Laytons Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy (3DS)

 

Let's solve a Mystery!

The latest Layton game from Level-5... that was released 2017 for the 3DS and that I played for 5 hours in 2018... and then didn't pick up again until 2022 when I finished after a couple of work days. I really should stop playing games for 5 hours and pick them up some years later. As mentioned, latest Layton game, but Hershel Layton isn't technically in the game. He is mentioned, but you instead follows his daughter Katrielle, her servant Ernest Greeves and the dog Sherl O.K. Holmes (aka Sherlock Holmes). It begins with Sherl asking Katrielle to find his owner (she can speak with animals, which is strange since that was Luke Tritons deal). But they get sidetracked with other cases that emerges for Katrielle and her detective agency.

So instead of a narrative that binds everything together it's instead divided into 12 different cases. There is some overlap with characters appearing in them and the events being referenced. The cases goes from find a pet, to solve a theft of a golden statue, find the vigilante Ratman that disappeared (a case filled with Batman references, awesome) to a case where Katrielle has to prove that she didn't commit the murder of a owner of a hat store (which you saw previously in the case where you tried to find a present to Inspector Hastings, this games bumbling police officer). The first eleven cases builds up a bit about the 7 dragons of London, a group of wealthy millionaires that contributed to London in different areas. One is the mayor, one is a shipbuilder, one owns the biggest bank, one is the owner of a newspaper and so on. And then there is a backstory time on how Ernest and Katrielle met as she cleared him from being accused of stealing some research papers on his first day at the University.

The last episode is pretty much the closest to the older Layton gamed high stake mysteries. Katrielle and the dragons are invited to the Richmond estate, the haunted home of lord Richmond that died ten years prior, but Lord Adamans have found the treasure there inviting the participants to solve the mysteries or lose their fortunes with Katrielle as the juror of the game. The dragons fails and then Katrielle solves the mystery and figures out who lord Adamans is. Turns out it was a fake name and that it really was the grandson Miles Richmond that have comeback to exact revenge on the seven dragons that got started by digging up diamonds on a mountain that was owned by lord Richmond. Miles in turn turns out to be... Ernest Greeves, Katrielle's servant. Didn't see that coming. 

Like usual it's all a big misunderstanding and everyone ends on good terms. The Dragons had tried to find Miles during all this time since Richmond gave them permission to use the land since he himself was so indebted that any fortune would be going to pay his personal debt so he wanted them to use it for the betterment of London... so a really big scam to get away from his creditors then. Decent story, but I guess a clearly stated goal of the game was to bring the series down to reality since they felt it had grown out of hand with those world spanning conspiracies and such. Which is a bummer for someone like me who liked that. A bit of a problem though with the cases structure, I much prefer a mystery that follows you all through out. It also becomes a problem that we never find Sherls owner, or where Hershel is since Katrielle mentions looking for him near the last cases. I mean, there really wasn't a conspiracy to be found in the game.

The puzzles then? Fine, I've gotten wiser on the gotcha moments when the answer is thinking outside the box. Apparently the designer behind the puzzles for the first Layton games passed away in 2015 and the game is dedicated to him and there is a new person on that, but it's fine. Feels like the other games. You also got mini-games like before, prepare the ideal dinner for a couple of characters, get Sherl to the end of the stage by pressing buttons and such and the last game being put jewels on display in order to sell everything in different stores. Small distractions, you can also decorate the office or get new clothes for Katrielle by finding red coins to exchange it for the clothes. 

Overall, works fine for what it is. There was a Switch release in 2019 of the game with something like 51 different puzzles, but not really enough to double dip in my opinion, especially when I can play all Layton games on my 3DS. Although, why it was released on the 3DS is a bit of mystery since it doesn't have any 3D-effects in it. Although I guess most games at the end of the 3DS era ditched the 3D. It's around 40 hours of total gameplay with the normal game and the daily puzzles which you earn points to unlock scenes and descriptions about the earlier games in the series. Well, time to get going on another game.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Switch)

He was a Magic Man!

Played Ni No Kuni once again and that was 6 years ago. Same story, nothing added. Although I know I've complained that the end-game didn't have an ending for Oliver and his mother, but the game technically ended with the fall of Shadar and there it is. His mother saying good-bye and replaying it I can see that it was the perfect ending point. And the reason why it is like that is probably due to it first being a DS game that got ported and enhanced for the PS3 where they pretty much added all the White Witch stuff. So the title of the game didn't originally exist... or so I gather. 

This gonna be more critical than when I played it the first time. The reason being, I found the game more frustrating now. First off, it tends to crash at certain intervals, and worst, often when I try to save the game. Then, the kid voice acting is not good. Oliver's voice really grates on me, and he can't act. And none of the actors can say the name Cassiopeia correct. It's a damn constellation tied to the Perseus myth. Don't you have a classical education? And thirdly, the gameplay. I despise the familiar combat. Why force the player to choose three familiars, that you randomly can catch, that you gotta equip with different weapons and armours (if they even can have weapons or armours) and all those variables is somehow gonna help you in battle? When it usually enough to mash A and attack with the first familiar. And add the time limit forces you to switch them out, but at the end game you pretty much just need Oliver (and it's frankly much better with the choices of spells you can use). And don't get me started on the attacks that constantly cancels out my attacks or giving items to my companions. And some of those attacks are from said companions. That's just frustrating!

