Speaking of arbitrary restrictions, one particular object combination puzzle strains pretty much all credibility, and the developers wisely opted to prevent the required items from being removed from the location. Normally you can pick up anything that isn't nailed down, but here they automatically disappear from your inventory if you try leaving with them. While this is a helpful assist, the fact that it was deemed necessary strikes me as an admission that no one would have discovered the solution otherwise. It's certainly manageable in its final form, but it's anything but intuitive.

A few other questionable puzzle choices make their presence felt in Toledo. One or two pixel hunts appear (or not appear, as the case may be) out of the blue, but your eyesight won't be the only sense tested, as the game features a potentially challenging music-based puzzle. The good news is that it's a chance to listen to a delightful assortment of local songs, which you'll appreciate since the game's music is equally well done but used sparingly elsewhere in your travels. The bad news is, the puzzle will be very difficult for the tone-impaired, so keep a walkthrough handy if that describes you. The other curiosity is the inclusion of a maze. Previous AGON games have also featured mazes, so it's really no surprise. The question is why Private Moon continues to feel the need to include what is such a generally unpopular puzzle type. As mazes go, it's certainly not the most difficult, but the same maze is used again later, only this time requiring clues to navigate through, and that feels much more like a worthwhile puzzle than the tedious mapping exercise that came before it.

Toledo also includes a couple of physics-based puzzles, but the limitations of its node-based game engine really limit the experience. Instead of moving both player and objects freely, you'll need to inch your way around, placing and retrieving objects in little incremental steps. The game shows you where you can place the objects at any given time, which is good. What it doesn't tell you is that it will inexplicably trap you behind your own easily-surmountable obstacles if not organized just right. It's a valiant attempt at a logical puzzle type, just not really conducive to pulling it off, making the whole thing feel like a clumsy exercise of movement mechanics than a strategic puzzle.

In most other respects, Toledo is thorougly traditional in its interface and point-and-click controls. As in the previous episodes, the first-person view can be swiveled 360-degrees by clicking and holding the mouse button, which is still less elegant and less comfortable than a toggle of some kind, particularly as the right mouse button continues to be neglected almost entirely. The inventory and all relevant menu screens are easily accessible through on-screen icons, and a complete list of all dialogues is available, although a more useful collection of relevant documents is an unfortunate omission in a game with so much required reading. All documents can be read either straight from the page in its original script, or by scrolling the mouse over sections of the page, showing the same text in a more legible font. At least, more legible in theory. The super-imposed subtitle background is translucent, and it can sometimes be harder to make out the print against the original text beneath it. Still, it's an interesting idea, and I don't recall seeing anyone but Private Moon ever use it.

Navigating through Toledo is easy enough, simply clicking directional cursors to transition to the next scene. The environments are fairly small, so finding available paths is rarely a problem. What can be an issue is objects being highlighted only from one particular angle, even if you can see it from others. Smart cursors show hotspots that can be manipulated or examined, but there's very little to interact with apart from the items you need. Conversations are carried out by clicking through all keywords, though sometimes they'll end even if there's really more to say. And while all dialogues are fully subtitled, you cannot skip through them to speed them along.

If you're in a hurry, mind you, then The Lost Sword of Toledo probably isn't for you. The game is quite intent on going at its own leisurely pace, occasionally giving you multiple avenues to explore, but generally keeing a light, linear rein on your progress, leading you ever towards the next puzzle, the next book, and ultimately to the next obscure board game, Alquerque. As the reward for your diligence over the course of 12-15 hours (major puzzle stumpage not included), you'll finally encounter your nearly-forgotten goal in the form of a genuine old game that few will recognize but most will instantly associate with checkers. Once beaten, the game is accessible from the main menu for standalone replay if so desired, but I felt no such inclination. Once was enough. But for players who find once isn't enough just to win, there is a difficulty setting that can be lowered.

If it seems like the criticisms are starting to outweigh the positives, that's mainly because Toledo fails to reach the bar already set by the better episodes in the series, compounded by feeling like it's several years too late. Instead of being a new, improved AGON, the result is more like an older episode that simply took a long time to make and lost some technological ground in the process. And while the extended gameplay and storyline more than doubles the length of any previous installment, the contrived obstacles and over-reliance on reading begin to feel like filler, which is something the shorter, tighter narratives managed to avoid. It's certainly more game, it's just not a better game.

Having said all that, the complaints shouldn't obscure the fact that The Lost Sword of Toledo is still a solid entry that should appeal to AGON fans and puzzle adventure enthusiasts who may have passed over the series to this point. There's a healthy serving of challenging puzzles, a rarely-seen cultural setting to explore, and Professor Hunt remains one of the more likeable (if unlikely) protagonists in the genre today, so it's good to see his adventures haven't come to a premature end. His trip to Spain wasn't quite what it could have been, perhaps, but his next journey is booked for Peking in The Tale of the 4 Dragons, so here's hoping that the series will rise again to greater heights in the east.