Layton 4 was released in 2011 in the West, right before the smartphone and internet memes and gatcha games change the landscape for creating relatively inexpensive games such as Layton 4. Layton 4 is in many ways the best Layton so far. The puzzles are tight, the music is solid, the animation is joyful, and a new protagonist joins the ranks to make things more interesting.
If you only care about puzzles, Layton 4 has you covered. As for the overall experience, this may be my least favorite Layton. While other games always had something to make the town and story compelling to think about, this one doesn't excite the imagination. The mystery of the giant monster is outclassed by Luke being a weird little dude for the majority of the game. When it's time to focus on the monster for the ending, none of the big revelations feel impactful. The puzzles are a great time, but you might be better off replaying Layton 3.
If you only care about puzzles, Layton 4 has you covered. As for the overall experience, this may be my least favorite Layton. While other games always had something to make the town and story compelling to think about, this one doesn't excite the imagination. The mystery of the giant monster is outclassed by Luke being a weird little dude for the majority of the game. When it's time to focus on the monster for the ending, none of the big revelations feel impactful. The puzzles are a great time, but you might be better off replaying Layton 3.
el profesor layton es liberal
Cool game, kinda weird though even in comparison to the others in the series. Still like a 7/10 though
I thought that Last Specter was a good game, but definitely not my favorite out of all of the Layton games I have played. It has many of the same charms that make the original games work so well. It also makes some different choices that I don't really care for.
The puzzles in this game really vary in quality, and are poorly spread in quality. Some of these puzzles are some of the best Layton has to offer. I really enjoy many of the logic and math puzzles, as they feel fair but not too convoluted or time-consuming. Unfortunately, not all puzzles are like this. There are a fair share of puzzles that are just lazy multiple choice questions, where it is easier to just guess. This isn't helped by the fact that a good amount of the main story puzzles are these lazy multiple choice ones, and there aren't many main story puzzles overall. I was 25 puzzles short of the point of no return, when I was easily over that barrier in all of the first three games. Some of the puzzles in the Last Specter were good, but I think both the second and third game do better in that department than this one.
Last Specter also takes a different approach to story, but I can't say I'm sold on it. There is a lot more exposition than the previous games, and this leads to much more context for the late-game plot twist. My issue with this is that the story isn't particularly interesting. It's a very basic plot, with a very uninteresting resolution. There are a couple neat parts and a couple neat character moments for sure, but I prefer the more wild, unpredictable nature of the prior games. Also, why is Luke smarter in a prequel than normal? He feels so much more competent in this game.
Despite all of these flaws, Last Specter is a Layton game at its core. It has great side games, (including London Life which I never tried) some good puzzles, and a charming story. It is definitely weaker than most Layton games, but it's still a good time in the end. If you like doing side content, I wouldn't skip this one, but if you don't, go play one of the other DS Layton games.
The puzzles in this game really vary in quality, and are poorly spread in quality. Some of these puzzles are some of the best Layton has to offer. I really enjoy many of the logic and math puzzles, as they feel fair but not too convoluted or time-consuming. Unfortunately, not all puzzles are like this. There are a fair share of puzzles that are just lazy multiple choice questions, where it is easier to just guess. This isn't helped by the fact that a good amount of the main story puzzles are these lazy multiple choice ones, and there aren't many main story puzzles overall. I was 25 puzzles short of the point of no return, when I was easily over that barrier in all of the first three games. Some of the puzzles in the Last Specter were good, but I think both the second and third game do better in that department than this one.
Last Specter also takes a different approach to story, but I can't say I'm sold on it. There is a lot more exposition than the previous games, and this leads to much more context for the late-game plot twist. My issue with this is that the story isn't particularly interesting. It's a very basic plot, with a very uninteresting resolution. There are a couple neat parts and a couple neat character moments for sure, but I prefer the more wild, unpredictable nature of the prior games. Also, why is Luke smarter in a prequel than normal? He feels so much more competent in this game.
