Professor Layton and Pandora's Box

Professor Layton and Pandora's Box

It’s one of gaming’s most unlikely couplings: a bespectacled, well-to-do gentleman detective and his flat cap, knobbly-kneed young boy of an assistant. But, despite the Victorian crime-paperback set-up, this anachronistic duo has succeeded in capturing the imagination of twenty-first century gamers like few other Nintendo DS heroes. This, the second game in a proposed trilogy of puzzle thrillers moves away from the curious village of the debut and, to begin with at least, into the plush, luxury carriages of the Molentary Express.

With more than a hint of the Orient Express about it, this opulent, movable stage backdrops a murder mystery that will keep players on the edge of their seats till the final reveal. The plot revolves around the titular Box, which is said to kill anyone who opens it. When Professor Layton’s old friend and mentor, who was investigating the box, is found dead in his apartment, what else can the pair do but follow the trail to see where it leads?

The format is almost identical to the first game: playing as the duo you explore locations and gently interrogate people you meet while solving riddles and puzzles. These take the form of structured brainteasers, the sort of thing you might find in the back of a newspaper or annual. Each puzzle is worth a certain number of points that reduce by a small amount every time you answer the puzzle incorrectly. If you get stuck, you can pay coins for up to three hints to help you on your way.

Coins are generally found by clicking on objects when exploring environments, meaning that you’ll want to carefully search every screen you arrive at. The hints you pay for in each puzzle scales in usefulness, the first ‘purchase’ pretty useless, the third offering a spoiler. It’s an ingenious system that ensures you’ll need to balance your spending carefully to ensure you don’t end up high and dry later in the game.
A number of extra minigames unlock as you progress, including one in which you must train a chef’s overweight hamster in order to help it lose weight (the hamster then helping with tasks when its fit and healthy). As with the first game, you don’t need to complete all 150 puzzles to finish the game, but once the story is completed you can go back and mop up those ones that you missed or which had you stuck. Additionally, a new puzzle can be downloaded each week after release via Wi-Fi, so the game’s longevity after its 20-hour quest is assured.

Packed with exquisite artwork, story clips, voice acting and dialogue, Professor Layton’s latest adventure is an essential purchase this Christmas, even if some of the puzzles are essentially re-skins of those we saw in the first game. The clever concoction of its design, coupled with the unique European ambiance results in one of gaming’s true originals, the only concern now being whether developer Level 5 can continue to come up with quality brainteasers for the last game in the trilogy.

4 out of 5