ShinNoNoir
Member
It's only possible in certain modes.
- Fusion;
- Big Bang;
- Versus from solo/multiplayer arcade when you go into Settings and turn Quick Drop on;
- Also in certain trials in single player, but cannot confirm right now.
-
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Puyo Puyo Tetris |OT| From Russia With Blob
- Thread starter Cosmo Clock 21
- Start date
It's only possible in certain modes.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I posted a breakdown of this mode earlier.
I think the only thing that doesn't apply in that linked post is the stuff about All Clears. They don't seem to give you as much of a boost in Big Bang as they do in Endless Fever. The rest should be the same though.
Puyo piece distribution is pretty random. You're not guaranteed to get specific colors in any kind of sequence or even really have a balanced distribution of colors. So, you need to be able to improvise a lot. (The only guarantees you have in Puyo distribution is that the first 2 pieces you receive will have at most 3 distinct colors, and both players will receive the exact same piece sequence.)
Let's say that you're trying to build a 5-chain stairs pattern like this, which is pretty straightforward and simple but still strong enough to bury an opponent who can't answer you with a chain of his own:
Real life doesn't work like that, though. While building the chain, you're bound to receive some pieces that won't fit the pattern, so it's a matter of figuring out places to put them that won't cause you to break the chain.
Start building with the tail end of your chain on either the far left or far right wall. I prefer the right wall since it's furthest away from the red X, but it doesn't make a major difference. Let's say that I'm trying to build the above pattern and I've gotten up to this point:
Let's also say that my next piece is a red/green pair. There's no way for me to actually use a green right now; the blue column isn't high enough for me to place the green trigger without prematurely popping the greens. But if I cap-off the far right red column, then that column is basically "finished," which allows me to dump whatever I want on top of it, like so:
The green has been placed in such a manner that it won't "get in the way" of the main chain that I'm trying to build, and I can just keep dumping additional "unusable" puyos on top of it if I get more pieces that I don't know how to use.
Let's say that my next piece is a blue/yellow pair. Again, I can't make proper use of the yellow yet, but I can still use this piece to raise the blue column like so:
Even though that yellow puyo is in a place where a red puyo is "supposed" to be, it's not actually getting in the way of anything because I have 3 rows of wiggle room to work with. If you think ahead to when the greens will pop, that will cause that column to drop down 3 places. So, as long as I put a red puyo 1 or 2 rows above that yellow puyo in the 5th column, then that red puyo can still connect to the 3 reds in the 6th column when the time comes.
Now let's say that my next piece is a red/blue pair. I could split that pair along the 4th & 5th columns, but I'll do the 2nd & 3rd columns instead because I prefer to keep my columns as even as possible:
If I get another blue/red pair, then I can split them like so to complete the 5th column.
Now I have 2 columns on the far right that I can dump "unusable" puyos on instead of just 1.
If my next piece is a double-green:
And my next piece is a double-red:
And my next piece is a blue/yellow:
Now my setup is basically complete. When I receive another red puyo, I can set the whole thing off like so:
And this is what's leftover after the chain resolves:
If you were able to build things relatively cleanly like the pictures outlined above, you can start over and start rebuilding a similar pattern. If you dumped a whole lot of puyos on top of the pattern and have a messy field, you'll have to improvise a bit to clean up from there.
A simple 5-chain like this can carry you through all of the adventure mode puyo stages, and it's enough to outright KO a player unless they are able to answer back with some kind of chain of their own. It won't do you much good against someone who knows how to build elaborate chains that span several rows, and you'll have to learn more patterns and figure out how to properly use those "unusable" puyos in order to beat high-level players, but you gotta learn how to crawl before you can walk.
One nice thing about this kind of stairs pattern is that it's somewhat garbage resistant. If your opponent isn't capable of creating real chains of his own, then he might not be able to bury you fast enough to stop you from completing this pattern. Because it's a vertical pattern, it can sometimes absorb up to 2 rows of garbage without being completely cut-off. Observe:
Despite the presence of the garbage puyos, the trigger point of the chain on the far left is still exposed and can still be set off when you receive your next red puyo.
(FYI, "sandwich" patterns are more resistant to color conflicts and overall better than "stairs" patterns like these, especially once you start building multi-floor chains, but they're not quite as straightforward to learn.)