Small nitpicks is, why do I have spells that have no use? Like shrink or transform? Did they got a use in the DS version? The sequel released a year or two back? And some only have one use that one time and is never mentioned again, and the main mechanic of take and give heart isn't that well used in the later part of the game. And technically, what difference is love from kindness or enthusiasm from ambition? They are described pretty much the same in the game or is it a translation and/or cultural problem? Also, I really would like a physical version of the wizard companion since it would make the game easier (and was the intended play on the DS since they couldn't get it on the cartridge). Take the wooden encampments that you gotta look up in the book and then try to find on the world map. And you can't access it while traveling on the dragon so you gotta land to look it up. And it clearly gives an advantage in finding the secret treasures on the world map before you get the locate treasure spell. 

So with all that, is it still worth playing? It's still a good story and the animations and designs from Studio Ghibli pops out. Although the creature design is not always that interesting, I would blame the eyes since most of them have big dopey eyes. The spider enemies look so goofy. And I get it that it's a game targeting kids and you gotta catch the enemies and such, but still. First time playing, go ahead, second time around... maybe six years in between is rather good. 

Speaking of story... isn't the intro going a bit fast? Oliver just awakens Mr. Drippy and he pretty much bullies this poor sad kid into taking on the other worlds dangerous wizard who ruled the land for a 1 000 years. And pretty much berates him across the whole game? If I'm gonna be dark, it looks like this is just Oliver trying to cope with the fact he feels responsible for his mother's death so he goes into this other world which mirrors the real world, but clearly is just in his mind. And his neighbours do squat when he dress up in this cape and runs around waiving a branch and pretending to heal people. Where is the social services? And is he really 13 years old (per the PS3 manual)? He acts and sound like 8!

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

I got it, the final game in the series!

So I finally got around to it and got the last game in the series. And what a ride. It starts with the Professor, Luke and Emmy being taken to the town of Froenburg where an archeologist professor Sycamore have found a living mummy and needs the help of the professor. They find the professor near an cryogeneticfrozen girl hidden behind a wall appearing to be ice, but is actually glass. And as soon I see Sycamore I know the twist of the story... he's freaking Descole. A bit tipped off by his butler that I recall from the end of the last game. But as that ending set up, Descole isn't anyone to care about during the game since instead we have the military organisation Targent looking for the remnants of the Azran, a prehistoric civilisation that created futuristic technology but somehow disappeared from the face of the earth, the Atlantis myth pretty much. And that is something I really like. I liked it in Golden Sun, I liked it in Mysterious Cities of Gold and I like it here. It's a staple of fantasy, especially since Tolkien and the Akallabeth.

Professor Sycamore I assume

So they release the girl that don't have any memory so Targent arrives and kidnapps the girl and Layton and Sycamore chase after on "Sycamores" flying machine... this scene and music is amazing. And it's the beginning of the game. Well, Layton and Luke boards Targents ship and rescue the girl as they fall near a town with Azran connections that opens up a chart on where to find five eggs that will lead to the Azran legacy. So your on a world tour. And like in Mysterious Cities of Gold they find ancient artefacts of the Azran and showcases this ancient civilisation. I don't know why, but I really like it. So they find the five eggs, but for some reason one of them have been switched by Targent so they infiltrate Targent's main base. As you climb the tower... like any Layton climatic ending, you confront Bronev, the leader of Targent that tries to pursued Layton to join, but Layton resist because he's Layton and then... Sycamore appears to be Descole and steals the key that was formed by the five eggs... oh no, didn't see that *sarcasm*. They escape and travels to Froenburg and enters the hidden chamber again and there Targent, Descole and Layton have a standoff until... Emmy betrays Layton for her Uncle Bronev... That took me by surprise. No really, that was an interesting twist. Especially since they established her for 3 games and a movie. But that doesn't stop there. Emmy uses Luke as a bargain tool and goes with Bronev which leaves Layton and Descole as the only ones to stop Bronev as they figured out that the Azran Legacy can potentially destroy the world. The rivals find Luke after crossing a chasm and enters a maze with stone guardians. Descole breaks most of them, but one get ready to fire on Luke, but Descole jumps in between and yet another twist is revealed. Descole and Layton are brothers. And Descole is the real Hershel Layton as their parents were kidnapped by Targent and the older brother gave his name to his younger brother as he was adopted by his foster family that was introduced in the other 3DS game.

