Reader Review: Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box

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This review was submitted by Joshua Marlow. If you’ve played Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, or just want to ask Joshua more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box (DS)

The second instalment in the puzzling Professor Layton series. But does it stand on its own, or fall on its top hat?

Loved

It’s Puzzling: The amount and intensity of the puzzles in the game is just breathtaking. None are easy though, and you’ll need to use your noodle to beat the game.

Moving makes me lose control: The movies in game are more common than in the Curious Village, but are just as detailed and amazing, with even better integration of 2D and 3D animation.

All aboard: The game comes with a puzzle in the box. Open up the game and you’ll receive, among the usual, a special train ticket that features early on in the story as an important plot device. It looks nifty, and is useful for solving an in-game puzzle.

Around Town(s): Unlike Curious Village, you get to visit various locations, each with their own feel. A very welcome change.

Weekly DLC: One new puzzle, once a week, for 33 weeks. ‘Nuff said.

Hated

Random Puzzles: In Curious Village, people gave out seemingly random puzzles to you, but Level 5 isn’t even TRYING anymore. I walk up to a sleeping man, and for some reason I’m thrown right into a puzzle about apples. Apples!

The Hints: So, you get a hard puzzle. The first hint is obvious, the second is a bit of help, and then the third is either useless or ruins the answer for you. I understand it must be hard to write these puzzles and figure out good hints, but I’d prefer more intelligent clues.

A must buy for puzzle fans, or mystery fans. Sure, sometimes the puzzles are extremely hard, but it’s totally worth it when you get the satisfaction of figuring out the answer.

Reviewed by: Joshua Marlow

You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words — yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.

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