Graphically, not a lot has changed since the first title. Everything, in fact, seems a little recycled, from the character models to the locations. There are far more CGI cut-scenes, which are fine, and they are of better quality, but they don’t add all that much to the game to be honest. If this is your first experience of the series, you’ll probably find the French-inspired artwork quite charming- it has always been pretty high quality- it’s just a shame that nothing’s moved on at all. I’m not expecting a move to 3D or anything, but the fact that so many assets seem to have been reused was initially pretty disconcerting, and also points to something of a rush job.

 

 

Sound is pretty similar. The music sound very similar to what I’ve heard before, and whilst there’s more speech, it’s not all great. Layton’s lines are fine, but his cockney assistant, Luke, has had his actor change, and he’s now incredibly annoying. So it was actually pretty off-putting anytime there were any voiced lines.

 

 

You can download some free puzzles every week from the Nintendo wi-fi connection, but there’s no multiplayer puzzling to be found here!

 

 

The new Layton game, "Professor Layton And Pandora's Box" for me, suffers from the same malaise as Puzzle Quest: Galactrix did. If you had never seen or played the original, this would be the game to get. However, if you spent any length of time with the original, the concept, art and style will seem a little tired and samey, and I found I was bored of the somewhat similar puzzles that came up again and again. In coming up with a ‘bigger’ sequel, the game has lost some charm, and thus some appeal. However, if this isn’t a problem, there are few DS games that offer better value for money.

 

 

 

 

 

+ More content
+ Bonus RPG
+ Better production values