Petal Crash has an absolutely impeccable amount of charm. From its writing to its spritework, it's a legitimately engaging collection of short stories and cute characters with a clever enough hook to know exactly what kind of cute lil' game it is and get the most out of it. On top of that, when everything comes together with a fantastic crash, blocks all moved into position to knock into each other in one big string while you start to look for the next, there is a FABULOUS kinetic burst of accomplishment that really only Tetris Attack matches. It's a quick-adapt style puzzler that simultaneously allows you to build and actively participate in, and the dynamic system on which you score points - that being having a certain combo lead over your opponent to deal damage that diminishes the longer it goes where no one has scored a point - makes the need to go from intricate chains to well thought-out two-matches fantastic. It marries all of the best elements of puzzlers together in a fabulous burst... it's just that the board, inherently, is a bit more limited than other puzzlers due to being less freeform. The feeling of your opponent messing you up is felt MUCH more here than in games like Panel de Pon or any versus Tetris game, because the interference your opponent runs is directly in your play area, rather than purely above or below it to add pressure. I'm not entirely sure what the best solution to garbage blocks is, but it creates a situation where comebacks are far more difficult in Petal Crash than its (good) contemporaries. Perhaps I just need to git gud properly, though. Characters are still absolutely adorable, game is generally adorable, I really look forward to what a sequel will bring to the table for this game!

I always love it whenever a game is made by somebody who not only has a great amount love and respect for the genre but also wants everyone to understand that love and respect. Petal Crash is a wonderful love letter to the puzzle game genre that also feels like something all new. It has elements of popular series like Puyo or Panel de Pon, but never feels derivative or not as fully realized. The mechanics here are the perfect level of simplicity and readability that leads to that puzzle sweet spot of easy to begin, tough but rewarding to master.

The variety of gameplay modes all do a great job of not only giving the player a ton of variety, but also offer a bunch of different ways to learn the game and push the player to improve. Puzzle mode helps the player understand not only how chains work, but what are the most efficient ways to move blocks from one place to another, how to effectively read a board in order to have the best opening move, and is also extremely challenging to both beginners and seasoned puzzle game players. Puzzle mode also features unique puzzles for each character, all of which fit the character's personality and traits. Turn trial is a great addition to the usual time trial, as it is a mode that encourages careful planning of block chains and board arrangement with no time limit, allowing the player to continue to hone their skills.

Then there's story mode, which I can't get to without finally talking about the characters, possibly the best selling point this game has. The cast here is not only immediately lovable, but genuinely funny, well-written, and well-designed. Just one look at characters like Lilibri and Ore Kid was enough for me, but then you play the story mode and find out so much more about them then you ever would have guessed. Characters have genuine depth and relatable personalities, revealed not only through their unique story path but also how they interact with other characters in other paths. Each interaction is exciting because you really want to see how characters react to certain situations and clashing personalities. The characterization is insanely on point, this is a fun cast that has been fully realized through the writing, character design, and animation. All of the writing in the game is definitely the best I've seen in any puzzle, and some of my favorite writing in games period. Manages to be both really consistently funny and also extremely heart-felt and genuinely emotional when it needs to be, covering some topics and themes that most games writing would never be skilled enough to try.

All in all, Petal Crash is an incredibly well-realized and executed game that delivers on all fronts (haven't even mentioned the great soundtrack). I guess if I have one complaint is that I'm kind of bad at it, but getting better! Lack of online might be disappointing to some, but this is a game that had a fairly small budget, and it manages to deliver enough features that I never really felt the absence of online. If anything about the mechanics, characters, style, anything at all appeals to you about this game please consider picking it up.