Earthpainting
Member
That was really helpful. I appreciate the time you put into it.
BassForever
Member
Seriously, I may yet become decent at puyo puyo
added_time
Member
Boy oh boy, do I love the random hard drops that I didn't actually do from the Switch Pro Controller....
sixteen-bit
Member
If I can access the 8bitdo site today, I'll be happy to report how the SNES30 pad works for this.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1378833
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1378833
LucidMomentum
Member
Yes please. I have the Pro Controller but if I could buy a couple SNES30 pads for multiplayer that would be delicious.
BluePikmin11
Member
So last night, I spent all night trying to attempt 3 stars on level 1. No matter how hard I try, I always never get 3 stars. I can manage two stars on the level. It seems like the general strategy when I first played is to wait it out as long as possible so you can gradually build up to create a one-shot 4 row tetrimono, but when I try that, the CPU tends to lose shortly after?
Are there any general tips that can help me get three stars. Sorry if I sound stupid, but this level is really irking me and I feel like I don't know how to play Puyo on a more serious level.
Are there any general tips that can help me get three stars. Sorry if I sound stupid, but this level is really irking me and I feel like I don't know how to play Puyo on a more serious level.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Just Tetris things.
You need to keep pelting the opponent with tetrises so that you can build up enough points before the opponent tops out.
You need to keep pelting the opponent with tetrises so that you can build up enough points before the opponent tops out.
sixteen-bit
Member
I played a bit with the SNES30 and I'm happy to report that it worked great. It's worth mentioning that the d-pad on the SNES30 maps to the left analog stick (i guess to improve compatibility with most games or whatever).
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
That one is probably unlocked somewhere in chapters 8 through 10.
Is there anywhere that goes over garbage mechanics? It annoys me that I have no decent idea how much garbage I'm sending per clear, how much it multiplies per chain or line clear, if offsets are equal or enhanced in power, what the different garbage symbols mean (Puyo might be well-documented, but the plain Tetris and Fusion ones are different). How does garbage get divided or aimed in 4-player mode, team mode?
Just seems dumb there's no instruction manual that goes over this stuff, they just leave it to ultra hardcore players to figure out.
Just seems dumb there's no instruction manual that goes over this stuff, they just leave it to ultra hardcore players to figure out.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I was typing up a direct response to a friend when asked about learning different tactics, but it started getting so long that it made more sense to just post it on a forum for reference instead of in private. This is that post. Don't mind me.
Tetris:
If you just want to brush up your fundamentals on how to cleanly stack for Tetrises, check this video by James Chen. Nothing too advanced, but he has some good pointers for planning a few steps ahead to avoid specific piece dependencies, which is important for avoiding holes and not cluttering up your well. He also has some good advice when it comes to efficiently digging through garbage. If flawless, clean stacking isn't already second nature to you, then this is worth a watch.
T-Spins:
A T-spin Double sends the same amount of garbage as a Tetris, but it only requires half as many blocks to build, which means that it can be twice as effective at KOing the opponent if you're skilled at setting them up. It's kind of difficult to wrap your head around this at first, but this video does a decent job at showing how to set up the hole + overhang to get it to work. If you *really* want to study T-Spin setups, you can check this page on the Harddrop wiki. It's not really laid out in any kind of sequential order though, so it's just a matter of taking in as much as you care to. I think "Albatross," "TKI 3," and "DT Cannon" are some of the most popular specific setups based on what I've heard from a few other players. This forum thread goes over some considerations for choosing what sort of T-spin setup to use based on what pieces you receive.
If all that sounds a bit much, then don't worry too much about learning how to set up T-spins from scratch; just try to develop an eye on how to capitalize with T-spins while down-stacking through garbage. Sometimes you'll have garbage holes in the middle of your screen that aren't deep enough for a Tetris, and rather than just mindlessly clearing them out one line at a time, see if you can set up a simple overhang on top of some of them that allow for a T-spin. T-spin Doubles are usually the ideal thing to go for while down-stacking; Triples send more garbage but take a more concerted effort to set-up and leave your stack messier afterward.
