“A true gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved”

Background

“Professor Layton and the unwound future” is a charming puzzle game that takes you on an adventure to uncover an intriguing case of Time-travel. The concept of the Layton games was developed with the aid of renowned Japanese Puzzle Master Akira Tago (who is well known for his puzzle books Head Gymnastics) to create a new way of enjoying puzzles in a mystery plot similar to an Agatha Christie novel.

You follow the adventures of Professor Layton (Think Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones!) who is a famous (and incredibly polite) archeologist with a knack for solving mysteries and riddles, with his trusty young apprentice Luke. This game is the third installement in the DS Trilogy of the Layton games with new titles soon to follow on the 3DS.

As is the case with all Layton games, the adventure starts with an invitation to solve a mystery. This time the professor receives a most perplexing letter dated 10 years in the future by none other than his assistant Luke! The letter urges Layton to help save future London from it’s tragic fate.

This is by far Layton’s biggest case to crack. He will travel through time to unravel the mystery and answer the eternal question, with time-travel can we change events of the past?

Gameplay

To conduct your investigation you explore the city of London, talk to people, solve puzzles to advance the story and explore your surroundings for hidden items or puzzles.

How puzzles work: As you find a puzzle, the top screen displays number of the puzzle, the riddle or question in text form. The touch screen shows an interactive illustration that you use to find the answer and input it with your stylus. If you solve the puzzle you get “Picarats” and sometimes items. Picarats are your score points, their amount differs according to the difficulty of the puzzle and the number of guesses before getting it right. If the puzzle is hard you can always use hint coins that you find scattered across the game (by tapping suspicious places across the city). A max of 4 hint coins can be used per puzzle. A nice feature is the Memo function. By using this function you can scribble notes and calculations on a layer on top of the puzzle in the touch screen. This is invaluable to solving many of the puzzles and basically makes your life easier.

In addition to the regular gameplay, you also have cute Mini-games that one acquired can be accessed anytime through the menu screen.

Picture book: you collect stickers that you use to fill the blanks in picture books to complete the story
Toy car: you have a race track with obstacles and you need to use special tiles to get your car from start to finish
Parrot: you train your bird to make deliveries by building rope perches that he can use to reach his destination

They might sound simple enough but trust me the level of difficulty (especially the last 2) progresses and surpasses regular puzzles, I admit to having used a walkthrough for some myself. If you complete them you unlock worthy rewards.

Highlights

All professor Layton games are addictive and endearing. The element of mystery is not so difficult to figure out but it’s so enjoyable to guide your characters through the plot twists toward the final reveal. You end up loving all the characters (even villians are adorable!). There are loads of beautiful cutscenes. The script is well written and the Anglo-french music is memorable and adds depth to the characters and story. This title is by far the most grand of the trilogy. And for the first time we learn about Layton’s personal life and what made him who he is today.

To me Layton games are a fresh take on your usual puzzle games. It took me back to a time when I was a kid with a pile of puzzle books that were so much fun to solve. Add to it a great story & cast and you got yourself a keeper. It is my go-to game for any travel plans. (It’s actually become a tradition to beat a new title each time I travel since it first came out). It is a great mental workout for your brain and by the time you reach the end of the game you’ll probably have a higher I.Q. level. (Keeping the brain active is vital as we grow older so what better way to do so than with a fun game!)

The game has so many things to do once you complete. Like going back and solving unsolved puzzles (if you complete all 165 you unlock bonus features).You can also download weekly puzzles and even enter secret codes in previous titles to get some extra features in them too.

Lowlights

The only reason you might not like the game is if you don’t like solving puzzles! Though the game boasts over 165 puzzles you don’t have to solve them all to beat the game.

The story also has some fiction elements that should be taken with a grain of salt. It is not aiming to be an RPG masterpiece but it is lighthearted and puts a smile on your face.

The verdict

This game is a must for any DS owner whether young or old. It is an entertaining memorable game that will warm your heart. You can buy the game and play it on it’s own though I recommend getting all the titles so you don’t miss out on character histories and references.

One thing for sure is, Professor Layton sets the bar high for any man that comes in a girl’s life! He is the PERFECT gentleman! (so guys you might want to take some lessons from the chap! )