Professor Layton and the Last Specter Review
Professor Layton is back with another mysterious adventure, this time exploring the mystery that brought Layton and Luke together as a puzzle-solving pair. One hundred and seventy brain-teasing puzzles, several mini-games, and the bonus life simulator game–London Life–await you in Professor Layton and the Last Specter. The Professor Layton games have exhibited a consistent level of quality over the past few years, and this one is no different.
Taking place three years before the events of The Curious Village, this game sees Professor Layton visiting the town of Misthallery when his old friend Clark Triton seeks his help over the mysterious events that have recently plagued the town. Whereas the first three Professor Layton games followed somewhat similar plot points, The Last Specter is a breath of fresh air with new, compelling mysteries that interweave with one another to create a more satisfying narrative and revelations. And while this story isn’t as concerned with Layton himself as Unwound Future was, it’s great to see a little more of Luke’s past, plus Layton’s plucky new assistant Emmy Altava provides a great dynamic with the proper professor and childish Luke. Even with numerous puzzles peppered throughout the plot, the story never slows down, whether it’s being comical or tragic.
The specter has already struck all over Misthallery when Professor Layton arrives.
As always, the gameplay is all about finding and solving all manner of puzzles, riddles, and brain-teasers. You might think that after four games the quality of the puzzles would dip, but The Last Specter provides the same blend of entertaining and challenging puzzles, from word games to sliding block puzzles. In fact, it’s a pleasure to see new versions of some classic riddles mixed in with the brand new puzzles. Overall there seems to be less focus on word play and riddles, but this just provides more opportunity for variety in the puzzle catalogue. Picarats, the reward for solving puzzles, prompts you to think carefully rather than guessing wildly, and hint coins provide a helping hand if you need them. Super hints return as well, which all but solve the puzzle for you if you cough up a total of five hint coins. And as with the previous games, The Last Specter features mini-games to provide a break from the main puzzle solving, which incidentally reward you with even more puzzles when you play them. The mini-games here seem to take the best ideas from the previous games, ensuring that they’re all addictive and satisfying to play. Overall, the fundamental gameplay style is little changed, but it’s still a blast whether you’re adept at puzzle-solving or not.
The main new draw here is the mini-game London Life where you create a character and lead a simulated life in a miniature London populated by characters from the Professor Layton series. Mini-game is a bit of a misnomer, though. Despite being an add-on to the main game, London Life is an extensive adventure that allows you to interact with dozens of characters, earn wealth, and spread happiness to everyone you meet. Taking on odd jobs and completing requests for others turns out to be a lot of fun, and experimenting with all manner of items, clothing, and house decoration can prove addictive. The adorable sprite-based graphics only make the game all the more endearing, and should you put the time into it, London Life can last many, many hours–long after you’ve finished the main game’s puzzles.
Sliding block puzzles pose a devilish challenge but are a good chance to earn picarats.
The controls are all stylus-based; you’ll often have to circle answers on the touch screen or write out numbers when solving puzzles. Anyone who can write should have no problem with it. On the presentation side of things, the Professor Layton series has cultivated a unique visual style and accompanying music that both look and sound great in The Last Specter. Each game in the series seems to up the ante with the beautiful hand-drawn scenery, animated cutscenes, and soundtrack that dips between serene melodies and haunting ballads performed by classical string instruments and piano. The Last Specter boasts quite a number of action packed cutscenes and a massive environment full of colorful characters with voice work and music to match, all in the stylish, distinctive style of Professor Layton. Misthallery truly comes to life in both sight and sound.
Professor Layton and the Last Specter is yet another fantastic mix of puzzles, riddles, and brain-teasers set to a wonderfully stylish background and engrossing story. Thanks to weekly puzzle downloads, the game doesn’t have to end any time soon, while London Life provides the icing on the cake, offering a wholly new experience that proves no less addictive than the main adventure. Each game in this franchise is an absolute gem on the DS; for new players or veteran puzzle solvers, The Last Specter is a great place to start or continue the Professor Layton series.
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