Combos:
If you can clear multiple lines in a row with each piece that you get, then it counts as a combo. The longer a combo lasts, the more garbage is sent; combos that are 10 lines or greater cause a ton of damage. Combos stop once you lay a block that doesn't clear anything. You can build a stack for the specific purpose of doing combos by up-stacking on 6 columns while leaving 4 columns intentionally blank. Just make sure to put 3/4ths of a block at the bottom of the 4-column well so that you have something to start the combo.
This post is kind of old but it goes through the basic strategy.
And when you actually sit down to practice combos, use this chart to learn the best ways to keep extending a combo without breaking it. Ideally, you want to keep setting up the patterns at the top of that chart because those patterns have the most flexible options for extending the combo even further.
The biggest decision when setting up the combo is whether the 4-column well will be on the side or the center. A side 4w is easier to improvise while up-stacking, but if you stack too high then you may get KO'd early if the opponent sends you a bunch of garbage all at once. A center 4w keeps the top of the stack clear where the next piece spawns, so it carries less of a risk for an early top-out, but it can be more difficult to learn how to split your stack into two halves and still build cleanly.
Center 4w is clearly superior for normal Tetris vs. Tetris battles, provided that you're adept at building it. I highly recommend using rectangular JLO patterns on one side and jagged ITSZ patterns on the other, ideally with either an S or Z piece occupying the bottom of the well, such as in the picture used here. While building the ITSZ pattern, try to save T or I blocks in the Hold queue for as long as you can, and dispose of S/Z blocks as soon as there's a valid place to put them. While building the JLO pattern, you must place the J and/or the L before you have a spot to place the O; if you have to place *both* the J and L pieces before the O, then stack them in such a way that the JL combination leaves an opening in the center of the stack so that you can slide in the O piece between them later. Because these patterns use 4 blocks on one side and 3 blocks on the other, you'll usually reach a point where the ITSZ side is considerably higher than the JLO side. As you approach the top of the screen, you'll sometimes have to break the patterns and start improvising.
I demonstrate most of this stuff in this video, but I also intentionally cut the combo short in a few places to set up a chance for a Perfect Clear at the end.
(Note: Side 4w is considerably more viable in Swap mode. Because Swap mode has a garbage-blocking feature that lets you delay incoming garbage with each successive piece drop as long as you keep clearing lines, the risk of an early top-out is lessened. If you're building a side 4w in Swap mode and notice that you're about to be sent enough garbage to KO you, then start your combo and keep it going to neutralize the garbage before it actually hits your board. If you have a much easier time building a stack for side 4w than you do for center 4w, then it might be worth doing side 4w in Swap mode.)
Perfect Clear:
If you can clear literally every block on your Tetris board, then you send about 10 lines of garbage to the opponent. There are patterns you can learn to set them up at the start of a match with a decent chance of success. Example video.
Puyo:
If you're completely fresh to learning Puyo patterns, start with this post I typed up that has some basic tips for building a 5-chain stairs pattern without letting unwanted pieces ruin your plans. Beyond that, though, this wiki actually does a pretty solid job at teaching various things to learn and in a mostly sensible order, so rather than type a whole lot more I'm just going to link it.
IMO, you should start by learning how to create 5-chains on an empty field with several different patterns: 3-1 stairs, 2-2 stairs, 2-1-1 sandwich, and 1-1-2 sandwich. Once you understand how each of them work, try mixing and matching them within the same chain so that you can become more efficient at using the pieces dealt to you instead of being forced to throw them away to the side. Once you can reliably build a 5-chain with any piece sequence dealt to you, you have to learn some kind of way to transition upward so that you can build a longer chain on the upper rows of the field. It's probably just best to read the wiki in sequential order for that.
If and when you're godlike enough to build a 10-chain reliably, then maybe you can start learning how to watch the opponent's field so that you can make tactical decisions on when it's a good idea to harass him with short chains that block off whatever he happens to be building. Sometimes it's more worthwhile to go for the quick kill like this instead of just building the longest chain you can manage. I'm sure as hell not good enough to make decisions like these in a real match yet, though. :V
Tetris:
If you just want to brush up your fundamentals on how to cleanly stack for Tetrises, check this video by James Chen. Nothing too advanced, but he has some good pointers for planning a few steps ahead to avoid specific piece dependencies, which is important for avoiding holes and not cluttering up your well. He also has some good advice when it comes to efficiently digging through garbage. If flawless, clean stacking isn't already second nature to you, then this is worth a watch.
