Katrielle Layton, the daughter of one of my favorite fictional characters in video games, takes the stead in her fathers place in the anthology game Layton Mystery Journey: Katrielle Layton and the Millionaire's Conspiracy.
However, the conspiracy doesn't happen until way later in the game. In fact, the story itself doesn't focus on the overall plot but rather the character interactions with each other and the mysteries of London.
Plot: In the game, Katrielle Layton and her partner Ernest Grevees, meet a mysterious talking dog they name Sherl O. C. Kholmes. (an obvious omage to Sherlock Holmes and is even referenced in the game.) As soon as they have this meet up they are called to main mystery but it's the second one that is the more pivotal due to referencing the title millionaires or rather The Seven Dragons (Dragons are multimillionaires in England and they have a show called Dragon's Den there which you might better know as our American Shark Tank though that show was originally Japanese But that's enough trivia for now.) And you solve mysteries they ask you to be involved in leading up the finale. Overall there are 12 mysteries going around in London. Seems easy right? WRONG! Because you better have a good head on your shoulders because there are PUZZLES! That's right. This is a puzzle game.
Gameplay: Although the puzzles you'll find aren't critical to solving the game, some puzzles are intertwined with proceding through the game. It's pretty traditional of Layton games to do that where if you're stuck on a puzzle, you just need to have some time to go back. However, these games have hint coins to allow you to play but be warned. There are a limited supply of hint coins and there are 4 hints for every puzzle: 3 basic hints and a super hint worth 2 coins. (In the original 3 Layton games, there was no Super Hint until Professor Layton and the Last Specter) And the game allows you to search all around London tapping on either the citizens or the areas around to find hint coins and puzzles. And sometimes you'll find these souvenirs for you collection. They're mostly there for fun kicks. And also there are 3 mini-games included which are also puzzle themed but they're often range from basically simple to overtly complex. And this games mini-games are a deduction game where you must guess certain characters' favorite meals, finding your way through a maze in as few turns as possible, and making sure all customers order jewelry by following specific paths. And once you solve all the games, you can unlock the Puzzle Houses where more puzzles abound. In this game, there are 185 puzzles not counting the Special Puzzles which can be a total of 15 depending and downloadable Daily Puzzles which makes the total a whooping 565 puzzles which I believe is the most puzzles in a Professor Layton game ever. And unlike the last two Layton games, this game doesn't come with a 3DS compatability setting due to being released on IOS. Oh and before I forget, this game also has voice overs and animated cutscenes and I must admit I do like the voice cast for this game, especially kudos to Rosie Jones for her portray as our titular protagonist Katrille. (Capital!) But I must give a dishonorable mention for the voices belonging to some of the minor characters in some of the mysteries. Sometimes it's a hit and other times it's a miss and it can be a little awkward to imagine some voices on some characters but overall, there isn't that much voiced dialogue in this game.
Characters: One of the strongest aspects of the game other than the variety of puzzles to solve, are the characters and their designs. The uniquely cartoonish and quirkly looks of the characters make it similar to both Western and Japanese animation with the standard traditions of Japanese anime for looks, references, and form but the Western side takes over for style, aesthetic, and tone. (I mean after all, this is a game based in London.) All the characters have quite exaggerated looks but still all feel pretty human and are designed fully to make them look distinguishable from each other as well as give them a sense of their own personalities. But the only main factor that every character has in common is the love of puzzle which they all have. But the most development would come from the main characters, Inspector Ercule Hastings, Felicity Hastings (his wife), Analyst Emilia Perfetti, and and the Seven Dragon predominantly though some background characters are also given a little background in some random post-scenes at the end of each mystery as a Congratulations for solving puzzles. Overall, the most interesting are main the main cast due to growing up and showing more parts of themselves in the overall game so everyone feels more stock rather than substance though it is fun seeing their interactions and quircks act upon our protagonist.
Minuses: Overall, my main disappointment is the mysteries them-self due to the issue that they aren't interesting and the answers are pretty anti-climactic. But it sure is fun to see Katrielle solve them. However, another things I have with it is the ending. Due to acting more as an anthology game rather than a plotted game, it does make problems with continuity. For in the original Professor Layton games, the overarching mystery was presented early on but other mysteries would need to be solved in order to understand the full scope of the entire game. For this game, the ending is kind of rushed due to having a scope of smaller mysteries to solve. But the puzzles and character interactions make up for it. However, this game isn't for young kids. Not because of subject materials but because there are hard puzzles they won't understand. So best to give it to someone 11+.
Overall: Primarily Katrielle Layton is a good game but some of the main parts of the game might not make it a fully fun experience in comparison to the original Professor Layton games. I'll review them one by one in comparison next time. But it's a good standalone game with their mysteries especially the one surrounding Katrielle and her missing Father Professor Hershel Layton himself.
3.5/5
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