Glass Masquerade 2 Illusions Review (Nintendo Switch)

Game: Glass Masquerade 2 Illusions
Genre: Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch  (Also on Steam and Console)
Developers|Publishers:  Onyx Lute|Digerati
Age Rating: EU 7| USA E| AUS PG
Price: US $11.99| AU $18.99| CA $ 12.68|£ 10.79|€11,99
Release Date: 13th February 2020

Review code used, many thanks to Digerati 

Publisher and developers Digerati and Onyx Lute have released a follow up to Glass Masquerade, which I reviewed around this time last year, you can find that review here. Glass Masquerade 2 Illusions gives the player another collection of over 30 depictions of 20th century fantasy inspired stained glass jigsaw’s to puzzle over.

The Surprise of Seeing an Interesting Picture

Following along the same lines as the first game, Glass Masquerade 2 revolves around jigsaw puzzles where the player is asked to piece together a stained glass window. In the first game the puzzles were all clock-faces with a theme of cultures from around the world. This time, clocks don’t make an appearance. The clocks have been replaced with circular puzzles with a fantasy theme.

There is no preview picture of what the finished puzzle should look like. Some players may have prefered having an example to work with but it was fine by me. I liked not having a preview picture as once I completed the puzzle, I enjoyed the surprise of the reveal as it all comes together as the last shard is placed.

Red Shards To Start

You start a puzzle by adding the red shards to the board from the rotating wheel at the side of the puzzle. These red shards have little hooks on them which hook onto the rings around the inside of the puzzle. You can’t see the design on each shard until you move it in to the puzzle, then the shard reveals its design and auto-rotates to the correct orientation for you to slot into place. Each puzzle has a different number of shards and the last puzzle is a large 88 piece puzzle to solve.

That may not sound like many pieces as say a 1000 or 1500 piece puzzle you would complete on a tabletop. However, as each shard represents abstract stained glass with a multitude of colours in each piece it makes it just a little bit more difficult. And you don’t have a clue what the final picture will be, unlike a jigsaw with the picture on the box it comes in. In Glass Masquerade Illusions you rely more on the shape of the shard then the colour, hence the silhouette of the shards in the wheel.

 Time Ticks Away

There is a timer at the bottom of the screen and the player can keep this hidden or you can have the time on view. The timer adds intensity to the puzzle solving, though there is no penalty for taking a long time to complete a puzzle. As each puzzle is very detailed and one puzzle can take up to 20 minutes to finish depending on your jigsaw skills, as you progress though the game the number of shards to place increases and the puzzles take longer to complete.

As you finish each stained glass you are shown the finished picture and you collect a few keys which unlock the next puzzle. You also get a riddle on screen after each puzzle is completed, for example: “ There are two sides to every coin, but sometimes the side has no coin, in this case one must be equal to two and two and zero are the same”.

I have to admit that most of these whimsical riddles flew right over the top of my head and I didn’t understand many of them. I was more interested in starting the next puzzle.

New Hard Mode

A new hard mode is included in Glass Masquerade Illusions and you can active it at any time with a press of a button. In hard mode, when you pick up a shard from the wheel you have to rotate it yourself using ZL and ZR, and they can be rotated up to 8 time’s.

Without the game rotating the shard to the right orientation the challenge increases as you try to figure out not only where the shard will fit but what way ’round it should fit. In hard mode the puzzles take even longer to complete, if you want to take a break from the game it will save the pieces you have already placed so all your puzzling isn’t lost.

Beautiful Graphics and Perfect Controls

Glass Masquerade Illusions has gorgeous, glossy visuals and a relaxing orchestral soundtrack by the same composer Nikita Sevalnev as the first game. Lots of flutes, horns and clarinet’s accompany the player through the stained glass puzzles along with a gentle clink as the shards fit into place.

Controls are easy and you have the choice of joy-con control or touchscreen or mix it up and use a bit of both. Either way the controls are perfect.

Conclusion

The puzzles in Glass Masquerade Illusions are more intricate than the clock faces in the first game. The game is just as addictive and I find the game brilliant for playing in short bursts. It’s perfectly suited to the portable nature of the Nintendo Switch and playing in handheld.

If you like to be entertained by some jigsaw puzzling you can’t go far wrong with having Glass Masquerade 2 Illusions on your Switch.

I liked the first game a lot and Glass Masquerade 2 illusions has improved on it by adding the hard mode and increasing the amount of puzzles and the challenge.

Final Verdict: I Like It A Lot