Class of '09: Puzzle Showdown

This game is NOT balanced because the enemies AI is super off. You either eliminate the enemy in the first 20 seconds, and vice versa, or play for 3+ minutes straight with them and lose. First stage of Emily's campaign took me 3:50 to beat and the next stage took 0:30 (I beat both in ONE try). Additionally, their AI allows the enemies to just instantly beat you no matter what difficulty you're on (miss lynns stage on Emily's campaign is LITERALLY impossible i lost 31 times in a row) For $20 this game is REALLY random with its balancing and fairness. The musics nice tho

Plush Nicole manipulated me into playing a game harder than Escape From Tarkov

I mean its a good game but the visual novel will always be my favorite part of the 09 games but credit where credit is due for making and risking the name of class of 09 for reaching outside the novels to try something new. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edit: Since my last review I have racked up more hours to give a proper review of the game while trying not to be biased. I still stand by what I said the game is good but it doesn't mean it won't have cons, Pros: If you are competitive person and love puzzles I think you would like this game a ton as there are lots of levels and a huge story to impact. Cons: The levels are easy but out of no where it can get really difficult quickly and on easy mode one of my matches lasted up to 15-20 minutes which was annoying so imagine the levels ahead of easy. I'm no expert on puzzle games but I found it funny you don't need to be good at the game as you can just spam your way to victory besides online of course. (This is my opinion) Story: 8/10 (I like the story but it felt a little repetitive) Controls/Controller: 9/10 (I mainly used a controller but it felt really good to use with no problems) Menu: 10/10 (Super easy to navigate nobody should be getting lost) Music: 7/10 (It was okay nothing mind blowing but good none the less) Multiplayer: 6/10 (It's kinda just there but a cool feature) Price: 7/10 ($20 is a bit steep but to be fair it's longer than all three of the games but the novels give's the feeling that there is more to do in there than here) Finally do I think you should buy this game: Mainly yes but with a hint of hesitation The game has been fun and so I say yes to buying it but the reason I also say no is the fact someone will post the entire game on you tube to watch for free rather than you the consumer to spend $20 on a game that you wouldn't be missing much out on.

TL;DR: [b]Very basic Match-3 game, that only hardcore Class of '09 fans should consider getting[/b] (on a sale) [h1]Pros:[/h1] [list] [*] [b]+[/b] Once again absolutely stellar voice acting [*] [b]+[/b] Mostly Classic Class of ´09 writing (for what little writing there is) [*] [b]+[/b] Animated Scenes [*] [b]+[/b] Servicable Soundtrack [/list] [h1]Cons:[/h1] [list] [*] [b]-[/b] Barebones match-3 systems [*] [b]-[/b] Little actual content [*] [b]-[/b] Playtime artificially padded through repetition [*] [b]-[/b] Poorly balanced difficulty [*] [b]-[/b] The Chustler [*] [b]-[/b] Achievements locked behind multiplayer without matchmaking [*] [strike][b]-[/b] Buggy mess[/strike] [/list] [h1]In Detail:[/h1] Let's be honest - At this point, i'll buy pretty much any slop he throws at us, just to get some more Class of ´09. And make no Mistake, slop this certainly is. [b]Gameplay[/b] Well - it's a match-3 game, but in it's most basic, boring and uninspired form. It has combos, and that's it. No special tiles, no board variety, no objective variety (i.e. Unfreeze these blocks, move an item down etc.) So how much you'll enjoy the gameplay depends entirely on how much you enjoy the absolute basics of the genre, because that's really all there is here. If you're looking for a match-3 game, there are many other ones out there, that are better. The only good thing during gameplay are the comments on combos from the characters themselves. [b]Main Campaign[/b] The main campaing has you "play" (and i use that word loosely) as Nicole, Jecka, Ari or Emily through 11 increasingly difficult stages of the same bland gameplay loop, which is only broken up, by intro dialogue before two characters battle it out. (Unfortunately there is no dialogue after a battle, which would've definitely been a treat!) That is the main, an honestly kind of the only draw of the campaign. You get more Class of ´09 writing and you see some characters interact that usually don't really talk much on screen. (f.e. Ari and Crispin etc.) The social commentary seems more on the nose than usual in many instances, and only a twelve year old may describe the main antagonist as 'deep'. Overall the campaign doesn't delivery much of anything and is basically just busywork to get some voicelines. There is one ray of hope, though, which is Weekend at Kellys! [b]Weekend at Kellys[/b] The unsuspecting star of this installment. The Gameplay is just as bland as the main campaign, except you play against an ever faster moving board instead of an opponent, but you actually get to make some choices, like in the visual novels. Don't listen to anyone else, don't listen to the marketing, don't even listen to SBN3 - this isn't a Nicole or a Jecka game. And it's certainly not an Ari or Emily game. [b]Class of ´09 Puzzle showdown is a Kelly game, and that's probably for the best. [/b] This mode has 8 different endings and follows Kelly over many years, exploring the different paths your choices might take her. And these get wild at times! Unfortunately, this mode too is held back by difficulty and repetition. Because there is challenging difficulty, and then there is obnoxious difficulty. Seriously, if you can play levels at speed 50 and don't think it's a little too much, you need to go to a match-3 championship or some sh*t.. (Or it has been nerfed already, which it almost certainly will) Worse yet, to get all 8 endings you have to play the entire mode 8 times. Which means 25 stages 8 times, resulting in a whopping 200 levels ranging from snail-pace to literally being able to lose 1 second after starting if you don't match anything fast enough. [b]Bottom Line[/b] Class of ´09 Puzzle Showdown was an experiment to branch out that did not get the time or polish it needed and deserved. I'm convinced the formula itself could've worked. If there had been a bigger focus on making it more interesting, less repetitiv and giving the fanbase a little more of the content they actually wanted. As it stands it was a buggy mess on release, that fails to do anything new, fails to live up to other competitors in the genre and is only worth your time because of the once again great voicework and the bits and pieces of Class of ´09 being thrown in, as well as the animated scenes that have been added. [h1]Final Verdict[/h1] An overpriced, yet barebones match-3 game, carried almost entirely by its stellar voice acting and the Class of '09 brand. Only recommended on a major sale and if you already know why you love Class of ´09. [h1]4/10[/h1]

>Game announces itself as a puzzle game >The game advertises itself as a puzzle game >Store page has puzzle as the first tag >The game literally has "Puzzle" in the title >People who buy the game: "WTF do you mean it's a puzzle game?!" Half of the negative reviews here, for some reason

This game is NOT as bad as people are making it sound. It's a challenging but entertaining experience that's worth playing.

best part of this game is the refund

Abysmal dogsht but you know i'll play this ♥♥♥♥ anyways (Spoiler: The message of the game is that you're retarded for buying it)