I've played both the original DS and the new HD mobile versions of this game, and I can't recommend the mobile port enough. It takes everything that worked about the original game and adds in the quality-of-life features that later entries would implement and refine. Plus, getting to see the gorgeous animated cutscenes in HD is a real treat. If you're going to play any version of this game, play the new one. But why should you play this game at all? Well let's dive in.
Our story revolves around the titular Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, as they journey to an odd village named St. Mystere in hopes of finding a late baron's mysterious treasure for his family. Along the way they meet a colorful cast of characters and realize the town is hiding a shocking secret. By the end, they must make a decision that puts all of St. Mystere's fate in their hands.
One of the core appeals of the franchise is the way it manages to combine a very Japanese sense of quirkiness with a quintessentially British charm. The series often feels quaint and homey, yet timelessly stylish as well. That mood is very much carried by our two leads.
Layton is a great example of the Gentleman Adventurer, even if the emphasis in this game is more on the Gentleman part. Luke provides a good contrast to him, conveying a youthful energy to help drive the player forward. The duo naturally owe at least some of their dynamic to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, but there's plenty of other sources of inspiration and original elements mixed in that make the two distinct and memorable leads.
The supporting cast is good too. It goes for more of a quantity over quality approach, but there aren’t any bad characters. A lot of them are there to serve as vehicles to deliver puzzles to the player, but they do that job well. Most of them have either a memorable character quirk, a neat design, or both. Few are as developed as you might see from an Ace Attorney case, but since they’re not as important to the plot they don’t really need to be.
Speaking of the plot, let’s get into that. In retrospect it’s interesting coming back to it and seeing how the seeds are laid here for both future successes and failures in the franchise. Don Paolo isn’t a particularly well-developed villain, but he is intriguing. He also helps introduce some of the steampunk/dieselpunk elements that will be important both for this game’s big twist and the series as a whole. Speaking of the big twist, let’s finally tackle that.
Throughout the game, you find hints that the people of St. Mystere are not what they seem. When one villager is found dead the only clues nearby are some cogs. Later you see another villager being kidnapped and stuffed into a bag by a mysterious older man. Layton and Luke give chase, but ultimately fail to catch the man. The next day, the kidnapped man is inexplicably back with no memory of being taken at all. Finally, you manage to find a diary from an unknown writer that talks about building a new model for the Baron of the village, one that his currently missing daughter didn’t take to.
If it isn’t obvious by now, I’ll explain. The villagers are all actually robots. This is naturally a very bizarre twist, but to the game’s credit it does build up to this reveal. It may contradict our preconceptions about the setting, but it doesn’t contradict any of the information presented in the game itself. In fact, the game goes out of its way to foreshadow and build up to this reveal. I spent the last paragraph showing how it did so. I bring all of this up because these sorts of bizarre plot twists at the end of the game have become a staple of the Layton series. The thing is, none of them are really built up as well as this one. A lot of them in fact will cheat, and have answers the audience couldn’t possibly deduce. But this time, that’s not the case. If you’re paying attention and thinking outside the box, you could call this twist before it’s revealed. You can’t really do that in any of the others. It’s a strength this game has that sadly was not carried on.
But what was that about a missing daughter? Well that’s another twist. She’s been in hiding, and the entire reason for the robot town filled with puzzles is revealed. It’s a test engineered by the Baron and his best friend, the robot’s mechanic Bruno, before his death to ensure that whoever came would be both smart and kind enough to be a worthy caretaker for Flora. While it is naturally revealed that she is his greatest treasure, he did still leave behind a vault filled with monetary valuables to provide for her as well. But there’s a catch. Once the treasure is taken out of the vault, the entire village will shut down. The thing is, Flora has come to like the villagers and see them as people. So instead she and Layton give up the treasure and allow it to remain so that the villagers can go on living. Flora moves in with Layton, and it's a happy ending all around.
As stories go, this one is good. Not great, but good. It’s carried by its charm and mood more than anything, though the mystery of St. Mystere is intriguing. It’s helped along by the puzzles of the game being mostly fun to solve. There’s a good mix of types throughout, ranging from pattern recognition to spatial relations to wordplay. Solving them is much easier in the mobile port thanks to the retroactive inclusion of the memo pad, which the DS game didn’t have. It’s primarily for this reason that I recommend the mobile version over the original. Still, even stripped to its bare bones this is a very fun game. The series would surpass it in many ways, but this was a solid start.
