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modmamono · 1 year ago

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"All non-numbered Puyo Puyo games aren't mainline." No. Please hear me out.

Someone pointed me to someone still perpetuating and you're reading the results of my reaction.

This isn't a call-out to anyone in particular, and I'm fully aware some reading this may've just been misinformed. To some it just flat-out doesn't apply. And others don't know what I'm talking about. By the end of it I hope I've made my point. And apologies if any of this is a bit too harsh.

Recommended that you read this with some passing familiarity in Puyo Puyo at minimum.

Context for those not in the know.

For over a decade there have been people who're adamant that only the numbered Puyo Puyo games count as mainline Puyo Puyo games.

Meaning there have been only 7 total mainline games to them:

Puyo Puyo (1991, 1992)

Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994)

Puyo Puyo Sun (1996)

Puyo Puyo~n (1999)

Puyo Puyo Fever (2003)

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005)

Puyo Puyo 7 (2009)

[If you're confused, all these games have puns that make them phonetically numbered in Japanese or English even if they aren't on paper.]

That's 7 out of 16 games mainline games.

What are the mainline games?

(I'll be calling the numbered games by their number from now on for the sake of this blogpost and only this blogpost.)

Puyo Puyo (1991) | **Puyo Puyo 0**

Puyo Puyo (1992) | **Puyo Puyo 1**

Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994) | **Puyo Puyo 2**

Puyo Puyo Sun (1996) | **Puyo Puyo 3**

Puyo Puyo~n (1999) | **Puyo Puyo 4**

Puyo Puyo Box (2000)

Minna de Puyo Puyo (2001)

Puyo Puyo Fever (2003) | **Puyo Puyo 5**

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005) | **Puyo Puyo 6**

Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary (2006)

Puyo Puyo 7 (2009) | **Puyo Puyo 7**

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (2011)

Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014)

Puyo Puyo Chronicle (2016)

Puyo Puyo Champions (2018)

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (2020)

I will be arguing from this point of view. Though I will admit that I personally don't think games like Minna and Champions are very relevant. But that's irrelevant because I do think they are Mainline (and my reasoning isn't number-based).

Your mileage may vary though. But at least there are still more mainline ones than 7. This is what makes the most sense to me. But all I ask is you to either roll with this or hear me out. Not to take me as gospel.

What makes a mainline Puyo Puyo game?

I'd define a mainline Puyo Puyo games by a Player vs Player kind of experience. It's not even about the content as much as it is about the foundation.

All 16 games have that foundation. Puyo Puyo 0 might lack a lot of other stuff later games have, but it evolved a game later into Puyo Puyo 1. Making it mainline as well.

Also just because a game deviates a little from other games doesn't make it not mainline too.

Take Chronicle for example, while the main mode only has a single game board for a grand majority of its campaign, it still has a full-fledged PvP mode. Something you can't say of the Nazo Puyo games.

[Edit: Canon ≠ Mainline.

I cut this originally, but it's clear to me I need to add this back in:

Games are more than their stories. These games do not have to be canon to one another to be mainline. For example, I don't consider Minna de Puyo Puyo canon. I do consider it mainline.

This is about the content the game offer you. Not the stories. Because Canon ≠ Mainline.

I knew people conflate those two. But I cut it because I made that clear in the section above.

The rest of this post has been untouched.]

Why does this matter?

A question best left for the end. But I'm tackling it now.

It matters because it's damaging.

If you think the only mainline count towards the story are the numbered 7. The last Puyo Puyo game that "mattered" is Puyo Puyo 7 in 2009...

It's 2023.

Why are you waiting on a new "mainline" game when we've been getting them for a while? I will get into why they are mainline now.

Why would you inform a newbie that over half of games don't matter? Am I missing something here? I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm tackling this uncharitably, but even charitably it still confuses me why one would do that.

The part of the post where try and make my cases as to why each Puyo Puyo game listed here is mainline.

