Game Story Case Studies, Episode 31: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Finale)

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It is finally time to finish my critique of Puyo Puyo Tetris’s story mode. This had taken quite a while, but I am glad to finish my first game story case study. This episode is quite long, as I am covering two lengthy scenes in this article. Spoilers are everywhere in this article, but If you have been following along, they should not be an issue at this time. If not, then use the links at the top of the article to browse my other content.

I will also give this game a pass/fail rating at the very end. Now, let’s take a look at the second to last scene:

Act 7, Scene 7:

Recap: Tee challenged Ex, the Keeper of Dimensions to a Tetris battle in order to take the keeper’s place. This was done so Ex wouldn’t be lonely at his post anymore. This scene starts after Tee wins. Now for the aftermath of this battle.

So the dialogue after Tee wins is pretty basic, but effective. Let’s see how the rest of the scene goes.

I am still irked by O’s nonsense dialogue here, but kept it in this critique to ensure the scene flows for my readers.

So Tee is trying to sacrifice his well being to help Ex. Also, these lines are quite simple, but get the job done, for now. Let’s now see where this is going.

So what is implied here is that Ringo doesn’t want Tee to go. They probably “like” each other, but won’t directly talk about it (which sometimes happens in fiction, and in real life too). I think they might also be going at the “they hate each other, which means they like each other” love trope, but in this case, they aren’t enemies (Note from the author: I hate this idea that lovers show some form of animosity between each other when hiding their feelings, but maybe I prefer healthier behavior in love scenes).

Also, I guess this is the best they could come up with to fix Ex’s loneliness, but we’ll see in due course that this isn’t how it ends. Moving on.

Oddly, these characters are hinting at how this scene will end. This boundless hope and optimism is nice and all, but the solution isn’t clear at this point to the viewer. Perhaps it should be guessable at this point in the story, but that is just how I would write it….Let’s see how this continues.

This bit of comedy seems unnecessary, and makes the scene longer than it needs to be. Let’s move on.

Okay, so now Ringo and Tee are fighting, and the game switches to gameplay as the last match in the story. I’m not sure how this will solve anything, but there is more of this scene after Ringo wins.

This solution sounds simple enough to work, but then, this should have been considered much earlier in the plot to prevent any conflict, so there must be a reason this wasn’t done earlier. This is the case, so let’s see what the characters have to say about this.

Wait, these characters reached the edge of spacetime, can’t they just do this over and over again? Also I guess the solitude of the keeper thing is simply a rule in this universe, without much explanation. How that is necessary is a question I would like answered, though. Now a twist is about to happen.

So they start this exchange with yet another mystery person talking offscreen. What is weird about this is that in this story, they usually do this when introducing a character, and the Dark Prince was seen earlier in this story. Also, the viewer already heard this character’s voice before, so there is no need to hide this character’s identity for one line.

Also, the line “Nothing is hopeless when you’re the Dark Prince!” sounds like an oxymoron, especially since his name is Satan in the original Japanese. Let’s see what he is doing here.

Wait, wouldn’t that cause more space time distortions? Oh well, this story never took itself seriously enough to make enough sense. This is the main weakness of this game’s story, at least in terms of what is happening in the story. Also, the use of dark magic should be concerning, but again, no one seems to care here.

I see, so the Dark Prince is helping out due to some weird crush he has on Arle. I should point out, did the battle between Ringo and Tee have to happen? Ecolo and the Dark Prince would have helped out either way, right? This would probably be true regardless of who won, too, right?

This bit of comedy could have been shortened by a few lines, or removed entirely, and the scene would have been just as good. Not every scene needs to be lengthy to be good. Sometimes, less is more!

Okay, so problem solved? There isn’t much to remark on here in this exchange, so let’s keep going!

Ess makes a good point here, wouldn’t a warp tunnel be a problem in the space-time continuum? It doesn’t seem like a good idea to leave a potential problem like that hanging like that at the end of a story, but the writers here decided that it is a solution. Also, should Ex be repeating himself in the last two lines here? This is only a minor nitpick, and it can still work as written. There’s just a bit more to this scene, so let’s see what is left.

So this is the end of this scene. As explained in an earlier scene, this means everyone has to say goodbye, presumably forever, as the two groups of protagonists are from separate worlds. I would point out that this scene ending is a tad abrupt, but it goes directly to the final scene, which flows better than it appears.

Go to page 2 to see the ending scene: