Puzzle Quest: CotW - Review @ Gamespy

Gamespy has posted a review of Infinitive Interactive's PC version of their popular puzzle/rpg hybrid, Puzzle Quest, giving it a 3.5/5:

...While the idea of splicing RPG elements into a match-three puzzle game seems pretty incongruous at first glance, it begins to make a lot more sense after you take a few minutes to play. After all, RPGs have always relied on random numbers to put their engines in motion, so in the end, does it really matter if it's a Bejeweled grid determining your fate instead of an imaginary 20-sided die? Everything about the game seems built expressly to nurture your addiction to it: if the RPG stats-twiddling doesn't get you, then the mesmerizing gem-matching game that enables the higher concept will.

And anyone who's played it will relate to this observation:

If you're too deliberate, however, you will ultimately end up tempting fate, 'cause in Puzzle Quest a lucky string of gem drops can dramatically alter the course of a match from one round to the next. Even worse, if there aren't any possible matches on the board, everything resets -- including your mana reserves. When you're facing an overmatched opponent that you've whittled down by playing it safe and hoarding mana, this is probably the worst possible eventuality. To be fair, it can work both ways -- it's not that uncommon to emerge victorious from a complete shutout after a lucky string. But sometimes it just feels like the computer is cheating with all the crazy streaks.

Conclusion:

Sure, its story and aesthetics are so hackneyed and earnest that they make you feel like the developers were joking when they conceived them, yet there's still something engrossing about Puzzle Quest. The minute-to-minute gameplay is tried and true, and when you factor in the long-tailed character progression, well, let's just say it's a wrap. Puzzle Quest's designers are certainly onto something here.