(Please note that Puyo Nexus doesn't have a list of the amount of rules each game has on their respective pages. And I'm not counting endless modes as rules, even if they are. Regardless of my accuracy, it shouldn't deter from my point much as the rough idea will also get it across.)

1. Puyo Puyo 0 | Puyo Puyo (1991)

Story: None Single-Player stages: (52 Nazo Puyo Puzzles) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player (but not the main draw at the time) Playable characters: None

Some consider Puyo Puyo 0 a prototype of Puyo Puyo 1. I consider it a separate game. And thus the first game in the series. You'd be silly to not consider this game as mainline regardless of whether you think this is PP0 or the first version of PP1.

And the pieces are there. The main focus is Endless Puyo. But the PvP mode is there which became the main focus one game later where the series' appeal still lies.

But for now this is just the humble start of Puyo Puyo.

Interesting thing regarding this main series debate is that this game has Nazo Puyo. Only 2-and-a-half games have that mode in earnest, at least how it is here. Nazo Puyo is a spin-off. The games PC-98 Nazo Puyos, Nazo Puyo 1, 2, and 3, and Super Nazo Puyo 1 and 2 aren't mainline, but their DNA are directly from this game as Puyo Puyo 1's DNA is.

2. Puyo Puyo 1 | Puyo Puyo (1992)

Story: Yes Single-Player stages: 13/16 Stages (Depends on the version you're playing.) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player Playable characters: None

Ta-da! Puyo Puyo 1!

This is the game that put the series on track to how we know it now. 1v1 matches. Characters. Them each having their own AI. If Puyo Puyo 0 was the spine Puyo Puyo 1 is nearly every other bone in the body of Puyo Puyo. This is the baseline of what every other mainline Puyo Puyo game will be.

The 1v1 aspect of it was what made the game stand out, if you play a PvP Tetris-like game they owe Puyo Puyo 1 a lot.

That said, while I prefer PP1 over PP0, I wouldn't call it a perfect sequel to PP0. Outside of the Game Gear version there is no Nazo Puyo mode.

But as I said, Nazo Puyo spun-off into its own series. So that's not the biggest deal. I play PvP Puyo games for PvP and Nazo for Nazo. They could've had the two modes be joined in each entry forever, and they didn't. What can you do?

I'd go over what makes this game mainline, but it's a numbered game.

3. Puyo Puyo 2 | Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994)

Story: Typically no. Depends on the version. Single-Player stages: 33 (but you're likely to fight waaaay less than that) (not counting tutorial fights like some versions have) (counted Satan and final Masked Satan as one.) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player (4-Player on Super Famicom.) Playable characters: None

The standard Tsu rules are here!

I don't have to go into what makes this one mainline. Only that it has an atypical single-player progression for the series and that in most versions don't have much in the way of cutscenes.

This game did a lot for the series but didn't add much I'm now realizing.

4. Puyo Puyo 3 | Puyo Puyo Sun (1996)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 24 (26 if you count Carbuncle) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player Playable characters: 16 (18 with cheats) (22 total on GBC [check])

It's the third game!

And it made a huge leap by adding a character select! This is such a huge deal we take it for granted now.

I don't need to make an argument in its favor.

5. Puyo Puyo 4 | Puyo Puyo~n (1999)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 16 (21 on PlayStation) (9-to-17 on GBC) No. of rules: 1* (2 on Nintendo 64) (* With several obstacles for a lack of a better term.) PvP: 4-player (2-Player on PlayStation and possibly GBC) Playable characters: 18 (23 on GBC)

It's Puyo Puyo 4! The slow one!

Another one I don't have to argue. It's numbered.

If you don't mind I'm skipping over the GBC version. Just know it's a different story. And based on Puyo Puyo Quest it's not the version that happened based on how Doppelganger Arle acts.

6. Puyo Puyo Box (2000)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: "FUCK BOX' ENCOUNTER RATE ahem. Too many." ~A friend No. of rules: 5 PvP: 4-player Playable characters: None.

