Adventure & Puzzle Game Round-up

Over the past few months, I've really been going all-in on Community Game-Along events on my Twitch channel. I've found they're a fun way to keep my queue varied and interesting. The previous two month's themes, #AdventureGameMonth and #PuzzleGameMonth, smoothly flowed into each other to provide 60+ solid days of putting my brain through its paces!

Here's a roundup of mini-reviews for all 7 games I streamed for these events:

Day of the Tentacle

As someone who really enjoyed other Lucas Arts adventure games such as Grim Fandango and the Monkey Island series, I've been meaning to play this classic title for quite some time. Once I started playing, I was immediately struck by the distinctly 90s cartoon aesthetic and sense of humor that reminded me of shows such as Animaniacs and Hysteria. The gameplay, however, took a while for me to get my head around. Switching between controlling 3 protagonists exploring the same environment in 3 different time periods made for some novel puzzle designs but also made it much easier to get stuck than in a more conventional point-and-click adventure game. As a result, I found myself alternating between having fun engaging in cartoon antics and being frustrated when I kept having to wander around the same locations over and over to figure out what the game wanted me to do next. That being said, I'm really glad I played this but it hasn't displaced Monkey Island and Grimfango among my favorite Lucas Arts games.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐

Nina Aquila Legal Eagle (Chapter 1)

This one was a real curiosity for me. Essentially, Nina Aquila is an indie developer's recreation of the gameplay of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney using the RPG Maker engine. While Nina Aquila still looks and feels like an RPG Maker game, I was quite impressed with how well Tanuki-sama Studios managed to work the engine to create a game with the same general structure and mechanics as Ace Attorney. As for the content of the game, the court case itself is entertaining but much more straight forward than Phoenix Wright. Nina Aquila was released episodically on itch.io and the first chapter that I played during #AdventureGameMonth was an effective proof-of-concept that has me looking forward to trying out the subsequent chapters in the future.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐

Note: The first two chapters of this game were included in the itch.io Racial Justice Bundle 

Call of the Sea

Taking a break from my usual indie and retro games, I decided to check out this highly regarded Xbox Series X launch title via Xbox Game Pass for PC. As you would expect from a brand new game first-person adventure game, it featured beautiful and lush environments that were really cool to explore. I also found the 1920s Lovecraft-inspired story to be quite interesting. The game's puzzles featured a good range of difficulties, however, there were one or two that just didn't make sense to me at all and I ended up having to look up the solutions. Unfortunately, the overall very positive experience I had with Call of the Sea was marred by some pretty serious performance issues despite my PC comfortably meeting the system requirements. This is a game I'd definitely recommend playing, but on Xbox Series X, since supposedly that version runs much more smoothly, or waiting until the PC version has been out longer and gets patched.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐

Note: This would have been an easy 4-star game if not for the technical issues. 

Carto

Another recent Game Pass release, this indie puzzle adventure game stars a character who can edit the game map, thereby changing the layout of the world around her. Throughout the game, you collect new map pieces that you can fit together in different ways to create new environments, solve puzzles, and help various NPCs. It's a short and sweet game with a unique hook, cute graphics, and a quirky sense of humor. I definitely recommend checking this one out.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Manifold Garden

When I first saw previews of this game, I immediately knew it would be a must-play. Manifold Garden is a first-person puzzle platformer that, at first look, might seem similar to Portal. However, only a few minutes of playing it reveals that it's a completely unique experience. For starters, your character cannot jump but can instead instantly change the direction that gravity pulls, suddenly making walls, ceilings, and the surfaces of any object in the environment traversable. On top of that, each level is a maze of surreal Escher-inspired environments that loop back upon themselves This means that if you fall into a pit, you'll soon find yourself falling through the sky rather than hitting the bottom of the level. Manipulating the gravity and exploiting the looping level design leads to some really interesting puzzle scenarios. In addition to the mechanics, I really loved this game's visual design which increased in intricacy along with the puzzles. Overall, this was easily my favorite game that I streamed during both #AdventureGameMonth and #PuzzleGameMonth and in general, is one of the best puzzle games I've played in a long time.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Caution: If you are at all prone to motion sickness, there is a strong chance that this game could trigger it.

