Game Story Case Studies, Episode 4: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 4)

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Today, I have more to say about the writing in Puyo Puyo Tetris’s story mode. This is part 4 of my critique of this game, and will contain SPOILERS throughout. I have decided to skip some story portions for this article, and future articles on Puyo Puyo Tetris, so as not to repeat myself too often. Let me know in the comments below it you want me to fill in the gaps more, but otherwise, I will continue to highlight the more noteworthy portions of this game’s writing.

Act 1 Scene 5:

Recap: In the previous scenes, the game introduced the player to the full cast in a variety of silly ways. Now, the many main characters have a crisis on their hands.

Oh great, now they are explaining Puyo Puyo in a “realistic way”. It is interesting that the Puyos can attack a spaceship’s instruments, when they are a playing piece in an abstract puzzle game. I also think it is interesting that Ess thinks that talking to them will work. I guess it was worth a shot?

After Tee asks for a status report, Ess tries to make it clear that it is pretty obvious what is happening. The ship is being attacked by Puyos. As captain, of the ship, he should be able to see this. It seems odd that he cannot tell what is going on, as he should be competent in that regard.

I really would like to know how often Ringo and friends run into these sort of issues in their previous adventures (I did not play other Puyo Puyo games, FYI). They seem to be telling the audience just to fill them in. This might work better with examples of Ringo’s adventures, at least at a calm moment in the story.

Ess is right, yet again. Tee is the captain, so he should be able to do something here! Also of note, it would be ideal if Tee was on screen when Ess is talking to him!

The first two lines are basic, but effective. The last line actually made me laugh, though I’m unsure if that was meant to be funny, or if it was a direct translation. It also looks like a line that is used to guide a voice actor’s delivery from a script (thankfully, the voice acting here is actual screaming, and not the two characters saying “slightly-louder-than-average-screaming”.)

I might be nitpicking here, but the line “as ASAP as possible” would read without the acronym as “as as soon as possible as possible”. If they were doing this for comedic effect, not an issue. If they cared about grammar, then it should read “We need to pop these Puyos ASAP!” or “We need to pop these Puyos as soon as possible!”

Wait, now Tee is acting like the captain? Well, whatever. And I find it interesting that they haven’t observed how to play each other’s games when they played together earlier in the story…And it looks like he is talking to Ess when he is addressing Ringo.

I know that things like this happen in media all the time, but it would work better here if the comedic tone didn’t frequently fall flat in this game prior to this point… Comedic relief only works if there’s something other than comedy in the story, and foreshadowing should be used sparingly.

Well, Ringo isn’t a great teacher here, now is she? Sure, she mentions the basics, but then glosses over something more advanced, which I’m pretty sure she never explains later. A tutorial would be better, and those advanced techniques are pretty hard for new players, including those familiar with video games, but new to Puyo Puyo. I had to watch this game’s lessons option to sort of grasp setting up chains…it is not something that comes naturally for some players, myself included.

And that wraps up that scene. They are making many of the same mistakes seen in earlier episodes, but some things are leveling off now that there is some sort of conflict, and less time for the characters to be needlessly wacky. Stay tuned, as I’m not even close to done critiquing this game’s story.

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So that was just part 4 of my critique of Puyo Puyo Tetris’s writing. What parts do you like or dislike about this game’s story? Would you like me to cover the portions I missed? Let me know in the comments below! If you enjoyed this article, be sure to click that like button. If you want to keep up with That’s All Games, you can also subscribe via email! And until next time, have fun gaming!