This is our first non-numbered game. But at the time is was as close to a Puyo Puyo 5 as you were gonna get seeing as this was Compile's last Puyo Puyo hurrah before SEGA took over the reigns the next year.

Let's give an overview of what this game has to offer:

An RPG mode. (I've seen enough people dismiss this game on that alone.)

Normal vs Puyo matches.

The 4 main rulesets of the previous numbered games.

Excavation Rules. (Something the does come back in some later titles.)

Like... Those middle two facts alone make this a valid mainline game. And that's twice as many modes as the N64 version of Puyo Puyo 4! Otherwise that's 5 times the amount of modes!

This is more Puyo then we've even gotten up until this point. And people call this a spin-off?

And have I've gotten into the fact you can mix-and-match rules? I can choose between PP1, 2, 3, and 4 rules, and my opponent can select something differently from me! THAT'S AWESOME! No other game has done that since. That's something you do when you wanna up the ante on the formula that's already there. That's not something relegated to a spin-off.

This game's mainline as hell.

This is the game where you find Schezo sleeping in a treasure chest.

7. Minna de Puyo Puyo (2001)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 20 (And if you do that twice more you get 16 more stages.) No. of rules: 1* (* With several obstacles for a lack of a better term.) PvP: 4-player Playable characters: 17

The true start to SEGA's run of Puyo Puyo.

Like this is easy: mainline. It's just several stages of Tsu rules. It has way more stages than any given Compile-made Puyo game.

It often gets dismissed in general. Like this only thing people remember this game for is "Stop". But it's on par, above par even.

I do consider the game non-relevant though. This game didn't leave much of an impact. You could say SEGA's run started with the next game and the only reason people will correct you is because this obscure GBA game actually started it.

8. Puyo Puyo 5 | Puyo Puyo Fever (2003)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 19 No. of rules: 3 PvP: 2-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 16

It's Puyo Puyo 5!

I'm not gonna go into this title much either.

It's a soft reboot (for now) in a new world with new characters. It's slightly above par with Puyo Puyo 3 in terms of content I wanna say.

Nobody is calling this game non-mainline and I'm not going to go against that grain.

Just know from now on, if you see this game as a soft reboot and a fresh start, no matter what other people will tell you, know that SEGA's continuity is way more solid than Compile's run ever was.

This is weird because the reputation, perhaps not at the time of writing anymore but for the longest time in the west at least, is that SEGA doesn't care about continuity but Compile did.

From Puyo Puyo 0 to Minna I skipped over a ton of games. They legit made too much they didn't bother keeping a continuity. From now on, with a few exceptions (namely Puyo Puyo!! Quest), the rest of the games I'll talk about in this post are the only Puyo Puyo games released. And they all happened, and there's no reset button.

There are a few instances like PP5's WakuWaku/HaraHara-course-either-or, 20th Anni's Arle, Schezo, Satan, and Rulue debacle, and the Schrödinger's canon that is all of 15th Anni. But otherwise, this is all pretty solid.

9. Puyo Puyo 6 | Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 51 No. of rules: 3 PvP: 2-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 21

I have no idea what I seriously have to say about this game.

What I said about PP5 starts here in earnest. This is the first Puyo Puyo game that actually took lore seriously. And arguably took it the most seriously of any game. And not because later games tossed it aside, it's just that you can't pry into everyone's private lives like you can here or they don't have discussions about their lives like they do in 15th Anni. The lore this game established never went away.

So if I were to bet. This whole "only numbered games matter" thing revolves around this game. People got really invested in this game's story.

Have you met my friend?:

The Crimson Spirit. (I'm calling him "Crimmy" for the sake of this post because we could all use a laugh.)

I'm gonna assume you know who he is and what his deal is.

Crimmy here is why I assume people think why SEGA doesn't care about lore. Because they introduced this guy, with a fleshed-out, fairly sympathetic, yet mysterious backstory. Yet they shelved this this guy afterwards. Like he had to return for a sequel.