Witchway

Compared to most of the other puzzle and adventure games I played, Witchway was pretty simple and straight forward. As a witch with telekinesis, you navigate a Metroidvania-style world by moving blocks around to create platforms and activate switches. While not anything particularly revolutionary, it sported great music, adorable pixel art, and just enough puzzle complexity to fit its 3-hour run time. This game did what it set out to do and was a nice break from the meatier games I tackled during #PuzzleGameMonth.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐

Note: This game was included in the itch.io Racial Justice Bundle 

Hue

My last game for these events was another 2D puzzle platformer, but with a bit of a twist. Hue takes place in a mostly black and white world with few key interactive objects rendered in bright colors. The protagonist has the power to change the background color of the levels which makes any object in the environment of the same color disappear as it blends into the background. By carefully switching colors in the right sequence, the player can navigate obstacles and avoid deadly traps such as spikes and lasers. I found that the way this game brought a unique mechanic to otherwise traditional puzzle platforming gameplay was enough to set it apart from other games in the genre. I also really liked the game's crisp high-contrast aesthetic and very well-balanced puzzle difficultly. 

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Putting my puzzling skills to the test for two consecutive months was a real challenge and a lot of fun! That being said, I feel like my brain earned some much-deserved rest. Time to go watch some anime!

The Gardens Between Review

My experience with Xbox Game Pass this year has been pretty evenly split between AAA games and surprise little indie gems. One such gem was The Gardens Between, which I played through blind on my Twitch stream.

Overview:

The Gardens Between is a puzzle game by The Voxel Agents that tells a story of childhood friendship. Rather than controlling the game's pair of protagonists directly, players advance the characters through each stage by manipulating the flow of time around them. Certain key objects can be locked in place within the timestream to modify the sequence of events and open new paths.

Pros:

• The game's time manipulation mechanic is used in a variety of clever ways. By shifting time forward and backward, structures can be erected and collapsed, plants can grow and wither, and the characters route through the environment can change completely.
• In addition to the puzzle aspect of the level design, I appreciated how each level's appearance was an abstract representation of the characters' memories. This helped add depth to the game's otherwise simple story.
• The general aesthetic of the game reminded me of Life is Strange. I guess there's something about that compromise between realistic and cartoon graphics that just works for coming of age stories.
• The Gardens Between is just the right length. I felt like it used its mechanics to their full potential without burning me out.

Cons:

• Some of the late game puzzles get a little fiddly for my taste. On a few occasions, I found that I had figured out how solve the puzzle but minor variations in my execution of the solution (like having two objects in the correct position but slightly misaligned) would seemingly cause the game to indicate that I'd done something wrong.
• While the way it was presented was interesting, I felt that the game's story itself was anti-climactic. At times it seemed to be building to a major dramatic event that didn't end up happening. 

If you enjoy environmental puzzles, I highly recommend trying out The Gardens Between. While I may have found the story a little lacking, the gameplay and art direction were more than enough to cement this as one the best puzzle games I've played in quite some time.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Completion Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Acknowledgements:

• This review was written as part of the Chic Pixel community's #PuzzleGameMonth event. You can find the Chic Pixel blog and its accompanying podcast at Chic-Pixel.com
• I downloaded this game per the recommendation of the This Nintendo Life podcast. You can find them on Twitter @TNLpodcast.
• Images in this post courtesy of The Voxel Agents.

Impressions: Yoshi's Crafted World, Daemon X Machina, and Tetris99

Not only did last week's Nintendo Direct come with a bunch of announcements, but it also brought us two new game demos and a surprise free game! Here are my impressions of each:

Yoshi’s Crafted World Demo

Having had such a good time playing through Good Feel’s other craft-based platformers, Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Yoshi’s Wooly World, we downloaded and played the Crafted World demo the moment it became available.

• The attention to detail put into the papercraft style of this game is pretty remarkable. I like that passing along the backsides of cardboard structures revealed labels, barcodes, and stamps from the boxes that were presumably used to build these things.

• This Yoshi game very prominently features Yoshi’s dog, Poochy. The only thing cuter than Mario’s pet is a pet of that pet. I approve!

• The level design is more three-dimensional than previous Yoshi games. While this has some interesting gameplay implications, I found that it did make it a little harder to aim eggs and determine which items were in the same plane as Yoshi versus the background or foreground.

