Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask review

[Knight]

This is my first time doing something like this, I really want to get into reviewing video games, and I have been thinking about this for quite awhile. This will be my first written review, and I just want to see if people think I did a good job. So, let's start the review. First up, Professor Layton.

In the way video games are portrayed in common media nowadays, you couldn't be blamed for associating them with violence. Often I pause my Wii or Xbox and think to myself, "what is a game." I puzzled over this question for a while, much like I puzzled over this nifty 3DS title. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask is the game that reminds me what the word "game" actually means, it's a puzzle, something that pushes you through adversity in order to reach a goal. I had no experience of the Professor Layton series prior to playing this game, but as soon as I got into it, it became more addictive than crystal meth. The plot and characters are quite easy to grasp, Professor Layton is some sort of cross between Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones, except he doesn't find himself fighting Nazi's or injecting heroin. He has two other Indiana Jones/Sherlock Holmes companions, a woman and boy, who often perform the roles of "ooh, look how smart the professor is," but thankfully they get some action of their own as well at certain points. And when I say action, I don't actually mean "action" action, there's barely any action in the game at all in fact.

The "action" part of the game is actually solving puzzles, lots and lots of puzzles, and if you don't like puzzles, than I highly advise against buying this game. The game gives you a bunch of logic-based games to complete in order to progress through the story. For each puzzle, you can have 3 hints at the cost of being a pussy, your overall score, and sometimes if you are wrong, mostly on multiple choice questions, you'll also lose score. The game does a good job of hiding the solution, some puzzles give the impression of a complex mathematical problem, when really the answer is hidden within the text. Other puzzles require simple deduction in order to find the hidden answer, and some are along the lines of those toys where you have to slide the pieces of a broken picture in order to complete the image. Except this game always brings a unique new twist to every puzzle, very few copy and paste sort of things, each puzzle feels fresh and entertaining.

I guess I should get into the plot about now. The story follows top-hatted Indy and the gang as they visit the city of Monte d'Or, in the middle of England's well known and famous desert. The town is about to host an annual festival, and during a parade, the "Masked Gentleman" bearer of the mask of chaos and the name tag of unoriginality. Apart from his uncreative name, he makes a good villain, according to the town, he has been going around and performing vandalizing magic tricks, such as turning people into statues and standing on top of tall places. Professor Layton must put an end to his "Dark Miracles", solve the mystery of his magic, and find out his identity. During certain points of the game, you take the role of younger, hatless Layton, in flashback segments in his hometown that help you uncover the mystery. These portions are just as puzzle filled as the rest of the game, but it allows you to see just how much characters have changed overtime, similar to seeing different versions of characters in Ocarina of Time.

The game is not without its issues however, sometimes puzzles find a very good way of interrupting the plot, especially when it's just about to get real good. Some puzzles can be annoying, rather than difficult, but for the most part are pretty fun, except when they're slowing the plot. As for the plot itself, I don't know, puzzles must be like currency to these people, if you wanted to get something from Monte d'Or's local dealer you'll have to solve a Rubix Cube or two. There's one point in which the game tries to imitate Zelda-like gameplay and puzzle solving, but at the speed Layton moves during the section, it seems more like Link has a pair of iron boots on. The Masked Gentleman's identity can easily be deduced about half way through the game, but thankfully Layton acts as if he may of known already for some time when it is revealed. Despite that, the game's ending is quite theatrical, although it has faults too:

As it obviously turns out, the Gentleman was Layton's childhood friend Randall, but to my surprise, there was another villain pulling the strings. A Moriarty-like character who must have been in previous instalments. His appearance seems to do nothing but take away from Randall's spotlight. Apart from this, the game ends quite emotionally, it was tragic and happy at the same time.

The music and art direction are really good too. Monte d'Or is very well represented, almost looks like something out of a Disney movie. The music fits with the atmosphere, although I really enjoy it, I wish there were a few more pieces to it. There are a few animated cutscenes in the game, all of which are executed nicely, and I didn't find any of the voice actors annoying, thankfully it avoids the tradition of most low budget dub actors. My last problem with the game is that it is rated E for Everyone, I hardly expect anyone in elementary to figure out the game. There are some puzzles I had spent a good 15 minutes on trying to figure out, I had to resort to using hints on several occasions, and sometimes I see a question I think is algebraic or very complex, when it turns out the answer is in plain sight. Plus, there are so damn many of them. The game is loaded with puzzles, and I'm still yet to see the end. Plus I heard that new puzzles are coming out by the day, my god, that's so many puzzles.

Overall, the game is very entertaining, the story is great, the visuals are nice, and most of all, the puzzles are very addictive.

My final score is 8.7/10

My next written review will be tomorrow on Metroid Prime, than I will take a break.

[Fruity Insanity]

Dem grammar mistakes... -_-'

EDIT: Majora's Mask, BTW.

EDIT 2: And aside from minor errors, it's a good review. Keep it up!

Edited May 16, 2013 by Fruit Ninja

[Doga]

Oh how the mighty have fallen. What happened to Red Warrior?

That was your life.

[Knight]

Red Warrior is my life, but I've decided not to work on it right now. I'm constantly making new changes and ideas, and whenever a new idea comes along, the entire thing must be re-written. I think and spend literally hours a day coming up with scenarios, and trying to perfect the story. I also really want to get better at writing, and I plan to really focus improving myself. I am writing these reviews simply as a way to keep building on my writing, especially since I don't have English this semester. Trust me, it's far from gone.