Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask - Review

An amazing 3DS mystery game with a gripping story, a magnitude of puzzles and characters with more personality and back story than most other new releases to date. This is the first Professor Layton game I've played in the series, starting off mainly because it was the most appealing 3DS game at the time, and I had been meaning to play the series eventually, it seemed appropriate. 

If you haven't played a Professor Layton game before, you play as Hershel Layton a typical English gentleman, professor of archaeology with two young apprentices (Emmy and Luke). It plays like a point and click game, well suited to the 3DS' capabilities and gives you help with puzzles in the form of 'hint coins', that let you unlock hints to get through tough puzzles. The game's story revolves around Hershel's past, his friends, growing interest in archaeology (Covered by flashbacks in certain chapters), a town called Monte d'Or and a mask called The Mask of Chaos. As you start, Layton is contacted by an old friend stating that there is havoc being caused by a man in a mask, The Masked Gentleman, and is performing miracles by turning people in to stone. Layton, Emmy and Luke go to Monte d'Or to see what is happening and to find out the mystery behind The Masked Gentleman, solving puzzles along the way. The puzzles in this game do vary in difficulty, but generally get tougher as the game progresses. The Masked Gentleman performs multiple miracles in front of Laytons' eyes, but he sees through them in an instant.

This was a really interesting game to play, grabbing your attention and keeping you entertained constantly as there's always something new. It's good for all ages, preferably anything older than 10 will do as some puzzles can be hard without the help of the hint coins - or the Internet, if you go brain dead like we did. It took us just over 15 hours to finish, and that was just a normal playthrough, doing everything we were told without going overboard, but there are a load more puzzles left to do if we want to go back to them.

Should You Get Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask?:
Yes. This game was really easy to get used to in terms of controls, and fun to watch it's animated cut-scenes and gameplay in 3D. It was a great game and I'd happily play it again. Grab it if you can! It'll make you want to play the others and watch the animated film. The only downside to the game is, when you get around half way through you'll know who the Masked Gentleman is, it's a bit transparent.

My Rating:
9/10