YMMV / Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop

• Continuity Lock-Out: This issue is worse in the West than it was during the Puyo Puyo Tetris duology, as the main story draws upon plot elements introduced in Fever 2, 20th Anniversary and even the novel Sig's Secret, none of which has ever seen official releases worldwide. Many also fear this will be invoked on the current game itself should it ever get delisted, due to how surprisingly lore-rich it is, which is one of the many reasons why people online took issue with the Apple Arcade exclusivity.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The title name itself gives longtime fans a chuckle, considering the series has been known as Puyo Pop outside of Japan for years. Adding on to this is the official Japanese hashtag on Twitter/X being #ぷよポップ (#PuyoPop).
• Salvaged Gameplay Mechanic: Fever 2's Item system got retooled and polished up for Puzzle Pop. The stringent 24-item limit is gone, and you can hold multiple copies of an item. You're also allowed to use up to three at once, some of which stack for stronger effects. You could make a particularly hard battle a breeze, and can just as easily make it terrible for yourself to cash in on the extra point currency.
• Tainted by the Preview: Despite the great reception for Puzzle Pop, there are some issues that result in some form of complaint from fans of the series.
  • The excitement people had for its announcement went sour when it was revealed to be an Apple Arcade exclusive, so much so that it's cited as one of the few negatives by those who have played it, with everything else about the game being praised. This largely stems from worries that Sega had once again screwed over Puyo Puyo's chances of succeeding in the West by putting it on an unpopular subscription service that requires an expensive Apple device to gain access to, limiting its accessibility.
  • Not only is the 24 Playable Character limit still in place, they're not even all fully available at launch as there will only be 9 characters at the start with the rest being revealed in a live service-style update system. This curiously means that even those revealed in the trailers and promotional pictures like Sig or Draco are not going to be playable, and even more baffling, not a single full ARS trio will be immediately available on the base roster, with Arle missing Schezo AND Rulue, Amitie and Raffina missing the aforementioned Sig, and Ringo and Maguro missing Risukuma.
    • Making the above point more frustrating is the fact that those unplayable technically do exist in the gameplay itself as opponents to be faced in the available story modes. While the argument could be made that this could be a way to give the staff extra time in designing their respective episodes, fans still see it as Sega enforcing Fake Longevity by gating them off for the sake of future update content. Keep in mind that the live-service model is already seen as a heavily unpopular business practice by the greater gaming community as a whole.
• That One Rule: Mocked Draco Centauros's Artificial Stupidity? Well joke's on you, because Draco's story forces No Rotation on every battle she has. Without one such fundamental, chain building suddenly becomes a struggle, especially if you're aiming for all the stars and medals.
• Unexpected Character: Given that the promotional material didn't acknowledge her, many were surprised to find Ally was in the game. She gives you a tutorial on how to play Puyo when you open the game for the first time, and is part of the Wave 1 update with her own sub story. This also goes for Rafisol, who's the final boss in Ally's story, though some fans knew she would be involved in someway given Ally and Rafisol's common connection and the fact that Sega accidentally left Rafisol's voice credit in the base game's staff roll.