Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask 3ds Full Box Art

A fine puzzle for a gentleman.

Gorgeous art style, interesting characters, and a tightly wound story are important qualities of the Professor Layton games, and the series may not have about the post-obit it does without the romanticized, period-slice amuse that supports its gameplay. However, these qualities are also a means to an end, and that end is puzzles. All roads of plot in Layton's 3DS debut, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, lead back to these myriad brain exercises, and without a deep supply of interesting and complex puzzle experiences, the games would take no support for the narrative lengths to which they reach.

This important puzzling slice of a Layton game is a known quantity. Information technology's enough to say that the puzzles in the latest are wily, always interesting, and well paced, which is almost equally much every bit they could hope to be in the brief instances you mess with each. No puzzle (with the exception of those saved for the finale) needs to burn down the earth down, in difficulty or in payoff. It's amend that puzzle experiences exist consistently interesting, challenging, and rewarding on a pocket-size scale. As with its predecessors, Miracle Mask seems to adhere to this policy, using dozens upon dozens of these stray activities to support its other, generally interesting ventures.

Phenomenon Mask'due south story concerns the disruptive and increasingly ominous magical acts of a character known the Masked Gentleman in the desert metropolis of Monte d'Or - a situation an old high school associate calls Layton in to articulate up. More familiar faces prove up over the course of the investigation, many from this particular catamenia in Layton's past. In addition to the dark elegance and various activities of the nowadays twenty-four hours situation, the game devotes several flashback chapters to more clearly defining the repercussions of dramatic events involving Layton and his closest friends, while besides roping in some interesting puzzle variants.

While these chapters brainstorm with Layton and co. solving puzzles of standard stock in school and village environments, story turns conspire to draw Layton and his best friend, Randall, into the ruins of an ancient civilization. Here, the game shifts into a different, temporary play style: instead of wrestling with puzzles in a static environment, you gain physical control over Layton. With this direct interaction, the game has you maneuvering the character through and interacting with 3D puzzles, which involve conscientious direction of your own space and that of other objects. This change of pace succeeds as a tactic to match the tone of the situation, i.eastward., the flashback'due south emphasis on the teamwork and deep relationship between the young, bourgeois Layton and the enthusiastic Randall. These well-paced chapters provide a strong backstory that runs in parallel with the present day events, and add definition to the identities and motivations of the characters involved.

Miracle Mask takes aggressive advantage of the series' start outing on the 3DS. While elements of the inviting 2D animation artful remain in the game'due south numerous locales, Miracle Mask bolsters the structure and personality of Monte d'Or and its residents through the system's capabilities. Character models wait superb in both polygonal and stereoscopic 3D as they antipodal and sort out situations among themselves on the peak screen with natural expressiveness and gesticulation. While Phenomenon Mask includes the serial' trademark animated cut scenes, it also oft defers to presenting short, nicely framed cinematic moments using the polygonal characters.

Moving through Monte d'Or along the different points of the 2D overhead map creates a microscope-similar event as yous delve deeper into the city's construction, peeling back layers and probing the unique areas within. Using the impact screen to look around each distinctive area for puzzles, hint coins, and other items on the peak screen imparts a feeling of actually looking, in that, from your position every bit a person on the street, y'all can't take in everything from a stock-still perspective. The game lets you move your gaze all nearly, which often exposes the different angles and layers of the inspected section in a not bad way.

Miracle Mask throws in several unconnected extra modes, sections of which unlock as you progress the story or find them in the wild. Some, like the mini-game that has yous guiding a minor robot around 3D puzzles or the shop mini-game in which you strategically stock related items to manipulate each customer'due south interest, accept interesting hooks that advantage in the short term. The others, a Nintendogs-like rabbit preparation activity and a poorly controlling horse-racing upshot, experience less consummate, and lack the sense of purpose and challenge that make the others worth messing with.

If you lot equate a new Layton release to the promise of fresh puzzles, Miracle Mask should fulfill that want handily, with a yr'due south worth of downloadable daily puzzles coming on superlative of those already available. However, the game also takes notable advantage of its new handheld home, using a number of narrative and aesthetic devices to weave its refined style of gameplay and emotional, spiraling story into a tight feel that rewards on all accounts.

payneounkentoot1954.blogspot.com

Source: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/32255/professor-layton-and-the-miracle-mask-nintendo-3ds