“Few things satisfy like a puzzle solved”
The Professor Layton Games were developed by Level-5, Matrix Software and published by Nintendo
Thinking back to my earliest memory of anything Layton, I remember watching my stepbrother (appropriately named Luke) playing a stylish-looking puzzle game involving a bloke in a fancy hat. Now, I’ve always been more of a Nelson Tethers guy rather than a Herschel Layton, thanks to Telltale’s amazing Puzzle Agent games, so for some odd reason, I never felt like the Layton series was worth playing.
What a silly thought that was.
As a retrospective for the entire DS games library, the series that seemingly made the best (exclusive) use of the system, to me at least, was Professor Layton. Puzzle games were already pretty popular on flash-based games websites in the 2000s and with Brain Age showing just how perfect the handheld was for that type of game, it was inevitable that a mainstay adventuring puzzle series would make its way into the hands of DS owners eventually. In 2007 Japanese development team Level-5 released the first of the original puzzling trilogy; Professor Layton & The Curious Village.
I’ll be focusing exclusively on the initial three games that were released in the first 2 years of the series’ life: Curious Village, Pandora’s Box, and Lost Future. This isn’t just because I have recently finished these games and all the puzzles that they contain, but because this trilogy’s loosely connected storyline wraps up and begins anew (in prequel fashion) with the 4th game. I already own and plan on playing through the follow-up prequel trilogy, and if it’s anything like the amazing initial entries, then I very much look forward to them.
The series itself follows the titular Professor, along with his apprentice Luke, solving a plethora of mysteries, be it a missing persons case or the possibility of time travel, all with the signature suaveness you would expect from a seasoned gentleman detective. The student-teacher dynamic is portrayed in a charming, respectful way as Luke never comes across as a needy tag-along side character, but as a subdued boy genius, eager to show the Professor what he’s made of. While Luke is certainly on his way to matching the intelligence of his tutor, he also manages to be a character most players will position themselves with, due to his constant amazement of Layton’s big reveals as well as his honest observations, that players will perhaps be thinking, but Luke will present to the professor with his childlike curiosity. The Professor, of course, always values Luke’s input, a dynamic that in turn shows his caring nature, along with the way he treats other characters throughout the series, even going as far as to pour several townspeople homebrewed cups of tea through a fun minigame in the second entry, and if that isn’t the mark of a true British Gentleman, then I don’t know what is.
The individual plotlines in the three entries are as twisty and “big-reveal-y” as you would hope, yet alongside the story, each boasts around 150 puzzles! This is a huge amount, especially in comparison to the aforementioned Puzzle Agent, which instead leans more into the overall atmosphere, boasting a spookier, Coen Brothers inspired, style. This isn’t to say the Layton series doesn’t have its own distinct style, it definitely does, albeit less overtly creepy. It just isn’t afraid to scatter a puzzle into every corner of the game. This, at first, can seem a detriment to the overall pacing of the story, especially in the more dire situations presented to the players. However, this doesn’t feel like an oversight, but rather a full embracing of its huge puzzle library, and also plays hilariously into the characters’ dialogue, and how the whole world of these games seems to be obsessed with puzzles. I mean hey, when the puzzles are as fun and engaging as they are, I for one don’t mind how the game chooses to implement them.
So whether it be tied to a crucial plot point or just tapping a lamppost, puzzles are most certainly centre stage in these games, no matter how creative the characters, how enticing the art is, if the puzzles aren’t engaging and challenging enough then what kind of puzzle series would it be? Well, they certainly vary in difficulty and enjoyability, and of course, each person tackling them will have a different experience with them. Many of the puzzles force you to change up your way of thinking, encouraging you to use out-of-the-box methods to solve them, while others can be as simple as following a line to its endpoint or moving around blocks to slide a ball into place. Where the game becomes difficult though, is when it presents you with a series of conundrums (such as the previously mentioned ball-moving puzzle) which are given to the player in increasingly more difficult variations throughout the game, to a brain-numbing, trial and error degree of difficulty. As hard as they can get, I think these are perfectly placed throughout each game, where it seems the truly hellish are reserved for the endgame bonus section.
Other than assuming you know a certain amount of basic to intermediate maths, the game offers relative support in the form of hint coins, found through the game’s gorgeously 60’s styled locations and can be used in all of the games puzzles, up to three times (four in the 3rd game) for multiple hints that can point you in the right direction if you’re feeling extra stumped on a certain enigma. I will say that when I played, I tried to use the coins as sparingly as possible, even if it meant taking longer to reach the answer, as the satisfaction you can receive from finally reaching a tough answer (as well as instantly spotting the trick to a puzzle), is a very nice feeling indeed.
Now individually, you can pick up any Layton game and have a good time one-off puzzling but If you’re someone like me who has an (almost troubling) affliction for playing a series from the beginning, you’ll appreciate the returning characters that come to be series staples. There’s the brazen Inspector Chelmey, who can be either with or against Layton depending on how much his hubris plays into the investigation. Granny Riddleton offers a chance to complete puzzles you may have missed. Flora, who after beginning as a key character in Curious Village, constantly offers up her help where she can in the next two titles (but is sidelined a bit too much for my liking). And of course, Layton’s self-proclaimed Arch-Nemesis, Don Paulo, whose mysterious yet hilarious nature is further explored in the third game.
Delving deeper into the individual games, Curious Village is an almost perfect introduction to the world of Professor Layton. Travelling to the aptly named St. Mystere (the titular village in question) provides the perfect introduction to Luke and Layton, and introduces so many mainstay troupes, that Level-5 didn’t need to change much to the overall formula for the next two entries. The next of which, Pandora’s box, expands the scale of the world with the duo travelling on the Molentary Express, chasing down a lead regarding a ghostly, life-ending artifact. The more mystical nature of the box, as well as multiple settings, feels like a natural progression from the first game. The final in the original trilogy, The Lost Future, is, in my opinion, the magnum opus, providing a more personal look into the background of Layton himself, as well as a mystery on such a grand scale and with so many players involved, it feels it cannot be topped (please prove me wrong with the next game!).
It’s equal parts a polished continuation of what the previous entries did so well and also an emotional conclusion to the partners’ time together, capping off the trilogy with its strongest entry.
I’ve really scratched the deepest corners of my brain looking for problems with these games, something that might not have quite hit the mark or perhaps was just missing altogether. But other than certain characters not getting their chance to shine, I really can’t fault this series on much. Each hour spent playing was consistently enjoyable and not a single aspect of these games fall flat. Tomohito Nishiura’s soundtrack is beautifully fitting whether it needs to invoke a sense of wonder, emergency, or be a fitting puzzle-solving anthem, I mean seriously, the puzzle song of each game somehow never gets old no matter how much I hear it; that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Overall, the original Layton games really hit the nail on the head for all you could want from a puzzle series, and it pains me to admit after all the years I stood by my main man Nelson Tethers, but Layton is now the definitive puzzle-solving mastermind in my eyes. I cannot wait to play the next games and gush all about them once again.