I'll be honest. I don't think they had a long-term plan for Crimmy.

I know he's cool and a formidable opponent, like he's got style and bitchin' theme song.

But he's the setup to a joke in the game's story mode. Fever 2 is a pretty funny game. It's not out of the realm of possibility they made an elaborate backstory and a connection to the new kid Sig. Just to not do anything with it really.

Also, this is nothing new.

PP4's Doppelganger Arle never got a serious follow-up. We still don't know what she is.

PP5 had Popoi. He's in a similar boat to Crimmy. Only difference is there's no connection to anyone but Accord. Where are the demands that he gets elaboration? (He actually is given that but as of writing you statistically don't know about his tax collecting days.)

And later final boss figures actually got resolutions. 2 of which are arguably so easily solved it's a joke. Just like I think PP6's ending for Crimmy is.

I'm admitting to being a little dishonest here. Like Doppel's likely because of the soft rebooting (though I doubt they actually had a plan for her either) for example. Pick apart my logic all you like, doesn't change the fact Sig and Crimmy are popular and people feel like they're owed a follow-up.

I think that ship has sailed. If it was ever in the cards, it's not in the cards anymore. Because I doubt a Puyo Puyo 8 named Puyo Puyo 8 would give us the confrontation and follow-up you wanted. Because Puyo Puyo 7 sure didn't do it either.

Not that the Sig and Crimmy thing was ever forgotten. We'll keep getting drip-feed Sig and Crimmy lore. Aside from Chronicle (I think) and Champions (no duh) Crimmy does have his thumbprint in the story in some fashion (Quest especially).

I forgot if I ever had a point. But I will say that I find it silly this "only numbered games matter" thing only really hinges on this game it seems.

Because as I said, this is the first mainline Puyo Puyo game to take lore seriously. 1 out of the 6/9 games so far focuses on the lore.

Puyo Puyo 1 to 5 were self-contained episodes with reoccurring characters. Why would Puyo Puyo 6 be any different?

Not that I fault anyone for wanting a follow-up. I don't. It's just that I don't think they thought ahead Fever 2 when making Fever 2, and the next game just didn't focus on them. Or the game after that.

(Also both Sig and Crimmy are so popular, them actually squaring off might not be what you actually want. Might result in at least one getting eliminated, or a major status quo change for both. Becareful what you wish for.)

Unrelated but if I may be über pedantic:

Puyos 2 to 5 all had puns based on its the number it's on.

Puyo Puyo 5, or its proper name "Puyo Puyo Fever", is a pun on the number 5 in Japan and the new Fever mechanic.

Puyo Puyo 6's proper name is "Puyo Puyo Fever 2" or sometimes "Fever Chuu". Chuu isn't a pun on 6 at all.

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 is logically called Puyo Puyo 5-2.

And I don't care if it's officially the 6th one, or that its working title is Puyo Puyo 6, or that the game's marketing made 6 puns. Because Puyo Puyo 5-2 is a valid pun you could make. It is the sequel to a soft reboot in the same world after all.

And given there's only one game between "Puyo Puyo 5-2" and Puyo Puyo 7. Why don't people see 15th Anniversary as Puyo Puyo 6?

I wouldn't want that, and this is so arbitrary but so is the whole "only numbered games matter" thing anyways. Especially with the stuff we know about the games now we didn't know prior to the boom of new fans this fanbase has gotten with PPT1 releasing in the west.

10. Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary (2006)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 176 No. of rules: 12 PvP: 4-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 22

Hey, look! Why isn't this considered Puyo Puyo 6?

Look. I get it why this one isn't considered mainline to some people.

This is a tournament game. 22 playable characters, and only 1 could be the winner. So it's easy to dismiss this game as if didn't happen.

Except Puyo Puyo 7 and 20th Anni especially do make it clear a lot of 15th happened. Just not how we saw it.

And this game is the explanation why Satan, Schezo, Rulue, etc. are in Primp now.

This game is also important because it retroactively turns Puyo Puyo 5 from a clean-slate soft reboot to an overall soft reboot. With all the returning characters. Which only means so much since so far this series has been episodic one game's story doesn't lead into the other.

Until this game that is. Since there are a lot of call-backs and elaborations from older games. Of all games 15th Anniversary is the only game that rivals Puyo Puyo 6 in how much lore there is.

As I've said in the PP5 section, SEGA's run has a more solid continuity. And it really begins to show itself here.

Also this is the most content a Puyo Puyo game has ever gotten up until this point, it overshadows the next game even.

No spin-off in the same genre with the same cast should have more content than a mainline entry.

Spin-offs tend to focus on a different cast (like how Dynasty Warriors spin-offs like Samurai Warriors are cut from the same cloth, but it focuses on a completely different cast in a different country), or they focus on a completely different genre (look at any given Mario or Sonic Spin-off that isn't a platformer).

Same genre (same formula even), same cast.

11. Puyo Puyo 7 (2009)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 22 (47 if you count alternate scenarios) No. of rules: 5 PvP: 4-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 19

I'll cut to the chase, why is Puyo Puyo 7 held in such high importance to some people?

Besides PP4 and Minna, PP7 has to be the least-liked game by default. It does nothing with what people want out of a PP5-3. Yet this game counts as a real Puyo Puyo game while 15th and 20th don't?? You've noticed how much PP7 offers to the table, right?

I don't wanna go over why PP7 is the way it is. That's a story for another blogpost I don't wanna make because I'm not a historian.

Puyo Puyo 7 gets a ton of flack for not being as feature-rich as the game before or after it. But in terms of content I'd say it's pretty on par, if not higher than most numbered games. Something it doesn't get credit for. It's just that PP6 and 15th outdid it. PP7 is only really a bad deal because 15th Anniversary came before it on the same consoles.

It's one of the least-liked games. Yet people place this much importance on it. Sure it changed Puyo Puyo forever with the characters it introduced. The next game is a sequel to this game. But I don't know why the only game with Ringo and friends that counts is the one where they aren't fleshed out.

I'm not sure yet if anyone that still believes/believes the numbers nonsense is still reading. But would you even care about Puyo Puyo 7 if didn't have a number? Be honest with yourself. The answers will vary but I'm saying a lot people would say no. Because a lot of people frankly don't care for it now (and that's okay).

Because in the lens that only the numbered games count, this isn't a very satisfying game to go out on. Last episode, new character takes the lead. If you think every game after this isn't canon, what's the point of Ringo?

Genuine question: If you believe only the numbered games count. Would you take the opportunity to strip Puyo Puyo 7 of its 7?

I'm willing to bet a good amount of people will do that. As I said, this isn't a continuation of what people wanted from PP6 and 15th.

Also if we got a Puyo Puyo 8 right after 7, it would probably follow up on the new cast introduced in Puyo Puyo 7. Because why leave them hanging and undeveloped? Characters introduced in Puyo 5 didn't get fleshed out until Puyo 6. Good chances that the next game would've done that.

And surprise! The next game, 20th Anniversary, is that exact game!

In some alternate timeline where SEGA made a poor marketing decision, I'm convinced 20th Anniversary is called Puyo Puyo 8.

But it probably never was actually considered because look at this:

It was successful. But it also wasn't that liked. Puyo Puyo 7 kinda poisoned the prestige of a numbered Puyo Puyo game.

Combine that with how I think the western Puyo Puyo fans talk about this game more dismissively than anything...

Since then we've had 5 games that fleshed out Ringo and her friends and everyone else has been developed since which people have grown attached to. I cannot live in a world where Schezo isn't an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

To turn back the clock back to the end of PP7 to make Puyo Puyo 8 is a horrible idea.

Have you met my friend?:

Ecolo.

Regardless of what you think of him. Going back PP8 as if 20th, PPT1&2, and Chronicle didn't happen is a bad idea for this fella alone.

