We have once again been blessed by a new Picross e game, and you know what that means: new puzzles and, erm... some more new puzzles? By now you should honestly know what to expect with these titles, but here's a quick rundown again!
Picross is a classic type of puzzle game that has featured on Nintendo systems since the '80s. The goal in each Picross puzzle is to use a series of numbers lined up above and to the left of a grid in order to determine which tiles in said grid should be filled in, and which should be left blank. Correctly following the clues will result in you slowly creating a pixelated image of something, typically an object or animal.
Picross e7 has once again chosen the safe route, not adding any particularly notable new features. The modes on offer are still the same as before - Picross, Mega Picross and Micross. Picross plays by the standard rules, while Mega Picross puzzles include numbers which correspond to two rows or columns at the same time, requiring some extra thought.
Both of these can also be played with the "Free" rule enabled, which prevents the game from telling you when you've made a mistake - if you make a tiny error it could cost you a lot of time, but on the flipside you won't get any time penalties. Some people were not too happy with the fact that Mega Picross in Picross e6 simply featured the same puzzles from regular Picross except with the combined number feature, and unfortunately nothing has been done to address this as, once again, the Mega Picross puzzles are the same exact ones as in regular Picross. When Mega Picross was first introduced it had its own unique puzzles, so this is rather disheartening.
Micross, like before, only features three puzzles, but each of them is actually one gigantic picture comprised of several smaller puzzles, thus making you jump from one to the next over and over until you've finally solved the whole thing. The main menu also features another gift icon, allowing you to unlock five puzzles for each of the first three Picross e titles you own. It's rather puzzling that they're still not rewarding us for buying the later games.
There is one tiny change Jupiter made to e7, which could come in handy. Previously, you could only fill in tiles or mark them with a cross, indicating you thought that tile did not have to be filled. It's now added a third mark, allowing you to place a pink square on a tile; this is intended for tiles you're not completely sure about, and is a welcome if mostly insignificant feature.
All the extra fluff is here too, of course - a tutorial for first-timers, the option to receive a free hint at the start of puzzles, the ability to change the tile filling animation, and so on. Like its predecessors, it's really just more Picross for fans.
Conclusion
It's a little perplexing how long it took for Picross e7 to be released outside Japan, especially when one considers that it still doesn't really do anything new. It's the same old, same old, really - if you've exhausted the supply of Picross titles on the eShop (Hopefully including Mario's Picross and Mario's Super Picross) and just can't get enough of them, e7 is here to satisfy your appetite. It's a little annoying that Mega Picross once again doesn't have original puzzles, but everything else is still solid as usual, even if it's lacking any creative spark.
Comments 16
still need to finish picross 3d r2.
and i will not buy anything for my "dead" 3DS when the switch is right around the corner.
Well, you pay for what you get. It's Picross.
I wouldn't expect fancy paper and amazing print quality with pop-out objects from a crossword you can buy in shops. The same way I don't expect creative approach from Picross.
I mean I cannot even think how could you add more creativity here.
Any facy graphics and animations would get into the way. Backstory and plot is the least what I want from a Picross game. More modes could work, but you pay for Picross, not for ZombieModecross or Tetriscross. And if I wanted a creative approach, I would get the 3D version or buy a similar puzzle game featuring more twists.
It's exactly what you get - a Picross game.
Still, 7/10 is a solid score.
@6ch6ris6 Playing Picross with your fingers on the Switch's capacitive screen doesn't sound very appealing. This game is perfect for the stylus
I love Picross. I bought all in this series. I am about to finish e4.
I love that in the last couple days titles like these are being reviewed again. Thank you.
The pink square thing is kinda useless since there's only one. If there were two different colors of them, you could try out different marking scenarios and solve by contradiction. But it's still picross, so I still bought it.
(Why are the bonus puzzles still only tied to the first three games, though?)
The only picross game on 3DS I have is Pokemon Picross, because... well, because Pokemon.
Otherwise I have just as good, if not better, picross games on my phone. And they're free.
I didn't realise that this hadn't been reviewed yet. It seems pointless given that the last four games have been virtually indistinguishable from one another. Still enjoyable when the mood is right, but I think I'm finally fatigued with all of these Picross games. The last instalment that gave me any sense of excitement was Pokémon Picross, and that demanded a price of entry thaat is six times higher than any of the e series games (and I got sucked right into it, being the Pokémon+Picross junkie that I am).
@GustavoMaciel I could never get into Picross with a stylus. The button controls are so perfect.
@6ch6ris6 interesting take on the 3ds. I expect to be playing mine for a couple more years yet!
Not a fan of Mega-picross, its to tricky for my taste. And that the puzzles are the same nowadays doesn't help either. I still finish them, but I would prefer more normal Picross puzzles instead (or more Micross puzzles. Or even better, something new (if that's still possible in Picross).
@imgrowinglegs That's true, I forgot about button controls
@Henmii I'm not a big fan of Mega Picross puzzles either.
Picross is my favourite game on DS and 3DS. But this game don't really need human to program... as you can see from the last few version they are the same, the dev just needs to feed a hundred pixellated images to the game and the algorithm will generate the puzzle.
@Nintendian You might be under-estimating the work required in creating this kind of puzzle ever-so-slightly It's vitally important that a Picross puzzle is solvable using logic alone. I've seen some games where you get to a point and have to guess, and it's dreadful!. If you just feed in a random image, it may or may not be uniquely solvable - but more often than not, it won't be. So then it needs tweaking to make sure the logic is sound; but you still have to make sure it looks like the image you want. You can try this yourself in games with a generator, like PixlCross. While making Pic-a-Pix Color we developed our own algorithms for generating/solving but still decided to purchase content from a company who have a team of experienced puzzle artists, because it's all about the joy you get when those beautiful pictures are revealed
I want to see Picross on the Switch!
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