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modmamono · 9 months

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Getting people into Puyo Puyo. A lesson in etiquette.

(Some tips on how to get people into Puyo Puyo and where to get them to start.)

Introduction.

First and foremost. My Tumblr post here is (perhaps counter-productively) for people who may want to get their friends and newbies into Puyo Puyo and not for said friends and newbies themselves. (Though you’ll no doubt get something out of this too.)

I just wanna instill some etiquette into people. Because way too often in Discord servers I see a group of people shout at a newbie to play their favorite Puyo Puyo game instead of trying to actually considering what the best Puyo game to get started with is for that newbie.

My goal is to try and help you get people into this series you like.

This is by no means a guaranteed method and should not be seen as such.

What’s Puyo Puyo’s appeal?

Generally speaking these are the one people cite when I ask them:

The characters.

The Artstyle.

Stories/Lore.

A puzzle game with personality. Similar to those of fighting games.

It's funny and charming.

Simple-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay.

Keep these in mind.

Do you know the person?

This is very important.

- If it’s a friend that shows interest in the colorful cast and the wacky words they shout as the jellies disappear on screen in a pleasing rhythm, then don’t be shy encouraging them to try a Puyo Puyo game out.

Not all friends have everything in common. But if you’re friends and know enough about each other, that alone should do a lot of heavy lifting.

- If it’s a stranger or someone online you barely know then its best to play it safe.

You can ask a few questions what they look for in a game and maybe consult the bottom of this blogpost what game to recommend to them.

- A tip for both: If they show no interest, then just accept it might not be their thing. It’s disheartening, not getting someone into the thing you love, but that’s just life sometimes. Doesn’t mean you have failed, it just means you’ve been pitching to the wrong people.

Dos & Don’ts.

- This is a series where you come for the story/gameplay and stay for the gameplay/story.

You can sell the game on both as well. But if the person is inclined toward one over the other then sell them on story, gameplay, or even the aestatics or the characters and chances are they’ll grow attached to all the other things. No need to rush things.

- Reign in your passion a little.

I’m not saying to not be passionate. But it’s possible you can turn people off to Puyo Puyo because you never shut up about it and keep trying to sell it to them.

This goes for anything really. Sometimes people just get sick of hearing a thing, and instead of checking it out, they’ll disassociate and distance themselves from it.

- Don’t oversell how tough the gameplay is.

Unless the newbie like to be challenged don’t tell them Puyo is hard. That can be discouraging.

You won’t believe how many people I see trying to get someone into Puyo Puyo and do this. You want them to get them into this series, right?

Most Puyo Puyo games have difficulty settings in the options menu anyway. Tell them there’s no shame to adjust it to their liking and switch it to another setting when ready.

- Be supportive and encouraging.

If they struggle with the game. Be kind and offer them some advice. Teach them some basic stuff to get through if needed.

Beating WakuWaku is already a huge accomplishment, don’t make that victory invalidated by saying it doesn’t count because they didn’t do HaraHara if you know what I mean.

There’s no shame in lowering the difficulty. They’ll get better eventually.

- Don’t force them advanced tactics right away or funnel them into competitive.

Let. Them. Have. Fun. First.

Don’t breathe down a newbie’s neck for not using GTR or whatever else stacking method. Let them learn and experience the game however they want to. And if they wanna ask for help, then provide that. Try not to preemptively answer EVERYTHING if they didn’t even ask in the first place.

When they’re ready for GTR, competitive, and the like, then they are ready. But they gotta make that call on their own.

- When you play multi-player with your newbie friend(s) try not to do this:

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You wanna invite them into the series, right? Why turn them off like that? You don’t wanna chance and encourage them to try again. Losing to a player is way more demoralizing then losing to the game’s AI will ever be, they’re just two different things.

But if you do play with your less experienced friends the games have handicaps. If you’re good at the game put your board on Spicy, and let your friend choose whatever they want.

- Soooo, uh, about the lore...

Generally speaking, don’t entice a newbie in with that unless they’re a lore nut (and even then I have my reservations).

I know most Puyo fans love that Puyo Puyo has lore and that’s a big appeal to the series, but hear me out:

I think that’s a terrible way to entice a newbie. It’s fun lore for sure, and ideally, they get into it eventually. But have you ever thought about how much lore there actually is per game?

Puyo 1, Tsu, and Sun don’t have much of anything.

Puyo~n has Doppel and her intrigue and amazing vibe. But when you peel off the layer there is nothing but fanon.

Box and Minna have nothing much of note.

Fever 1 is a new world but otherwise is just another Puyo 1, Tsu, and Sun.

Fever 2 and 15th Anni are actually the exception to the rule. And I will go into why later.

And the rest while they do provide lore. It’s all contained within a single game for the most part.

Most of the interesting stuff are from Novels, Drama CDs, old dungeon crawling games. Which is cool and all. But, for now, you’re only just pitching the game(s) to the newbie. That’s quite a bit away.

I just don’t think it’s wise to hype up the lore when they’re barely ever gonna see any of it. I’ve been around too. A lot of the lore goes over a lot of people’s heads.

That and I think it’s just more rewarding to let newbies piece things together themselves. It releases a really nice feeling in the brain that SEGA’s run actually has a solid continuity.

I hope I’ve made my case? This is probably my most controversial stance here. But I think it’s for the best. Puyo Puyo is a series with lore, but it’s not a lore focused series. (I feel the same about Kirby.)

Entice newbies with surface level things first. Like the funny characters or the surface level stories. They’ll get to the deeper stuff eventually when they’re hooked. Trust me.

Unless you know they’re the type of person that likes lore for lore’s sake. But in that case do please let them know most games aren’t upfront about it and they have to put in the effort to dig. And digging for the obscure can be fun.

