Level-5 / Nintendo
Anthony: Honestly, as charming and enjoyable as the first game was, I’d probably have bought this game if it were called Professor Layton and the Trip to the Grocery Store. Layton and Luke were such delightful characters in a unique game that I would’ve been sold on the idea anyway. Instead, we get Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, as Luke and Layton travel out to unravel the mystery behind a box that causes those who open it to perish, merrily solving puzzles every step of the way. It’s exactly what you’d expect, and that’s a very good thing.
While “more of the same” is a mantra you’ll hear many times in relation to this sequel, that’s not true for every aspect. For one, the graphics have received an even better production. I thought they were great in the original, but man, they really knocked it out of the park here. Backdrops are amazingly detailed with beautiful environments, and multiple animated scenes look wonderful. They’re easily some of the best I’ve seen on the DS.
In fact, they also fixed one of my main concerns with the original. Sometimes you were given puzzles where you could write all over the screen, and others gave you no such option. Now they’ve added a “Memo” option that brings up a translucent screen for you to take notes on with any puzzle. It’s a step in the right direction, though I’d like to see them give an eraser option rather than just clearing all or none of your writing.
The storyline is still a positive and intriguing element. They addressed my concerns of the previous game solving all mysteries simultaneously by gradually revealing them throughout the game this time. While it doesn’t quite have the same impacting twist to the story, when the resolution came about, it was satisfying. It had me wishing I could see some of the scenes/dialog again to recognize how it all came together.
Puzzles are a mixed bag as usual. In general, whether by luck or having the previous game’s puzzle style in my head, I found several of the puzzles in the game to be surprisingly easy. I feel like I often spent more time making sure I wasn’t jumping the gun than I spent actually solving it. Granted, there are still a few tricky ones, a few tedious ones, and a few that made me say “oh you sons of b-“. The good news is the puzzle translation is pretty good here, there was only one puzzle of 150ish that I remember disliking the way they worded it. If anything, I found a couple puzzles where they actually gave -more- information than necessary for solving it!
But I should caveat that - even when I breezed through puzzles, I was still enjoying the game. Whether I caught their tricks immediately, or stared at the screen for a while, there was still satisfaction in completing each one.
They went 2/3 on quality minigames this time. Though fairly easy, the minigame of setting up a course for a fat hamster to run through was a cute diversion. And similarly, the classic “reassemble the pieces” puzzle was functional and led to a moderately interesting sidequest.
However, the “Tea Time” minigame of choosing ingredients to brew and serve to thirsty town residents wasn’t so engaging. Sure, brewing tea is pretty applicable for a dapper gentleman such as Layton, but when the result is basically just trying ingredient combinations and failing repeatedly until something works, then exiting and reentering a room repeatedly until you find a character is thirsty in order to attempt serving them a specific tea... Well, they tried something unique, which I appreciate, but ultimately it was not a fun diversion.
Altogether though, this is still another very solid game in a series that I will likely be purchasing many iterations of throughout the years. When one considers the amount of unlockable puzzles, weekly download puzzles, inter-game secret sections, and extra bonus content on top of a 10-15 hour main game, once again this game stands out as a lot of enjoyable gaming for $30.
There’s still plenty of charm to be found in the series, and I imagine it will take quite a while before Professor Layton wears out his welcome on me. Though it’s a very similar game to the first, it’s still a slight improvement on an already very good game. So again, I have to give a hearty recommendation similar to the one I gave for the first game. Unless you have an absolute and complete aversion to concept of the game, try giving it a shot. It’s satisfying, charming, and there’s still just nothing quite like it.
Lauren: Layton is back and as adorable as ever. The Diabolical Box is another entertaining entry in the series, only the second of which that has made the trip to North America. The franchise gained popularity quickly over in Japan, now at a total of four titles and one upcoming feature film. Considering the success of The Curious Village and The Diabolical Box, we can only hope that the others will eventually come this way as well.This entry in the series is technically not that much different from its predecessor, but as Anthony mentioned, that's definitely not a bad thing. It's just a very familiar style if you've played the first, and some puzzles pull the same tricks you probably noticed the first time around. But if the formula works, there isn't much point in messing with it, right?
The graphics are even prettier in this one than the first, often feeling like an animated movie. Backgrounds are crisp, clear, and impressively detailed. It's great to see the DS hardware being put to such good use. It's also worth mentioning that the stylus controls are nearly perfect, and that's obviously important for a game like this.
The music suits the atmosphere of the game very well, featuring mostly mysterious themes. I was happy to see that the well-established "solve the puzzle" music made a return as well. And once again, the voice acting is spot-on - it's a joy to hear Layton's accent again, among others.
The puzzles are a combination of old and new - you'll see a few that will remind you of the first game, but many others will catch you off guard. Of course, there were still a few cheap ones that made me say, "Oh, come on!", but that's bound to happen with brain-teasers. Multiple mini-games help to mix up the action in The Diabolical Box, from hamster-exercising to tea-brewing. None of them are particularly deep, but they're generally decent diversions.
This Layton will probably last you anywhere from 10 to 15 hours, depending on how sharp you are with this sort of thing. Bonus content is available after completing the story, and there are many well-hidden puzzles within the main game itself. It'll definitely keep you going as long as you're interested, though I must point out that a lot of puzzles are just progressively bigger versions of ones that you've already completed. I hope you like Chinese checkers and chess!
I'd only recommend avoiding this one if you absolutely cannot stand brain-teasers, though I'll remind the reader that I enjoyed both games while not being a fan of puzzles myself. All in all, The Diabolical Box is a great sequel to The Curious Village. Sure, it didn't do too much differently, but it's fun and pretty with a lot of charm. And you get to see Layton sword-fighting.
No comments:
Post a Comment