Best scene in the game, the attack of the flying machines

And that is not all. Apparently Bronev is their real father that went insane due to losing his wife and somehow climbed to the top of Targent. Layton and Luke continues and confront Bronev and Emmy at the top of the tower, but are unable to stop Bronev to put the girl in a sacrificial machine and, even if he hesitates for a moment, stabs a dagger in her heart. This actives the girls real function as the last created Golem of the Azran civilisation that went under due to giving the Golem sentient and still treat them as slaves so they revolted and crushed the Azran civilisation that in their final act locked the Golems away with the safeguards Layton traveled around to find. This is pretty much like the first season of the Mysterious Cities of Gold. Of course what they need to do is stop the machines heart by blocking the light it emits to some crystals. Layton, Emmy and Luke steps up to the task and even Descole appears again. But there is five lights and the girl can't enter the light due to being a golem so Bronev atones for his sin as all he believed in has proven false so he enters the light and stops the machine. The girl dissolves as she has fulfilled her purpose and Grosky apprehends Bronev as he have been chasing Targent all over the game. Meanwhile Chelmey was on a honeymoon toghether with his wife. A clever way to have him in the game while not interacting with Layton who he doesn't meet until Pandora's Box. The game ends with pretty much Emmy saying her farewell as she need to get away and the ending sequence is Layton and Luke travelling to a little town to solve an inheritance dispute which is the start of the very first game, the Mysterious Village. A really fun way to end the series and tie it together with all the games. Of course one point I thought that the game hinted toward the spider machine in the Unbound Future episode, but maybe it was mentioning the Spectre's Call. I was a bit disappointed in that it was rather short on the puzzle side. Really, apparently only 150 puzzles and they weren't that hard to find either. It says I got 149, but I don't know if it doesn't count the final game ending puzzle or not. Well, can't wait until Lady Layton releases.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Couldn't help myself, I had to play more of this series

Lucky I watched the movie before this game since some plot points appears here. But we begin in Monte d'Or, the city of miracles during a night parade. Layton, Luke and Emmy is investigating the city due to a letter from Angela Ledore, the  wife of Henry Ledore who founded the city on an oasis in the middle of the desert. The city is under attack from the masked gentleman who performs his miracles, like turning people into horses, petrifies them and giving life to paintings. Causing chaos and somehow have stolen the Mask of Chaos, an artefact which Monte d'Ors fortune is built on. The police can't handle the situation and have called in Scotland Yard and got... Grosky. And another investigator named Blom. And that's pretty much the basic plot. Solve puzzles and wonder around the city like usual. But there is an instance where we have an arcade section of riding a horse through the streets of Monte d'Or and at one point it turns into a Zelda dungeon crawl. And from here it's gonna be spoilers galore.

The masked gentleman

So the investigation first points towards the two richest men in the city, Alphonse Dalstone and Henry Ledore. Henry, Alphonse and Angela are childhood friends with Layton from the town of Sansbury, which Layton left after an accident which killed Randall Ascot, the heir of the richest family in town and the one that introduced Layton to puzzles and archeology. Randall was a pair with Angela and Henry was his childhood friend and more or less the family butler. Randall and Layton is on an expedition to find the Azran treasure, but a trap right before the treasure room causes Randall to fall into a chasm and is presumed dead. Henry joined a search party and found the treasure and used it to establish Monte d'Or and married Angela and brought the Ascot family with them. Doesn't help that they arrest Alphonse as a suspect and Henry's fortunes goes through the roof. You are pushed to believe that it's Henry that is the mastermind behind it to get rid of the competition and ensure his hold on Monte d'Or. Doesn't help that he looks like a villain.

First introduction, and the beard and eyes is villainous

But after playing the flashback episodes you can pretty much guess the twist and that is that the villain is Randall... or maybe Angela seeking revenge, but it was Randall who wanted revenge on Henry for stealing his whole life. And it's framed like that, but there is certain things that doesn't add up, like that the reward for finding Randall is gonna be payed out by Henry, the Ascot mother lives together with Henry and Angela and he still keeps memorabilia from Randall around like the robot toy Randall gave him when he just wanted to play with it, but the maid scolded him from taking master Randall's toys. No, another twist is the man behind Randall's rampage is Descole who manipulated him to try to find the mask of order and use it to activate the legacy of the Azran civilisation that lies under Monte d'Or that Layton finds and activates as a mean to protect the city from being overrun by an avalanche of sand Randall caused. After unmasking Descole he runs of and we are left to explain to Randall who had amnesia and the blank filled out by Descole to make it easier to manipulate him. And I don't know if it's due the emotional writing or that I finished it around 2 AM, but I couldn't stop tears running down my face. It's a tale of everlasting friendship when Henry waited 18 years for his master to return. He searched the ruins, built the city as a beacon for Randall to find his way home, he entered a false marriage with Angela to ensure she wouldn't be pushed by her parent to marry Alphonse, everything is written in his name so Randall is the legal owner of every asset of the Ledore family and in this cruel twist of fate Randall is the one that almost destroys it all. I'm so weak for this kind of story. They also roll out his mother in a wheelchair to see her long lost son. Also a reason I had to end it at night so no one could see me crying.

Oh god, I can hardly keep the tears in

The game ends with reconciliation and forgiveness and the credits roll. And afterwards we are treated to a little scene with Descole in the  desert at a secret vault, part of the Azran legacy, when he suddenly is surrounded by tanks and helicopter and approached by "the commander", a figure that was only shown together with inspector Blom and apparently is gonna be the next games main villain as he try to arrest and unmask Descole that is saved by his... butler? Apparently this vault is connected with the garden in Spectre's call and the Ambrosian island in the movie. Great, now I gotta buy the last game in the series the first thing when I got back to work at the 2 January (I wrote this right before the new year). A really good game, the puzzle's felt easier though, but at least I didn't had the silver balls from the last game, instead it's the damn tile laying puzzle to create certain figures. Just three of them thank god. Beside this you have a rabbit theater where you have to train a rabbit in different poses so the rabbit can act in a couple short stories. You have the boutique mini-game where you have to lay out items in an aisle so that the customer goes on a shopping spree to buy everything and the final one being a robot maze mini-game. Fun distractions.