T-Spins:
A T-spin Double sends the same amount of garbage as a Tetris, but it only requires half as many blocks to build, which means that it can be twice as effective at KOing the opponent if you're skilled at setting them up. It's kind of difficult to wrap your head around this at first, but this video does a decent job at showing how to set up the hole + overhang to get it to work. If you *really* want to study T-Spin setups, you can check this page on the Harddrop wiki. It's not really laid out in any kind of sequential order though, so it's just a matter of taking in as much as you care to. I think "Albatross," "TKI 3," and "DT Cannon" are some of the most popular specific setups based on what I've heard from a few other players. This forum thread goes over some considerations for choosing what sort of T-spin setup to use based on what pieces you receive.
If all that sounds a bit much, then don't worry too much about learning how to set up T-spins from scratch; just try to develop an eye on how to capitalize with T-spins while down-stacking through garbage. Sometimes you'll have garbage holes in the middle of your screen that aren't deep enough for a Tetris, and rather than just mindlessly clearing them out one line at a time, see if you can set up a simple overhang on top of some of them that allow for a T-spin. T-spin Doubles are usually the ideal thing to go for while down-stacking; Triples send more garbage but take a more concerted effort to set-up and leave your stack messier afterward.
Combos:
If you can clear multiple lines in a row with each piece that you get, then it counts as a combo. The longer a combo lasts, the more garbage is sent; combos that are 10 lines or greater cause a ton of damage. Combos stop once you lay a block that doesn't clear anything. You can build a stack for the specific purpose of doing combos by up-stacking on 6 columns while leaving 4 columns intentionally blank. Just make sure to put 3/4ths of a block at the bottom of the 4-column well so that you have something to start the combo.
This post is kind of old but it goes through the basic strategy.
And when you actually sit down to practice combos, use this chart to learn the best ways to keep extending a combo without breaking it. Ideally, you want to keep setting up the patterns at the top of that chart because those patterns have the most flexible options for extending the combo even further.
The biggest decision when setting up the combo is whether the 4-column well will be on the side or the center. A side 4w is easier to improvise while up-stacking, but if you stack too high then you may get KO'd early if the opponent sends you a bunch of garbage all at once. A center 4w keeps the top of the stack clear where the next piece spawns, so it carries less of a risk for an early top-out, but it can be more difficult to learn how to split your stack into two halves and still build cleanly.
Center 4w is clearly superior for normal Tetris vs. Tetris battles, provided that you're adept at building it. I highly recommend using rectangular JLO patterns on one side and jagged ITSZ patterns on the other, ideally with either an S or Z piece occupying the bottom of the well, such as in the picture used here. While building the ITSZ pattern, try to save T or I blocks in the Hold queue for as long as you can, and dispose of S/Z blocks as soon as there's a valid place to put them. While building the JLO pattern, you must place the J and/or the L before you have a spot to place the O; if you have to place *both* the J and L pieces before the O, then stack them in such a way that the JL combination leaves an opening in the center of the stack so that you can slide in the O piece between them later. Because these patterns use 4 blocks on one side and 3 blocks on the other, you'll usually reach a point where the ITSZ side is considerably higher than the JLO side. As you approach the top of the screen, you'll sometimes have to break the patterns and start improvising.
I demonstrate most of this stuff in this video, but I also intentionally cut the combo short in a few places to set up a chance for a Perfect Clear at the end.
(Note: Side 4w is considerably more viable in Swap mode. Because Swap mode has a garbage-blocking feature that lets you delay incoming garbage with each successive piece drop as long as you keep clearing lines, the risk of an early top-out is lessened. If you're building a side 4w in Swap mode and notice that you're about to be sent enough garbage to KO you, then start your combo and keep it going to neutralize the garbage before it actually hits your board. If you have a much easier time building a stack for side 4w than you do for center 4w, then it might be worth doing side 4w in Swap mode.)
Perfect Clear:
If you can clear literally every block on your Tetris board, then you send about 10 lines of garbage to the opponent. There are patterns you can learn to set them up at the start of a match with a decent chance of success. Example video.