Despite all of these flaws, Last Specter is a Layton game at its core. It has great side games, (including London Life which I never tried) some good puzzles, and a charming story. It is definitely weaker than most Layton games, but it's still a good time in the end. If you like doing side content, I wouldn't skip this one, but if you don't, go play one of the other DS Layton games.
I lost SO MANY hours of my life on London Life. Such a charming game in general, and I love Emmy! The intro music is my favorite of the saga, and that's really stiff competition.
What is it about this game that I love? I don't even know. But I love it.
ngl i dont remember this one well but i love lil luke and emmy. why does luke's father just let him go off with layton without any concern though that man is constantly putting this child in danger
very, very disappointing, the only salvageable thing from this game is Emmy, finally a well-developed female character after so many suffering from bad writing
Average Layton game but the title screen music is such a jam so that bumps it up a few points
Wonderfully done cut-scenes and voice acting (Layton's voice is sooo~ cute <3) that totally sold and enriched the story for me! Loved the challenge provided by many of the puzzles.
This review contains spoilers
I'm disappointed, I genuinely didn't like it.
Professor Layton games are usually full of cute and sweet stories full of empathy, with cute and lovable characters for being cute/unique, even the main villain of the original trilogy, Don Paolo, can be compared to Doofensmirthz from Phineas & Ferb, but Last Specter introduces one of the most cliché, boring but well designed villains, which sucks because he really looked like an interesting character at first glance, and knowing that I'm going to have to see him in 3 more layton games and a movie. .. damn, I hope the next minimums have a good story because really, the first three had their own puzzle in the story, and the ending sequences were the best, but this time.... Well, the plot twist of the wraith was good, but everything else was super easy to figure out before they tell you, and it was really bad because they reveal it late and it annoyed me a lot because in my head there was a better narrative thanks to how late it was, and the most annoying thing is that the way they ended it was leaving a lot of loose ends, It's the first one that doesn't make me cry because the sad scenes were super cliché and short, and the voice acting with less budget than usual, but without a doubt what made me say "nah, this layton is bad", was the kiss at the end for saving the babe like come on dude, I understand it's a 2009 game but that was the cherry on the cake to the downgrade of the puzzles since they went back to doing all math and perception in 3D, which is the most boring thing you can do so at the end I was legit passing it with a guide. because of how boring they were.
Still without a doubt the worst part was that it not only had cliché moments, but also sexist, dark and even horny and kind of... not that it's really a big deal, but for a layton to have adult jokes and even one of the characters interrupting another about to curse, and the girl in the group to be sexually harassed by a random old man.... I genuinely wondered, how the fuck do you get horny with a layton?
Emmy on the other hand is such a bad character and goes against all the values that the series already demonstrated, and it's a bummer because when I saw that an older girl was part of the cast, I was so happy because I thought she was going to be a character that I could identify with, but in reality she's super pushy, annoying and always goes against Layton and Luke, to the point where she stops being "think well and know what to say can lead to fix any conflict" to "if they don't breathe, they won't annoy you", inciting violence in such a lazy, lazy, boring and out of place way.
Being a Layton game, it's normal for me to care about this more than I would in a regular game, but I don't know. I'm disappointed that I spent 14 hours on something so underwhelming and I'm angry that I always expect so much from Layton games, and it really sucks to see a franchise you love so much have a bad game.