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

A movie? For real?

I mentioned while playing the first game that it looked like some animated movie from France, and guess what, in 2009 they released a 1 hour and 40 minutes movie with professor Layton. Taking place after the Spectre's Call but before the Curious Village. I got it for the 3DS and a bit disappointing it isn't in 3d, but still, it worked fine for me. It isn't a video game, but since it is part of the series I thought it was good enough to put in the video game spot (as well as giving me a bit of a buffer as it is faster to watch a 2 hour movie and write about it than playing a 20 hour game). It looks like the games animated cutscenes and the music sounds like the Layton-soundtrack, and I really dig certain pieces of the original compositions. The story begins with Layton and Luke starting up Big Ben again after it was silenced by Don Paulo disguised as an old lady and we see inspector Chelmey and Flora once again, and then we are put into a flashback adventure. The professor and Luke has received tickets to the performance of a new opera from the main singer, a former student of Layton since she says she's been visited by the reincarnation of a dear friend of hers that died a year ago, daughter to the composer of the opera that retells the myth of Ambrosia who's inhabitants have taken the elixir of life to await the return of the beloved queen who died just before they found the elixir. But all the attendants are kidnapped as the opera stage turns into a ship and they are invited to a game of puzzles to decide who will be awarded eternal life. And inspector Grosky tries to apprehend the mastermind and fights of a bunch of sharks.

I still prefer Chelmey

I like the nod to different character that appears in the game series as they appear as background characters. For example the owner of the train in the second game is one of the opera goers. And many more. So continuing 12 people arrives on an island we find out is the island of Ambrosia. The rest have lost the puzzles and been sent back to town (and the first puzzle is showcased like in the game with a counter of 3 zeroes that then goes to the number, why there is 3 zeroes when there really is 5-6 puzzles in the whole movie including the prologue is beyond me). Meanwhile Emmy have been looking for clues in London and started searching the seas in a plane and picks up a stranded Grosky before reaching this island. After some more people is lost to the puzzles and we enter the castle (because there is always a castle in this series) we find out that the bad guy is, Descole the villain from the Spectre's Call. But he's not working alone. The composer has somehow together with Descole constructed an organ that can copy the mind of a person, in this case his deceased daughter and invited a world renown chess player to use as a vessel for his daughters mind before the machine goes down. But apparently it worked earlier as the daughter had been transferred into the opera singer as she allowed it and started to plan to stop her father from hurting anyone else (since he kidnapped girls in search for a perfect vessel and for some unknown reason believes this is the one). But Descole backstabs him and takes the daughter/opera singer since he needed her as the only one that could sing one part of a song to raise Ambrosia from the sea.

And a sword fight upon the top of a giant walking robot

But as usual Descole missed a part of the puzzle, the oldest trick in a Layton-puzzle, he didn't turn it upside down. But obviously Layton get this and I gotta say, I really like that music. Ambrosia rises, in anger Descole attacks Layton and causes the robot to rampage, causing himself to fall of and disappear. Layton, Luke and the opera singer jumps ship and meet up with Emmy, Grosky apprehend the composer and the dead women leaves the opera singer. Back to the present and the opera singer pays our heroes a visit. The End!

And Layton again build a machine out of things in a garden shed, he's freaking MacGyver

Overall, it feel like a Layton story, but I'm gonna say, there isn't enough puzzles in it which the counter is a proof of. In a game you go for around 150 puzzles, here they are 5-6 that can be seen as puzzles. Really, the Da Vinci code has more puzzles and really, a better way to handle a puzzle movie when you have a larger puzzle that you have to figure out bit by bit. But I guess the reason for missing that was to cram in so many characters, I mean 12? Beside Descole, Emmy and Grosky. You get snippets of why they go along with the eternal life idea and so, but it doesn't matter since the important one is the chess playing girl. And they got rid of 4 of them in one puzzle instead of a one by one that would have been the game version I believe. One by one they fall. One of them is even a mystery novel writer and I would assume that is a nod to Agatha Christie and "... then there were none". Still, it has its moments, like Grosky fighting the sharks, the end battle against Descole and the music. But the lack of puzzles does bother me, but I know its hard to incorporate it when they are more or less thrown at you in the games just by looking at things.

Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call

Or the Last Spectre

The last Layton game for the DS and, as of writing, the last Layton game I own. This is a prequel set some years before the first game and we start in London. The professor is assigned a new assistant Emmy Altava. At the same time he gets a letter from Triton, an old classmate that ask for his help in Mysthallery (the name of these places are ridicules I have to say). We set of and quickly find the town under attack from the Spectre, a legendary guardian that now wrecks havoc on the city. Triton have for some reason become the mayor and is so preoccupied with town business that Layton quickly finds the real writer, Triton's son, Luke. Yes, the kid from the other games. So the origin of Luke and Layton's friendship.