Puyo:
If you're completely fresh to learning Puyo patterns, start with this post I typed up that has some basic tips for building a 5-chain stairs pattern without letting unwanted pieces ruin your plans. Beyond that, though, this wiki actually does a pretty solid job at teaching various things to learn and in a mostly sensible order, so rather than type a whole lot more I'm just going to link it.
IMO, you should start by learning how to create 5-chains on an empty field with several different patterns: 3-1 stairs, 2-2 stairs, 2-1-1 sandwich, and 1-1-2 sandwich. Once you understand how each of them work, try mixing and matching them within the same chain so that you can become more efficient at using the pieces dealt to you instead of being forced to throw them away to the side. Once you can reliably build a 5-chain with any piece sequence dealt to you, you have to learn some kind of way to transition upward so that you can build a longer chain on the upper rows of the field. It's probably just best to read the wiki in sequential order for that.
If and when you're godlike enough to build a 10-chain reliably, then maybe you can start learning how to watch the opponent's field so that you can make tactical decisions on when it's a good idea to harass him with short chains that block off whatever he happens to be building. Sometimes it's more worthwhile to go for the quick kill like this instead of just building the longest chain you can manage. I'm sure as hell not good enough to make decisions like these in a real match yet, though. :V
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
EDIT: dp, whoops.
Puyo: https://puyonexus.com/wiki/List_of_attack_powers
The "Puyo Puyo Tsu" values or something very close to them are probably what's being used in PPT.
Tetris: http://harddrop.com/wiki/Garbage
The chart at the top is probably close to the values in PPT. Not sure how much deviation is present here.
One important thing to keep in mind is the presence of Margin Time, which is sort of like a "sudden death" mechanic to keep a match from dragging on for too long. In any match involving Puyo (Puyo vs. Puyo, Puyo vs. Tetris, Swap, or Fusion), all attacks will start to increase their garbage output once a certain amount of time has elapsed (96 seconds for standard Puyo battles; slightly longer for Swap and Fusion modes).
Tetris doesn't have any kind of sudden death garbage mechanic in straight Tetris vs. Tetris battles. If a Puyo player is present in the match as well, though, then Margin Time will also be applied to the Tetris player, for both attacking and receiving.
Other things to keep in mind related to garbage are the unique mechanics present in Swap mode: Swap Combos and garbage-blocking. I'm not sure if anyone has done a deep dive into how Swap Combo bonuses work.
Puyo: https://puyonexus.com/wiki/List_of_attack_powers
The "Puyo Puyo Tsu" values or something very close to them are probably what's being used in PPT.
Tetris: http://harddrop.com/wiki/Garbage
The chart at the top is probably close to the values in PPT. Not sure how much deviation is present here.
One important thing to keep in mind is the presence of Margin Time, which is sort of like a "sudden death" mechanic to keep a match from dragging on for too long. In any match involving Puyo (Puyo vs. Puyo, Puyo vs. Tetris, Swap, or Fusion), all attacks will start to increase their garbage output once a certain amount of time has elapsed (96 seconds for standard Puyo battles; slightly longer for Swap and Fusion modes).
Tetris doesn't have any kind of sudden death garbage mechanic in straight Tetris vs. Tetris battles. If a Puyo player is present in the match as well, though, then Margin Time will also be applied to the Tetris player, for both attacking and receiving.
Other things to keep in mind related to garbage are the unique mechanics present in Swap mode: Swap Combos and garbage-blocking. I'm not sure if anyone has done a deep dive into how Swap Combo bonuses work.
LucidMomentum
Member
Sweet, thanks!
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Actually, on the topic of Margin Time: does it apply to the Tetris half of Swap Mode at all?
My assumption has always been that its effect applies only to the Puyo side, and that the timer for it also applies only to the Puyo side, but I've never really checked.
My assumption has always been that its effect applies only to the Puyo side, and that the timer for it also applies only to the Puyo side, but I've never really checked.
Incitemaybe
Member
What's the point of having an online mode if someone can just disconnect if they're losing and bring the whole game down?
I was only playing Free Mode trying to play with for players and inevitably someone would lose and leave, crashing the lobby and ending the game for everyone else.
Today I tried the 1 on 1 mode for points and the first game I win the first set on, the other player disconnects immediately and I get nothing.
