Each of the main games has a slew of brain teaser puzzles and an overarching story which begins with our main character, the famous gentleman professor Hershel Layton, a professor of archaeology at Gressenheller University in London who has solved complex cases for the Scotland Yard in the past, having gotten a letter, and the letters always have to do with the main gist of the story and its setting. The games of the first trilogy are mainly self-contained stories so you don't have to play the other titles before getting to one that piques your interest the most. The second trilogy after these however contains plot points that get built up across those three games.
Layton travels around with a young boy named Luke Triton who claims to be Layton's apprentice, a gentleman in training. Each of the games contain beautifully animated cutscenes across the chapters from the beginning to the end.
The stories always contain a grander mystery that showcase the sci-fi-fantasy aspects of the Professor Layton world, and the answer to what those mysteries mean gets revealed at the end of each game.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007)
"A true gentleman never refuses the request of a beautiful lady."
- Hershel Layton
The story kicks off with professor Hershel Layton and Luke Triton driving the Layton mobile. Layton has gotten a letter which piques his intellectual curiosity. Two months before, Baron Augustus Reinhold the owner of the Reinhold Manor had passed away and although his wife has never met our professor before, after reading an article about him she had decided to ask Layton to investigate the matter of Augustus's will. In the will left behind by Mr. Reinhold, he claims that the family's treasure, named the Golden Apple, is hidden somewhere in the village of St. Mystere, and whoever finds it will get everything that belongs to the Reinhold family. Despite treasure hunters coming and going, trying to find the treasure, no one had found anything noteworthy. The entire thing is almost like a one huge puzzle!
After solving a map-type puzzle left behind by Dahlia in the letter as a test to Hershel Layton (whether he's worthy or not to solve the mystery of Reinhold fortune - well, Layton solves her puzzle with a glance here), the duo squad of Hershel and Luke arrive at the town of St. Mystere which contains a massive towery building in the middle of it.
Curious Village is an okay puzzle game- the puzzles are nothing groundbreaking but they are still worthwhile and the main attraction of the series. The storyline is okay, it plays out like a generic murder mystery when it comes to the events of the Reinhold Manor - a death happens, and then a man is seen kidnapping a person. It all builds up to a grand-scale reveal at the end and I think it is actually possible to deduce what's going on in St. Mystere before the reveal.
Adventuring through a similar setting and going through similar content - solving similar puzzles and going from town to town in each game - may become tiring after you have played numerous Layton games, but since this one is the very first Layton game, everything should feel rather fresh. It's easy to rate this game higher than what it really is story-wise because of the way the games are written. The investigation mode, talking to people and moving forward in the game has its own style and it all works nicely without lag or problems in the DS system.
The characters in the game don't really shine out in any way in this particular game; aside from Layton and Luke they are just background cast that you talk to in order to get puzzles to solve and progress with the story.
The soundtrack however is very good - in each of the Professor Layton game in fact. Theme expert use of instruments in themes such as Something Happens!, The Curious Village and ofcourse the very first Professor Layton's theme song really helps to set up the atmosphere of the game.
Professor Layton and the Pandora's Box (2007)
"There are tales of a box that brings death upon any who dare open it. Tell me, do you think those rumours could be true?"
- ???, at the very beginning of the game
The story begins with Luke Triton and Professor Hershel Layton boarding a train. The Molentary Express is known as a 'cruise ship on rails' due to its deluxe-level rooms and service. The train departs and Layton and Luke talk about the Elysian Box that kills any who may open it - and the story goes back a few days ago. Layton had gotten a letter from his mentor and friend Dr. Andrew Schrader claiming that he has finally found the Elysian Box after a long research. Andrew's request to Hershel is that if anything were to happen to him - as he might open the box - then Hershel should be the one to finish his research. As the letter was sent to Layton a few days ago, he decides to go meet with Andrew in case anything has happened. Layton and Luke travel across the city of London with the Layton mobile and solve couple of puzzles to find his apartment, and when they get in, they find Dr. Andrew lying on the ground, dead, and nearby the body they find a ticket to the Molentary Express with no destination written on it. After Inspector Chelmey arrives to the crime scene and tries to claim that the death was an accident due to Andrew's old age, Layton points out that one of the curtains is torn and it was used by the culprit to escape the apartment through the window, and in Andrew's hand there's a photograph which has been torn to many pieces.