If we went back and did a PP8 like that, all the games between 7 and now still happened. Even if they didn't happen in-universe they still definitely did in ours'. And in our universe, people like Ecolo. Thus it would make sense to have him back in PP8.

But unless they make use of the fact Ecolo can just ignore space/time it wouldn't be the same Ecolo.

In PP7 Ecolo didn't reform, frankly he was a very terrible person.

But after he bumped his head in 20th Anni he reformed and became a part of the regular cast that way. That is the story of 20th Anniversary.

This, in all likelihood, would be the story of PP8 too! Would you really want two games about Ecolo reforming? We have 20th Anniversary for that. If we did a redo in that PP8 we'd have an Ecolo reformation plot + erased canon. You will piss people off. AND it'll be pointless.

And if you think 20th Anni doesn't matter to the canon. PP7 sure thinks the "Spin-off" released before it sure mattered:

(The first 15th Anni reference in a Puyo game after it.)

Admittingly, I have heard that the original Japanese didn't mention the tournament (the one from 15th). But that's the first time Amitie and Satan met, it's the only thing it could refer to here since it's talking about behavior which is what their interaction was about. And this language they use implies they haven't really encountered each other much or if at all since 15th Anniversary.

If a "spin-off" like 15th Anniversary matters to "mainline" game Puyo Puyo 7 why wouldn't 20th Anni or literally any other Puyo games afterwards? They take about as much effort to make give or take.

For the record, I really like Puyo Puyo 7. It makes me happy and genuinely enlightened me, no joke. Not because that game's unbelievable though. Don't expect it to enlighten you.

12. Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (2011)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 200 No. of rules: 21 PvP: 4-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 30

Hey look! It's Puyo Puyo 8! It's Puyo Puyo 7's sequel! This game wouldn't make sense if Puyo Puyo 7 didn't happen. This game is more of a sequel to PP7 than PP6 even was to PP5 or any game prior to that for that matter.

There are so many nods to past games I'm not even gonna bring them up it's too much. But one of those games is 15th, with follow-up interactions or call-backs of stuff that happened in that game. It did happen, just not in any of the 22 ways we saw it happen. A lot probably didn't even happen on the tournament stage but in the back rooms.

I already blew my load why this game and the others are mainline in the PP7 section so I don't have much more to say. The games post-PP6 and sometimes 15th and PP7 have the stigma that it's like a cartoon with a reset button. But 20th isn't like that. No game starting with PP5 has been like that.

13. Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 70 (100 total if you include DLC.) (Do note not nearly that much stages with story content.) No. of rules: 5 PvP: 4-Player Playable characters: 24

Everything I have to say about this game has been covered in the PP7 and if not I'll cover it in the PPT2 section.

This is the first game with a reformed Ecolo though. He acts the part. Still a brat.

Also just because it's a crossover doesn't mean it isn't canon. They just legally can't acknowledge the game happened in other non-Tetris crossovers is all.

14. Puyo Puyo Chronicle (2016)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: RPG mode. 24 mandatory bosses, a bunch of other bosses, and a whole ton of regular encounters. No. of rules: 18 PvP: 4-Player Playable characters: 24 (+ too many to bother listing in RPG mode.)

Similar to Puyo Puyo Tetris 1, I plan to save most of my talk about this game until Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. I wonder how much of a surprise that is.

But yeah this game's mainline.

Have you met my friend?:

Her name is Ally.

It took Ally a while, but I'd say she's part of the main cast by now.

She's sticking around.

And for the validity of the game. Just because it has an RPG mode doesn't disqualify it being a main game. Regardless of the quality of the story.

If that disqualifies that game I'm gonna disqualify PP6's as a mainline game since it has more emphasis on world-building. That's an arbitrary thing to base things off of too.

15. Puyo Puyo Champions (2018)

Story: No. Single-Player stages: 50 Hidden Nazo Puzzles. No. of rules: 2 PvP: 4-Player Playable characters: 27

It's main game. I'd rather not count it, but despite the lack of a story and merely two modes, it fits the bill.

