by Amanda Sims, Reporter

I have a few secret (and not-so-secret) vices. Among those bordering that thin divide between “complete secret” and “everyone-knows-but-no-one-says-anything-about-it” is a love of the Professor Layton games.

I started playing them with the first (Professor Layton and the Curious Village) as something that I thought would be a fun, little puzzle game that wouldn’t take too much of my time and brain power – something I expected to be a diversion that I could pick up and put down as needed while I took care of my two small children.

Instead I powered through it in a single day.

The latest entry into the series, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, has proved no different for me.

Miracle Mask is a bit of an oddity in the series to date, however – it’s not only the first entry in the series made for the 3DS, it’s also the second game in the series to actually be a prequel, though the game itself doesn’t make this clear. I actually had to go to the wiki for that information. I had assumed that Layton was simply taking a similar tack to Zelda and was giving us a small series of games that were directly connected chronologically and several larger ones that were connected only by having the same protagonist and the same world but having no direct correlation to each other instead of giving us an overarching chronological story to encompass all games. With this new knowledge, however, both my understanding and appreciation for the story told by Miracle Mask have been deepened. In going to the wiki, I also learned I somehow missed a release – Professor Layton and the Last Spectre. I intend to rectify this grievous error as soon as I’m done typing up this review.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask starts much the same way as all the other Layton games have: with Professor Layton and his erstwhile apprentice Luke Triton being summoned to some far-off place by a friend of Layton’s who needs his help solving some sort of mystery. Overall the mystery is a good one, though the hints as to the solution were a bit heavy-handed for me. Normally I’m about as sure of the solution to the core mystery as Luke, only seeing all of the puzzle pieces fall into place as I’m within inches of the resolution and Professor Layton is beginning to explain it all in baby steps; with Miracle Mask, however, I was sure of the true culprit within the first three hours or so of game time, I just wasn’t sure how the antagonist had accomplished it all and did need the good professor to lay at least that out for me.

Hey, you! Nobody disses the top hat! Feel the wrath of my puzzle-solving skills!

The puzzles are still solid by-and-large and do feel true to the Layton franchise and namesake. There are even the few that leave me turning to the wiki, feeling like I don’t have enough information to actually solve the thing without help, and the few where I’ve come to realize I have to twist logic in atypical ways in order to come to the correct solution.

There are also a few new gameplay mechanics that left me sort of torn. The completionist in me loves the Investigation magnifying glass that lights up when you’re hovering over a hint coin or puzzle; the curmudgeonly old woman in me wants to shake my fist at the newcomers and say “Back in my day, we had to prod every bush and storefront, every lightpost and cobblestone! You whippersnappers don’t realize how easy you have it! Now get off my lawn!” The 3D is actually pretty well done and often adds some interesting visual depth and effect, though it is really sort of superfluous, which disappointed me. I’d assumed that it would have been necessary to either the plot or at least a few of the puzzles, as the game is a 3DS exclusive.

The overall story, though, does feel true to what has made the Professor Layton games into what they are: it’s a story about people, whether those people are Professor Layton and Luke or the people who are out to stop them or occasionally the people who are simply caught in between. It’s a story about human nature, and how a failing doesn’t mean you’ve failed and doesn’t mean you can’t do better in the future. It’s a story about sometimes not being able to see the big picture and not understanding the potential repercussions of your actions.

It’s a brilliant story about people, and that is what really makes the Layton games so compelling for me.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask has some really amazing strengths and some obvious weaker spots. Overall, though, it’s still a good, solid game and one I will be playing again when the next one comes out.

Rating:
ComicsOnline.com gives Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask 4 Picarats out of 5.

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