Professor Layton and the Unwound Future Review: Third Time’s A Charm

By Koola

An Adventure/Puzzle game created by Level 5 Games for the Nintendo DS, The Unwound Future is the third game in the Professor Layton series; a series that I know very well by now having completed the previous two Professor Layton titles so my prognosis that this one has some of the best puzzles so far in the series, along with easily the most interesting storyline of all three titles should count as an informed view and sets the scene for what, to me, is the best Layton game of the bunch.

This time around, the game opens with Professor Layton and his faithful assistant, Luke attending a demonstration of a time machine, hosted by the eminent scientist Dr. Stahngun. The demonstration quickly goes haywire, causing an explosion that leads to the disappearance of Dr. Stahngun, as well as the likes of Bill Hawks, the stand-in Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Some time after these events, Professor Layton and Luke receive a letter somebody claiming to be Luke ten years into the future, inviting them to a little clock shop from where they will be able to contact him. Once there, the clock shop owner activates a time machine that blasts everyone 10 years into the future setting the scene for the unwound future of the game’s title. Naturally skeptical of any change, the two step outside to find that somehow ten years really have passed and that the London they once knew and loved has changed completely!

Not only do all the buildings look different, but the people inside the Clock shop have vanished, and worst of all the bus stop that they got off at no longer even exists. Not only that, but there’s a massive organized crime syndicate called “The Family” which has taken over this part of London, ruling through fear and intimidation. Quite frankly, any ideas that this is the London they once knew are eradicated completely and it is only after finally finding Luke’s sprightly double that things begin to make sense…

The conundrum is that Professor Layton, the future Professor Layton, has gone rogue and is using his intelligence to cement his place at the top of The Family and ergo controlling London with an iron fist comparable only to that of Henry VIII in his heyday. Luke, knowing he can’t stop the maniacal Layton alone, decides to enlist the help of the other Professor Layton, the one from the past who makes sure to get his kicks from solving a good-puzzle rather than absolute-rule. It thus becomes up to future-Luke and past-Layton to save the day but, as per usual, things take some major turns for the worse before the solution to this puzzle that extends through the ages can finally be solved.

I had fun answering this one, but not for the reason you’d expect..

While the plot is a huge draw and remains interesting throughout with all its twists and turns, it’s to be expected that the The Unwound Future’s story and gameplay are both individual parts. This being the case, my experiences with Layton games in the past have taught me that while I shouldn’t expect any major changes to the gameplay (the puzzles), the game’s overall quality is sure to rest on how good they are.

Thankfully, the overall quality of the puzzles in The Unwound Future have taken a step up this time. The puzzles are more challenging, come at you more frequently (less parts of the story where you’re just moving from Point-A-to-Point-B with no puzzles to break up the talking), and are just generally more varied. There are still a few throw-away puzzles sneaking their way into the mix, being far too simple and generally unrewarding to solve, but they’re mostly few and far between and their only real crime is that they exist to roadblock the progression of the story. This does damage the quality, but they rarely dent the overall experience of the puzzles which is solid. Unfortunately, the dreaded Sliding Block puzzles make a return and at this point I’ve come to consider them to be my mortal enemies.

As usual with the Professor Layton series, there’s a few puzzles that get placed inside your suitcase, to do at your leisure whenever you want to take a break from the main story. Curious Village had you building a robot dog, and Diabolical Box had you train a fat hamster to hunt Hint Coins for you, and take photos with an old camera but now there are three mini-puzzles which take their place. The first is the Toy Car game, which places a car on a grid and tasks you to move over all of the flags/cakes/whatever items on the map, touching the red Finish Line square while using a limited number of turns and jumps in order to get there – and yes, the car jumps, which is great fun. Second is the Parrot: this actually replaces the hamster from Diabolical Box with the parrot having a limited amount of time to deliver an item for which you must create ropes for the parrot to bounce off of – it’s very weird seeing how a slight slant can completely change his trajectory, but there’s no doubt that the puzzle is pretty damn fun. Lastly is the Picture Book, a sticker album that is gradually filled as you collect stickers from the puzzles completed during the main story providing you with a series of mementos to cherish forever.

Not pictured: Me spending 20 minutes on this puzzle.

Final Thoughts

Personally, I think this is the best Layton game I’ve played so far and while there’s a few boring sections and sadly some of the puzzles are throwaways, they rarely hurt the overall quality of the game which is very good indeed. The plot twists are brain-busting and make sure to involve time-travel, alternate personalities, Don Paolo, and a whole-range of absurd oddities which led me to many moments where I was often playing longer than I usually would just to see what happened next. I won’t spoil it of course but the final scene is pretty emotional stuff and while I’m no cry-baby (really, I’m not) it’s a moving scene that rounds up a pretty engaging story and works very well. Obviously, if you’re not a fan of Layton then you might not be so easily swayed by this outing but I’d easily recommend the game to anybody looking for a good puzzle-experience.

8/10

(Koola’s Review Score System)

Genre – Adventure/Puzzle

Platform – Nintendo DS