Who designs this shit.
I was only playing Free Mode trying to play with for players and inevitably someone would lose and leave, crashing the lobby and ending the game for everyone else.
Today I tried the 1 on 1 mode for points and the first game I win the first set on, the other player disconnects immediately and I get nothing.
Who designs this shit.
Fantastic post, hope this helps for folks new to Puyo
I'm very much at the stage of relying mainly on 5x Stairs, not currently being able to multiple tier them or rely on other combos easily. As you say, it's more than enough for the adventure mode and a fair few opponents online, even if the skill ceiling can go a lot higher.John Dunbar
correct about everything
quick question: is it possible to compete in tetris in this game without the t-spin nonsense? that shit is just gross.
Just got my Switch last night, and this was the first game I bought for it. Played a round of Tetris and 3 of Puyo Puyo. I had some trouble with the Pro Controller's d-pad accidentally pressing up a few times, which totally sucks (already knew it was bad).
Then I tried Puyo Puyo for the first time, and the CPU kicked my ass really hard. Lost the first round quick, managed to win the second one, and then tried my best on the third one, only to lose again. I watched the basic tutorial and though it would be easy, but it isn't. No idea what I'm doing wrong. It's fun though, so I don't wanna give up!
Then I tried Puyo Puyo for the first time, and the CPU kicked my ass really hard. Lost the first round quick, managed to win the second one, and then tried my best on the third one, only to lose again. I watched the basic tutorial and though it would be easy, but it isn't. No idea what I'm doing wrong. It's fun though, so I don't wanna give up!
This is a fantastic post, thank you so much! This is going to be incredibly useful.
BassForever
Member
A t-spin is as powerful as a tetris with less blocks required
You'll also want to learn how combos work in tetris and how to set up a 3/4 well
If all you wanna do is back to back tetris all day you'll likely get slaughtered
John Dunbar
correct about everything
not the game for me, then. being able to hold pieces is bad enough, but tetris where the optimal strategy is not to go for as many tetrises as possible is just disgusting.
Cosmo Clock 21
Banned
At lower levels of play (online this is below 5-6k rating), players who just go for straight tetrises easily beat out the ones who try to be cute and t-spin.
At the highest levels of play 4wide becomes the dominant strategy anyways, but I lol every time a scrubby Tetris player tries to pull that shit on me online because they spend so much time trying to be cute, badly that they fold easily and give me a free win. Speed and cconsistency still win out in the end.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Huh, Margin Time definitely applies to Tetris during Swap mode. It takes longer than the standard 96 seconds to kick in, though. Probably double that if I had to guess, accounting for the fact that you're swapping between 2 boards.
FWIW, S2 said that disconnects don't kill the room on the PS4 version. It might be something specific to this port.
Supposedly there are penalties for disconnecting from ranked matches as well but the game doesn't make it obvious.
I dunno. I don't actually run into many ragequitters on ranked.
A T-Spin Double has the same attack power as a Tetris but requires only half as many pieces to build.
So the only way to keep up with someone proficient at TSDs is to greatly outspeed him. That's not something you can really do once you climb high enough up the ranks.
FWIW, S2 said that disconnects don't kill the room on the PS4 version. It might be something specific to this port.
Supposedly there are penalties for disconnecting from ranked matches as well but the game doesn't make it obvious.
I dunno. I don't actually run into many ragequitters on ranked.
A T-Spin Double has the same attack power as a Tetris but requires only half as many pieces to build.
So the only way to keep up with someone proficient at TSDs is to greatly outspeed him. That's not something you can really do once you climb high enough up the ranks.
Wowfunhappy
Member
Curious, what is your go-to Tetris game? The problem is that these mechanics (along with EasySpin/Infinity) are in The Tetris Company's specifications now; every licensed Tetris game needs to have them.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
gameboy tetris, on gba sp. looks like i'm sticking with it.
thanks for the info everyone.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
This page is a gold mine. I was working my way through story mode just fine, at worst a few stages took me 4-5 tries. Until I hit the wall on 6-5. I'm terrible at Puyo, and having to play that in party mode is killing me. I need to read up on a few of these tips... thanks Sixfortyfive!
QuixoticNeutral
Member
Aha, just the resource I was looking for. Good to have it in one place, and thanks for all your notes on learning the game as well.