The Mobile Port Holds Up Well
I've played both the original DS and the new HD mobile versions of this game, and I can't recommend the mobile port enough. It takes everything that worked about the original game and adds in the quality-of-life features that later entries would implement and refine. Plus, getting to see the gorgeous animated cutscenes in HD is a real treat. If you're going to play any version of this game, play the new one. But why should you play this game at all? Well let's dive in.
Our story revolves around the titular Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, as they journey to an odd village named St. Mystere in hopes of finding a late baron's mysterious treasure for his family. Along the way they meet a colorful cast of characters and realize the town is hiding a shocking secret. By the end, they must make a decision that puts all of St. Mystere's fate in their hands.
One of the core appeals of the franchise is the way it manages to combine a very Japanese sense of quirkiness with a quintessentially British charm. The series often feels quaint and homey, yet timelessly stylish as well. That mood is very much carried by our two leads. Layton is a great example of the Gentleman Adventurer, even if the emphasis in this game is more on the Gentleman part. Luke provides a good contrast to him, conveying a youthful energy to help drive the player forward. The duo naturally owe at least some of their dynamic to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, but there's plenty of other sources of inspiration and original elements mixed in that make the two distinct and memorable leads.
The supporting cast is good too. It goes for more of a quantity over quality approach, but there aren’t any bad characters. A lot of them are there to serve as vehicles to deliver puzzles to the player, but they do that job well. Most of them have either a memorable character quirk, a neat design, or both. Few are as developed as you might see from an Ace Attorney case, but since they’re not as important to the plot they don’t really need to be.
Speaking of the plot, let’s get into that. In retrospect it’s interesting coming back to it and seeing how the seeds are laid here for both future successes and failures in the franchise. Don Paolo isn’t a particularly well-developed villain, but he is intriguing. He also helps introduce some of the steampunk/dieselpunk elements that will be important both for this game’s big twist and the series as a whole. Speaking of the big twist, let’s finally tackle that.
Throughout the game, you find hints that the people of St. Mystere are not what they seem. When one villager is found dead the only clues nearby are some cogs. Later you see another villager being kidnapped and stuffed into a bag by a mysterious older man. Layton and Luke give chase, but ultimately fail to catch the man. The next day, the kidnapped man is inexplicably back with no memory of being taken at all. Finally, you manage to find a diary from an unknown writer that talks about building a new model for the Baron of the village, one that his currently missing daughter didn’t take to.
If it isn’t obvious by now, I’ll explain. The villagers are all actually robots. This is naturally a very bizarre twist, but to the game’s credit it does build up to this reveal. It may contradict our preconceptions about the setting, but it doesn’t contradict any of the information presented in the game itself. In fact, the game goes out of its way to foreshadow and build up to this reveal. I spent the last paragraph showing how it did so. I bring all of this up because these sorts of bizarre plot twists at the end of the game have become a staple of the Layton series. The thing is, none of them are really built up as well as this one. A lot of them in fact will cheat, and have answers the audience couldn’t possibly deduce. But this time, that’s not the case. If you’re paying attention and thinking outside the box, you could call this twist before it’s revealed. You can’t really do that in any of the others. It’s a strength this game has that sadly was not carried on.
But what was that about a missing daughter? Well that’s another twist. She’s been in hiding, and the entire reason for the robot town filled with puzzles is revealed. It’s a test engineered by the Baron and his best friend, the robot’s mechanic Bruno, before his death to ensure that whoever came would be both smart and kind enough to be a worthy caretaker for Flora. While it is naturally revealed that she is his greatest treasure, he did still leave behind a vault filled with monetary valuables to provide for her as well. But there’s a catch. Once the treasure is taken out of the vault, the entire village will shut down. The thing is, Flora has come to like the villagers and see them as people. So instead she and Layton give up the treasure and allow it to remain so that the villagers can go on living. Flora moves in with Layton, and it's a happy ending all around.
As stories go, this one is good. Not great, but good. It’s carried by its charm and mood more than anything, though the mystery of St. Mystere is intriguing. It’s helped along by the puzzles of the game being mostly fun to solve. There’s a good mix of types throughout, ranging from pattern recognition to spatial relations to wordplay. Solving them is much easier in the mobile port thanks to the retroactive inclusion of the memo pad, which the DS game didn’t have. It’s primarily for this reason that I recommend the mobile version over the original. Still, even stripped to its bare bones this is a very fun game. The series would surpass it in many ways, but this was a solid start.