Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box: It’s no mystery that this is another great game

A couple of years ago Level-5 released a game which immediately caught my attention from a magazine advert. The game was Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and it caught my interest so much I ordered it from America 6 months before it came out in the UK. When I heard there was a sequel I was definitely excited, but also worried that it wouldn’t equal the unique charm and excellent story of the original, as can be the case of many sequels. But however my suspicions were unfounded and Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box is equal in every way to its predecessor, one might even say it’s a little bit better.

For those who’ve missed out on the Professor Layton and the Curious Village let me give you all the necessary information. Basically Professor Herschel Layton is an archaeologist who goes round solving mysteries with his sidekick Luke. The duo are a kind of a Holmes and Watson for kids (or Tintin and Snowy, that was one smart dog) who go round solving mysteries in a world where everyone’s life revolves around puzzles. In between a gripping story and excellent animated cut-scenes The Professor and Luke go around searching for clues and talking to people who will often pose them a puzzle before they’ll give them any information. The world they inhabit is victorianesque in style but with a few modern twists. The professor himself is a true Victorian gentleman who likes nothing better than a warm cup of tea over a brain bending puzzle. It may sound a bit twee, but the game has a unique charm which is a combination of good story telling, great artwork and excellent voice characterisations.

In this sequel Professor Layton is visiting a friend of his, Dr Schrader, but when they get to the Dr’s apartment they find him lying dead on the floor, next to a ripped up photo and a ticket for the Molentary express. The reason for the Professors visit was a letter from Dr Schrader which revealed he had discovered an ancient relic known as the Elysian box aka Pandora’s box. The Elysian box is an artefact that many people believe to be cursed, and it’s up to the professor to find the box and person was responsible for the Dr’s death. Layton and Luke head for the Molentary express and another adventure which it’s worth noting for younger players is slightly darker than the last, dealing with ideas of death and loss (though in a very gentle and tactful way).

There are three major locations in the game; The Molentary Express, the village of Dropstone and the town of Folsense. Whereas the first game was set in a world resembling turn of the century France the locations in this instalment are a homage to an England of yesteryear where gentlemen drunk tea and children had nothing to occupy themselves with in the evenings apart from a couple of marbles and a good puzzle. It is a typical romanticised, fictionalised version of that kind of England which the game is set in, similar to the way it is depicted in many Japanese animated movies such as Steam Boy and Howl's Moving Castle (great movies by the way, I’d recommend checking them out if you like these games). Each location, even the train, offers much to explore and a wealth of characters to interrogate, and are all very well designed.

The mechanics of the game are simple, there’s a shoe at the bottom right of the screen, tap this and it will show arrows on the screen indicating which way you can move. Touch characters to talk to them and touch the dialogue box to skip conversations. There’s a great variety of puzzles, some will require you to simply tap the answer and others to circle or enter a number, but it’s always obvious how to enter the answer.

Puzzle-wise it’s a case of more of the same in this sequel, which isn’t a bad thing as the puzzles in the original always struck that fine balance between being challenging yet enjoyable. The difficulty of the puzzles varies though so some will be very easy, while others will leave you pulling your hair out in pent up puzzle frustration. The difficulty of the puzzles is measured in the amount of picarats you can earn by solving it. The picarats can be used to unlock special bonus content after the game is completed. The styles of the puzzles vary and range from simple maze puzzles, to more complex logic puzzles. With most puzzles you can quit them and return to them later by accessing the puzzle index in the Professor’s trunk; however some puzzles are necessary to progressing in the game, so you will need to solve them in order to reach then next stage of the game. If you get stuck there’s always the option to buy up to three hints, using hint coins which you can collect and which are hidden in the various locations.

There’s nothing I can fault this game on really, maybe one or two of the puzzles could have been worded or designed better but those are very minor issues and may differ from puzzle solver to puzzle solver. The premise and design of the game may be a bit too old fashioned or gentle for some but will appeal to younger children as well as their parents, or anyone who’s ever liked solving puzzles, deducing mysteries or reading detective stories featuring the likes of Sherlock Holmes or Tintin (that little white dog was awesome). If there ever was an argument that video games could be bad for children (which of course some can, but that’s why they have PEGI ratings on the boxes) then this is the game that could prove it wrong. Both charming and smart this is top notch entertainment no matter what your age.