He picks up a buss and throws it right back

Luke warns everyone through the family butler where the Spectre shall strike due to observances of lowered water levels in the canals. There's also talk about a witch, a black market of artefacts and for some reason the best police district where every case is closed. Obviously the police is corrupt so Emmy is sent back to London to get some information, and here we have a cameo of Chelmey and Barton since they can't meet the professor, but Emmy is fine since she isn't in the other games. She also picks up one of London's best inspectors that runs... yes, runs to Mysthallery after grappling with a criminal all around London. You uncover the plot that it's all about finding the Golden Garden... what it does I've never got. The Spectre is actually a struggle between a digging machine and a overgrown seal that lives in the lake and plays with the kid Arianna who is accused of being a witch.

Great, we went from Agatha Christie to a Saturday-morning cartoon

After escaping the corrupt cops and infiltrating an "abandoned" factory where they produce the diggers, you confront the citizens in the plaza and reveal the mastermind behind this whole ordeal... THE BUTLER! Of course! Well, it's really not the butler, but someone disguised as him. The villain locked up the butler and Triton's wife to blackmail Triton to help with the search for the garden. He  then gathers the diggers and form a mechanical monsters you have to defeat by disarm each leg and build a catapult. All while the best track of the whole series so far plays.

Great, another f***ing spider!

After the battle the seal slams what's left of the dam that creates the lake and lead Layton and the kids to the Golden Garden, a place so pristine that it is possible to cure whatever disease the "witch"-girl had. And then the seal die. Great, last game they killed Layton's girlfriend who actually already was dead, and now they kill the most adorable animal ever that I actually feel for. *Sob*. This series is beginning to get real serious .*Sob*. Ahem! Now, the "butler" is someone named Descale and is set up as this trilogy of games reoccurring villain. Thing is, he got the same voice actor as the scientist from the last game, and they played around with it since they had him also voice Triton as well, which would point suspicion to him and during the plaza scene it almost looks like it before we pan over to the butler. Nice done game, nice done.

Professor Layton and the Lost Future

Or the Unbound Future in America, the Pal title has a bit more edge to it in my opinion

Third game and I think I begin to get a hang of it. And so you expect the normal thing doesn't appear to be and so on and non-murders and what not. So we start with a buss ride in London and retelling of an event couple of days earlier during the show case of the worlds first time machine, constructed by... some guy. Layton and Luke are present as well as Inspector Chelmey and Barton together with the prime minister of Great Britain, Bill Hawks. He holds a speech and then gets pulled into showcasing the machine. And the thing blows up.

Wow, 5 minutes and they blow up the prime minister

The scientist and workers all disappears in the blast and a short while later Layton receives a note from Luke, sent 10 years into the future that instructs them to find a clock shop in London where they have a time machine set up as a portal through a worm hole in time. Through the looking glass and Layton and Luke is in the London of the future, a dystopian city ruled by the mafia led by the fearsome, cold-hearted and puzzle obsessed archeologist, Mr Herzel Layton!?! They end up in a casino where they met the Luke of the future and as they try to find the future Layton. On their way out they get cornered by the Family that starts to shoot at them and Layton responds with an on the fly machine gun loaded with casino coins or tokens.

Mobsters, blown up prime ministers and a dictator Layton and the current Layton even uses a weapon, damn!

After getting away you all conclude that Future Layton is in Chinatown, but the professor decides to travel back to current day in order to get some facts about certain details of the mystery and by mistake brings with him Chelmey, Barton and Flora as he tries to get information about a mystery of an explosion 10 years ago. An explosion from an earlier attempt to build a time machine that caused the death of 11 people, one of the casualties being Claire, Layton's girlfriend. Which could explain the drastic change of behaviour since we also learns that some of the worlds greatest scientists have disappeared, several in the fields concerning time travel. After some snooping around you enter the pagoda where future Layton is said to reside and you climb the tower. Very reminiscent of the end games of the two earlier games. You enter the final room at the top and confronts this Layton, and it appears it's not (duh!), it's the scientist from the beginning who had a fake name and really was Dimitri Allen, the scientist working on the time machine that killed Claire, who also was his assistant, together with Bill Hawks who he has tied up. He drops a cage on you and gloat over his victory over the intelligent Layton when the professor takes of his hat and...

Wait... WHAT!!!

It turns out that the professor in order to get the upper hand enlisted the master of disguise, Don Paolo... or as we get to learn, Paul. And we finally learns his motive, he was a student at the same university as Layton, but one class higher and had a crush on Claire so when he found out about her and Layton he vowed revenge. And still he helps Layton in this game. Really, as an arch-nemesis he fails on so many levels, but it is rather fun to have him around. Layton steps forward, saves his friends and challenge Allen, but he escapes with Bill Hawks and the others escape during a secret passage. They regroup and search for a hidden facility where the time machine is being built. In the meantime Layton to make sense of a woman he has seen all over the future London who looks just like Claire. They enter the facility and met up with the scientists that have been kidnapped, but are again cornered by the Family, but they escape with the help of Celeste, Claire's sister that have followed them through time in order to uncover the mystery of her sisters death. You escape the facility and enters the Families main base... a restaurant by the Thames. The bartender is none other than Dimitri Allen, but Layton reveals the biggest twist of them all. The future London is all an lie, an underground cavern under London where Allen constructed a replica of London to trick the scientist to help him build a time machine. The time machine in the clock shop is nothing else than an elevator. But not only that, Allen is just a pawn in the hands of the true criminal mind. The Future Luke... or more correctly Clive... Clive Dove I assume. Unbeknownst to Dimitri he has constructed a weapon to show people like Bill Hawks that forced the test of the time machine 10 years ago so he could sell the engine which killed all those people, two of them being Clive's real parents. Hawks hushed it up with his new found money and later rose to the post of prime minister. Clive kidnaps Flora and starts to bombard "Future London" while making it's way up the real London.