• Like I’ve come to expect with the early parts of other Yoshi games, the challenge comes from finding secrets/collectibles in this level. Some of the later levels shown in the preview at the end of the demo, however, appear to offer more robust platforming challenges, however.

My wife and I ended up playing through the demo several times, so it’s a safe bet that we’ll be getting the full game. (I’m already on the lookout for pre-order bonuses.)

Daemon X Machina Demo

I was pretty excited to try this one since I’ve enjoyed other mecha games in the past. Unfortunately, this one did not demo well for me.

• I was surprised to find that the mech has nearly unlimited flight capabilities right off the bat (in most games, mechs can briefly boost into the air and full flight is unlocked later if at all). The transition between air and ground combat felt a little awkward to me, with the air movement feeling kind of sluggish. Thus, I preferred to keep my mech on the ground whenever possible. Even on land, the controls felt a little off.

• The simple geometric shapes and high-contrast colors are a good way of giving the game a distinct look while also working around the hardware limitations of the Switch. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I like it.

• There is far more dialog (with voice acting) than I expected in this game. It seemed to be of reasonably good quality and could prove to be interesting in the full game, but for a demo, I have a hard time getting invested in story/characters and would prefer to get right to the action.

• Mechs can be customized with different parts and weapons. I think much of the appeal of the game will come from configuring your ideal robot. Yet within the demo, I found it difficult to discern what each weapon and upgrade did, so I ended up sticking to the default loadout.

• The levels in the demo are structured as central hubs, such as a small city, that must be cleared of existing enemies or defending from incoming enemies. I generally prefer mech games in which the mission structure involves making forward progress (i.e. fighting my way from Point A to Point B). I’m hoping the full game offers more varied level structure, because I could see what’s shown in the demo getting repetitive.

• The demo is quite long, I spent over an hour with it and still haven’t played the last mission that it offers.

Overall, I came away from Daemon X Machina with mixed feelings. I think there’s still potential for a compelling mecha action game here (something I’ve been wanting), but the demo just didn’t grab me. I’ll be keeping an eye on reviews and may end up playing through the demo a second time to see if my feelings change.

Tetris 99

Unlike the other two downloads that coincided with this Direct, Tetris99 is a full game that was released for free to subscribers of the Nintendo Online service. This game's release also marks Nintendo's entry into the trendy Battle Royale genre.

• The basic gameplay is classic Tetris, it looks and feels as sharp as ever but doesn't add much to the puzzle mechanics.

• Tetris99's twist is the aforementioned Battle Royale aspect. Each round features 99 players all trying to clear lines and launch garbage blocks at their rivals to clutter their boards.

• Apparently, there's a way to specifically target individual rival players with the garbage blocks, but I was struggling simply to stay alive, so I wasn't able to figure it out during my initial session.

• Since I'm not much of a competetive gamer, the defining feature of this game for me was the excellent techno cover of the Tetris theme that plays as you compete. The longer your survive, the more the music builds in intensity which really adds to the sense of tension.

Tetris99 was a really pleasant surprise! I don't think I'll be putting a lot of time into it, but it's a nice thing to have on the Switch for when I'm in the mood for a quick game.


Note: Images from Nintendo.co.uk

Mobile Game Roundup

While the Nintendo Switch may be the best portable game system on the market right now, sometimes when I'm on the road I want the simplicity of not having to pack a gaming-specific device, especially if I know my sessions are going to be short. That's where mobile games come in. Unfortunately, many popular mobile titles are so bloated with microtransactions, gatchpon mechanics, data-sucking content updates, and other games-as-a-service features, that they just don't make sense to pick up and play while traveling. On a few recent trips, I managed to put together a handful of fun mobile titles that were an exception to this rule. Here's some info and impressions on each:

RainBlocks (free, ad-supported)

We’ll start with the most simple of this set, Rain Blocks. This is a basic block-sliding puzzle that builds in complexity, introducing powerups and new types of blocks, as you play. This is no-frizzles puzzle game is my go-to mobile game for when I want to immediately jump into gameplay and engage my brain for a short session. However, in Tetris-like fashion, sometimes I get on a roll and end up turning these short sessions into longer ones! Rain Blocks also sports great music by former Mega Man composer, Manami Matsume.

