Following the decision from Atlus to put streaming restrictions on Persona 5, a move which is getting a lot of criticism from its fans, the reveal that Puyo Puyo Tetris would also feature streaming restrictions in Japan meant fans were worried for the upcoming English release. Fortunately, localization producer Sam Mullen has put those fears to rest on NeoGAF with the following post:
Sega of America have released a new trailer for the upcoming Puyo Puyo Tetris, showing the basics of the game. Below you can find a summary of the various modes, taken from the official press release, as well as the video below as well.
Sega of America and Deep Silver have announced the release date of Puyo Puyo Tetris in the Americas and Europe. The game will be available in the Americas on April 25, and in Europe on April 28, for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
UPDATE: SEGA has now announced a PS4 release as well, and an official launch trailer and press release, which have been added to the article below. The game will be releasing as a physical version only on PS4 for $29.99, while the Nintendo Switch version will be available digitally for $29.99 and physically for $39.99, with a special launch edition that includes two Puyo Puyo- and Tetris-themed keychains (while supplies last).
Original article:
During the recent Nintendo Switch event, Puyo Puyo Tetris was briefly shown being played on the Nintendo Switch. With the event over, the official website of Puyo Puyo Tetris has been updated with more information on this new version of the game for Nintendo Switch, titled Puyo Puyo Tetris S in Japan. The game will be released in Japan on March 3, 2017 as a launch game for the Nintendo Switch. The official website also reveals that the game will get a release in the United States, Europe and other countries, where it will simply be called Puyo Puyo Tetris, although the release date for that version is unknown at the moment. Interestingly, a “Worldwide Puzzle League” mode will allow for worldwide multi-player (albeit without cross-platform support).
An English trophy list for Puyo Puyo Tetris on the Playstation 4 has been circulating lately. Exophase has the exceedingly long list of trophies for Puyo Puyo Tetris. Should we expect to see this “Frantic Four-Player Puzzle Mashup” in the West? Let us hope so!
Puyo Puyo Tetris is a crossover project between two of the most prominent (and oldest) puzzle game franchises in existence. It was notable not just for the uniqueness of the crossover concept, but also for its release across six platforms – Playstation 3 and Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii U, and Xbox One. While it didn’t yield particularly large sales on its own in Japan, it did prompt a unique gummi candy promotion for a limited time.
Initially releasing in Japan during February of 2014, it has been quite some time since any sort of word describing the prospects of Puyo Puyo Tetris‘s localization have been noted. To begin with, the game’s potential for localization hasn’t often been publicly discussed, and Puyo Puyo games are for the most part not localized outside of Puyo Puyo Fever or the Puyo Puyo titles released as SEGA 3D Classics for the Nintendo 3DS.
Should this game be localized, one has to wonder what the choice of platforms would be. Certainly, Playstation 4 would already be a lock. Perhaps the 3DS and the Vita are under consideration? And since Valkyria Revolution is uniquely receiving an Xbox One release, maybe the Xbox One version will be brought over as well.
Update: A recent tweet from Sam Mullen possibly alludes to surprise over recent news about the English trophy list for Puyo Puyo Tetris. Assuming that Puyo Puyo Tetris is indeed being localized (which is not completely certain, at the moment, although still possible), this might suggest that localization is being handled outside of SEGA itself.
In any case, the news of a trophy list is cause for optimism!
At Segalization, unfortunately our opportunities to write about the Puyo Puyo series aren’t in abundance. So we feel happy to see a week of competitive Puyo Puyo events ahead of us, alongside a Niconico broadcast from Sega to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary in Japan. We may not hear much about Puyo Puyo in the West, but Puyo Puyo is indeed a long-standing Sega franchise.
Puyo Puyo, as most any other game series, can be played according to the player’s wishes. But Puyo Puyo in a competitive setting operates under the assumption that certain strategies are more desirable than others. You don’t always want to focus simply on connecting four like-colored Puyos that are on an upper row together, as an example, as you’ll find it harder to inundate your opponent with garbage. It is a setting that converges towards rewarding players that can think quickly and creatively, keep an eye on themselves and their opponents, and react and attack in order to keep oneself at an advantageous position as much as it makes sense. Stakes can often be higher in competitive Puyo Puyo, where the rewards might include money, other prizes, or even pride itself.
Check out this image below for a schedule of competitive Puyo Puyo events, with stream URLs (Niconico or Twitch, depending on the event) accompanying each event. For our Western-based readers, please do keep in mind that events taking place in Japan (S-Rank League, 25th Anniversary Stream) are ahead of you. For example, the first day of S-Rank League is already underway. Segalization does not take credit for the creation of the image below.
