The most recent Professor Layton game is called 'Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask,' and was released late last year. I really enjoyed the game, although I've played it in sporadic spurts since it came out. As a whole I really enjoyed the game, although there were some parts I wasn't too fond of, but I'll get to that later.
The game uses a brand new gameplay system, in which you use the touchpad to move a magnifying glass around to search for clues. In the past games you'd just tap around on the bottom screen to find stuff. The new system works great, and allows you to see the world on the 3D screen. I quite enjoy looking at Monte d'Or with the 3D effect.
The characters are also now rendered using 3d character models as opposed to 2d anime sprites. This sort of kills the aesthetic of the series, but the full motion animation sequences are still intact and as great as ever. While I feel the 3d models sort of kill the vibe, they are well done and growing on me. I expect them to make a return in the final game.
You can tell Level-5 is trying to change up the series a bit with this game, as they introduced a few bits which totally break away from the previous established game design. Early in the game you play a horse riding mini-game right after you encounter the Masked Gentleman (you can play a similar game later on), that tests your reflexes as opposed to your brain. It's a fun little mini-game, but to me the series is all about the puzzles and this was just simply a reflexive mini game.
Another section of the game has you navigating ruins as a young Hershel Layton, and this section took a while to grow on me. It's shown in an overhead view, and you manually move Layton around using the d-pad to solve maze-like puzzles. At first I didn't like it at all, and it took quite a while for me to grow accustomed to the style. In the end I quite enjoyed it, but the mazes got old, as they were the same thing with just varying degrees of difficulty.
The story in the game is pretty good, but you can pretty much guess who the Masked Gentleman is from the get-go and in the end it didn't really bother me. There is a twist that is pretty much "what?," but it's not a deal breaker. The ending of the game does set up for the final game, which is odd for a Layton release. Typically each game stands on it's own, usually only borrowing a few characters from previous games.
I think if you are into games that are great, you should give Professor Layton games a whirl. It's fun to play from the beginning, but I'd have to say my favorite is a toss up between 'Diabolical Box' and 'Unwound Future.' I lean a lot towards 'Unwound Future,' because it's incredibly great and the ending is so freakin emotional. Either way, if you have a DS or 3DS and have never played any games, do yourself a favor and pick any one of them up.
