Among the likes of sudokus and crossword puzzles Nonograms aren’t that popular or well-known. When Nintendo saw untapped potential in this concept they changed the name to Picross and slapped Mario in there to boost sales. After Mario’s Picross was a huge commercial flop on the Game Boy which was the system most known for the biggest puzzle game ever Nintendo decided to stop releasing Picross games outside of Japan before stopping production on Picross games entirely. It was only until the release of the DS and the general public’s interest in it that Nintendo gave the series another shot. Nowadays there are quite a few Picross games with some of them being entirely about some Nintendo franchise. Aside from Pokemon and Zelda Picross Nintendo has experimented with the series by taking it to the third dimension. The Picross E series serves as Nintendo’s kind of episodic delivery for all your Picross needs. Is Picross E7 worth your time of are you better off skipping this entry?
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There is no narrative force to speak of in this game. It’s a puzzle game. These come rarely with a plot or story of sorts. Picross is no different and it doesn’t need to be different in this case. Just you, your brain and puzzles… That’s it.
There is no plot to speak of…
A lot of puzzling fun.
Picross is a puzzle game where players are presented with a square that’s split in a roster. On the left and top side are numbers for every column that tell the player how many squares in that column are to be filled. Some columns show more than one number meaning there will be at least one space between the squares that needs to be colored. Once the player colors in all the right squares, it reveals a pixel-art picture. It’s a simple enough idea that can get pretty tricky at some times.
E7 comes with three modes. The first is Picross which is the traditional mode. This mode requires the players to reveal a pixel-art portrait of something within a certain time limit. If the player selects a wrong square the game will notify the player with a cross on that square and a time penalty. Every mistake will ramp up the time penalty so one mistake might add one minute but a second mistake will add two minutes instead of one and so on. If players fail to reveal the portrait within the time limit they will still get to see the picture but without color making it near impossible to make out what they are. It’s a good incentive to play well and if you fail to later return and try to complete it within time. The early portraits barely resemble anything coherent but later puzzles increase the field to a ludicrous amount which of course also allows for more detailed and complex portraits. The second mode is Mega Picross which is the same idea as regular Picross but ironically on a smaller field. With these puzzles some columns will be marked with big numbers that cover two columns. this means that those numbers appear somewhere in those columns but maybe not in a row but are still connected. A seven for instance might mean there are two rows with one row having three and the other having four squares or one row of five and one with two. The row with two squares doesn’t need to be connected with each other as long as they are both connected with the five row. These puzzles are generally way harder than the original Picross puzzles. The last mode is Micross. In this mode players get a big portrait with squares in them. Every square is a puzzle. The difference here is that all the puzzle portraits themselves aren’t portraits but rather small pieces of a portrait. Once all the small pieces are the player gets to see the big picture. These puzzles are more long-term investments that the other puzzles because they don’t notify the player on whether the pieces are placed correctly or not until they complete the full puzzle.
Like most puzzle games it’s a simple concept that can get pretty challenging and is hard to put down. Picross is a fun mode filled to the brim with puzzles while Mega Picross is nothing really special. Mega Picross might be the mode that will get ignored most of the time. Micross is a whole different matter. While the gratification of solving a single panel is pretty minimal it’s the building on the big picture that thrills and will engage the player. There is not only quite a bit of content but with the exception of Mega Picross, it’s a blast to play.
Puzzles can be challenging but are still fun.
Nice and clean.
As far as presentation goes the game does everything right. Menus are simple and easy to navigate and look good. Backgrounds and effects are minimal but add just enough to make the game not seem bland. The music is nothing stand-out worthy but it’s very fitting despite that. The music is very laid back and its relaxing tones encourage the thinking process. With the micross track taking a soothing classical tone perfectly fitting the puzzle. There also are a few options to customize the tile-turn animations which is fairly trivial but is a neat addition. There’s nothing really important to say about the presentation of the game. It does its job and it does it well.
Presentation is nice smooth and clean.
Closing note:
If Picross 3D is a bit too much to handle or not your cup of Picross tea Picross E7 will quench that thirst. E7 is serviceable all in itself, it does not add any new mechanics or modes but instead just gives the player more puzzles. Players wanting to start with Picross can choose any of the games out of the E series. And people looking for more can just add any game to their collection to continue the fun. There are a few extra puzzles you can receive if your system has Picross E, E2 or E3 but strangely enough, that is not the case for any E games after that. Picross E7 is an excellent game. Mega Picross is lacking but Micross and Picross are fun and engaging modes that will keep you entertained whether that’s on the couch on the train or on the can.
7/10
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