A step-up from the last game, introducing A LOT of things that just simply worked. A rich story and entertaining puzzles, more fitting for the audience and another sweet story that brought me to tears.
The second Professor Layton game starts on a train and promises different locations to explore. While it eventually settles down into a main place, the variety in the beginning was really nice. Diabolical Box has one of the wackier plots in the series and I wasn’t necessarily as invested this time around, but still loved spending more time with the main characters and appreciated the action-packed climax (it’s the only sword fight you’ll see in the series).
The puzzles in this one are about on par with the first game. The novelty may be gone but the rock-solid foundations for this franchise help Diabolical Box be a worthy sequel and another fun adventure with Layton and Luke.
The puzzles in this one are about on par with the first game. The novelty may be gone but the rock-solid foundations for this franchise help Diabolical Box be a worthy sequel and another fun adventure with Layton and Luke.
Curious Village, but EVEN BETTER.
It's actually called the philosopher's stone box in england
Very charming with a nice ending. Some transition animations are extremely slow with and some puzzles have moon logic. But there are so many extras and actually clever puzzles that the limitations on the DS don't really bother me.
Not my type of game but a gentleman always compliments the cutscenes.
Not my type of game but a gentleman always compliments the cutscenes.
A definite step up from the first game, I loved the story and the characters were alot better here
Très bonne suite, bien qu'elle n'atteint pas le niveau de son prédécesseur.
Et le plot twist est vraiment bof.
Et le plot twist est vraiment bof.
SO GOOD. i really love the setting of folsense and the story, the eeriness surrounding whats going on feels really fun to experience
lowkey cried
Anton's voice is weird but also fits idk
FOLSENSE IS SO DHFIDUGBFJASBFKLIUAWfhbl
Anton's voice is weird but also fits idk
FOLSENSE IS SO DHFIDUGBFJASBFKLIUAWfhbl
Me parece sensiblemente peor que el primero. Si, añade muchísimos más lugares y algunos tipos de puzzle nuevos, pero la mayoría no son tan interesantes. Además, más grande no es lo mismo que mejor. Creo que han invertido recursos donde no tocaba haciendo que la calidad de lo importante baje demasiado.
It's an improvement over Curious Village but I still don't like the puzzles.
Esto me recuerda a un puzzle...
first game to make me cry
im still thinking about that guess my age puzzle
I don't know if I liked it more or less than curious village. Most puzzles I enjoyed, although unlike the first one I abandoned some (fuck the hidden trash sliding puzzle) and I had even more hint coins in the end of this one despite probably using more than I did in the first. I wouldn't say it had plot holes but some parts were stretched pretty thin on how much I was willing to suspend my disbelief. I did like the art of this one more I think, I love mysteries on a train and the main locale of the game looks stunning. Most important of all though, this one has a sick ass sword fight, which automatically makes it 10 times more enjoyable.
Trop bien
I pretty much like this game as much as Curious Village. It is a great sequel, but also has a few issues with the overall pacing that the first game didn't have. That ending made me cry though, it's so bittersweet.
If you want to play this game I recommend trying to get your hands on the PAL version, Pandora's Box, because I've heard the NA version has worse voice acting.
If you want to play this game I recommend trying to get your hands on the PAL version, Pandora's Box, because I've heard the NA version has worse voice acting.
This game is extremely charming and incredibly unique. The whole mystery story paired with puzzle solving gameplay works really well, and the game offers tons of unique and many difficult puzzles. The difficulty of some of these puzzles really shocked me and it felt great when I was able to solve them. The story does feel simple at times, and the twist at the end doesn't really feel that earned to me, but overall I had a good experience.
curiosities
A lot of solid things in this second outing of Professor Layton. However a sillier/weaker story with some obvious twists, some side stuff that's a bit of a step down, and some puzzles that just felt fairly tedious drop this one down a bit compared to Curious Village
The same formula as the previous game, before it became completely washed out. Still enjoyable.
"""pandora's box""" my ASS
this game takes all the coziness and calm of its predecessor and slashes it in half, filling the empty space with raw emotion, mystique, and just the right amount of dread. the mystery of the Elysian Box is one of the most intriguing and overall interesting mysteries i've seen portrayed in a visual novel, and every time a question was answered, it only left me asking more. while i do wish we saw more of Flora's dynamic with Layton and Luke, Diabolical Box's characters were all the right kinds of lovable, heinous, and heartbreaking. and once again, the soundtrack is KILLER
this game takes all the coziness and calm of its predecessor and slashes it in half, filling the empty space with raw emotion, mystique, and just the right amount of dread. the mystery of the Elysian Box is one of the most intriguing and overall interesting mysteries i've seen portrayed in a visual novel, and every time a question was answered, it only left me asking more. while i do wish we saw more of Flora's dynamic with Layton and Luke, Diabolical Box's characters were all the right kinds of lovable, heinous, and heartbreaking. and once again, the soundtrack is KILLER
This review contains spoilers
I gotta get my hands on some of that hallucinogenic gas
Layton but 2
Weaker than Curious Village, but still good. It starts strong, ends strong, but unfortunately tires out for most of the middle.
