@J.K. Riki

They're daily. I got a couple already. Super powerful too. Manaphy gives you Blue Force with an infinite time limit. You can only use him once a day, but it's great for the big puzzles. Was saving it for today's legendary, but I got screwed over. Instead I put it to use on the big puzzle in Area 6. And Even with that ability active, I've still somehow screwed up on the same puzzle three times today. Erased my marks and started over each time, (but didn't quit so I get to keep Manaphy's power.)

All the little paywalls aren't really an issue when one puzzle keeps you busy all day.

@Shadowlink

BAH! You'll never become a Picross Master while letting those little pocket monsters help you! :P

Actually, it's interesting. I never did the super hard mode puzzles in Picross DS (I got so used to it telling me when I made an error) and yet these Legendary puzzles have become my favorite part of this game. So... maybe it's time I went back to Picross DS and did those giant, hard ones, ha ha.

THEN the problem becomes that Animal Crossing New Leaf is already in the system cart slot. So... I'd have to swap them out... and that seems like the very reason I make all my 3DS purchases digitally now. :P (Anyone know if you can use your Cart save even if you later download the Digital version? I feel like I would buy AC again, this time digitally, and sell my physical copy...)

@J.K. Riki

I care not! The clock is ticking! I'll take all the help I can get

Speaking of which, used a couple of my uber-mons on a big puzzle this morning, and unlocked Ash's Greninja (in record time, yay!). And Ash's Greninja is a BEAST. Blue Force like Manaphy- Not unlimited, but 300 seconds per use. The kicker? Recharge time is only an hour and a half.

This thing is perfect for those 5 min time limit challenges because you only need the one activation to cover it.


Also dug up some more specific info on the Mythical Pokémon from Serebii

It details how long it takes for a 'mon to appear, and in what areas they appear. Kind of annoyed because I COULD have unlocked Area 7 the other day, but chose to go in order and unlocked Area 6 instead. 6 has no Mythical Pokemons!

Bah.

@Shadowlink

Ash's Greninja was a good puzzle. I'm probably going to pay to unlock everything since honestly the quality of puzzles here is very high.

However, who the hell is Ash's Greninja? Ash from the show? Why is his Greninja special?

@DrFinkelstein

I'm assuming so, and who the heck knows. Ash's Pikachu had something weird about it too. Perfect IV's maybe?

@DrFinkelstein

It is Ash from the show, but my understanding (as someone who doesn't watch the show and only keeps up with Pokemon things in passing) is that it's something that's going to appear in the show (or the movies?) soon but hasn't appeared there yet. I.e., Ash has a Greninja right now, but it's just a regular Greninja. From what I read, it sounds like Ash is going to end up doing something similar to Mega Evolution (with the whole Pokemon/trainer connection thing) with Greninja, but since Greninja doesn't have a Mega Evolved form, its "Mega Evolution" is a new form that makes it take on some of the attributes of its trainer. No clue if this is a permanent thing or if it'll ever make it into the main games though.

Similar thing for the alternate Zygarde forms. They haven't appeared in any of the games yet (apart from Picross), but they're poised to appear on the show/in the movies soon.

I'm currently stuck in Area 5. I just don't have enough Picrites to progress, and I have no interest in spending any real money on this game, so I guess I'll just keep playing the dailies until I can move on. (The only "extra" thing I've spent Picrites on so far is a single Energy Bar upgrade, and that was before I really understood how the whole Energy/Picrites currency thing worked...)

EDIT:

Here's the page where I read this information about Ash's Greninja and the alternate Zygarde forms:

http://www.serebii.net/pokemon/xyzforms.shtml

@V_s

When you say you upgraded a 'single' energy bar upgrade, do you mean the one where you're 'forced' to upgrade it, or another time on top of that?

I ask because I only upgraded when I was prompted and I had enough Picrites to get to Area 6. Probably a few days away from Area 7.

Well my wife came up with a decent plan: I am going to go ahead and buy/unlock this game because I love Picross and I am sick of only playing one puzzle a day (if that). Then when I've 100%ed it - which probably won't take long, truthfully - I will delete it and redownload it and she'll play through over the course of the 400 or however many days it takes to do it without paying. By then if I want to play it again I can always restart it a third time and just play through at this snail's pace because I won't be so anxious about the speed aspect, since I'll already have played it once. Or maybe by then Nintendo will have figured out a way to keep all your purchases in your Nintendo ID thing they are doing in Japan or something, who knows. This game is too good for me to not buy, and I want more Picross in the future. Even if it's gimped, greedy-Nintendo Picross, I am an addict and no longer care who is taking advantage of me.

You win, Nintendo... You win...

Hm. Downloaded this, played for a bit last night, and as much as I like it, I hit the wall already. I can't unlock the next zone because I wasted my Picarites on the energy bar and unlocking my Pokemon slots...so I have 44 Picarites and I need 50. Even doing daily challenges doesn't give me much (6 right now) and I've already claimed my medals. So this is getting uninstalled.

@J.K. Riki

I'm still on the fence about whether to get it or not. I'm considering getting Picross e6 first and then seeing if I really need more Picross after that...

@ludist210

If you want, you can always restart and not spend Picrites on energy. If you're not going to be playing in large chunks, the Picrites are better spent on unlocking new areas (after the first "forced" upgrade to the energy bar).

