A world in which the power of the mind can unlock a puzzle which will open a shop that will let you buy a cake...
Good your all back and it seems many of you have done as you are told which means i can get on with the review. In Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box the player controls the movements of the eponymous Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke through several locations, unlike in the previous game which is confined to just one town. Along with completing many different types of puzzles, players must explore different areas, solve mysteries, and aid the Professor on his quest. The puzzle menus for this game are very similar to those in Curious Village. Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with each puzzle and its value in picarats, and is given unlimited time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one hint coin to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more can be found by searching the game's locales.
Once the player feels he has the answer, he enters it, either by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific part, or entering the answer through character recognition on the Nintendo DS's touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, they can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times they are wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time. Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game's menus. As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards. Hamster toys are collected to help Luke give a morbidly obese hamster a workout. Pieces of a shattered camera that Sammy accidentally dropped can be assembled to repair it. Also, players can earn tea ingredients to brew new recipes and serve cups of tea to Luke, Layton and people they meet. By completing all 138 puzzles in the main game and each of these additional puzzles, the player can access 15 bonus puzzles for a grand total of 153 puzzles.
Now with the gameplay of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box out of the way it is now time to take a little look at its plot. Dr. Schrader, Professor Layton's mentor, reportedly has come across the mysterious Elysian Box, fabled to kill anyone that opens it. When Layton and Luke go to visit Schrader, they find him unresponsive on the floor and no sign of the box. A train ticket to the Molentary Express is the only clue of the box's theft, and the two prepare to follow on the next train out to head towards the town of Folsense, listed in Schrader's diary as the origin of the Elysian Box. They are followed by Inspector Chelmey, tracking down the crime, and Flora, who sneaks aboard the train but is eventually discovered by the pair. The train makes a stop in Dropstone, a town celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. As they enjoy the celebration, Layton and Luke learn that the town's founder, Sophia, also had an interest in the Elysium Box through her death the year before, and her granddaughter Katia continues to seek it out. Don Paulo, Layton's arch-rival, kidnaps Flora and disguises himself as her, leaving her behind in Dropstone as the train departs. En route to Folsense, Layton, Luke, and Don Paulo are knocked out with sleeping gas by the train's conductor. They awake to find their train car separated from the rest of the engine at the Folsense station. As they enter the town, they are struck by a brief wave of nausea, and Don Paulo, as Flora, feigns illness to stay at the hotel. Layton and Luke explore the town, and learn it was founded on top of rich mine deposits by Duke Herzen and his sons Anton and Fredrich. Some fifty years ago, upon discovery of a new vein of gold, strange incidents began to occur around town, and many of its citizens left. Fredrich left with his part of the family fortune and founding the Molentary Express, changing his name to hide his identity. They also learn that Dropstone's founder Sophia was also a former resident, evacuating with several of the citizens to form the nearby village. The remaining citizens point to the central castle over the mines, where they claim Anton remains to this day as a vampire.
On returning to the hotel, Layton and Luke find that the remainder of the train's contingent has arrived, and Chemley has arrested one of the conductors as a suspect in the theft of the box. Layton proves him wrong, revealing Don Paulo after long ago seeing through his disguise. Don Paulo escapes but leaves behind the Elysium Box. Layton and Luke figure out the mechanism to open it, but find the box is completely empty. Layton suggests visiting Anton to solve the mystery... This is the point in which i will leave the story so you the player can dive in yourself and see how it all ends.
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box came out on the Nintendo DS in japan on November 29, 2007 in north america on August 24, 2009 in austrailia on September 24, 2009 and in europe on September 25, 2009.
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is on many levels a fun game. Yes its not action packed but it still makes you stop and think and at times that is all a person needs to relax and have fun.