Candies 'n' Curses ( free w/ ads, $4.99 ad-free version)

Going up in complexity level, we have Candies 'n' Curses. While I’ve heard some call it a platformer, to me it’s more reminiscent of arcade-style games like Joust, Elevator Action, or Woah Dave. Running around and bashing as many ghosts as possible is oddly satisfying and since it has some minor Rouge-like mechanics, each time I play my character is a little stronger and I can advance a little further into the haunted mansion. The game has a minimal story that reaches some sort of conclusion if you manage to make it far enough, but it will probably be quite some time before I get that far. This game also features some great sprite work and a catchy soundtrack.

Legend of the Skyfish (free demo w/ ads, $3.99 ad-free full version)

 It’s pretty clear from the get-go that this game is inspired by The Legend of Zelda. However, instead of a big sprawling world, Skyfish breaks Zelda-like gameplay down into bite-sized levels that play like small dungeons. Since the gameplay is just a succession of condensed dungeons, you'll be doing a lot cycles of switch flipping, sword slashing, and block sliding, which I found works well for short sessions but can feel repetitive if you're trying to kill more than thirty minutes or so. However, I'm only about a quarter of the way through the campaign, so there a possibility that more variety will be added later in the game. Also, I have to commend this game for managing to make maneuvers that are typically associated with a controller (sword swipes, firing a hookshot, etc) feel pretty smooth with a touch screen.

Dragon Quest ($2.99)

This RPG classic likely needs no introduction. Square Enix has put together a solid mobile remake of the original Dragon Quest (aka Dragon Warrior). The touch screen controls took a little time to get used to, but once I had adjusted, it was like I was a kid again hunched over his Gameboy Color. Something that jumped out at me in this version is that Square elected to keep the "old-timey" dialect associated with the NES version of the game, which can be equally nostalgic and (possibly unintentionally) funny. This is a very grindy RPG with very minimal story, but I actually like that in a mobile game since I feel like I can quickly get into the game, make some progress, and then get back to what I was doing in the real world.

Note: All info on this page is based on the Android versions of these games, but the iOS experience should be similar. Prices are Google Play prices in US dollars.

Battle Chef Brigade

I was craving something a little different right around the time Battle Chef Brigade was offered as a free game via Twitch Prime. I streamed my entire playthrough and found that this game’s bizarre combination of RPG, brawler, and puzzle gameplay was a delight.

Overview

Battle Chef Brigade takes place in a fantasy world overrun with monsters. The people of this world decide that the only solution to this monster infestation is to amass a legion of Battle Chefs to slay these monsters and then cook them into fine cuisine in Iron Chef-like tournaments. Mina, the game’s protagonist, is an aspiring Battle Chef who must complete a series of challenges and competitions in order to be inducted into the Brigade. The main focus of the gameplay is the culinary tournaments in which players must juggle their time between gather ingredients by slaying monsters and cooking these ingredients into dishes to submit to the judges. Combat with monsters is in the style of a 2D side-scrolling brawler, while cooking takes the form of a match-3 puzzle game in which each color of blocks represents a different flavor.

Pros

• My description may have not done it justice, but Battle Chef Brigade has one of the most original premises and gameplay loops I’ve seen in a game in many years. This game’s fantasy-meets-Food-Network world and brawler/RPG/puzzle mechanics all work really well together.
• The gameplay is complemented by a story with quirky characters and strong writing. I found myself far more invested in the characters and story of this game than I expected.
• I really like the voice acting in this game. Each character has a unique voice that conveys their personality even though the animation during dialog is often minimal. The standout performance for me was tournament chairman. His actor absolutely nails the corny and self-serious tone of an Iron Chef host. It brought a smile to my face during every bout.
• The character designs are quite striking. Even minor NPCs have a distinct look. In crowd shots during story sequences, I’d often pick out a few individuals and find myself saying “I wanna know more about that person!”
• Being a hybrid game, Battle Chef Brigade keeps each of its mechanics relatively simple. The combat only offers a handful of techniques, but they’re fun to pull off. Similarly, the puzzles build in their level of challenge throughout the game but the core is not complex.
• I didn’t go into this game knowing what music would best go along with baking a dragon heart, but somehow Battle Chef Brigade figured it out.

