The first game I slotted into the new DSi was Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Layton is a series of puzzle games for the DSi. There are two games in the series currently released in America and four out in Japan. There are six intended games in the series.
Each game tells a story of Professor Layton, a Sherlock Holmes-type character with an Abraham Lincoln hat, and his young ward Luke. The diabolical box tells the story of Layton trying to track down the Elysian Box, which mysteriously caused the death of his mentor Dr. Shrader.
The most important parts of the story are shown in anime-style cut scenes, and a lot of the dialogue is done with voice acting.
Although the game has an overarching story, the real game is about solving puzzles. Nearly every person that you talk to and many of the things you touch with the stylus result in either Luke or Layton being asked a question, and these questions can only be answered by solving a puzzle. There are 153 puzzles in the game, and you can download several extra puzzles over the Wi-fi connection.
It took me about 23-25 hours to complete the game. Nineteen hours of that was the main game, which your save file conveniently keeps track of, and a few extra hours to complete the puzzles that become available when you beat the game.
I spent the majority of the day today studying for the LSAT, and it is amazing how many of the logic puzzle questions are similar to puzzles in Layton. I’m sure the game helped me study in some way.
The puzzles are the real draw to the game, and they deliver. The game might say that it is intended for ten-year-olds on the box, but many of the later puzzles are downright hard. It took Libby and I working together upwards of an hour to complete some of them.
So my first foray into modern console gaming since 2003 was a great success. I enjoyed Layton and would love to play some of the earlier and future games. It had its downsides, but I really liked the animated cut scenes and puzzles.
I hope you enjoyed my first games related post. The next game I’m going to write about is The World Ends with You, which I haven’t beat yet. So my article will be less about the game itself and more about the experience of playing it.
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