Sounded like a good game! Almost makes me want to buy a 3DS, although the sad truth is I haven't touched a game in I don't know how long, sigh...
Professor Layton (Franchise) game Review
Professor Layton refers to a series of puzzle adventure games for the Nintendo DS/3DS (1-4 on DS, 5-6 and vs Ace Attorney on 3DS), produced by Level 5 and distributed by Nintendo. In additional to the games, a feature-length film has been produced that directly follows events in the fourth game.
Season 1 consists of three games and follows Professor Hershel Layton and his assistant Luke Triton through a series of stories full of puzzles and adventures. They are joined by Flora (Aroma) in the second and third games.
1: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
2: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (aka Pandora's Box)
3: Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (aka Lost Future, Last Time Travel)
Season 2 consists of three games and a movie. The series takes place several years before the events of Season 1. Layton meets Luke Triton in game 4, and is also joined by Layton's assistant, Emmy Altawa.
4: Professor Layton and the Last Specter (aka Specter's Flute) - GAME
4.5: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva - MOVIE
5: Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle - GAME
6: Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies - GAME
Crossovers
Level-5 and Capcom collaborated to produce a crossover of their popular Layton and Ace Attorney series. Appropriately enough the game is titled "Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney" and is available for the Nintendo 3DS.
Story & Playability
NOTE: This is a review of the 3DS game, Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney. The game is currently available in
Japanese.
Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright is at first blush a strange alliance of Level-5 and Capcom, mixing together two of
their popular puzzle thriller titles into a single game for fun (but mostly profit). The story takes Professor Layton
and his self-proclaimed apprentice Luke Triton, and defense attorney Phoenix Wright and his friend the spirit medium
Maya Fey, and throws them together in a new story unrelated to any prior Layton or Ace Attorney property.
The first few scenes take place in London, where Layton and Luke are visited by a mysterious girl named Mahoney, who is
on the run from some dangerous witches. She escapes their clutches only to get caught in the London legal system, where
Wright steps in to defend her (he happens to be on a business trip to London.) However, it doesn't take long for
the game to yank both sets of characters into a new place called Labyrinth City, a seemingly medieval town where magic
is accepted and knights patrol the streets and a powerful man known as the Storyteller writes legends which become
truth. Layton must team up with Wright in order to solve the mystery of Labyrinth City and its witch trials if they ever
want to get home again.
The storytelling style more closely echoes the Layton franchise, with one single plotline that carries through all the
puzzle and trial chapters of the game instead of the lightly connected plotlines of individual cases as in the Ace
Attorney games. This allows the game to flow at a steady pace and creates a single cohesive narrative, even when your
group splits up to explore different parts of Labyrinth City. The game alternates between exploration/puzzle mode and
witch trial mode, which gives a good variety to the storytelling. There are a few interesting (and amusing) twists, but
the ending is unfortunately a pretty typical Layton ending. The explanation of the truth behind Labyrinth City (and how
everyone got there) is needlessly complex and, for me, mildly unsatisfying as it feels like I've been through this
before with the previous 5 Layton games. Still, the final scenes are touching, and there is a fantastic cameo of Miles
Edgeworth in the closing credits.
Currently Level-5 is producing DLC episodes which can be accessed for free, and take place a year after the game's
main story ends. It basically is a look back on what everyone is doing one year later. Each episode (so far there have
been 4 released) also includes an extra puzzle to solve. The episodes are relatively short and kind of silly (in several
of the episodes the characters break the fourth wall by referring to the game, which got tiring after the third time)
and not really relevant to the game, but is a fun addition that Level-5 seems to like doing.
In short: Standard Layton game plot spiced up with Ace Attorney trials. A bit formulaic, but still fun for fans of
either franchise.
Rating:
Graphics
The art is perhaps the most awkward part of the game. The simpler, exaggerated styles of Layton don't really mesh
well with the anime stylings of Ace Attorney. The game does not try to meld the two art styles a new one -- it uses
Layton style for Layton-based characters and Ace Attorney style for Ace Attorney-based characters. It is easy to see
which characters in Labyrinth City were created by Level-5 and which by Capcom. It takes a bit of getting used to,
especially in courtroom scenes where Layton and Wright do the whole "Objection!" and finger-pointing act in
unison. To be fair, I don't think creating a new style would have worked so well; both games have their charms
based on their art direction, which would be lost if they were meshed. But it still feels awkward.
All the character models are 3D rendered, similar to the 5th Professor Layton game. Wright and Maya have made the
transition well from 2D sprites; they retain all their characteristic looks with just the right amount of depth. 3D
models also allow for more freedom of movement in character animations; Wright's fist-slamming and finger pointing
never looked better.
Backgrounds are based off of the Layton games, with its warm earth tones, gentle curves and hand painted feeling. There
is usually some subtle motion in the background, whether the waving of some flags or the dancing of a burning torch
flame. This helps create a dynamic atmosphere to the story and helps draw you in to the visuals more.
There are also a fair number of cel-animated scenes sprinkled regularly throughout the game; although generally short,
they are fluid, vibrant, and fun to watch. And who can resist animated scenes of Layton fencing with knights? Again, the
odd meshing of character styles is present in the cel-animated scenes, but since they go by so quickly they are not as
noticeable.
In short: It looks a lot like the 5th Layton game, which is a good thing. Except for the odd mix of character styles,
which is not exactly a bad thing, but not really a good thing either. It's just a thing you have to deal with.
One of the other free DLC bonuses is extra artwork, and the first set shows how Layton/Luke would have looked like in
the Ace Attorney world, and how Wright/Maya would have looked like in the Layton world. It's interesting to see,
and makes me glad they didn't try to make it one unified style.
