One Of The Best Puzzle RPGs Of All Time Is Getting A Remaster

"In 2007, when Steam was just a tiny baby, a match-3 RPG sprang out of nowhere. Puzzle Quest, by developers Infinite Interactive, casually invented an entire new genre, and immediately did it better than anyone else ever would. It was an early smash hit on Steam, before even the launch of BioShock on the digital platform made the rest of the world take notice of Valve's store, walking through the door PopCap had opened just months earlier with Peggle. And wow it was great."

"PopCap's Bejeweled had taken care of that years earlier, following of course the path from Tetris to Dr. Mario to Puzzle Bobble. 1994 Russian DOS game Shariki takes the title of the first true match-3 game, but it was 2001's Bejeweled that brought the concept into the mainstream, followed by the likes of the blissfully wonderful Zoo Keeper on DS in 2003."

"That's Puzzle Quest, where the matching of the three becomes an aggressive act, used to attack your computer opponent in battles with spells and wallops, while collecting treasure and just generally feeling a zen marvelousness. In between each match, you moved around a properly RPG-like map, talked to D&D-like characters, and were told a story that gave meaning and purpose to your puzzling. This was largely thanks to the Warlords setting created by Puzzle Quest lead Steve Fawkner, an RPG gaming ser"

Puzzle Quest is receiving a full HD remaster and a modern re-release scheduled for September 18. The original 2007 game pioneered the match-3 RPG hybrid and became an early Steam hit. The game combines match-3 mechanics with RPG combat, spells, treasure, exploration on an overworld map, dialogue with D&D-like characters, and a narrative that gives purpose to puzzles. The design leverages the Warlords setting created by Steve Fawkner. The match-3 genre itself traces back to 1994's Shariki and was popularized by 2001's Bejeweled, with many clones following before Puzzle Quest innovated the RPG integration.

Read at Kotaku