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To enjoy Gyromancer, the player must first love the Bejeweled Twist game mechanic where players match gems together using a dial that turns a group of four clockwise. The minigame is used with only a few changes, and there are very little to keep it from getting stale. Sure, there are a few aspects that go along with the role-playing aspects, but not nearly enough. Players take the role of a mage that summons different creatures to battle, but can only carry about three at a time. Each creature has a host of abilities that are charged with power by matching gems. Gems matches that go with the creature's color, creating chains, combos and matches of four or more fill these powers faster. Every twist of the dial gradually fills the enemy's power meter, so there's a strong sense that players are competing against themselves instead of battling against a creature. On one hand, this system successfully overcomes the problem of feeling like the game is somehow cheating to win, an issue that plagues Puzzle Quest. On the other, it robs the creatures of any sense of individuality. Battling one type of creature feels little different from any other, despite their powers and weaknesses.

Filling up an ability bar charges a random gem on the board, and players must use it in a matchup (or destroy it an a charged match-up explosion) in order to activate it. This is the only way to cause direct damage to the opponent, which robs the game of much of its strategic potential. Since players can't activate abilities at will, the game often comes down to working toward the most conveniently located charged gem, no matter what the ability happens to be. Filling the opponent's ability meter creates a countdown gem, giving players a chance to get rid of it before it activates. So, players have to balance between offense and denying the enemy's attacks. On top of that, players have to minimize their "idle twists" - moves that don't result in a gem match. Idle twists cause the opponent's abilities to charge faster. Some creatures, including friendly ones, lock gems in place and make it impossible to twist that specific group. Of course, these locked gems, both friendly and malicious, tend to end up in the most annoying places and players have to figure out some way to work around them, so idle twists are almost unavoidable. Therefore, the thrill of playing Gryomancer isn't necessarily in overcoming a particularly tough creature, but in trying to outsmart the puzzle.

Square Enix's contribution to the game is easily seen, with a story that seems to go in a number of different directions and ties in some way to an in-game nature mythology. The plot is more than a little convoluted, with characters that seems to come out of nowhere and use verbose language to talk vaguely about things the players is supposed to know about. We had a really hard time trying to follow the story using the story using the dialogue text alone and had to read story summary (conveniently found in-game) to get any sense of what was going on.

We're under no illusions that the story should be as deep as a Final Fantasy game, but the role-playing elements in Gyromancer are slim when compared to Puzzle Quest. There's no way to customize anything. The character's name, look and stats are fixed. All emphasis are on the collection of nineteen creatures, and each one has a fixed evolutionary path that unlocks by discovering newer versions during exploration. Better versions of creatures have more hit points, a higher level cap, and a minor change in abilities, which doesn't really matter because there's no circumstance in which a player will prefer using a low level version of any creature. Additionally, all versions of the creature use the same art, so there's no distinguishing a higher form from a lower one. The main character levels up, but this doesn't seem to benefit anything except on the rare occasion where the player goes into combat instead of a creature. There are no items for boosting stats and no way that we found to purchase consumable items, like a remedy to take away negative effects, which makes us wonder what the point is in running through special puzzles and old levels to accumulate so much money. It takes money to add or replace creatures from the roster, but once players are comfortable using a certain set of creatures, there's no point in switching any of them out until upgraded versions are found. There isn't even a health potion to heal or revive creatures. Everything has to be found while exploring, which the game doesn't make easy, since the overhead map only provides a limited view and doesn't differentiate areas that the player has been from new ones. On top of that is a quirky movement system that requires players to direct an arrow by holding down a mouse button instead of simply clicking on a destination.

It feels funny to call Gyromancer a cookie cutter game, considering how there aren't that many noteworthy puzzle RPG hybrids. Ultimately, the game has all the elements to make it functional but there's hardly anything to make it stand out on its own merits. On the surface, it seems to have all the major features a game like Puzzle Quest would have to offer, like hand-drawn characters, a fantasy setting, and familiar easy-to-learn gameplay. However, it's also a shallow game that relies heavily on the appeal of Bejeweled Twist and the fame of Square Enix RPG's. Gyromancer is Bejeweled Twist decorated with some rudimentary RPG elements. What's worse is how the game's pacing comes to a virtual stand-still once you move past the beginner area. The training wheels come off and players are suddenly penalized for idle twists, forcing them to adapt to a completely different playing style. There's no easy way to get out of an area if you wander in too deep and discover you're out of your league. Enemies have a tendency to sandwich players between them or trap them in dead ends. In order to get out, players have to go through the process of getting into a battle and surrendering until there aren't any creatures in roster. The creatures themselves follow an arbitrary sense of balance logic. Why are orange gem creatures weak against purple gem creatures? Why are purple creatures good against just about everything? It's anybody's guess, but we have a tough time figuring out why a T-Rex gets reduced armor and attack when going toe-to-toe with a giant ant.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of Warlords was released over three years ago but offers a significantly richer experience and costs less than Gyromancer. PopCap and Square Enix may be fantastic in their respective fields, but this game doesn't feel like a collaboration between the two... more like a marriage of convenience. Gyromancer is a functional game, and can be fun to play, but not so much more so than a marathon session of Bejeweled Twist.