Square Enix and Pop-Cap; both well respected names, and immediately recognizable for sheer brilliance in their respective genres; have teamed up to delivery one hell of a jewel-twisting game. Taken as two parts of a greater whole, the puzzle and RPG elements of the title are nothing new. You twist groups of 4 jewels, rotating them to match at least 3 jewels of the same color to eliminate them from the board. You twist enough, and your "attacks" queue up, and upon the "enemy" they are unleashed. Defeat your enemy and in classic RPG fashion, you get an XP screen, showing you how you achieved your total XP. You navigate a map, almost like a board game, along the way, running into beasts (random battles) and taking them out as you explore.
Each of these boards, has a defining goal, and you must make your way towards it, battling baddies along the way. There are also "side-missions", whereas you can defeat mini-bosses to eliminate a group of enemies on the board so that you can maneuver easier to attain all of the side-missions.
There's one more element that goes into the challenge here. You start off with a few of your own beasts. Elemental-based "characters" that level-up with you and based on their abilities, have strengths and weaknesses towards certain enemies. As you progress through each level, you earn the ability to unlock the full roster of cards. Knowing what's ahead will allow you to plan accordingly to what beasts you need to have in your own roster.
All in all, the Square-Enix/PopCap mashup works here, and provides a ton of quick access gameplay, and a unique twist on a jewel-based genre that has more imitators than innovators.
Mashbuttons gives Gyromancer a 9.0 out of 10.
*Editors Note: Mashbuttons did receive a review-copy of this title from the publisher. No reviews were harmed in the writing of this review.
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