Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box – NDS – Review

It’s rare to
find that puzzle and mystery game that will have you so absorbed with the story
that you notice that several hours have passed when all you meant to do was
simply solve a puzzle or two before going to bed. Professor Layton and the
Curious Village for the Nintendo DS was like that for me thanks to its
diverse puzzles and interesting story of mystery. Once again, we join the good
Professor and his young assistant in solving another mystery in Professor
Layton and the Diabolical Box. The game, as a famous sleuth would say, is
afoot.

In this
mystery, archeology professor and puzzle addict Professor Layton receives a
letter from his former mentor and now close friend, Dr. Andrew Schrader, who
tells Layton of an unusual artifact he’s investigating. The Elysian Box, as it’s
called, is rumored to kill anyone who opens it and – out of scientific curiosity
– Schrader plans to open it. Smelling an interesting mystery, the Professor and
his young assistant named Luke set out to see what Dr. Schrader discovered. What
they find is Schrader’s cold corpse and no sign of the Elysian Box. Was Schrader
murdered or are the rumors about the box correct?

The crime
scene offers a number of clues but the real mystery is that if the Elysian Box
did kill the curious Doctor then why isn’t the box in the crime scene? Like most
mystery and text adventures for the DS, you can point at areas in a room to
investigate and half the fun of the game is taking the clues and solving puzzles
related to each object. Just getting to the Doctor’s house, you have to solve a
map puzzle and unlocking his door yet another puzzle.

Like in the
first game, you’ll be uncovering the mystery behind every clue such as the
mystery behind the train ticket with no destination printed on it. Aboard the
Molentary Railway Express, the Professor and Luke make other interesting
discoveries and you’ll even meet people that will offer puzzles as well. For
example, a child offers you an interesting brainteaser you’d find on an SAT
exam. A waiter offers an interesting puzzle that involves you picking out a
specific diner from a brief description of that person.

There are
puzzles scattered throughout the game in just about every place and many of
which offer a break from the story. In one instance, the Professor asks Luke to
put all his belongs in his suitcase without a single object overlapping … a feat
that isn’t as easy as it sounds. With over 150 puzzles to solve (not including
the puzzles you can download through the Wi-Fi connection), you will find that
the story will take you a bit longer than expected. This is definitely not the
kind of game you will breeze through with a flick of your Stylus.

While the
story, told via wonderful animation and a few text conversations, is superbly
written, it is all about the puzzles and the Diabolical Box has some
challenging puzzles that will often have you scratching your head or making use
of the hints. Personally, the hints are no help at all and seeing as you waste
Hint Coins each time you call up a hint you will find yourself saving them for
when you are really stumped. The puzzle diversity is also another highlight,
which is what made Curious Village such an enjoyable puzzle game.

As I
mentioned above, you can download more puzzles and, at the time of this writing,
I have downloaded a puzzle I called up in the Puzzle Index feature. You can
always skip the hard puzzles to solve later because a wrong guess could cause
you to lose Picarats – currency you use in the game to unlock extras. I do like
the new addition to the puzzles solving menu, which comes in the form of a Memo
feature that allows you to use your Stylus to jot down puzzle clues for solving
a puzzle.

While you’ll
be investigating and exploring your surroundings in true point-and-click fashion
whether it’s on the train or in a quiet little village like the first game,
Diabolical Box isn’t any different from Curious Village. If you loved
the first game then you will not mind this at all but if you were looking for an
entirely different change for the sequel then it might come off as something of
a disappointment. In the case of this game, if it isn’t broken why even try to
fix it in the first place … although I would have loved more places to explore
within the game.

Visually,
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is a visually impressive and
gorgeous-looking DS game. The animation is as charming as the characters itself
and watching the cut scenes in full motion is definitely a treat. The sound is
also a highlight with a great score and an even better voice cast that gives the
game an animated feature kind of feel to it. This is certainly the type of game
that proves the DS is capable of doing sights and sounds right.

In the end,
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is yet another outstanding entry
in this series and an excellent puzzle game to boot. It certainly isn’t a
dramatic change from the first game but with all the right elements this is a
game excels in giving us a truly challenging and compelling mystery you and your
DS should not miss.

Review Scoring Details for Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Gameplay: 8.6
Following the
death of Professor Layton’s mentor and friend, the good Professor and his
assistant Luke try to uncover the mystery of the box that is said to kill anyone
that opens it. As you follow the clues, you encounter several puzzles that will
really challenge.

Graphics: 9.0
The wonderful art
design makes the game look like an animated feature come to life on your
Nintendo DS. The backgrounds are colorful and so are the characters and the
visual puzzles look detailed enough.

Sound:
9.0
The atmospheric
music picks up at just the right moment during the story and while it’s familiar
fare to those that played the first game it is still good to hear again. There’s
also a wonderful voice cast, especially when it comes to the Professor and Luke.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Many of the
puzzles require you to really think about your answer before you submit the
answer and others will have you jotting down notes in the Memo feature. Then
there are the puzzles that will have you wasting hint coins … that are a waste
since the clues don’t really help.

Concept: 8.5
The Professor and
Luke are back in a case that’s quite unusual and filled with suspense and fun
puzzles to solve. The good news is that you can even download new puzzles to add
to your collection in the Puzzle Index feature and you’re free to replay past
favorite as well.

Overall: 8.6
Following in the
brilliant footsteps of Curious Village, Professor Layton and the
Diabolical Box is more of the same but we’re not complaining one bit. With a
fantastic story and numerous puzzles to keep you thinking, this DS game will
keep you and your Stylus very busy and you will love it for that reason. Even if
you missed the first game, picking this one up is a no-brainer.