[Review] Gyromancer Stacks Up Well

Back when PopCap Games and Square Enix announced that they were developing a puzzle/RPG title, many gamers were concerned for their immediate future (and rightfully so).  PopCap Games, known for making social life-enslaving titles such as Peggle, were working on a Puzzle Quest-type game with the makers of the Final Fantasy series?  The result will surely be addictive enough to take over every second of one’s free time, right?

Gyromancer is, at it’s core, a dungeon crawler meets Bejeweled.  It’s a dungeon crawler in the sense that you move around a map, find treasure, and encounter enemies to fight.  There are twelve stages, not all of which I’ve encountered yet.  Within the maps, you work your way to a boss fight to progress in the game, but then you can come back and open up different parts to find extra loot.

Why are you doing all of this?  Well, that’s my biggest problem with the game.  The plot wasn’t very clear to me.  Don’t get me wrong; there definitely is one.  However, there seems to be a lot going on, making it tough to follow.  Incredibly though, Gyromancer isn’t any worse off because of it.

At the very heart of the game are the monster fights.  You’re allowed three different beasts to keep on hand to pit against any monsters that you may encounter while wandering the map.  When you run into them (and you will, often), you select one of your beasts to fight.  This is where you’ll spend the majority of the game – solving Bejeweled-like puzzles in order to defeat monsters.  The goal is simple – line up your color gem (in sets of three or more) to fill your beast’s attack meter.  Once that fills, an attack gem will appear on the screen.  Use that in a set of three, and your beast will attack the monster.  However, the enemy’s attack meter fills gradually and when it does, you have to clear his attack gem from the screen, or else you’ll take damage.  After the fight, you earn experience which goes toward leveling up.   

So, the big question is “Will I like Gyromancer?”.  If you liked Puzzle Quest, the answer will most likely be an enthusiastic “Yes!”.  Gyromancer will be $15 well spent, as you’ll find yourself scouring every inch of every map.  For those who are less keen on the style, proceed with caution.  Gyromancer has the potential to become one of anyone’s favorite titles, but it could just as easily be completely lost on someone.