Cons

• Once you’ve gotten far enough to get the hang of all the mechanics, meet all the characters and figure out where the story is ultimately going to go, the gameplay begins to feel a little repetitive toward the end. Thankfully, this isn’t a game that outstays its welcome.
• In one chapter you play as one of the side characters instead of the protagonist, Mina. This chapter offers some somewhat interesting one-time mechanics but otherwise feels like filler. I would’ve rather kept the main story moving.
• The judges of the Battle Chef tournament judges use an inconsistent scoring system that takes getting used to. For example, dishes containing poison are penalized less than foods that contain the wrong balance of flavors.

Battle Chef’s interesting combination of mechanics and fun cast of characters make it a joy to play. While so many indie games are content to stick to formulas established in classic games, Battle Chef Brigade offers something new. I highly recommend it to any open-minded gamer looking for a truly original indie game.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Completion Time: 13 hours, 30 minutes

Nintendo Switch Demo Roundup

Since finishing Blossom Tales, I’ve primarily been focusing on PC and mobile games for the last several weeks. However, the effects of Switch withdrawal have been setting in, so I decided to see what’s been going on lately on Nintendo’s hybrid console by rounding up some demos from recent or upcoming games.

Kirby Star Allies

My wife and I have played through several Kirby games together and they are usually wonderful co-op experiences. Thus, we went into this one with high expectations. The general look and feel of the game appealed to us in classic Kirby fashion, but the “Allies” component yielded mixed results. Kirby rolls with a squad of 3 companions that can be controlled by other players or the AI. By combining his abilities with those of his allies, Kirby can use special combo skills that are a lot of fun to experiment with. Unfortunately having a team of four characters on screen along with flashy combo moves means that there’s a lot of chaos on the screen and keeping track of the character that you’re directly in control of can become difficult. Unfortunately, all this on-screen busyness (especially with the erratic AI companions) detracted from the more subdued co-op experience that we were looking for. I think we’re going to hold off on this one until we get a better picture of what the upcoming Yoshi game will be like that promises to scratch a similar itch.

 BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle

As I had mentioned in my Skullgirls review, it's been a while since I've really sunk my teeth into a traditional fighting game. Blazblue Cross Tag Battle mashes up several franchises but caught my attention in particular due to the inclusion of characters from RWBY and Persona 4 (I'm currently watching/playing both). The game also features characters from the Japanese arcade game, Under Night In-Birth, and of course, BlazBlue. The content of this demo was extremely slim, featuring only one character from each franchise and only one stage, but it was enough for me to get a sense for Cross Tag Battle's Marvel-vs-Capcom-style combat. I also appreciated that every combination of characters features unique animations and voice work. I have heard that previous BlazBlue games have featured pretty good single-player content, so I'm tempted to bite on this one if it gets good reviews.

Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido

Well, this was certainly the strangest of the bunch. In Nintendo's latest puzzle game, you play as a "sushi striker", a warrior who defeats their enemies by rapidly eating as much sushi as possible and then throwing the dirty plates at their foe. I was expecting a simple little puzzle game with a goofy premise as window dressing; instead, I found that Sushi Striker is a game with a fully-featured campaign featuring lengthy anime cut scenes, lots of voice acting, a sing-a-long theme song, and of course, one of the most bizarre plots I've every seen in a game. The game play consists of matching up different colors of sushi as the pass by on a series of conveyor belts and then flinging the empty plates at the rival sushi striker. The game also features some RPG-like elements with player stats and the ability to use special moves by partying up with magical creatures called "sushi sprites" (basically seafood-obsessed Pokemon). The game play and story were amusing enough to get my wife and I pretty interested in this game, but the $50-price tag gave us some pause. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.

Happy Birthdays

First up, I'll admit that the only thing I knew about this game in the beginning is that the promotional artwork featured some really cute drawings of dinosaurs. It turns out that beneath this game's cute exterior, lies a complex SimEarth-like ecosystem simulation game. In the beginning, the game features a helper character, appropriately named Navi, who prattles on tirelessly (and redundantly) about the game's mechanics. Once Navi is finally done with you, the player is turned to loose to tinker with the world's temperature, topography, moisture content, and a variety of other factors in order to get new lifeforms to spawn. For someone like me, who likes a game with structure, Happy Birthdays didn't hold my interest for long. However, for a natural born tinkerer like my wife, there is a definitely a lot of appeal to tweaking the terrain of a planet and then watching as new types of cute little critters are born; she spent several hours building mountains, rerouting streams, and collecting creatures. Thus, this a is a title whose appeal will vary greatly depending on your personality.