Kudos to competitive Puyo Puyo players around the world who keep their games alive through their dedication to the game’s strategic combat, and the desire to make their opponents lose. All in the name of fun!
Interested in learning more about the fundamentals of high-level Puyo Puyo? This NeoGAF thread not only covers some basic history of the franchise and offers some suggestions on Puyo Puyo titles to buy, but it also gives a good rundown on vocabulary that defines competitive interactions and fleshes them out. With visuals! Don’t be intimidated by the density of the information – read items one step at a time, and don’t be afraid to come back to the reading another time if you don’t understand it immediately.
One place for Puyo Puyo discussion is Puyo Nexus, a forum and fansite for the Puyo Puyo franchise. They cover news on Japanese Puyo Puyo tournaments on and also run tournaments of their own.
You may also consider the r/puyopop subreddit for discussion, fun, and assistance, which also hosts a Discord chatroom of its own.
Puyo Puyo Quest is a fairly successful mobile game in Japan. For the West, the game is being reskinned and launched as “Cranky Food Friends,” with a soft launch that started in Canada and certain European countries. If there is any doubt, compare the featured image with the image below.
The similarity in structure of the two games should be immediately apparent. Even if Cranky Food Friends was simply inspired by the concept of Puyo Puyo Quest and didn’t involve the replacing of assets, it would beg the question of why Puyo Puyo Quest itself wasn’t released outside of Japan while Cranky Food Friends is going to see such a release. We each decided to write down our thoughts about this, which you can find below.
It’s been a while since we’ve written about Puyo Puyo Tetris. Last week on December 4th, the Playstation 4 and Xbox One versions of Puyo Puyo Tetris hit retail shelves in Japan; this means that Puyo Puyo Tetris now exists on a total of six platforms!
Leading up to its release, Sega released a two-minute promotional movie explaining some basic concepts of Puyo Puyo Tetris. It’s a crossover of two prominent puzzle gaming franchises, also featuring a colorful story mode and online play options. Beyond that, there are a variety of multiplayer mode options. Puyo Puyo and Tetris both have long histories of competitive play, so these choices will hopefully have something to offer for everyone:
Players can compete globally for rankings in the National Puzzle League mode. The article also notes that replays of your gaming sessions can be saved and shared with other Puyo Puyo Tetris players.
Check out the movie after the break!
We now have confirmation about Sega and Atlus’s lineup at Tokyo Game Show 2014, and which titles will be playable. This article will cover games that are not under the banner of Segalization’s localization requests and will simply present the entirety of Sega and Atlus’s offerings.
Please be aware that Sega and Atlus will also be holding stage events and broadcast streams throughout the weekend of Tokyo Game Show, which you can find near the end of the article! Italicized games are titles that currently have localizations planned for them, for reader convenience, but keep in mind that localization status is still a tentative thing. Here is a list of what can be expected:
Playable from Sega:
Promotional Trailers from Sega:
Promotional Trailers from Atlus:
Stage Events from Sega and Atlus, scheduled according to Japan Standard Time:
To speak for myself, the lineup that Sega is presenting is especially strong this year. A sizable portion of their prominent active franchises in Japan are being represented with Phantasy Star, Yakuza, Shining, and Hatsune Miku. We are also seeing a push for Sonic Boom in Japan too. Besides the representation for major IP’s, newer franchises such as Hero Bank and The World End Eclipse are being promoted. In addition, Puyo Puyo Tetris and Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax should have broad appeal: the former for its accessibility and crossover novelty and the latter for being a crossover fighter featuring popular characters. The real wildcard here is Atlus and their presentation on the 20th. Hopefully they will have more to offer regarding Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem! I am also excited to finally see what Shining Resonance looks like in action.
Kudos to this Gematsu article and this NeoGAF thread, and additional thanks to the topic creator of the NeoGAF thread for translated descriptions and scheduling of stage events. Kudos also to the PSUBlog for the entry linked in the description on the Phantasy Star Nova live demo presentation.
Update, 9/18/2014: Edited to reflect that there is very likely no additional Hatsune Miku game announcement besides Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai Deluxe.
Looking for a puzzle game to play on your next-gen consoles? SEGA will be bringing Puyo Puyo Tetris to PS4 and XBOX One in Japan on December 4th, according to GamesTalk and pointed out by a NeoGAF forum member. This version will come with every DLC released thus far, for a ¥5,918 price tag. Any additional features have not been mentioned yet.
There are currently no plans to localize any version of Puyo Puyo Tetris. Ubisoft currently has Tetris Ultimate in development for these two platforms; it is unclear if this is an exclusive deal which may or may not interfere with bringing the game overseas.