So having reviewed the film and the crossover with
Ace Attorney, I decided that its now time to talk about the main games in the
Layton series. Much like with
Ace Attorney, the games were among the most successful (critically and commercially) games from a third party franchise on the Nintendo DS and is still getting games today on the Nintendo 3DS. So there are a lot of puzzles and a few stories to tell so let's get to it:
Also due to the later games being prequels, I'm going to do this list in chronological order.
The Last Specter/Specter's Call
Set three years before
The Curious Village, this game sees Professor Layton (voiced by Christopher Robin Miller) meet Luke Triton (voiced by Lani Minella) for the first time who has asked for Layton's help in preventing an artifact called the Specter from attacking the fictional village of Misthallery at night. With help from his assistant Emmy (also voiced by Lani Minella), the trio set out to destroy the specter by any means necessary. While not the first game of the series, it does follow tradition with solving puzzles and giving us a great story with anime cinematics and graphics. And with its online functionality, you can also do puzzles downloaded from the Internet to give it a completion bonus of sorts (something of which the other games do as well). As said before, the Layton games were among the many third party franchises that made the DS a success and shows that despite the limitations, you can create a great story driven game while still being a game with puzzles and things to find. And its nice to see the origins of the series which is good too. 8/10
The Miracle Mask
In the present, Layton and company have been summoned to the city of Monte d'Or where a masked gentleman has performed some so called miracles that have terrorised the city and together with his assistants and members of Scotland Yard, Layton prepares to stop this man once and for all. But this figure in question may be someone that has a personal connection to Layton from many years ago. With this being the first entry on the 3DS, many changes were made to account for the game to take advantage of what the 3DS has to offer. This includes things like 3D characters and environments as well as using the touch pad to use a magnifying glass to look for hidden hint coins, items and puzzles as well as anything else to help in Layton's investigation. The puzzles are more challenging than ever, though most of them are shown mainly in 2D with some 3D elements. Like other games, its not without its set of minigames which are an added bonus for some extra fun in the game. And this being the 3DS, daily puzzles returns with SpotPass being the service that downloads them. So as the first game on the 3DS, its clear that Layton knows its a new console and wants to push it to the limits that it can take. Its fun, challenging and has a heart provoking story that will probably make you cry towards the end. One of the best entries in the series I think. 9/10
The Azran Legacy
In Layton's currently last appearance in the series so far, the gang are up against a villainous faction who call themselves Targent who intend to harness the power of rare artifacts called the Azran eggs. But when they come across a girl who has a connection to these so called powerful eggs, its a race around the world and against time to prevent Targent from absolute power by finding and putting the eggs in their rightful place and help the girl retrieve her memories. Interesting to see that the game decides to go to several locations this time as opposed to only one location. Most of the gameplay aspects from
Miracle Mask are back and work flawlessly. New minigames are here and there's also over 500 new puzzles which according to Wikipedia, is more than its predecessor. As the last game to star Layton himself, its great. Lots of locations to explore and plenty to do aside from the main story as always. The story itself is once again tear jerking in that its not just the last time we see Layton and company, but it also brings up someone who Layton thought he once lost and adds some character development for him. Its a great way to end the Layton era of the franchise and I'm satisfied. But before we say goodbye to him, let's look at the original trilogy. 9/10
The Curious Village
So having talked about the prequels, let us now go to the game that started it all. So picking up from the ending scenes of
Azran Legacy, Layton and Luke (now without Emmy) are summoned to the village of St. Mystere where in the will and testament of a baron who has kicked the bucket, he will let anyone who solves the mystery of the so called Golden Apple, inherit his wealth and fortune. But this mystery soon turns to an investigation of strange things happening in the town and its up to Layton and Luke to solve it. As the first game of the series, the story will feature the first appearances of many of the series' well known characters as well as Layton meeting some of them for the first time. The gameplay is different from later games as most areas in a map will unlock once the player has either advanced the story or completed a certain number of puzzles. How you come across the puzzles remains the same, but should the player miss some, there is a puzzle hub in the town where you can play it again (a common feature that appears in every game in some capacity). Plenty of puzzles to try and each one you do, you get rewarded with stuff for the minigames and there's a lot of hint coins out there too. So as the first game of the series, it had a lot of promise and delivered the first of what would be a great series of games. For its time, its aged pretty well despite how basic the game is (something of which is expanded upon in later games). Onto the next one. 8/10