If you're interested in buying or pre-ordering any of the games in this post and also supporting this blog, you can use the Amazon affiliate links below:
Kirby Star Allies
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
Happy Birthdays

Quick Thoughts & Updates

I've been jumping around between a lot of different games over the past few weeks, but no one thing has warranted a full-length post yet. For the time being, here's a quick collection of thoughts and updates on what I've been playing:

• Lara Croft Go: This is one of the first mobile games I've played all the way through. It's a clever little puzzle game that was a pleasant activity to chip away at on my tablet before bed. Toward the end, a few of the puzzles began to feel a little repetitive, but overall it was a joy from start to finish.
  Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


• Chrono Trigger: I'm probably about 2/3 of the way through the game and it's still great. However I'm definitely experiencing the third act slog typical of old-school RPGs as the dungeons are getting longer and battles much more frequent. I should also mention that at this point the Android version has become pretty buggy (largely due to the rather obtrusive DRM Square Enix added to this port), and thus I'd very strongly recommend playing one of the other versions of the game instead. I've heard especially good things about the Nintendo DS version.


• Nintendo Switch: While lately my PC and tablet have been getting a lot of attention, I'll always be a Nintendo fan at heart, so of course I pre-ordered a Nintendo Switch as soon as they became available. Though I'm a little concerned about some of the seemingly over-priced peripherals and muddled marketing messages (especially regarding gimmicky motion controls), I'm still counting down the days until the system and the new Zelda game arrive. A Nintendo handheld that can also be played on a TV is something I've been wanting since the Gameboy days, so the Switch seems like it'll be right up my ally.

Demo Hotness: Picross 3D Round 2

After all the praise that's been heaped on the original Picross 3D over the years, and all the hype leading up to Round 2, I figured I'd take a little time to see what all the fuss is about. While I've never played a 3D Picross game, I do have some experience with traditional 2D Picross puzzles.

Here's a quick primer for those unfamiliar: a basic (2D) Picross puzzle consists of a grid empty squares with numbers marked at the ends of each column and row. These numbers provide clues as to which squares should be filled in and which should be left blank. A correctly solved puzzle will form a pixelated image once all proper squares have been filled in.

The demo of Picross 3D Round 2 largely consists of tutorials that teach puzzle-solving techniques with each of these tutorials followed by a small puzzle that allows the player to try out the recently-learned techniques. This came in handy since the 3D puzzles are much more complex than their 2D counterparts. Each puzzle takes the form of a cluster of small white cubes that can be filled in with one of two different colors. Cubes that are not to be colored in have to be eliminated from the puzzle all-together. Determining what to do with each cube can be challenging as the numerical clues must be considered in the context of three-dimensional space. The game also provides a method to view cross-sectional slices of the puzzle so that the inner cubes of the cluster can be accessed. When the puzzle is complete, the once formless cluster of cubes has been chiseled and colored to form a simplistic blocky 3D model of an animal, household appliance, or Nintendo character. After several tutorial segments, the demo leaves the player alone to solve three new puzzles without any hand-holding. With each of these three, the level of complexity increases.

This demo worked out pretty well for me as the tutorials do a good job teaching the player the type of logical thinking needed to make solving these puzzles in 3D approachable. The music in the game was pretty pleasant and definitely helped put me in the mellow puzzle-solving mood. As this game is almost entirely touch-screen based, I'm kind of surprised Nintendo didn't release this as a mobile game as it would be a great fit for a smartphone or tablet. I'm not sure if I would have the patience for all 300 puzzles included in the full game, but my brain could probably use the exercise so I may end up buying the game if it goes on sale.

I should note that while the tutorials are fairly thorough, I would recommend that those with no Picross experience start with a 2D version in order to learn the basic principles of Picross before graduating to 3D. I'd suggest checking out the free-to-play Pokemon Picross available in the eShop. Players who have already played the original Picross 3D should skip this demo entirely as it doesn't seem like the tutorial segments can be skipped.