Professor Layton games are usually full of cute and sweet stories full of empathy, with cute and lovable characters for being cute/unique, even the main villain of the original trilogy, Don Paolo, can be compared to Doofensmirthz from Phineas & Ferb, but Last Specter introduces one of the most cliché, boring but well designed villains, which sucks because he really looked like an interesting character at first glance, and knowing that I'm going to have to see him in 3 more layton games and a movie. .. damn, I hope the next minimums have a good story because really, the first three had their own puzzle in the story, and the ending sequences were the best, but this time.... Well, the plot twist of the wraith was good, but everything else was super easy to figure out before they tell you, and it was really bad because they reveal it late and it annoyed me a lot because in my head there was a better narrative thanks to how late it was, and the most annoying thing is that the way they ended it was leaving a lot of loose ends, It's the first one that doesn't make me cry because the sad scenes were super cliché and short, and the voice acting with less budget than usual, but without a doubt what made me say "nah, this layton is bad", was the kiss at the end for saving the babe like come on dude, I understand it's a 2009 game but that was the cherry on the cake to the downgrade of the puzzles since they went back to doing all math and perception in 3D, which is the most boring thing you can do so at the end I was legit passing it with a guide. because of how boring they were.
Still without a doubt the worst part was that it not only had cliché moments, but also sexist, dark and even horny and kind of... not that it's really a big deal, but for a layton to have adult jokes and even one of the characters interrupting another about to curse, and the girl in the group to be sexually harassed by a random old man.... I genuinely wondered, how the fuck do you get horny with a layton?
Emmy on the other hand is such a bad character and goes against all the values that the series already demonstrated, and it's a bummer because when I saw that an older girl was part of the cast, I was so happy because I thought she was going to be a character that I could identify with, but in reality she's super pushy, annoying and always goes against Layton and Luke, to the point where she stops being "think well and know what to say can lead to fix any conflict" to "if they don't breathe, they won't annoy you", inciting violence in such a lazy, lazy, boring and out of place way.
Being a Layton game, it's normal for me to care about this more than I would in a regular game, but I don't know. I'm disappointed that I spent 14 hours on something so underwhelming and I'm angry that I always expect so much from Layton games, and it really sucks to see a franchise you love so much have a bad game.
l'un de mes tout premiers jeux c'est vrmt un très bon jeu
I played this game when I was very young and thought it was amazing. I'd like to play all the Professor Layton games now
has the best puzzle music
EMMY (GOAT) AND DESCOLE (GOAT 2)
Either the puzzles and story are not as good in this entry or I am burning out on this series.
cualquier CUALQUIER juego del Profesor Layton siempre tendrá mis 5 ★ !!!
THIS WAS MY FIRST LAYTON GAME this means the world to me it still gets me emotional i love this game i love this game. i wanna live in misthallery
96%
Emily rocks and the story was damn solid. I will always love these games, no matter how stupid I am at solving puzzles. Layton is one of the best protagonist in video game history.
Descole was on screen for a total of three seconds and I love him already
Wasn't my favorite Layton outing, but the Professor never disappoints.
Me gustó la idea de empezar a hacer precuelas para poder ver antiguas aventuras del profesor Layton, el haber podido ver los comienzos de su amistad con Luke me pareció muy tierno, estuvo bien el juego!
A fastantic entry in the Layton series. Telling the compelling tale when Luke and Layton first formed the iconic duo along with Emmy, all accompanied by a tremendous variety of challenging puzzles to scratch our head around. Having played the mobile versions of the previous trilogy, I thought it would feel rough around the edges playing on an emulator. However, this was not the case. The tactile controls are as intuitive as ever, and the only part where it ever felt uncomfortable were the cutscenes that had to be watched on a little screen. All in all, it is a game packed with details that shows how much level-5 has learned from the earlier entries. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I greatly recommend it.
116 solved, 4263 picarats, 122 hint coins
116 solved, 4263 picarats, 122 hint coins
For a Layton game? Perfectly cromulent. A bit slow and a tad disappointing given that this was the last true 2D layton game, but overall? It's fine. I'd give it a B.
big fan of luke i do NOT know what was going on
This game has Emmy in it
LUKE ESTÁA XIKITISIMO
cutest found family ever
i love jean descole
misthallery has the best vibe in the series idc
i love jean descole
misthallery has the best vibe in the series idc
it's an... okay layton game. nothing spectacular in my opinion, i thought the twist was kinda dumb and i didn't like how it was executed at all. this could be a lot better. layton life is fun though