The Diabolical/Pandora's Box
Well if Link can travel on a train on the DS, then so can Layton. So the last game ended with a "to be continued" sign which indicates that game being the first of many. So here we are with its sequel and while its no world tour like
Azran Legacy, it still involves a lot of travelling. So Layton receives word of a box that once opened, can kill the person who opened it. With their one clue being a train ticket for the Molentary Express, Layton and Luke catch the next train where they will find out that the box isn't all its out to be. Gameplay pretty much remains the same with the notable differences being the choice of locations, the puzzles (which includes the amount) and the minigames which are all pretty good as always. Like its predecessor, it is a good game that gives your brain a workout with a good story for good measure. But also like its predecessor, it is very short with little to no replay value (something of which was addressed in later games). But still its a very good game which keeps the franchise going in some capacity. 8/10
The Unwound Future
Yeah I know. The whole going back in time and liar revealed scenarios have been done before, but now we how Layton goes about them. So Layton and Luke attend a demonstration of an inventor's time machine and things get awry. The inventor, the prime minister and several scientists go missing as a result of the time machine getting out of control. Receiving a letter from Luke 10 years into the future, the duo set out to save the future though some twists and turns are to be expected. While the gameplay largely remains the same albeit with new puzzles and mini games, a new feature added is the super hint. A fourth hint that can be acquired after spending hint coins on the other hints and while it comes close to revealing the solution, it still keeps the player guessing. Despite its non original story,
Unwound Future shows that even with an unoriginal story, it can still be a very good game. Its kind of sad to see these heroes one last time (though in release order, it wouldn't be the last anyway), but for their presumably last adventure, its a good one. Not the most original, but its a good one that shows that you should never trust your future self and that the future can always be changed. 8/10
Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy
So after spending six games as well as a crossover and film with Hershel Layton, we now begin a new adventure with his daughter Katrielle (voiced by Rosie Jones). So the game begins with the opening of Katrielle's detective agency in London where she and her assistant Ernest (voiced by Tom Clegg) tackle a series of cases while also finding out what happened to Kat's father. Their first client just so happens to be a talking dog that's suffering with amnesia. With not much to go on with regards to the dog's case, Kat decides to take ownership of him and call him Sherl O.C. Kholmes (voiced by James Barriscale) where alongside Ernest, he too becomes an assistant of Kats' while unofficially being the agency's mascot. Soon cases start flying in and the trio go and solve them where a much bigger conspiracy is occuring. Gameplay is once again very much the same with new puzzles and minigames and the gameplay being that of the prequel trilogy. In a similar fashion to the
Ace Attorney games, the game is spilt into several cases with one big story arc being told over the course of it. This is to oppose the chapters of the story seen in previous games. As the first game with Hershel, its a pretty good game. It allows itself to introduce new characters without forcing it upon people and despite the lack of characters from previous games, it still feels very much like a Layton game thanks to the bizarre character designs and light heartened but still action packed story. And of course puzzles. If this is the way the series is going now, then all I can say is after seeing Hershel in six games, a crossover and a film, its a nice change of pace that still feels like a Layton game even if its got a lot of new things in there. 9/10
And that's all there is too it. They may be hard and they may be pretty bizarre at times. But the Layton games are there to test the brain while also giving us a good story with anime elements which is nice. Its just as popular as the
Ace Attorney games and I hope that with its new direction that its going in, that it can still be as great as ever. 9/10
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