You cannot deny that Professor Layton is fast becoming a Nintendo jewel. The dear Professor courteously announced his first escapade in 2008, charming his way into the wallets of a staggering number of Nintendo DS owners, and rightly so. With the original game, developer Level 5 hit upon an original and wholly engrossing blend of traditional point & click adventure interface, and puzzle book gameplay. It is to be expected then, that whilst there are fresh puzzles to be beaten, a Professor Layton game will be in the works.
On his second outing, the Professor is treading very familiar ground indeed, albeit with a bit more shine to his shoes this time around. The mysteries pile on quickly, whisking you off to a far more diverse assortment of locations than in the previous instalment in the series. In fact, the overall pace of the game is a deal more frantic than its predecessor, leaving the carefree street ambling behind, in favour of a thunderous tale of kidnappings, lost fortunes, lethal trinkets and supernatural forces. A troublesome set of nuisances, but nothing our gentleman hero can’t handle, whose brilliance matches that of the most talented of primary school maths teachers. It surely stems from that inexplicably fantastic hat of his.
The host of characters never disappoint, each uniquely ridiculous, with some familiar faces from the first title returning for this round. Some may be less than pleased to discover that Luke, the Professors unlikely sidekick, returns with greater ambition than before to irritate the socks off you, with that preposterous accent, and sickening juvenile enquiry of his. I, myself am willing to forgive the kid, based on the hilarity that often ensues following just about any conversation he has with a NPC (Non Player Controlled-character). He’s as clumsy with his thoughts and words as you would expect for his age, the Professor more often than not coming to his aid when he’s getting himself into a pickle.
The story driving cut-scenes consist of lovingly animated shorts and still image slides, accompanied by recorded voice-acting. These definitely help to further your interest in the otherwise text-based narrative. However, I frequently found myself frustrated at how few and far between these cut-scenes were. Now of course, some of the blame can be placed on the DS’ hardware limitations. Audio and video can really eat up memory, but being as the puzzle gameplay and point & click narrative are a fairly awkward pair, I’d hoped that narrative driven cut-scenes could be used as a resting period for my puzzle weary head. As it was, as soon as I had settled myself comfortably into a cut-scene, I found myself being tossed back into the thick of it, with a bucket of water tossed over me as a wake-up call, and a stylus thrust into my already dangerously strained fingers. What I’m trying to say, is that the experience is less casual than you might expect, or even hope. The mysteries linger, and the puzzles just keep on coming. There is an enormous amount of content on show here for a handheld game, one standard play-through taking me around 19 hours, not mentioning bonus features, which I’ll get expand upon later.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of the gameplay then. The original Professor Layton game’s warm reception was built on the strength of its puzzle repertoire, and you’ll be happy to hear that puzzles on show here are quite as varied in difficulty and context, and most importantly, enjoyable to solve. I did find that a few too many suffered from poor wording in the puzzle descriptions, leading to some completely illogical solutions, and when this was the case, it was enormously frustrating. This was a small issue in the grand scheme of things though, as we’re talking about a very small handful of the 150 plus puzzles available. There really is plenty for you to chew on.
Another issue entirely, was the implementation of these puzzles within the game world, and in relation to the point & click interface. As stated earlier, I found the coupling of the two gameplay styles fairly awkward, and this was not helped at all by the way in which the puzzles we’re linked to the navigation interface and narrative. Puzzles are mostly discovered by interacting with NPC’s. Tapping on a character results in a short text conversation between you and said character. Occasionally, you’ll be presented with a genuine problem, for example, the character has dropped their camera, and asks that you rebuild it for them. The puzzle then given to you is, as you’d expect, built around the idea of a broken camera. When this is the case, the separate elements of the game gel magnificently, and its’ a joy to investigate every nook and cranny of the vibrant world. Unfortunately, you are rarely treated to such thoughtful gameplay and story integration. Too often I found myself mashing carelessly at every NPC I encountered on my puzzle rampage, knowing full well that each individual would offer me conversation about as rich as porridge, before demanding I complete another puzzle, giving me no more reason for doing so than I gave them for rudely stylusing them in the face. I was relieved to find that the most climatic points in the game offered more engrossing challenges, but I can’t shake the feeling that there was more lazily produced, disjointed, filler material than was necessary.
An entirely new addition to this game were the mini-games, and they’re very good. These are unlocked in conjunction with key plot progressions, and are essentially just more complex puzzles, yet they offer a sometimes well needed break from the core gameplay. Once unlocked, each mini-game can be accessed at any time during the main game, the incentive to play being the wonderful rewards promised to you if you succeed in completing each mini-game, oh, and they’re also a lot of fun. I cannot even begin to tell you of the lame sense of pride I get when seeing Professor Layton enjoy a cup of my very own tea, during the stellar tea blending mini-game. Or, indeed, the delight that is forcing a cup of absolute muck down Luke’s self-important little mug.
There are bags of other additional content; including supplementary puzzle downloads, if you’re prepared for the arduous task of getting your DS up and running with Nintendo wi-fi. Dedicated puzzle slayers will be rewarded with….more puzzles, but character profiles, concept art galleries and un-lockable secrets, relating to other games in the series, ensure every player is catered for. The main game has plenty enough content without the need for bonuses, but they are all welcome additions nevertheless.
To conclude, Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, is a very respectable game. Fans of the first game will no doubt be pleased with what’s on offer here, and newcomers will find an uplifting, witty and charismatic adventure about a refined gentleman with a passion for puzzles and tea. The structures a little shaky from time to time and there’s certainly a need to cut the fat, but you’re looking at a series that’s refreshing beyond belief, and this instalment sits comfortably as one of the DS’ stronger titles.
VideogameUK verdict: 7/10
