@TriforceBun

I just think logically if you're removing the *free* to play aspects, then you're making it *pay* to play. Who wants that? BOOOOO


Apparently the issue with 'buying' the game outright means that there's not really any real incentive to go back and do the optional 'missions' that rewards you with more Picrites. Unless you're a completionist type.

I'm going to take the same approach here that I took with Shuffle. Keep playing until I feel I'm *forced* to spend money to progress. (Still hasn't happened with Shuffle). I'm patient, waiting between puzzles doesn't bother me. This sort of thing is just filler gaming for me.

@Shadowlink

That's where we differ. Picross is not filler gaming for me. I am hardcore into it. My favorite kind of puzzle. I might avoid paying to max out my energy meter. That's the only thing holding me back here. I don't need any powers except to earn the medals or whatever.

@Shadowlink

The only thing that keeps me playing Picross is that it is amazing fun to me, so I need no other incentives personally. I do, however, need to figure out how to (or if you can) reset everything so when I'm finished 100%ing I can go back and 100% again. Maybe twice, like I did with Picross DS!

Stuff like Zelda and Halo is my filler gaming until the next Picross is announced.

@DrFinkelstein

Maybe 'filler' is the wrong word. 'Non-urgent' perhaps?

I mean it's not like Zelda or Mario where I feel like I'm racing through to completion to see everything the game has to offer. Rather this is something I can pick up and put down at my leisure. Hop on the train to work, do a few puzzles, maybe a few more at lunch, a few before bed...etc. I don't feel the need to binge through hundreds of Picross puzzles all at once

I just got off the phone with Nintendo. If you purchase the "Unlock Everything" 5000 picrites, it will only last one play through. Meaning if you ever want to transfer to a new 3DS, or future 4DS, or restart the game (which is why I called, and am very unhappy now) you will have to pay the $30+ again. It doesn't transfer under any circumstances, because it's an "in game purchase" officially.

Sad. Face.

But wait, there's (sadly) more. Apparently the same holds true for all in-game purchases across 3DS titles. Including badges. Which means enjoy those badges now, because they won't be coming with you on your next system.

While I was on the phone with them, I had them open a feedback ticket as well, just to make it known officially that I think this idea is poopy. (Didn't use those words, but you get the idea.) The world we live in now, I guess! One more jab from modern life that makes me long for those simpler times when you just freaking purchased video games and they were yours.

Sigh. I know this shouldn't ruin my day, but I'm really bummed out now. I freaking love picross........ Oh well. Back to Picross DS I guess, for the fifth time through...

I'm starting to feel pretty conflicted about this game. On the one hand, as expected, I like that the puzzles are given some context. I even don't mind the Pokemon powers in general since you use them to solve the bonus missions (and personally, I'm a fan of Pancham's reveal-my-mistake power keeping me from having to restart if I mess up). It gives it that bit of macro-progression and an element of resource management that can be kinda refreshing and add an extra element to the game. (at least, when it's not being annoying)

On the other hand...to get the full experience, you pretty much (eventually) HAVE to pay the $30 plus tax. And while 30 bucks is reasonable for a 3DS game, here's a little Picross math to put it in perspective:

Pokemon Picross has about 300 puzzles.
Picross e-1, e-2, e-3, e-4, e-5, and e-6 have about 150 each.

Pokemon Picross costs 30 dollars (for the full game).
Picross e titles cost 5 dollars each.

You get triple the value on a per-puzzle basis with Picross e games than you do with Pokemon Picross. AND you don't have to deal with that surprising bit of crummy news that @J.K. Riki just dropped on us. Meaning if you want to replay (delete and start over) the Picross e games in the future, you can. Or via transferring them to Nintendo's next system. With Pokemon Picross, your purchase is for a single play-through, and future plays of the game require it again. To some of you, this may not be a big deal, but I think it devalues the experience quite a bit.

I dunno. I've put in five bucks for the first 1,000 Picrites, but based on how many zones there are and how the required number of Picrites go up for each zone, that money can only go so far. From what I've looked into, there's no way to get access to all of the game's zones without paying unless you do the daily puzzles for around 400 consecutive days! The fact that the Picrites don't remain unlocked after a system transfer is p pretty crummy as well.

Wish this was just a twenty dollar budget retail game without all the pay-to-whatever junk.

