Professor Layton and the Lost Future (Nintendo DS) Review

Something strange is going on, yet whenever Professor Hershel Layton, his trusty apprentice, Luke Triton, and that trademark lofty top hat of his are around, the fact that something unusual is taking place is hardly surprising. In fact, Professor Layton and the Lost Future starts with news of a letter arriving courtesy of an older Luke from several years ahead of the present day, but Layton barely bats an eyelid at the prospect of something so extraordinary. Instead he calmly reminds the young Luke sat next to him on the bustling London bus that the recent time travel experiment where the British Prime Minister mystically disappeared might well be related to this odd piece of correspondence from ‘Future Luke’. It is not long before Layton and Luke actually get whisked ten years into the future, and so begins another wild adventure, filled with mystery, suspense, dark humour and a whole slew of mentally stimulating puzzles.

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, The Lost Future once again increases the amount of animated video sequences and voice work squeezed into the DS cartridge more than ever before, helping to make this latest outing not only a highly engaging puzzle adventure that will entertain all the family, but also a superbly interactive movie experience that will appeal to those who adore the works of Production IG, Studio Ghibli, et al. In addition to this, the French-tinged, accordion-filled soundtrack returns better than ever, with plenty of familiar tunes available, some new instant classics, and even a few piano-driven pieces that are extremely reminiscent of the best tunes found in Capcom’s Ace Attorney series. Level-5 has upped the production values considerably on all fronts to the point where it is obvious they are kings of the DS hardware.

In terms of the gameplay itself, nothing much has changed from the previous two outings, with the stylus giving players the power to guide Layton and Luke through London. Tapping the on-screen shoe brings up various arrows to move your current group (others can join the party, with little representations of each person at the bottom-left of the top screen, along with the map of the current area) to different areas, or enter any buildings that may be of interest. The stylus is also used to touch parts of the current location in order to get some new information from any of your team, find hint coins that help with solving puzzles later on, or discover one of the many hidden puzzles throughout the adventure.

Puzzles themselves are thrown at the player from every angle, but almost every one of them has been cleverly integrated into the main storyline to ensure the gamer is not pulled away from the atmosphere too much, especially since the time travelling aspect of the tale is so intriguing and the mystery behind the nefarious evil keeps players guessing right to the end. In terms of what Professor Layton and the Lost Future has on offer to test the old grey matter, there are a total of 165 puzzles this time round, with a pleasing mix of different styles. There is plenty of logic required to get your head around numerous riddles, mathematical conundrums, sliding tile scenarios, optical illusions, plays on words and other trials set to trick and trip up any player who is not giving the game the full attention it deserves.

As mentioned before, the hint system returns to help with some of the tougher tests, giving players up to three subtle clues, at the cost of one Hint Coin each. These clues gently guide players towards the answer, encouraging them to use the on-screen memo function to eventually work out the solution for themselves. In the odd situation where even the most blatant of nudge in the right direction fails to bring clarity to matters, Level-5 has included a Super Hint, for the price of two coins, which basically gives the final solution. It may seem like cheating to some people, but this is actually a worthy addition that most ‘hardcore’ gamers can simply ignore. For those who do not have a lot of time or want to know how the story ends, the use of this feature is preferable to getting frustrated and throwing the game down in disgust due to one particularly dastardly dilemma.

No Professor Layton game would be complete without a few mini-games thrown in to give the gamer a break from the standard puzzle solving formula. Thankfully, Professor Layton and the Lost Future does not disappoint on this front. First up is a clever illustrated story-book where you read through each little tale and must fill in certain missing images using stickers collected during the main adventure. Next is a small maze affair where a limited number of directional arrows are available to be placed on the various tracks, in order to allow a tiny car to successful navigate the network, picking up items along the way, and reaching the goal without hitting any obstacles. Finally, you can play around with a parrot that Luke befriends further down the line, using set numbers of rope pieces to help guide it as the bird tries to deliver fruit to Layton’s assistant. Throw in the diary aspects where unsolved mysteries are logged, along with key events that have occurred, and Professor Layton and the Lost Future quickly reveals itself as being ‘the complete package’ and a fitting end to the first Layton trilogy.