Rating:
Sound
Oizumi Yoh and Horikita Maki reprise their roles as Professor Layton and Luke Triton, and they are old hats in these
roles. If you have played any of the Layton games, you know exactly what to expect from them; Oizumi's calm,
refined demeanor is offset by Horikita's enthusiasm and youth.
By contrast, Narimiya Hiroki and Kiritani Mirei are relatively new to their roles as Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey (they
played these roles in the 2012 Ace Attorney live-action movie) and it is the first time the Ace Attorney characters have
had such large speaking roles in the games. After hearing Wright say nothing but "Objection!" (and
occasionally "Take that!!") it's a little strange to hear him and Maya talking so much, but also cool to
hear their characters given more depth. Narimiya's Wright is surprisingly shy and nervous, or perhaps he is just
intimidated by Layton's cool reasoning. Kiritani's Maya has all the spunk and energy you'd expect from
her overenthusiastic ideas.
They are joined by a large ensemble cast, for many characters have at least a small speaking role. Mahoney is a bit too
soft-spoken, but Jodora is wonderfully competent yet imposing, and Jiken has all the gracious manners of a chivalrous
knight (and it helps that his voice actor also played Flynn in Tales of Vesperia, another by-the-books knight
character.)
The game's music is a blend of tracks based off of the Layton and Ace Attorney games. When in puzzle/exploration
mode, you get music that is Layton styled, with its whimsical piano melodies accompanied by accordions and flutes. Many
pieces are reworked songs from previous games, but there are a number of new tracks as well. During the witch trials,
Ace Attorney music, with its stronger trumpets and violins, dominates. Again, some themes are familiar (how could you
not include a variation of Wright's "Objection!" theme music? And there's only one piece you can
play during a cross examination) but some pieces are new. It's a good mixture that reminds you of where the game
comes from, but isn't stale. There are a lot of tracks in the game (the music player available post-game lists 68
tracks) due to the mixture of 2 franchises, so there is surely something to delight everyone. I've always been a
fan of Layton soundtracks (I own most of them) but I also liked how the Ace Attorney music was adjusted just enough to
fit in well with the Layton style while retaining all the familiar melodies.
In short: Phoenix Wright gets a voice! And lots of great music, some straight from both games, and some directly
inspired. And the song that plays during the credits is a great mashup of themes from both series.
Rating:
Fun
NOTE: This is a review of the 3DS game, Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney. The game is currently available in
Japanese.
Layton vs Wright is pretty much exactly what I expected from mixing together the two game franchises. Sometimes you walk
around a city and solve puzzles for people. Sometimes you go to a trial and try to point out all the inconsistencies of
the witnesses. Sometimes you yell "Puzzle solved!" and sometimes you yell "Objection!" All in all it
is a fun game for people who have played and enjoyed both franchises. I clocked in about 25 hours on the main game, but
then, I am one of these people who go around hunting for every puzzle and hint coin before I move on (and I end up
pressing the witnesses on just about every statement they give), so it probably takes me longer to complete. It's
definitely longer than a standard Layton game (which are usually ~10 hours for me) so I got plenty of game time out of
this one.
Gameplay: Layton portions
The gameplay during exploration chapters is pretty much exactly what Level-5 produced for the 5th Layton game (Miracle
Mask). You can move between different areas on a map, and at each area you use a magnifying glass to explore, find hint
coins, and interact with people (who usually give you a puzzle to solve before they cough up any information.) There are
70 puzzles in the game, about half of what a standard Layton game gets. Unfortunately most of the puzzles are pretty
easy, and are a caliber below what the 4th and 5th Layton games offered. The puzzle section was just not that
challenging, and as I am a much bigger fan of the Layton franchise, this was a bit disappointing. (I am instead eagerly
awaiting the 6th Layton game at the end of February, which promises to have much more challenging puzzles.)
Gameplay: Wright portions
The gameplay during the witch trials is similar to those from the Ace Attorney games. Generally, you have a witness,
they give a testimony, and then you try to poke holes in it and offer evidence which shows their words do not match
reality. There are a few twists to trials though; since this does not take place in Wright's world the rules are a
little different. Most of the time you have multiple witnesses testifying at once, and new tactics, such as asking a
second witness to comment on the first witness' testimony, become more important. However, you still get to
cross-examine a parrot, so perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same. I found the trial portions more
challenging, but mostly because I am not fluent in Japanese, so I tend to miss more subtle details. Thankfully you can
spend the hint coins you find when exploring to help you figure out just when to press a witness or to present
evidence.
In short: If you like both the Layton and Ace Attorney franchises, you really can't pass this up. It's got the best of both worlds. How can you lose? On the other hand, if you haven't played either franchise, you really should play them first or you will lack a lot of context. Try out the first Ace Attorney game and either the first or fourth Layton game to get a feel for the series.
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.5000 (good)
Reviewed by Tama-Neko, Feb 02, 2013
Comments
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flyindreams Feb 16, 2013
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SnickerdoodleNinja Retired Moderator Feb 23, 2013
Games like this are the ones that make me wish I were the proud parent of a 3DS. :(
Anyways, great review! It's so nice to see such fleshed out sound and art sections. ;_;
By the way, what game would you recommend for someone who is new to the Phoenix Wright series and wants to get into it?
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CyanideBlizzard Retired Moderator Feb 24, 2013
All I can say is I. Cannot. Wait.
It really sounds like they knew what they were doing and perfectly captured the essence of both series into one game. While not perfect, it definitely sounds like an unforgettable adventure and I could go for something like that.
That aside, it's fantastic to see you reviewing once again, Tama! I have missed reading your reviews!
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rotten180 Jul 20, 2013
Well what I wonder is that can you received hints by using those coin credits to win cases? Sounds weird, but that is mixing both games :-)
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