EDIT: You know what? This is crummy. Pokemon Picross should've been a magical romp! A magical romp mixing good puzzle gameplay with some fun macro-management of your team. Instead, it's held back by these dumb Pokemon ability timers, that dumb energy gauge, and that especially dumb picrite lock-and-key mechanic for all of the game's areas. The fact that you don't keep your 30 dollar "Screw This Business Model" purchase across saves is like charging someone the price of a Zelda game each time they start a new file.

EDIT: You know what else? I like the unlocking system in this game. I like being able to choose whether I want a higher energy bar, more slots, or access to more areas. It's fun and feels rewarding. Removing the free/pay/whatever-to-play aspect also gets rid of this element. Suddenly, you have UNLIMITED picrites, so there's no real decision-making anymore. Just unlock all those upgrades at once! It's dull.

My ideal version of Pokemon Picross: 20 dollar budget game that you just buy outright, there are still picrites but you can't buy them from the shop, but the numbers are greatly adjusted to work within the game's mechanics. You accumulate them over time and solve missions to get more, and like Mario 64, it's always possible to reach new areas with what's given to you in the game.

If they made that one change in Pokemon Picross, I'd rate it, like, two entire points higher than I would now.

@TriforceBun

All good points. And for me, I'd even be willing for it to not be a budget title, because I enjoy Picross that much. Sigh... This is such a letdown. So much promise, all held back because the stupid industry is headed in a piss-poor direction and now Nintendo is launching their boat down that stream as well. Five years ago and this would have been a game you bought in the store and I would have played it a dozen times.

Regarding the Picross e games, they don't have stylus play, right? You have to use the buttons? I figured since they used to be Gameboy games, right? That's what has stopped me from buying those. I don't know if I could (aka want to) handle Picross without the stylus (it's also the reason I don't play online picross where there are like unlimited puzzles people have made). Picross DS just spoiled the snot out of me. Darn you Nintendo!

It seems like the free-to-play system in place hurts the experience, which is a shame. I downloaded this because solving puzzles that reveal cool murals of Pokemon sounds fun, but the roadblocks and speed bumps are discouraging. A simple retail release would have been nice. I'll try to enjoy it as much as I can, though.

@J.K. Riki

Since you're a big fan of Picross games, you should check out Michibiku. They mentioned in that Pokemon Picross article that they plan on covering more Picross games soon. There's some interesting history associated with Jupiter's Picross games that I wasn't aware of.

Some advice I found on Gamefaqs for my fellow cheapskate players:

yasoukyoku said:

First, a overview on Picrites you can get:
300 Picrites from Awards
Roughly 1800(6*300) Picrites from Missions
Around 150 Picrites as starter gifts from Professor Tetra

= Excepting Daily Challenges, you can only find around 2250 Picrites in the game.

You can only get 13 Picrites a day from Daily Challenges at most, and you need 4650+700+300+500+250=6400 Picrites to unlock everything.
However, you won't get 13 Picrites a day until near the end, so the calculation becomes more difficult:
Assuming 4150/6400 Picrites evenly spaced need to come from Dailies:
((260-0)*4150/6400)/7+((680-260)*4150/6400)/8+((1200-680)*4150/6400)/9+((1830-1200)*4150/6400)/10+((2580-1830)*4150/6400)/11+((3490-2580)*4150/6400)/12+((6400-3490)*4150/6400)/13
=376.091302794

Free Players are looking at around 376 days of Daily Challenges just to unlock everything, and can only expect to unlock a Zone roughly every 9-10 days.

Now, for the tips:

Expanding the Energy Gauge is a trap.

You will frequently get stopped due to not having Picrites. You'll have 9-10 days to complete the puzzles in each Zone, so even if you play 1-2 puzzles a day you'll still be as ready as you can.
When/If you find yourself troubled by puzzles that have over 200 squares to fill is a good time to expand the gauge to 300. You can still solve them if you don't expand the gauge, you just have to suspend the game halfway through the puzzle and wait for Energy to recharge.

Expanding the Party Slots is a trap.

If you expand them too early you'll run out of Picrites early and get stuck in an even worse situation.
All of the puzzles can be solved by logic, so an experienced Picross player won't even need any Pokémon Skills.
Conversely, novice Picross players may find trouble when encountering large Picross puzzles, but due to Pokémon Skills each having a size limit, they won't have many skills to use anyway.
When/If you think you can make 50 Picrites back from Missions requiring 3 Pokémon is a good time to expand the Party Slots to 3.

Play the Daily Challenge everyday.

If you don't, then you'll never get enough Picrites to reach later areas.

Alt-World gives no rewards.

