AltecApollyon's World

'Gamers' who sit in front of their PS3's or 360's and call themselves 'gamers' but completely discard the Nintendo DS as a 'kiddy console' are really missing out on some of the most original and inspiring games out at the moment.

In Level-5's first Layton-adventure : "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" - we got a fantastically memorable game, with a mixture of puzzles, history, mystery, mini-games, character and full-blown animated story! The world in which these characters find themselves was purely its own, and it took us on an adventure with great twists and surprises. So, being so taken with the first, I was naturally excited when I heard that 'the Curious Village' was simply the first act in a trilogy that was already available in Japan!

The second act is now being translated and is for sale outside of Japan : "Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box" and it looks every bit as good as the first. I'm not going to go into detail about the story, there are enough articles a google search away to read on that, but let me say that they've kept everything you loved about the first, and added changed a few things, but it feels like a natural extension of the first; graphically nothing has changed, the gameplay hasnt changed, the music hasnt changed, even the story gets underway and it's great. Immediately you feel that you're back in Layton's world.

This time around, the game does not take place in a little village, but on a train (trains seem to be all the rage lately, as they are also making an appearance in the new Nintendo DS Zelda game : Spirit Tracks) This has got to be the best idea about the game : you are still confined to a small area, surrounded by familiar faces, but it doesnt seem unnatural or contrived. It's like the difference between 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.' Anyways, enough writing about this game, I gotta go play!