Platform: PSP

Genre: Puzzle

Number of Players: 1

Known in Japan as: Intelligent License

A while back when the invasion of PSP puzzle games was in full swing, and I don’t think it has officially ceased since the launch of the system, one of the more interesting entries into the genre was PQ, also known as Practical Intelligence Quotient. I wasn’t just another puzzle game, but one that was designed to test just how intelligent you really were, at least that was the claim. It hasn’t taken Now Production long to get yet another PQ game onto the shelves for those who have worked their way through the original and are anxious for more.

PQ2 is more or less the same game but with new features. If you haven’t already played the original, the game is a bit different from the other puzzle games that you might be familiar with. These puzzles are logic based, testing not your ability to line up blocks or match colors, but to make it from point A to B in as little time as possible. But, this isn’t a race necessarily, and each of the stages features different traps and variables that must be overcome in order to succeed. Just like the original though, PQ2 uses a measuring system that was designed by Kyoto University’s Professor Masuo Koyasu which, allegedly, measures what your intelligence is, and it’s obvious that I’m a little skeptical about this, but that doesn’t ruin the game itself.

The primary portion of PQ2 is the actual PQ tests themselves. You have the standard 100 puzzle mode and these must be solved in less than five hours. If puzzles are 3D screen that allow you to rotate and change your views, and they aren’t always as straight forward as they may seem. They start out rather simple where you may need to move blocks into other areas to pass. Each puzzle also gives you a certain number of movies, but if you go over the limit the only thing that it will harm will be your score. PQ2 grades you based on how many moves it took to complete the puzzle as well as how quickly you managed to finish the stage. If you get stuck though, you can opt to pass on the current puzzle and move to the next one.

Each puzzle becomes increasingly more difficult with the addition of other forms of obstacles to manipulate and bypass. There are police that might spot you with their flashlight causing you to start over, lasers that you will need to push out of your way or pick up and move in some cases, switches that active conveyor belts or rising platforms, and things grow progressively worse. The glass boxes which shatter if dropped from more than one square in height can become a nightmare. Trying to push a large box in just the right spot to avoid a laser can be equally frustrating, and if you thought that the original game was challenging, PQ2 offers even more challenges.

Beyond the 100 puzzle challenge you will find a quick challenge mode with a short series of puzzles to solve within a 10-minute time frame; a quick way to get a PQ rating. There are theme tests, just five of them, and right now you might be thinking that this seems like the easiest mode in the entire game, and if so, you’d be dead wrong. The theme puzzles must be solved in one move! It may seem impossible, but it can be done.

Like the original game, you can post your scores online to see how you compare against other players, but there’s quite a bit more. You can now create your own puzzles that can be shared over the Internet with other players, and this also means that you can download them as well, and weekly updates also provide plenty of new tests. This provides a nearly limitless potential as far as gameplay is concerned, and if you happen to have a friend who is curious about the game but hasn’t decided to pick it up or not. PQ2 supports the PSP Gameshare mode.

The PQ games though aren’t titles that are about fancy graphics and intense visuals. Instead, it’s a more stripped down style of game when it comes to the look, and since testing your intelligence is paramount, it’s important to keep it simple. It’s very easy to tell what it what in the game, and there is rarely a chance that you’ll become confused as to what something does. With the ability to view your environment from different vantage points, it’s also quite easy to grasp the full depth of the tests, though passing them is something that may not be quite as easy. The rather stripped down look however really feels at home for PQ, and any efforts to complicate the game would honestly take away from the feeling.

Once again I find myself lost in the world of PQ, and this latest installment is exactly what any fan of the original needed. It’s not just the new obstacles that help make it a better game, it’s the ability to create content, something that is rarely seen with puzzle titles. Then again, the PQ series has gone far beyond being “just another puzzle game,” and is an addiction that feeds you intellect and often can raise your blood pressure when you can’t figure out just what it is that you’re overlooking. But, that’s the beauty of PQ2, and this is a puzzle game where simpletons need not venture.

-mike-