- Don’t push your favorite Puyo Puyo games onto a newbie without a good reason.

Sometimes your favorite game isn’t the best to start with. And while I believe you could give a newbie any game and if it clicks BOOM they’re a Puyo fan now. I do believe some games are better introductions to get someone into the games.

I’ll get into what I believe are the best options later on in this post.

- Don’t overload them on things to keep in mind.

Give them no more then 2 things to keep in mind. Things like “PPT1 will have a nasty difficulty spike, so be careful” and “I wonder what your thoughts are on a certain moment”.

If you give someone too many things to keep in mind they might get distracted from the game to remember everything you’ve told them.

And I believe that covers it all.

Which games should you recommend to newbies?

I’ll give you a bunch of options. But I’ll let you know which ones I think are the best for a newbie along with my reasoning.

Best:

Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 & 2

No contest. These are just the best ones to start off with. Either one of these will do.

You may disagree for whatever reason, but the fact it’s a crossover with Tetris is its biggest point in its favor. If they don’t like Puyo Puyo they will have Tetris as a safety net. By default that’s the best.

That and it’s been proven that it has been a surprisingly good entry. Over half of the current fanbase started of with PPT1. Like that guy who makes those Puyo Puyo in a Nutshell videos. You know, that guy.

Also you can buy PPT2 on all current consoles, most other games are only accessible through emulation if you want them in English. That’s important because some people are just against emulation or just plain don’t know how to emulate things.

And if they like either of these games maybe they’re willing to try emulation to play more Puyo Puyo.

Also who knows, if they use the Tetris as a safety net maybe they’ll bounce back and later enjoy Puyo Puyo after all.

Good options:

Puyo Puyo Tsu/Puyo Puyo 2 (Most versions)

Puyo Puyo Tsu introduced the standard ruleset most other rules are based off. And that’s the ONLY rule it has. Which I think works to its benefit for a newbie.

While the game lacks much in the way character interactions (maybe recommend them the Super Famicom translation patch which does have those) it does have a goal reaching the top of the tower and beating Satan.

I think the tower is an excellent motivator to get good at the game. If they can beat Satan at the top I’d say they’re ready for any Puyo Puyo game to come.

My preferred version is the Super Famicom version called “Super Puyo Puyo Tsu” but I don’t think you can’t really go wrong with any version besides the Neo Geo Pocket Color one.

For the emulator averse they can buy the game on SEGA 3D Classics Collection on 3DS or the SEGA AGES version on Nintendo Switch.

Super Puyo Puyo Tsu is also available on Nintendo Switch Online’s SNES app. So if you have the basic package, you already have that game at your disposal.

All versions except the NGPC one are in Japanese, but I don’t think that’s much of a hindrance with this game specifically. Any version without the cutscenes is sorta alingual. Sure there’s Japanese text in the game, but of all the games, I think you can enjoy this one the most without having to understand it.

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (DS) (Precise Museum patch)

(Note, a Wii patch with a revised script is on its way.)

I think this game is a good introduction to the current day cast and has a ton of modes. So if basic rules don’t do it a newbie may find a mode that slowly eases them into more basic rules.

If you wanna 100% the game you gotta win 200 story mode matches. That’s a lot of Puyo, and that’s plenty of time to learn.

Do refrain from telling newbies that though. 200 is big number. Playing 200 without realizing it is more palatable then telling them you have to do 200 to beat the game. One’s fun, the other sounds like a chore.

Direct their focus on the cast, there’s a lot to chew on this game.

I would recommend, but...:

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 & Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary

These are the actual lore games. These games practically give you lore as a reward at every turn. These two games are the exceptions to my rule that you shouldn’t sell the games with lore to a newbie. And soaking all that lore in is a great motivator to play these games.

But we have no patches yet beside some out-of-date ones from Puyo Nexus. Which is the main problem (for Fever 2 especially).

Also, while these two games are a bit holy grail, their praises are rightfully sung. I’m a bit apprehensive calling them great entry points.

Fever 2 relies on the Fever rule. Which not everyone’s a fan of. I’ve been around and not everyone enjoys that rule (and anecdotally it overstimulates me). The Fever Rule has a ton of rules to it. But a lot of people were introduced to Fever 1 and became life-long fans so I don’t know, take my claim with a grain of salt. I’ve been told it’s an easier game then Fever 1 at least. Fever 1 does not play nice.

And 15th’s story mode relies on a roulette. Which doesn’t have to be a negative, but it is a game with a with a ton of gimmick rules. And while 20th is that too it gives you more freedom in that regard, which I think might be more beneficial to a newbie.

But any of the games above here are good places to start. One dishonorable mention to recommend to a newbie:

Puyo Puyo Champions

I’ve historically been nice to this game. But I don’t recommend it to a newbie.

It’s just Puyo 2 and Fever Rules at an admittingly cheap price. Not much to it.

You could argue that I gave Puyo Puyo Tsu slack in that regard. But my counter argument would always be: “What is the goal of Champions?”

This game is so competitive focused it hurts. No charming animations, the characters count instead of escalating their spells. Only good single-player content is hidden behind too many boring tutorials, which is watered down from the Nazo Puyo games.

Puyo Puyo Tsu you scale a tower and get an ending. Reaching the top and beating Satan is the goal.

Champions has nothing to offer besides online rankings. And as I’ve said before, don’t funnel a newbie into being competitive. They’ll do it when they’re ready. Let them enjoy the jelly game on their own pace first. Let them enjoy the characters.

And that’s all I wanted to say.

I hope it has been helpful. I’m not gonna enforce this, but I want people to be better about getting people into Puyo Puyo. So please take this all into consideration.

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