Great, Clive's weapon is the spider from Wild Wild West

So Layton and Luke enter the machine with the Laytonmobile Don Paolo constructed. That is, you drive up a hill so you jump atop one of the legs and from there enter the construct. You rescue Flora and with the assistance of Celeste who boarded it with Don Paolo's flying machine locates the generator in order to short circuit the machine to stop it from wrecking havoc. But, the generator is wired to a machine measuring the heartbeats of Bill Hawks who is trapped in the generator so you have to wire it to a clock that will give you 10 minutes necessary to short circuit the engine. They escape to the Laytonmobile and tries to drive down the failing weapon, but they fall of the rail and as they tumble down Layton pushes a red button Don Paolo showed him (not when I was watching I assure you) and it of course turns into a flying car. Celeste jumps of to rescue Clive who lies unconscious in the control room. Layton drops of all passengers and heads back to rescue Celeste and Clive. All are saved, Clive is arrested... and I assume Dimitri as well, but we don't see it. And now yet another twist is revealed. Celeste is really Claire who was sent 10 years into the future, but only for a brief time and she is about to return to her real time... right before the explosion that will kill her. Ending credits and the next sad scene as Luke is about to travel with his family across the Atlantic leaving Layton and London behind. Gee, sadness all around. 

I know I joked that the other games missed murdered people and pulled a Disney revival on those who appeared to die, and pretty much expected the same so you can't fool me with "blowing up" the prime minister, but 11 dead people. And they stay dead... well except Claire, that lives during the course of the game although is technically already dead. Also the ending hint on a future game... but I know that the 3 other games in the series is a prequel trilogy so they must have changed plans. Still, only got one more game and the question is when I will get my hand on the 2 3DS games.

Professor Layton and Pandora's Box

This just screams the Orient express

The second game in the series and it starts more serious than the other. We actually have a murder case as an old friend to the professor ends up dead after finding the titular Pandora's box and Layton and Luke has to take the Molentary Express to solve this puzzle. It's freaking Agatha Christi. Travelling the train is really fun and while traveling we enter this 50 year old town and then onward to the dark and mysterious Folsense. And really, it's a bit boring to travel the town areas since it's just pacing back and forth all the time, but at least they gave you more mini games to play between the puzzle solving, like brewing tea or train the hamster.

I can't believe it either, a dead person in a professor Layton game

Admittedly Folsense starts boring, but the more you find out the more interesting it get. A town that was griped by some disease, vampires and cravings for tea. Inspector Chelmey makes his first real appearance since he wasn't actually in the last game since Don Paolo impersonated him. Flora also returns... for a while until she gets replaced by Don Paolo. Really, this Arch-nemesis of Layton has as of yet only done identity thefts. And now also two cases of theft that went incomplete. He's not really good as arch-enemy really. I wondered what he feel Layton did to him to be so obsessed.

And now we got vampires as well, best Layton-game so far

So the puzzle of the Pandora's box is that it's made out of an ore that gives away an hallucinogenic gas which somehow makes people kill themselves? It makes people very easy to suggestions. The material is found in Folsense (which I guess is a play on the words fool and sense) which is the cause of the disease and as well as the vampires since the count used the effect (unknowingly it seems) to scare of trespassers. In fact the count is caught in some eternal nightmare as he misses his wife (?) while being alone in his castle only surrounded by his own illusions. As Layton drags him out of the shadows of time he gets more mad and it ends in a sword fight between the professor and duke. A sword fight so intense that the castle crumbles around them. Now, the twist is that the duke really is around 70 (?) years old while he appears like 20-30 something due to the gas, but how the hell was he able to cut a steel chain holding up a chandelier? Must be a really sharp sword.

Well, it's not a MAGIC DUEL TO THE DEATH!

Ending is that he finally accepts what has happened to him as his granddaughter finally reaches out to him and he unveils the secret of the Pandora's Box. With the right actions you are able to open a secret compartment where he hid a letter to his loved one, but it had been switched out with her answer as she somehow got hold of the box. And this puzzle could have stumped many people due to being the only one using a certain thing the DS and 3DS have. The microphone. Yes, the very final puzzle solution is to blow the mic. And no, I didn't cheat on that one. I did on the sliding puzzles and had a huge itch to do it on the make the silver balls disappear games. The rest not so much.... oh and one puzzle needed you to use a real train ticket which comes with the game. I luckily got one even after buying the game second hand, but at that time it was at my parents place so I had to look it up as well. But overall was decent puzzles. 18 hours for one playthrough and I can't wait to play the third game.

Wait, he survived? Meaning no murder? Come on!

