiculous a phrase as this is, it does provide a certain sense of accomplishment throughout your journey.

Arguably the most important part of this citadel building system is the dungeon, which allows you to capture defeated enemies. More beastly enemies can be used as mounts, which are leveled up with the stables. Humanoid foes conversely grant you their abilities with the help of the mage tower. Through these methods, you can gain access to spells and abilities that synergize well with your class features, creating a unique powerset each playthrough.

Bittersweet Symphonies

As far as audio goes, Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition is a mixed bag. The music is light and jaunty, with tempo and rhythm changes being cleverly used to indicate you or your opponent is low on health. There is enough variety in the tunes that I never grew tired of them and kept the music volume high throughout my playthrough.

What is missing, and desperately needed, however, is voice acting. During conversations, the music fades or cuts out completely, leaving each story beat silent. I found it difficult to follow many of the longer conversations, almost losing interest without some kind of sound. It’s especially frustrating as several of the important story characters are very well designed and would only benefit from putting a voice to the face. There are cases when a project can go without voice acting but unfortunately Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition isn’t one. There just isn’t enough going on to keep the players fully engaged in the story without a vocal element.

Another minor, yet important, complaint of mine is the lack of proper accessibility options. I found no options aside from volume control, which by today’s standards is just not enough. Yes, each gem has a distinct shape, but not distinct enough to justify a complete lack of colorblind options. No descriptive audio track, inability to remap button inputs, not even a high contrast option. Thankfully, I was able to enjoy my playthrough, but anyone who needs options for accessibility might want to steer clear.

Sweet Potential

Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition is a mostly good time.  While it would be nice to have voice performances, the game isn’t unplayable without them. Some minor gripes aside, I can wholly recommend this game to any fan of the match-3 genre. Just maybe play it a few battles at a time when you need a break. Don’t play only it for weeks straight or, like me, you may find yourself dreaming in match-3 boards.

Puzzle Quest Immortal Edition is developed by infinityplustwo and published by 505 games. It is available now for $14.99 on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. Review key was provided by 505 Games.