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Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

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Joined 2011-10-21

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Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask - 3/5


The series is running thin, and the switch to 3D didn’t shake things up enough…


The fifth installment in the Professor Layton series delivers what you should expect by now: an over-the-top story that’s slowly revealed to you, one puzzle at a time.

Alas, after four games of basically the same formula over and over again, the series is now starting to run thin. The gameplay could really use an overhaul, and I thought the transition to the 3DS would be perfect for that. Unfortunately it was not to be.

While there are advantages to the 3DS switch (more quality cutscenes, more voiced lines, a couple of puzzles with added flair), there are also a few pitfalls that they didn’t avoid. Changing the wonderful 2D character animations to 3D ones isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, for one. While they tried to make the 3D models resemble the 2D ones closely through cel-shading, somehow in the process they lost some of the charm inherent in the artwork, and it hurts the game (especially in contrast with the beautiful and top notch 2D cutscenes). And it also feels like they didn’t take full advantage of the new capabilities the 3DS has to offer. Either the console was still too new when this game was in production, or the developers were too rusted in their old ways. Whatever it was, I feel that they left a lot of potential untapped and while this may improve the odds for the sixth game (Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy), I’m not that sure this team will go for it…

I’m not overly happy with the story’s resolution either. It lacked a good twist (as the main twist was more or less phoned in from the very beginning), and they kind of shoehorned a certain villain in, just to fit this game into a trilogy. Several of the main characters have really silly motivations as well, so you’d better not think too hard about it (but this holds true for the other Layton games as well).

In the end, though, I got a game with (once again) high production values, a great deal of puzzles (150 + minigames), and a staggering 365 daily downloadable puzzles. All these combined netted me about a 60-hour puzzle fix, so while this installment may be the weakest of the Layton series so far, it’s by no means a bad one. I just hope the devs step up their game somewhat in the conclusion to this prequel trilogy…







To elaborate on this thread: I don’t disagree with Kurufinwe’s issues with the story’s resolution, I just don’t feel as strongly about them as he does. I just think it’s best if we don’t dwell on the matter too much (and you can’t deny that the flashback scene with the toy robot wasn’t heartwarming, so at least *some* of it worked).


This is the only game in the series that hasn’t gotten a 3.5 in my book, though. I hope the Azran Legacy will prove to be a return to form for the series.

But I’ll still probably be finished with the Layton games after the sixth one (barring crossovers like the Phoenix Wright game) - the concept is starting to become a bit too stale for my liking…

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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Joined 2012-02-10

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My main gripes with Miracle Mask were threefold:

1) Monte d’Or wasn’t as striking and varied a setting as the best ones in the series. Folsense was a much better glittering neon city.

2) There weren’t enough good characters, though it wasn’t as weak in this sense as Last Specter.

3) The maze sections dragged on and on.

On the bright side, Azran Legacy is much better in many ways.

     
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TimovieMan - 14 November 2012 01:51 PM

The Curious Village was in English here, but Pandora’s Box and the Unwound Future were localised in Dutch. And not just Flemish Dutch, but Dutch Dutch, which frankly makes it even worse.

Oh no not Double Dutch

Gasp

     

An adventure game is nothing more than a good story set with engaging puzzles that fit seamlessly in with the story and the characters, and looks and sounds beautiful.
Roberta Williams

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