Puyo Puyo.

Puyo is one of the many interests that languishes in the repository of my mind, only to have my interest in it reawakened due to my girlfriends "Sega Kick" she's been having. Who knew a puzzle game about anime people popping slimes could be up my alley.

If you've read any of my previous posts on fighting games, you'll know I'm somewhat of the competitive type, and that was even before I started playing the genre; I downloaded the Puyo Puyo Tetris demo on my switch back when the console was new about 7 years ago (jesus) and I was hooked, I always like learning and trying to get good at video games.

The satisfaction that came with Puyo for me was just clearing long chains, hearing all of the character chants, and seeing all that garbage Puyo suffocate my opponents board; I always felt sinister whenever I saw that the opponent couldn't outchain me... rotating their Puyo in panic... or just stacking Puyo til they can no more... It was Fun!

Granted, I can't say I can remember how to chain Puyo anymore... But I'll always remember GTR form like It's the back of my hand; much to the chagrin of my friends who just like Puyo casually.

I've been watching alot of Puyo Puyo VODs on Youtube; mainly for nostalgia, and the fact that High Level Puzzle gameplay is a special kind of stimulating to my brain. Surprisingly, I could keep up with the gameplay pretty well, In the sense that I can identify/observe what both players are doing/plan to do. Puyo is a game that really rewards observations both on your board and the opponents, knowing your opponents playstyle is integral to victory! Dai Shouri!

Also pretty surprising, the fact I remember all the chants/spells/whatever you wanna call them, the things the characters say when they clear chains, surprisingly enough, these were also one of the reasons I enjoyed the game. It's a dopamine boost, basically, I love just saying to myself the chants as the chains go on, I think for most, these get a little bit annoying, but I don't know, hearing the characters shout and perform whats basically their attacks, is super enthralling.

Man, I really like Puyo character designs, I was quite a fan of Maguro (right) when I first played the game, and he's still my favorite If you disregard the Tetris OC's. I'm always gonna be a little partial to characters whos hair hides a part of their face, and this kids hair covers like, 50% of his face, also kendamas are awesome, and the "pretty boy" thing he's got going on is fun.

Though It might be cheating, given that he was only created for the Puyo Puyo Tetris games, Ex might be my favorite, his design is pretty damn riduculous, but I've grown on It alot, plus, his demeanor, voice, lore, and spells really hit the notes for me in terms of "cool character" in my head.

A feature I find really cool that they only do in Puyo games is that you can unlock alternate voice lines, meaning you can make Ex sound quiet and gravelly, or have Maguro sound bored out of his fucking mind in the english dub.

Of course, I'm always gonna have a soft spot for the Postergirls, Arle, Amitie, and Ringo.... If you don't know Puyo, You've probably seen one of these 3 before.

In a sense I feel a bit gaslit for liking these 3, since all 3 of them are a "main character" in the series, I wasn't actually all that huge on them back when I was really into the franchise, but they've grown on me a good amount, even if I don't have too much to talk about regarding them, but I mean, where else can you find a red haired eccentric apple girl who just Loves Arithmetic. Paamiteeshon!

I feel bad for mainly refering to Puyo Puyo Tetris when I talk about Puyo, but I quite enjoy the older, pre-Sega Puyo games, back when they were developed by Compile. As much as I enjoy the current world of Puyo, I'm always wondering what Puyo would be like If Compile didn't shoot themselves in the foot and go bankrupt, If the series stuck to It's JRPG roots. It's a bit sad to me that alot of the characters from that era are just regulated to "Gacha Fodder" in Puyo Puyo Quest

Puyo Puyo Sun and Puyo Puyo~n have my favorite "vibe" and artstyle respectively, I personally prefer the """old anime""" style more than anything that came out post Puyo Puyo Fever, but that's just me, and I don't have anything truly against the Sega Puyo games anyhow, Their charming in their own right! And Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary is still my favorite game in the franchise, I played the english fan translation alot on my 3DS when It was freshly hacked.

I wonder what the future holds for this franchise, the most recent game was apparently a game exclusive to Apple Arcade of all things, and I heard It was neat, but I'm under the impression that Sega doesn't really need to try with Puyo anymore. Puyo Tetris 1 and 2 sold gangbusters when they were released overseas, and Puyo Champions handles the esports side of things (Puyo is a recognized esport in japan) and has quite a large playerbase, not to mention the Puyo Quest gatcha game which must be doing well considering It's been going on for 10+ years and has a shitton of collabs. I wonder If they have interest in a new console Puyo, add some more characters and a story mode and all that, this is the kinda series where I would love If they fleshed the lore out a bit more, considering Puyo was originally a spin-off of an RPG, secretly, I always wish for a grittier Puyo game as silly as that sounds, using the artstyle from Puyo Puyo~n, but that's just a pipe dream.

I'm also quite curious about the future of Madou Monogatari, the source series of Puyo, one of Compiles succesor companies, Compile Heart still can make Madou games, but can't use characters like Arle due to them being owned by Sega, so they have to create characters that are NOT Arle, and NOT Carbuncle, etc etc. I wish them good luck, or It's back to whats seemingly their Hyperdimension Neptunia jail.

This post was made with mean beans or avalanches not withstanding.