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

This is not gonna end well

Back when I played the Phoenix Wright and the Professor Layton crossover I realised there is a huge amount of Professor Layton games and I needed a job to afford all the games. Well, I got a job now and guess what? I got the four first games for the Nintendo DS. The UK english as well meaning same voices as in the crossover and lets go. Basically this is a pure puzzle game in the veins of the 7th Guest and I played that as a kid a lot. Although I cheated to get to the end since some of the puzzles in that game are just obnoxious, I mean come on, how many chess and picture puzzles can you have? Here I at least can always use the hint coins system if a puzzle gets to irritating. And mostly the problems lies in that I don't carefully reads the instructions and small problems actually understanding what they mean. I mean, often I'm fooled by how I interpret the words. There is for example some guess who's lying or did the bad thing and you get some statements and by deduction you will find the answer. Fine and dandy, but I get perplexed on the wording as in my mind it can means two things. And don't get me started on when I forget what left and right is. And there is three more games? GOD!

You may think this is just a normal puzzle game, but here our heroes are chased by a remote controlled ferris wheel in a park.

The story is that Professor Layton together with his assistant Luke are travelling to St. Mystere on an invitation of Lady Dhalia, the recently dead Barons wife to find the Golden Apple, a treasure hidden by the baron according to his will and they need the greatest puzzle solver to find it. But things start strange as you get locked inside the village and a the same time one of the relatives to the dead baron winds up dead as well and the London inspector Chelmey is there investigating the case. The mysteries pile up on each other and you soon find out the truth... the whole village actually consist of two people, the rest are robots. Created by the late barons engineer and as you guess the murder isn't really a murder. The victim just malfunctioned and before the engineer could get him he was stoved away by the diabolical Don Paolo who then disguised himself as inspector Chelmey to frame the professor. And this game isn't afraid to introduce an arch-nemesis that the main lead don't remember, meaning it sets up possible sequels and prequels as well.

Well, the devil horn-hair style give it away

It's a fun story and the art style reminds me of some children animated movies I watched as a kid and it has that charm. What's problematic is that the story actually lacks drive. Well, I want to solve it, but I don't have any other reason then that I'm curious. Don Paolo actually tries to frame me later on for the murder, but at the same time Layton unmask him so that threat is gone. The only time there is some urgency is when I've reached the top of the mysterious tower in the village and Don Paolo starts wrecking the place with his flying contraption, but then we are in the ending cutscene so I don't get to do anything. Also, the golden apple is actually the baron's daughter who lives on the top of the tower and the whole puzzle was constructed so that some worthy person could make her happy. Still, she and Layton is trapped on the top while Luke managed to escape so Layton builds a hang glider and sails of and forcing down Don Paolo, they discover the treasure hidden in the baron's manor, but leave it there since taking it away would stop the whole town... how that is possible I don't know. Really, they can come by later anyway since the one keeping the town working is Bruno, the engineer and he is pretty old and after that no one can repair the people. Layton, Luke and the girl travels back to London and all ends who ends well. So why wasn't the hang glider the last puzzle?

Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

 

Since playing the Ace Attorney Trilogy I was hooked so I had to get this game just to see Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey again. It was fun. Created by Capcom and Level 5 it mashed both series really well. With some exception. The stile of Professor Layton clashed with Phoenix Wright more "realistic stile" that also was adopted for the cast unique for this game. And then voice acting, a bit trouble with Phoenix voice, Maya not so much and the other no problem. Also, the 3D models feels a bit slow during certain scenes compared to the 2D court room reactions that went fast. Really need a job if I'm gonna get all 10 Professor Layton games. Damn crossovers. This is how they get you.

The good things is these really nice animated cut-scenes that pop up from time to time. Probably made by Level 5, the same studio that worked with Studio Ghibli on Ni No Kuni.and it shows in the animation style. What really makes this cross-over work is that it merges two different game stiles, one puzzle and the other more or less a logic puzzle visual novel (so maybe not that different). The thing is that they compliment each other. The court room puzzles is just trying to breach the witness testimonies while the puzzle is fun distractions that spice up the game play (I presume it's the other way round if you came from the Professor Layton camp first).

The story then, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey are in London for a Exchange program while Professor Layton and Luke gets dragged into a mysterious car accident by their friend Carmine Accidenti.... Really? That's what they went with? Well alright, that humor is not below me. Somehow they cross paths while they get dragged into a magic book and transported into a medieval town and it's your job to unlock the mysteries of the town and protect the innocents from the fires of the witches court. Get's real intense. Really, the ones you protect you really fight for because you know they will get dropped into the fires of hell directly if they loses. Sadly the witnesses gets on my nerves. Really, in the Phoenix Wright games some witnesses just got on your nerves, while others accidentally stood in your way as they misremember or are tricked by some illusion. In this game though they change it up by having multiple witnesses egging each other on and everyone adjusting their testimonies to get your client sent to the fires. Credit to the game for emulating probably the right feel of a witch trial were they egged each other on for a guilty verdict, but man, it makes me despise the witnesses. 

