Gamertell

Title: Droplitz
Price: 800 MP (US$8.00)
System(s): Xbox Live
Release Date: 6/24/2009
Publisher (Developer): Atlus USA, Inc.
ESRB Rating: "Everyone"
Pros: Great music and background design, different modes and varieties of game play.
Cons: Very confusing, scoring isn't clear, you can get stuck and are forced to just wait.
Overall Score:One thumb Up , one thumb Down; 79/100; C+; * * 1/2

Atlus, the makers of the popular Shin Megami games has just released a new puzzler called Droplitz. It’s an addictive, rotating, fast moving puzzle game available only on Xbox live.

OK, so maybe the addictive part is debatable but the rest is true.

I found the game to be confusing and short. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing and by the time I did, the game was over. I usually like puzzle games but not when they don’t make sense.

Dropping the Ball

The point of the game is rather simple. You rotate dials (pipes) to make pathways for little droplets of liquid to flow through. The object is to get as many of the droplets as you can into the collectors at the bottom of the puzzle.

As far as points, I gather that you get more points for getting lots of droplets into the collectors and for making multiple paths. What I didn’t understand was with certain paths I would get “2x” points or something like that, and I didn’t see what I did to merit that score, meaning I couldn’t strive to do that again. There were other occurrences where I received a score and wasn't aware why.

When you make a path, it locks into place, so you can’t turn the dials anymore. Sometimes that means that you can’t improve other possible paths so you are at a dead end.

Also after a few droplets hit the bottom, the path you used disappears and the rest of the tiles fall into a new spot, leaving you with a new board to work with. When this would happen, sometimes it would turn out that the dial at the bottom near the collectors would not be able to be turned in such a way that you could make the droplet flow into the collector. So you just have to wait until time passes and the tiles switch again. Which again leaves you at a dead end.

So basically there are two dead ends in the game, possible more. I think if a game is suppose to be fast and addictive, it should not have points in the game where you can get stuck and end up having to just wait for the next part of the game.

Even Flow

The game has different modes which adds to the variety, the modes include classic, zendurance, power up and infection. Each mode changes an element such as speed, object, or score. You unlock the modes by getting various scores in the game. We all know variety is important in a puzzle because you need a break from the repetitiveness, so that’s a good feature.

The best part of the game is the background design. They use many colors and themes in the game, such as forests, bubbles and even coffee. The scenes change as time progresses and you score points, although there are no levels.

The music is nice, too. Light, peaceful and serene, the music plays as you spin your dials and move around the board. It changes with scenes change as well. (If cool scenery isn’t important in a puzzle game, music definitely is.)

One to Think about

I have always been a fan Atlus game (eg the Persona series) and puzzle games in general but am not a big fan of this game.

It is confusing for me in several aspects and, by the time I figured out what I was doing, the game was over. It was too fast, you have to worry about losing all the little droplets and you don’t have time to concentrate on the spinning. I usually like puzzle games and can play them for a while before getting bored or frustrated but I got bored pretty fast with this one.

If you think you would enjoy the strategy and pressure of this game, then go for it. Otherwise, avoid this title.

Site [Atlus] Site [Droplitz]