Boy howdy this was a long time coming, had this one in the background for a while but happy I finally got through with it. As a stepping stone forward for the series it does its job quite well and streamlines a lot of little issues Curious Village had. Puzzles feel a lot less "trollish" than ones in CV often did and having 3-5 smaller locations that you progress through across the game, rather than just one big location that expanded as you went, definitely helped the game feel more adventurous and varied in its pacing.
There's definitely an argument to be made that the sense of atmosphere St. Mystere from the first game had was lost in this transition, but I think both approaches work. Having this game settle into its final atmospheric area in the 2nd half of the game also works really well with the story and its twist. On the point of story, it was intriguing but didnt feel quite as well paced as Curious Village. The beats that did happen later on were definitely more interesting and the early on stuff was still fun to go through, but I don't feel the breadcrumb hints were as well done here. The twist kind of just "comes out of nowhere", even if it does make sense and is a cool way to resolve things.
Overall though it was definitely an enjoyable time, even if these kinds of brain-teaser puzzles are so hit and miss with me. The story and world and characters are engaging enough on their own and you get plenty of hint coins to help you through it all. I'm quickly seeing why Layton is held in such high regard among DS owners and can't wait to get started with Unwound Future / Lost Future later this year
[Playtime: 18 Hours]
[Key Word: Progress]
There's definitely an argument to be made that the sense of atmosphere St. Mystere from the first game had was lost in this transition, but I think both approaches work. Having this game settle into its final atmospheric area in the 2nd half of the game also works really well with the story and its twist. On the point of story, it was intriguing but didnt feel quite as well paced as Curious Village. The beats that did happen later on were definitely more interesting and the early on stuff was still fun to go through, but I don't feel the breadcrumb hints were as well done here. The twist kind of just "comes out of nowhere", even if it does make sense and is a cool way to resolve things.
Overall though it was definitely an enjoyable time, even if these kinds of brain-teaser puzzles are so hit and miss with me. The story and world and characters are engaging enough on their own and you get plenty of hint coins to help you through it all. I'm quickly seeing why Layton is held in such high regard among DS owners and can't wait to get started with Unwound Future / Lost Future later this year
[Playtime: 18 Hours]
[Key Word: Progress]
Arguably the best Layton. Just let the plot wash over you and have a good time with the puzzles.
I love Pandora's/Diabolic Box thanks to a luxury train, Folsense mood and the soundtrack which is one of my favourite OSTs.
in the UK they called this "professor layton and pandora's box" which not only breaks naming convention of the rest of the series but also sounds worse.
this game is a little more hype-y compared to its predecessor but I'd say its well warranted. most of what made curious village enjoyable persists and the puzzles continue to maintain a sense of consistency that adds to the world and the personalities of the npcs that give them to you. except for the slider puzzles. why the fuck are there so many slider puzzles bro. its ridiculous. there's one that I literally spent an hour on while everyone in my friend group watched as I slowly descended into chaos. they now post the "he was forced to do slider puzzles" gif whenever blocks appear on my screen.
foolsense is fucking awesome and might just be my favorite setting with its colorful nightlife and the story behind it. I think this game is technically better than curious village because layton swordfights a dude in it and its still the best cutscene in the entire series.
this game is a little more hype-y compared to its predecessor but I'd say its well warranted. most of what made curious village enjoyable persists and the puzzles continue to maintain a sense of consistency that adds to the world and the personalities of the npcs that give them to you. except for the slider puzzles. why the fuck are there so many slider puzzles bro. its ridiculous. there's one that I literally spent an hour on while everyone in my friend group watched as I slowly descended into chaos. they now post the "he was forced to do slider puzzles" gif whenever blocks appear on my screen.
foolsense is fucking awesome and might just be my favorite setting with its colorful nightlife and the story behind it. I think this game is technically better than curious village because layton swordfights a dude in it and its still the best cutscene in the entire series.
not as big a fan of this one as most! This game's progression is its biggest weakness compared to the rest of the series IMO. We keep throwing locations and characters away because the game wants to be this globe-trotting adventure. As such, rather than unravelling one big mystery like in CV, UF or MM (the three best games in the series), we have to keep solving small-scale mysteries that don't build on one another nearly as well. The final villain's story is only 10% as interesting as he could be because of this.