Picross e7

Genre: Picross Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Picross e7, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2016, is a Picross Puzzle game that shares a lot in common with earlier games in the series. As such, I’m going to be copy-pasting most of this review from my review of the previous game. As with the prior game, this game has a simple, clean presentation and a relaxed, synthesized soundtrack.

There’s no actual tutorial here for newcomers to Picross, just a how-to guide. Once you get into the game proper, you have 150 standard Picross, plus 3 “Micross” Puzzles consisting of 40-60 small “Clip Picross” levels that combine into one larger picture, and 150 “Mega Picross” puzzles with hints that span across two rows or columns (with these puzzles apparently being repeats of the standard Picross puzzles). In addition, for each of the first three games in the series on your Nintendo 3DS, the game will unlock 5 additional Mega Picross puzzles (up to 15 total – you get nothing extra for having Picross e4 or later games, apparently). For $6, I think that’s a fairly decent price.

Players can use standard gamepad controls or touchscreen controls to fill in puzzles – the latter are good, though a little inhibited by the small size of the Nintendo 3DS screen. Those who played Pokemon Picross will find the control setup to be similar here. Unfortunately, the assistance options available to the player seem to be tied to the individual puzzles themselves, meaning that you can’t just have a uniform experience across the entire game if you prefer certain types of help or assistance.

Thankfully, Picross e7 finally, finally fixes one of the biggest problems with the Picross e series – players now have the ability to mark cels temporarily in addition to filling and “X”-ing them out. Why it took this series three years and seven installments to finally add this standard feature, I don’t know, but it transforms this series from a generally decent Picross series with a major flaw into one of the better Picross games on the Nintendo 3DS. In addition, this game also adds additional control options.

Because of these additional control options, Picross e7 is one of the better Picross games on the Nintendo 3DS, with a good amount of content for a low price, excellent controls, and a decent array of features. Having said that, there’s still room for improvement – the game still lacks a decent tutorial, restricts players’ help options in some of its puzzles, and could do with more options overall. Despite this, I would still say this is a Picross game worth getting on the Nintendo 3DS if you’re a fan of the genre.

tl;dr – Picross e7 is a Picross Puzzle game that features a simple presentation, good controls, and has 150 standard Picross puzzles, 3 “Micross” Puzzles, 150 “Mega Picross” puzzles (repeats of the standard Picross puzzles), as well as some others you can unlock if you own prior games in the series, all for $6. What’s more, this game finally addresses some (but not all) of the major issues the series had prior to this. It could still do with more variety and a decent tutorial, but overall this is a solid entry in the genre well worth getting on Nintendo 3DS.

Grade: B

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