professor layton and the last specter review
The next game from the popular puzzle solving series has come out and it is time to review it. This game actually takes a step back in time. When the game starts you will find that Layton is without Luke, and without an assistant, period. That changes quickly, but it is not Luke that you'll find by your side. Have no fear though Luke is in the game, and you will get a chance to see how Luke and Layton's relationship came to be. In the this game Layton receives a mysterious letter from an old friend asking for help. Layton always ready to go on an adventure takes off to see his old friend, and learn of the legend of the Specter that haunts his friend's town.
Graphically you're not going to see anything really change. The color schemes and the character models will be the same as always. Luke is a bit smaller in the game, but that makes since as this game actually pre-dates the other games, when it comes to the timeline. With such a small screen I'm always amazed that the puzzles always fit so well with the layout.
The music of the game is the same that you've either grown to love or hate. I personally really enjoy the music present in the puzzles. The voices, thankfully are all still the same. I do wish that there was more voice acting in the game, and less of the sounds of text, but all the cinematics were voiced, so I can't complain too much.
The controls of the game are the same. You're going to be heavily leaning on the stylus to get you through the game. This is not a bad thing as this game really feels perfect with the stylus.
As stated before this game takes place before all the other games in the series. You'll get to meet some new people, and discover some new puzzles. I'm always so amazed with the balanced variety of puzzles that this series has given us, and I have to say that this entry into the series does not disappoint. There is one small thing in the game that does bother me and that's the constant need to tap all over every screen. There's a new mechanic where if you tap in a spot that causes a poof a dust enough that you get some new item for the inventory or a hint coin. Yes, there are still those chances of tapping something in a scene once and a hint coin appearing, but this added layer really doesn't do anything for me in the game. There's also the mini-games that you can play in the game, I'm going to be honest, even though some of these are different puzzle types, I'd rather spend the time playing the puzzles that will advance the story. Speaking of story, this one following suit to all the other games, there's an air of mystery to it, and you'll want to get through all the twists and turns.
Without giving away any more of the story, or any of the special twists, all I have to say is that if you're a puzzle lover with a Nintendo DS, you need to add this to your collection, if you haven't done so already. This is a fun game to play, you can pick it up and put it down and not really miss a beat. So what are you waiting for, oh wait, the score, how about we just give this game a 9.2 out of 10.