What's garbage-blocking? I've played a fair bit of Swap (I only queue for Versus and Swap online) but it's always so frantic that I still don't have a good sense of how combo continuations and garbage work over the phase transition.
I'm also someone who hadn't bought a Tetris game since the 1989 Game Boy cart and came in with the same mentality when I started dabbling in the PPT demo in April: the hold slot, a five-piece look-ahead queue, T-spins, a bag randomizer that guarantees a cycle through every piece—all of it just felt wrong and nearly put me off the game (though I still had some interest in learning Puyo Puyo).
But I sat down with the demo for an hour one day just to figure out how a T-spin worked—just the basics of how to drop the pieces into place—and found it a far more rewarding experience than I ever imagined. It reminded me distinctly of moving from Brood War to StarCraft II: yes, some things are streamlined, and there are all sorts of new bells and whistles on top of the old fundamentals, but there's a deep satisfaction to be had in learning a new metagame.
I never even thought about Tetris in terms of build orders until this point—it was all reflex and speed. Spend some time with the current Tetris Company standard, though—essentially "Tetris 2" were that name not already taken—and you get the sense that it has its own risk/reward balance, its own pace and rhythm, and that learning it doesn't come at the expense of your old skill set. Does it have a learning curve? Of course it does; you can't expect to be any good at it out of the gate solely from playing the older game.
And honestly, at the beginner ranks (sub-3000), which I've just started grinding through, the competition tends to be active and well matched without much in the way of T-spins (or anything beyond a 4- or 5-chain in Puyo Puyo) at all. You can get a lot of mileage out of this game, and hit some tight and frantic matches where the players are at each other's throats, without ever attempting to master modern Tetris if you are truly resistant to the idea. At this level, a moderately fast old-school Tetris veteran repelled by the thought of deliberate overhangs can match the pace of a clumsy T-spin novice without much trouble. Certainly I see a lot of opponents play that way. Of course, as with any game, you can expect there to be a point where you hit a skill ceiling at the limits of what you are willing to learn and practice.
(StarCraft build orders are a good analogy for what is going on here. After taking a few weeks away from PPT, I went back to clear Chapter 7 today and finally put in a sustained session online. I learnt a basic back-to-back T-spin triple build early on, and it's like the Protoss cannon rush of Tetris: at lower levels it outright kills your opponents if they don't see it coming, but if they do—and if they're in the casual-intermediate 3500+ range of Tetris players, they usually do—they hit you so quickly before you can pull it off that they squash you like a bug. And sometimes you just stumble in the execution and inflict a loss on yourself.)
I haven't run into disconnects myself (it's not like I have a remotely intimidating rating anyway) but I've seen a number of people play the first round of the best-of-three straight up, lose, and throw the second round by stacking all the way to the top. I don't think they're throwing just to smurf on the ladder, either, or I wouldn't have taken the first round off of them in a fair fight.
forknknife
Banned
Trying to 3- star the whole story mode. So far I got everything up till 6-4. Difficulty really ramps up from 6-3, that one took me a while.
But so happy with this game, it can be my favorite puzzle game ever.
That makes the switch have, in my opinion, the best Zelda, the best Mario kart, the best puzzle game, the best rhythm game (thumper)... not bad for the first 3 months, damn!
But so happy with this game, it can be my favorite puzzle game ever.
That makes the switch have, in my opinion, the best Zelda, the best Mario kart, the best puzzle game, the best rhythm game (thumper)... not bad for the first 3 months, damn!
Incitemaybe
Member
If so perhaps there is hope it can be fixed on Switch.i enjoy playing online mostly and it makes it difficult to play the way it is now
forknknife
Banned
3-starring some of these missions in which you're requested you go over a set amount of points are way too difficult because the CPU opponent just dies too quick! To make points you need to make good combos but if you make good combos the dude just dies! Any tips? I'm talking about 7-1 although it's happened before too. 😑
Question:
When you are playing Puzzle League online against people, before the match starts it shows Regional and Worldwide ranking.
I can't seem to find leaderboards for this, do they exist? Can I go to a menu item and browse leaderboards...?
