A True Gentleman Would Love This Game

 Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box takes just about everything the first game did well, and does it better. Level-5 has added a more pronounced storyline, more voice acting, more cutscenes and a few interesting mini games to boot. It's hard to ask for much more in a sequel, and indeed, fans of Professor Layton will find little reason not to play this game. Some of the puzzles fall flat, and the increased emphasis on plot can be a little dubious at times, but Diabolical Box is a great DS game, all told.

Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke are on the trail of yet another great mystery as the game opens. A close colleague of Layton has been killed at the hands of the infamous Elysian Box, said to kill anyone who opens it. Soon after discovering the body, a series of clues lead the pair to the ritzy Molentary Express rail service, and from there to some more sinister locales. The scenery changes every couple hours in Diabolical Box, lending it a bit more variety than the first game. Of course, getting around is never straightforward; basically every clue you find or person you meet has a puzzle that must be deciphered to move forward. You'll eventually uncover the mystery behind a wealthy family and the cursed town surrounding them as the story progresses, and aside from a rather strange twist toward the end, the story is pretty good.

There are more puzzles overall than in Layton's first outing, and they are stitched into the plot, so things feel a little more cohesive as well. For example, Layton and Luke stumble across a number of locked doors in the game, and generally they must decipher a lock to open them. As for the brainteasers themselves, they represent a wide range of logic, mathematical, and word problems that will definitely strain your faculties. A few will test your visual recognition skills with secret messages, while others will have you sliding puzzle pieces or choosing the correct object from a lineup through elimination from a description given. My personal favourites were the train puzzles, which have you uncoupling train cars and reorganizing them on a track. There are over 130 in all, and most of the ones you miss will be stored in a central location that you can visit at any time. The puzzles are certainly more difficult overall than those found in the first game, and it seems like a pretty logical extension of The Curious Village. You'll definitely be challenged, and for the most part, discovering the solution feels extremely rewarding, with a flourish of music and congratulatory applause out of the DS speakers accompanying each puzzle.

In addition to the main game, a number of mini games are gradually unlocked as you play and can be accessed from the menu at any time. These include a tea making game where you combine ingredients to try and appease various tea drinkers in the game, an obstacle course puzzle where you must coax a chubby hamster into losing weight, and a pretty complicated camera-building puzzle which, once finished, unlocks a camera that you can use to play a spot the difference game. It's a nice chunk of content that's separate from the main game, and although they aren't incredibly engaging, it's nice to have a few diversions handy if you get stuck on a puzzle. I really liked the tea game in particular, and found myself becoming pretty addicted to supplying frazzled people with the right blend (weird as that may sound). Of course, the Puzzle Index is back in Diabolical Box, allowing you to redo any puzzle you've completed previously.

Most of the game's puzzles are set up well and are great fun to solve, but others can fall pretty flat. Probably the single biggest problem with Diabolical Box is that some of the puzzle instructions can be confusing, and I'm not talking about a purposely misleading sentence designed to throw you off. Sometimes I would read instructions several times and still had no idea what the game was asking of me. I eventually solved these puzzles either by using the built-in hint system (find "hint coins" in the game, use them to buy some help), guessing, or - once or twice - using an online guide. It's not a massive issue, but it was definitely disquieting to come across some real duds in the midst of what are generally well-designed puzzles.

The extra padding on the game's script can also be an issue. The new balance of puzzles and story can work very well in spots, especially in the game's final scenes where a barrage of tricky puzzles have Layton and Luke avoiding some pretty dangerous situations. Other times, you may find that there is a bit too much talk. The characters are endearing and the anime cutscenes look great on the DS screens, but for such a simple mystery plot, it feels a bit overwritten at times.

Still, if those are the biggest problems you can pick out of a game, you're in pretty good shape. Layton's second North American outing is full of tough-but-fair puzzles, attractive visuals, and enough extras to deserve a spot in your DS collection. For every minor setback you may run into, there are several charming, thoughtful, and entertaining moments right after. Give this one a look.