Interestingly this is the first mainline game with Nazo Puyo modes since PP1 on Game Gear. And making it the first Nazo Puyo period since the mid-90s. You just gotta suffer through too many mindless, borderline-useless tutorial drills to get to play them.

Side-note: It's really funny to me that Puyo Puyo 0, the first game and the only other game to have Nazo Puyo, has more Nazo Puzzles than Champions.

Like this game's weird. I'm not sure I can properly defend it like the other games. And I hope you understand why. To me it barely qualifies.

16. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (2020)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 92 No. of rules: 6 PvP: 8-Player (?) Playable characters: 28 (40 with DLC)

Puyo Puyo Tetris 1, 2, and Chronicle are the most interconnected the games have ever been. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 does not work if Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 didn't happen. This is the most sequel a Puyo Puyo story has been. Even more than 20th was to PP7.

It's also a showcase of how much continuity still matters in Puyo Puyo because of Ex and the people that helped him Squares got pissed and wanted to destroy them. That's the most direct cause and effect between games.

Any dimensional rules they established in PPT1 and 2 apply to Chronicle retroactively as well. They even reference the fact Chronicle happened. There's the full Ally chapter. But even as early as Stage 2-P1 there's this:

"this stuff" refers to Skill Battle Rule. Introduced in Chronicle and before Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 ONLY in Chronicle. It's just locked in Arle's subconscious right now.

Chronicle happened. As did this game. And as did Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 as it's connected to 20th Anni. 20th Anni as established is the true Puyo Puyo 8 and thus a sequel to Puyo Puyo 7. Puyo Puyo 7, a numbered game, says 15th Anni is canon so why shouldn't the game past Puyo Puyo 7? Of course Puyos 1-6 happened too. And PP0 is the bedrock. [Cronicle also mentioned Puyo Puyo Box.]

Gameplay-wise you could prefer a certain thing one game has over another. All these games will give you what'd you want out of a Puyo Puyo game. If you visited your fellow Puyo Puyo fan's house to play some Puyo Puyo and for some reason, all they had was 2 copies of Minna, 2 GBAs, and a link cable for some reason, are you gonna complain? Doesn't matter what you think of the gamefeel, it's still Puyo Puyo, it services VS Puyo Puyo matches like PP 0 to 7 would. Just like Box, 15th, 20th, Tetris 1&2, and Champions do.

It's what the single-player Nazo Puyo doesn't deliver. It's what Madou Monogatari doesn't deliver. But these 16 games deliver it. They are mainline games. Even if they don't have a number.

So why tell people that the majority of these games are lesser?

Regardless if you mean to imply that or not, that is what you're implying. Why would you imply that? You like Puyo Puyo right? Wouldn't you want others to like Puyo Puyo?

I find this rich because 4 and 7 are the least favorites and numbered. Meanwhile 15th and 20th give you more bang for your buck and are way more liked by people.

And not for nothing, but aside from PP6 the numbered games are fairly nothing games. You beat them but unless you wanna improve yourself you're done with the game in 13 to 20-ish stages.

The non-numbered games except for Minna and Champions has a lot more to offer than the numbered games.

And this isn't new. A lot of franchises stop numbering their games.

Sly Cooper has 4 games but the 4th isn't numbered. But unless it gets retconned it's canon and mainline.

Ratchet & Clank games were numbered 1 to 3 in Europe, but a large majority are both canon and mainline.

Super Mario Bros. is a series that stopped numbering. Super Mario World is SMB4 in Japan, but we don't have a number. And I would look crazy if I told you that game wasn't mainline. Is the upcoming Super Mario Wonder not mainline because it's not numbered?

I could go on.

The difference is that Puyo Puyo counted higher than those franchises ever did.

My conclusion I guess?

This overblown importance on number is a lazy shortcut to deeming what's canon or not. And a relic of a time when the western fans could barely play any of the games in English legally or not.

(Thanks to @nenilein and Fred for helping to keep focus.)

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