I'm talking about Nintendo Switch version but I guess it applies to other versions too
When you are playing Puzzle League online against people, before the match starts it shows Regional and Worldwide ranking.
I can't seem to find leaderboards for this, do they exist? Can I go to a menu item and browse leaderboards...?
I'm talking about Nintendo Switch version but I guess it applies to other versions too
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
In Swap mode, you can delay everything that's currently sitting above your field in the garbage queue by continuously clearing pieces. Garbage never drops on you in that mode until you place a piece that clears nothing.
You can abuse this to stall out the timer when absolutely necessary, allowing you to prevent a top-out on one board, then switch over to the other board to hopefully mount a comeback. This can also help you stall long enough to split a large garbage dump between both of your boards, just in case there was enough garbage coming to wipe out one of your boards but not enough to fill both.
Of course, every second spent stalling is a second that you're probably losing more ground to your opponent as he builds up another attack, but sometimes it's absolutely necessary.
Garbage-blocking also has a weird meta effect on Tetris combos in that it heavily buffs their defensive uses while slightly nerfing their offensive potential.
For Fusion mode, you just gotta get good enough to hit that point requirement in a single combo. Get a handle on how active chain system works in that mode and then go from there.
The only stage I remember where it seemed to be absolutely necessary to stall for points was 10-10.
I think the leaderboards are under the Puzzle League menu.
forknknife
Banned
Thanks for the answer! I guess I'll need to work on my chains then, the most I could make was 14K points.
The Albatross
Member
I suck so bad at Puyo Puyo. Have watched some basics on chaining and I'm trying to get to pull it off but I don't think I've ever intentionally chained something larger than a 3-chain in your standard battle.
I *think* I'm getting better but who knows.
I love the story mode though although I wish there was less talking and I cold just get the gist of a convo and get to the battle. I just like it because it really mixes up the puzzles, forces you to get better, and getting 3-stars on some that you house easily one can really be difficult. I'm having a hard time getting 3-stars on any Puyo Puyo intentionally. I've done some but it's all been luck.
I *think* I'm getting better but who knows.
I love the story mode though although I wish there was less talking and I cold just get the gist of a convo and get to the battle. I just like it because it really mixes up the puzzles, forces you to get better, and getting 3-stars on some that you house easily one can really be difficult. I'm having a hard time getting 3-stars on any Puyo Puyo intentionally. I've done some but it's all been luck.
This is pretty much exactly how I feel, although you can skip the convos and go right to it, by hitting options. Are you on switch or ps4?
The Albatross
Member
Switch. Yeah I'll skip sometimes... I generally like to get a sense of the story, even though it's really intentionally silly, it's just a ton of "B" "B" "B" "B" "B"... over and over waiting for it to end. Kinda wish they just gave you a silly text summary at the end in the puzzle select screen... like... "You encountered an out of shape robot named Zed who needs to battle to start working again!"
forknknife
Banned
Just 3 starred the first 7 worlds! Yay me! 😀
forknknife
Banned
I bought this game mainly for Tetris and the more I play the more I enjoy puyo puyo and also the fusion and extra modes which in the beginning I thought were just filler. They're actually super deep and interesting. At this point I actually think that basic Tetris might even be the least entertaining of the bunch. Still, playing online against others is great of course.
Anyway, I really cannot recommend this game enough, it's probably my favorite puzzle game ever and it's awesome to have it on the switch so early in its life. I'm sure I Will continue playing it for years.
Anyway, I really cannot recommend this game enough, it's probably my favorite puzzle game ever and it's awesome to have it on the switch so early in its life. I'm sure I Will continue playing it for years.
added_time
Member
Yes!! The 8Bitdo NES30 Pro Controller is working perfectly for me! No more random hard drops that I didn't do!
I really hope Nintendo doesn't somehow block this controller from working. It's the first time I've felt like I'm in complete control of this game
I really hope Nintendo doesn't somehow block this controller from working. It's the first time I've felt like I'm in complete control of this game
Yeah, I just got mine yesterday, and the D-pad is fabulous compared with Nintendo's embarrassing Pro controller D-pad, and the sticks work better too.
LucidMomentum
Member
So apparently there's gonna be a PPT tourney at EVO?
I'm fucking hyped now.
I'm fucking hyped now.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I'm gonna help run/stream one at CEO.