I played the original. I saw the negative reviews on PQ:G and thought "It can't be THAT bad, can it?"

It can.

Galactrix's match-3 mechanics are a solid upgrade from the original Puzzle Quest; the hex grid is a new and interesting approach, and the ability to control where gems fall in from adds a huge amount of depth. Plus, 4-of-a-kind no longer gives a free turn, which makes the game so much less painful than in the original Puzzle Quest.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game is not so good. It's an unstable game and likes to crash, and while it does autosave aggressively, the crashes mostly happen right after completing a mission, before the autosave. Talk about irony.

You hit a wall early on requiring a money grind to get past as your opponents start showing up in bigger, beefier ships that vastly outclass your own, but to get a bigger ship you need TONS of money. Since you don't have a class any more, you are entirely left on your own to obtain and craft ship parts (ie, spells from the original PQ).

As far as I can tell, the random encounters scale to your level, making leveling up pointless - it just makes the battles take longer.

The main map is the most generic thing possible and makes me wonder if they built the game on a shoestring budget.

The main character is still a total doofus who will do anything that anyone asks of them, no matter how dangerous or morally questionable.

In short, don't make my mistake; if you liked the original Puzzle Quest, don't get this one just to see how it is, even if it's on sale.

I played the original. I saw the negative reviews on PQ:G and thought "It can't be THAT bad, can it?" It can. Galactrix's match-3 mechanics are a solid upgrade from the original Puzzle Quest; the hex grid is a new and interesting approach, and the ability to control where gems fall in from adds a huge amount of depth. Plus, 4-of-a-kind no longer gives a free turn, which makes the game so much less painful than in the original Puzzle Quest. Unfortunately, the rest of the game is not so good. It's an unstable game and likes to crash, and while it does autosave aggressively, the crashes mostly happen right after completing a mission, before the autosave. Talk about irony. You hit a wall early on requiring a money grind to get past as your opponents start showing up in bigger, beefier ships that vastly outclass your own, but to get a bigger ship you need TONS of money. Since you don't have a class any more, you are entirely left on your own to obtain and craft ship parts (ie, spells from the original PQ). As far as I can tell, the random encounters scale to your level, making leveling up pointless - it just makes the battles take longer. The main map is the most generic thing possible and makes me wonder if they built the game on a shoestring budget. The main character is still a total doofus who will do anything that anyone asks of them, no matter how dangerous or morally questionable. In short, don't make my mistake; if you liked the original Puzzle Quest, don't get this one just to see how it is, even if it's on sale.