Any zones unlocked in Standard World are unlocked in Alt-World, but you'll be out 300 Picrites if you buy it.

The Daily Challenge rewards max with Zone 25 unlocks, so Zones 25-30 are the best time to buy extras/upgrades.

Once you reach Zones 25-30 and are getting 13 Picrites a day, saving up for the extras won't hurt at all.
For a comparison, if you buy the Mega Pencil the first time you see it, it takes 72 Daily Challenges. But if you wait, it'll only take 39 days.

Quitting won't restore used Energy.

If you restart a puzzle, you'll have to spend the same number of energy all over again.

Check the Award Requirements, and try to claim Awards.

Some awards are annoying but possible, for example, there are awards for using each skill 50 times.
The easiest way to get Unlucky is to fill a puzzle with X marks and then use Diamond Reveal.
Some awards are for setting certain Pokémon combinations, which you may never use without checking.

Please use a stylus. Please understand.

The game has annoying controls. :/ If you play by stylus controls, you still need to press X to see the missions. If you play by button controls, you still need to use the touch screen in the menus.

Mythical Pokémon every x hours?

More checking needs to be done, but it looks like they are some sort of daily event from day 2 of playing, so as with most Pokémon games, changing the 3DS clock will likely penalise you.

Sounds like there's way more waiting in this game than Shuffle, and I'm about to hit the wall real soon (about Area 5.) I dunno what I'll do then.

The free to play aspect is more prohibitive than other games Nintendo has done. I'm probably going to buy the full picrites amount soon. Which I'm both OK with and annoyed with. This game clearly deserves my money but I can't tell if it's worth the significant amount they're charging.

It feels like I'm paying less cause I had random funds on the machine already but it still sullies the experience.

Now that I've hit "the wall" I am more upset than I was the other day about the fact that if I buy the game outright it can never be restarted. Because I totally would have, dang it. And the fact that it will be literally five days before I can do enough daily training to even play one new puzzle is absurd.

Boo, Nintendo. I don't do it often, but you deserve a boo here.

EDIT: And honestly, all the good will that Yoshi's Woolly World inspired in me about rekindling video game love has pretty much gone right back out the window because of this. :/

@J.K. Riki

Five days of training just to play one puzzle is rough.

I played a little bit of Picross DS in the past, but this is the first time that I've really sat down and tried getting into Picross. I'm enjoying it, too.

It's pretty disappointing that there isn't a retail release for this game, or at least a more concrete way to own the content.

In case anyone hasn't found all of the passwords yet, I found these posted elsewhere:

JP: 72398476 | 80930344 | 75946452 | 15768352
US: 75603372 | 34111425 | 72005601 | 96734255
18587211 | 89907383 | 74326715 | 77742314
21602893 | 24235988 | 77858192 | 20886261
97053818 | 19871870 | 90176937 | 31986915
71402434 | 52856270 | 24177718 | 38651076
50559005 | 56005335 | 91393494 | 16456607

The bottom five sets are for different regions within Europe, so if you're in EU, you'll have to experiment with each line to find the one that's for your area.

@Octorockin

Picross DS is terrific, I highly recommend it. :)

@V_s

Thanks! Any idea where you "normally" get these? Like, does Nintendo send them out via Notification or something?

@V_s

Great find!

@J.K. Riki

I saw a post where one of the passwords was posted, and that person said they found it on some poster (but they didn't go into detail on what poster they were talking about), but the person who posted all of the codes didn't say where they got them.

I wonder if nintendo intended to release these codes in promotions. Weird there's only 4 and they're found in the areas.

So a lengendary pokemon just appeared for a limited time- In an area that is currently locked. I still need like 60 more Picrites to unlock it.

Fuck yooooooou.

@Shadowlink

I got one of those yesterday (thankfully not in a locked zone!) and DANG was it a challenge! Really had me *puts on sunglasses* puzzled.

I enjoyed it like crazy, though. Can't wait for the next one to appear.

I'm so conflicted with this game. On the one hand, I really like how it gives some "context" to Picross puzzles and it's fun and rewarding to get those bigger, rarer Pokemon from the tougher puzzles. I even like the missions even though it's kind of annoying redoing puzzles with the correct Pokemon, etc.

On the other, I really dislike this whole business model and I'm very hesitant toward putting money into it. I've spent 5 bucks and am trying to see where it takes me, but I know I'll hit another wall eventually. And that money can be better spent with the Picross-e games. But they don't have that context to the puzzles...urggh...