Pandora's/Diabolical Box is the second released professor Layton game. Overall it's an okay game, I personally rate it probably as one of the worst next to Curious Village, however the game does have alot of positives to it that you can remember when you play it. The puzzles are equally decent as in the first game and as far as the story quality goes, well, it has ups and downs; it's not as consistent as the first game, however, it deserves to be called an adventure game much more than the Curious Village as well. There are three different main settings in this game, making the adventure much better paced as you progress from one place to another. First, the Molentary Express in which you can spend time on the train solving puzzles and meeting with people, then the Country Village of Dropstone which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, making it a young place, and finally the main setting of the game after going through the first two is the Phantom Town of Folsense in which impossible things seem to happen.
The handling of the cast of characters and the soundtrack is as decent as in the first game. The theme of the town of Folsense is one of the more memorable town themes in the game series.
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (2008)
"Somehow a single letter had made its way back through time. And the sender, strange as it sounds, was me!"
- Luke Triton
Layton had, as always before setting on an adventure at the beginning of a story, gotten a letter which surprises Luke the most as he reads it while they travel the city of London via bus to the letter's destination. The letter claims that London has been thrown into chaos - ten years from the time where Layton currently exists in. The letter sender asks Layton to go to the clock shop on Midland Road in Raldwin for explanations. The letter is signed by Luke Triton. Layton feels that the letter's contents are related to the events which happened a week before.
A week ago before the start of the story. Dr. Alain Stahngun claims that he's now capable of traveling through time - that he has created a real time machine. The prime minister, the police, even Layton and Luke have been called to the presentation of the time machine and Layton feels as if there's something very off about it all - but if a real time machine has been created - it will be huge. As the presentation is about to start, Stahngun calls the prime minister Bill Hawks on the stage and then asks his 'help' with the time machine demonstration. As the prime minister enters the machine and the lever is pulled, the entire contraption explodes. Prime Minister along with Dr. Stahngun have vanished.
In present time. Layton shows a news articles to Luke where some of London's greatest scientists have gone missing lately and he feels that this is all connected to the event one week ago as well.
Layton and Luke finally arrive at the clock shop - its door locked with a puzzle - which exists in a dark alley. Inside, there are clocks after clocks and one massive clock in the middle of them all. After fixing up the large clock, an earthquake happens and the duo run outside to see the London they know has changed massively and that's where the game really starts.
During the game Layton and Luke travel between the present and the future in order to solve the largest mysteries they have ever come across so far.
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future is one of the most popular titles in the series - I also think it's potentially the best. The game has underlying themes to it which relate to the antagonists and Layton himself. This is also the first Layton game to actually have more than just the main characters be very heavily part of how the story plays out; there are more standout personalities in this title in comparison to the earlier games. The storyline/plot of Unwound Future also needs to be praised as it kicks into high gear right off the bat with the prologue, telling us a real story with more sides and included characters to it than in the earlier titles - and the story does hold up from the prologue up to the epilogue.
The Unwound Future is the best game of the first trilogy with the finest plot and character presentation seen so far, bunch of neat puzzles - there are some memorable ones in this game as well such as the Active Puzzle during Layton VS Future Luke. TUW has a good score to listen to as always with one of the most memorable main tracks and ending themes in the series, and it's also one of the longest Layton games.
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Even if you don't want to go through the first two games in fear of the gameplay becoming repetitive, which it can seriously turn out to be like for a puzzle game series, for any handheld console fan I still highly recommend the third title in the series, the Unwound Future.
*Next up I will be posting specially long posts about each of the prequel trilogy games.
First trilogy
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Second trilogy
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
Other games
Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's conspiracy
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