So, question, did I "cheat" on this game by looking up the answer? Yes... and No. Technically No since the game provides a hint function by using hint coins you find hidden on the different sets. You can use these both in court and during the puzzles making some sections so much easier. For example a moving tile puzzle where each move changes the floor and you need to get all tiles on the same side or the court room picture puzzle to point out contradictions, I hate those segments in the other games. Of course, if you are willing to use them you can get around the game in 23 hours, but you can also play it hardcore, no hint coins, no penalties and no loss of puzzle points (or whatever it was called). If it get you anything I don't know. Still, fun game with an interesting story and the voice acting works fine together with fantastic cut-scenes. Also, really fun if you played the Ace Attorney trilogy with the references like "17 cups of tea" or the end objection line. Hell, even Edgeworth makes a voiced cameo once or twice in the game. Hope they make a sequel.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Whitch

 

I recently got a copy of the game Ni No Kuni for PS3, mostly based on the fact it had animation done by Studio Ghibli and therefore looked rather decent. So I start up and what greats me is this bombastic soundtrack to these amazing visuals and that's even before I pushed start. So I begin playing the game. It's about this kid Oliver who lives in Motorville somewhere in the US in the 1950's wanting to build the worlds fastest race car with his friend (and former bully) Phillip. But observing him is this menacing queen, the white witch (no, not the one from Narnia), who seems him as a potential threat so when Oliver sneaks out in the night to test drive it with Phillip she sabotage one of the wheels. It cracks in the middle of the run and Oliver drives straight into the river (how kids that is between 10-15 years learnt to drive I don't know, must be the 50's). Now, Oliver's concerned mother woke up a bit earlier and goes out looking for him and sees the accident and runs into the river dragging him up. While Oliver is safe his mother sadly succumbs to a heart attack... and dies. And I thought it was gonna be a kiddie game. And this is the first 5 minutes. So when the floodgate is open on the player as well as Oliver his tears falls upon a doll his mother gave him and what did you know, it turns out it's the Lord High Lord of the Faeries Drippy that was cursed by the evil Shadar and the tears is the sign that Oliver is the pure-hearted one and must come to this other world and save it (which incidentally is what Ni No Kuni translates to, The Other World). After pursading Oliver that he might save his mother due to a soul mate system between the worlds Oliver agrees and of we go.

If you really delve into the story you realize pretty fast it is cliched as hell, but as you probably know I don't mind it. For example, this is gonna be spoiler filled so stay away if you want to play it for the first time, all you see of Shadar is some red/orange hair braids sticking out from his cloak. This immediately sent out a couple of warnings, 1) Shadar is his father as it is strongly hinted that his mother came from the other world originally or 2) Shadar is Oliver's soul mate. The second option turns out to be true at the very end of the first part of the game. Then we have Pea (which is a very unfortunate name for a child) who helps Oliver along, but can't be seen by anyone else but Oliver. I guessed it fairly late, but still before the big reveal that it was an alternative version of the White Witch (which I guess is spoiled as soon as Shadar - Oliver connection is established). And finally, the ending is kinda disappointing, you save the world and that it pretty much it. You can't save your mom and the adventure just goes on. The post-game tease wasn't even better. You re-fight all the bosses on a harder difficulty and then fight this guardian of the Universe and are then taken to yet another world, an alternative reality of Motorville where Oliver wasn't born. There he is given the race car he and Phillip worked on to travel around on the world map. Probably a fun payoff if I wasn't expecting an alternative Allison (that is his mother) to turn up and comfort him, especially when the freaking end credits song is all about how he wish he could meet her one last time with an orchestra and choir boy singing *sob* It almost made me cry dammit and they chicken out in the end.

The gameplay mechanics then, closest thing is the Final Fantasy ATB-meter when you attack as a meter builds up and then await your turn. Difference is you only control one party member out of three. Also another mechanic is the what everyone describe as the Pokemon portion of the game, catching monsters, train them and use them since they often excel in physical combat compared to the wizard, cleric and thief the main characters are closest to. Annoying thing is that it's completely random if you can catch them and if you can some of your bloody teammates might just kill it of before harp girl can sing to it (I solved that by constantly have the others do nothing while I'm in command of her since that's the only time I would be playing her). Another gimmick is the take heart and give heart gameplay related to finishing a lot of the quests. People lack a piece of their heart since it was stolen by Shadar (how that happened after he is defeated is another puzzling thing) and you need to borrow someone else abundance of the the thing and level everything out. It can get tedious since the game tells you everything all the time, what piece you need, how to get said piece which spells to use all the freaking time. I got it after the very first quest thank you very much. Now, since it was targeted at children I can understand the repetitiveness and if you don't play in a while it might be good with a reminder. The other complaint which is more my personal taste or expectation of a big budget RPG of today, it wasn't voice acted enough. Only certain scenes had voice acting and the rest was text, the majority was text. Compare this to Final Fantasy X where all story and even some non important people had voices. That game came out in 2001, we have got a bit higher standards, heck even Dragon Quest VIII had more voice acting. Then again, since there is more (or sounds more) like child voice actor it might have been a good decision since at times Oliver could become rather grating.

Overall a fine game that really wants to pluck your heart strings, so story, visuals and audio makes it worth it. Certain annoyances in gameplay and presentation, but chalk it up and just play... ON OUR JOURNEY THROUGH ANOTHER WORLD!!!