How do you re-release a franchise with over twenty years of content for a modern platform?

Puzzle Quest’s Immortal Edition certainly has a pretty good idea, bringing together all of the classic content from the games over the years and putting it into a modernised re-release with quality of life improvements.

The three Puzzle Quest games are brought together in one game, which, for the price, represents ridiculous value for money. 505 Games are giving us Challenge of the Warlords, Revenge of the Plague Lord and The Legend Returns together for the first time and each game, on its own, at least has twenty hours of content in its own right.

For those who’ve never played, Puzzle Quest essentially mashes up good old fashioned Match-3 gaming with an RPG filled with side-quests, story, levelling up and companions. As your own hero, you’ll match different coloured gems which serve as mana and are then added together to power up special abilities.

On the familiar Match-3 grid, you’ll also find skulls which, when matched together, mean you will attack your enemy. Whether that’s a bat, half-dead rat, skeleton or something much larger and more ferocious. As you progress through the game, you’ll also take on jobs and follow the main story, which, in turn, will lead you to new items and equipment to kit out your hero.

It’s a fairly chill, easy going game as you fight through various enemies initially, but overtime the experience expands out as you gather new spells, build out a Citadel where you can add buildings which improve your quality in combat, capture creatures and use them as mounts to traverse the world and even gather rumours to expand the ends of your map.

There’s even a Citadel Forge where you can create magical items with runes you find during the game. As such, Puzzle Quest really deepens the more you play and just adds hours and hours to your playtime without you even realising it.

The game loop itself is fun and simple, but equally deep and rewarding, though it is worth noting that the number of classes has been reduced in this edition compared to previous titles and there’s less character portraits too, which is a bizarre omission.

The game’s difficulty definitely is also really questionable at points, especially early on as some enemies really pack a harder punch than you’d expect, requiring several tries. Though when you do get midway through the game, you’ll find yourself able to manage things very comfortably and almost be too far removed from your enemies.

For me, playing on Steam Deck, I found myself defaulting to touch controls which is a much more comfortable fit for a game like this, though the gamepad controls do work fairly effectively, at least. Meaning the game is sure to be a good fit on the other console formats it finds itself on.

The game looks and sounds better than ever, with lovingly upscaled images and sound bytes. It doesn’t always have the best writing and the repetition in battles and navigation can make the game feel a tad tired at times, but there is still a charm and simplicity here that draws you in just as well as it did all those years ago.

In a world where there are hundreds upon hundreds of Match-3 Puzzle Games, Puzzle Quest is far and away one of the best and most interesting. And this collection is a fantastic way to experience it to its full potential with the stunningly realised visuals, backdrops and effects.

This is a nice, easy-going game that borderline frustrates sometimes with cheap AI tactics, but always manages to bring you back, whether you want to dip in for a few minutes or spend hours at a time ploughing through levels and missions.

Verdict

Puzzle Quest Immortal Edition is packed with content at a bargain price and offers hours of entertainment, in long or short sessions. This is generally the best way to experience all Puzzle Quest games in their best form, though there are less classes and portraits than previously and some battles feel incredibly cheap and repetitive. This still remains one of the best Match-3 games out there and time has clearly only reminded us of that rather than taken away from it.