@TriforceBun

Hang on a second... I think I'm confused. I just looked up Picross e6 and... it isn't in black and white. Does that mean it isn't just an old Gameboy game?

Am... am I missing new Picross that I didn't know existed?!

A rare Pokemon appeared and I dared to play its puzzle. Little did I know it would be a 20 x 20 puzzle! I stared at it in disbelief for a few seconds before quitting. I'll definitely be needing a variety of Pokemon abilities to beat puzzles like that.

@J.K. Riki

Haha, yeah, Picross e1 through e6 are all 3DS eShop original titles.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Picross on Gameboy! Mario's Picross is one of my most-played 3DS games!

@Octorockin

BAH! In my day we solved 20 x 20 puzzles without Pokemon. We didn't even HAVE Pokemon in our Picross! And we were just fine. You kids are soft. SOFT!


(For reals, though, those are super tough. And also super fun.)

@TriforceBun

Well the Gameboy one doesn't use the stylus, and I don't like to play with the D-pad controls! I thought all the eVersions were that way!!



Goodbye, world. See you after Picross e1-6 I guess!

@J.K. Riki

They're all incredible.

@J.K. Riki

Don't put time limit challenges on my puzzles and I won't use Pokémon powers . Fair, no?

@Shadowlink

You can always go back and do the challenges after, cheating all you want.

Did you use Hints in Picross DS? Friggin hints... How you gonna improve your picross skillz-with-a-z if you use hints? Every time that little box popped up at the start of each level I screamed "NO STOP ASKING ME!" at the system in my hands.

It never listened.

I will say, though, that today I failed at my first 15 x 20 puzzle in Pokemon Picross! Had to try again (thankfully had enough energy or whatever). And interestingly it totally upped the epic-nature of the game for me. The second time through my heart was racing (lol, in PICROSS?!) and I kept thinking "Oh man, can't mess up. Is this right? Make sure it's right. Yeah, I think it's right. What if it isn't?!" Ha ha, extreme picross now.

Also I absolutely do not understand Mega Picross or whatever it is called. A giant number that takes up two rows but also there are little numbers but the little numbers don't count except when they do but they can't touch except when they can. No freaking clue what that's talking about, it went completely over my head. Maybe the tutorial in Picross e6 will do a better job explaining it?

J.K. Riki said:

@Shadowlink

You can always go back and do the challenges after, cheating all you want.

Nah. Need to do them NOW to unlock more puzzles. How about I unlock everything (slowly) over the course of the next year, and then when I BEAT the game, I come back to it a little while down the track and do it all legit then?

Did you use Hints in Picross DS?

Never had Picross DS (or any retail Picross release). Please don't kill me.

Every time that little box popped up at the start of each level I screamed "NO STOP ASKING ME!" at the system in my hands.

It never listened.

My fear of your Picross fuelled vengeance aside, I find this image of angry JKR amusing

Also I absolutely do not understand Mega Picross or whatever it is called. A giant number that takes up two rows but also there are little numbers but the little numbers don't count except when they do but they can't touch except when they can. No freaking clue what that's talking about, it went completely over my head. Maybe the tutorial in Picross e6 will do a better job explaining it?

Is that for the Mega Pokémon? I haven't got the Mega Pencil or whatever it is you need to play those.

Sigh... why is this so complicated?

SO! After finding out about Picross e1-6, I deleted Pokemon Picross so that while I'm playing Picross e1 (and then 2,3,4,5, and 6) my wife could go ahead and enjoy Pokemon Picross from the start. Then when she's done, I will reset it and buy the energy/picrite unlock thing for $30 and just play through and enjoy. All good, no problems.

But then...

When I got to the "redownload" screen, it literally says "All previous purchases can be redownloaded for no additional cost."

What?

So now I'm more confused than ever, and I have no idea what to believe. I think what I may do is buy the cheapest amount of gems, then delete the save and game, then redownload and see if I get those gems (sorry, PICRITES) again for free or not. Because then we'll know, and if we get to keep our gems then this isn't such a bad thing, it is indeed just $30 to own the game. And if we DON'T get to keep the gems, only I will be out a dollar or however much, and everyone else can console me with "there, theres" and "at least we know now" and "you idiot, you could have gotten FIVE TRIES at the badge game for that."

Shadowlink said:

Never had Picross DS (or any retail Picross release). Please don't kill me.

Is that for the Mega Pokémon? I haven't got the Mega Pencil or whatever it is you need to play those.

Picross DS is great, and I won't kill you for not owning it. But if you enjoy Pokemon Picross, you might check it out. It's great! :)

The Mega Picross thing is some extra mode, it seems like. "Alt-World" or something? You unlock it... after a while? I have no idea. It just unlocked today for me, and I can't make heads or tails of it. I think it's different than the Mega Pencil though. Ask T-bun, he seems to be the expert!

@J.K. Riki

You unlocked Alt world?

Tell me, can you get Picrites from those stages? The 'cheapass' guide I posted earlier said no you can't and recommended against paying for the unlock for that very reason. But Serebii says there ARE rewards. I don't know who to believe.


Thing is, if there ARE decent Picrite rewards, I can save up for that unlock at a certain point and get instant access to a pile of stages (and rewards) in one hit.