Review game Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire Conspiracy s

Video games are different. Some entertain the players at the level firing at enemies, allowing you to let off steam after a hard day, but there are others. Those who try to make a man better in every way: smarter, closer, smarter. A great series of adventure puzzles Professor Layton just refers to the latter. Debuting in 2007, these games today are one of the most entertaining and clever in its genre. So I'd really like to tell you about the new part of this great franchise called Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy.

Game: Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy
the Platform: Nintendo 3DS, iOS, Android
the Genre: Adventure
the release date: October 6, 2017
the Developer: Level-5
the Publisher: Level-5, Nintendo

The concept of the game series Professor Layton is very simple. In fact, we face a set of a half-two hundreds of puzzles, linked together by a common story, in which a brilliant Professor Hershel Layton, is painfully reminiscent of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. He is as attentive to detail, loves puzzles, sometimes extravagant, but it is endlessly charismatic. Together with his assistants, the Professor travels the world and helps people in investigations of the different cases that can not handle the rest of the detectives. And the investigation is a dialogue with hundreds of NPCs, a study of different locations and a huge number of various puzzles and puzzles.

Fathers of the series, Professor Layton are considered as two people. First, it is the founder of Japanese Studio Level-5 Akihiro Hino. Secondly, the Japanese psychologist Akira Tago, who has written more than two dozen books with puzzles for the development of cognitive functions of the human brain. Akihiro Hino has always loved these books, which is why at some point, he decided to team up with Tago and to turn sets of puzzles in the full video game. The fruit of their joint labour is so liked players that to date, the game series Professor Layton has sold a total circulation of more than 16 000 000 copies. And that's not forget about the manga based on the game, three books, full-length animated film and the upcoming anime series of 26 episodes, the premiere of which is scheduled for 2018.

If the main character of the previous games was himself, Professor Layton, the new game protagonist becomes his young daughter Katriel. The Professor himself mysteriously disappeared, as we explain in the introduction to the game. That is why his daughter opens in London detective Agency, wishing not only to find her missing father, but also to help the detectives of Scotland Yard in solving the most intricate cases. Katriel help in solving the mysteries of her loyal assistant Ernest, whom she once met in the case of theft, where he brazenly framed, and a funny talking dog Cheryl (short for "Sherlock"), who appealed to her detective Agency for help, and then remained there to work.

Visually, the game continues the tradition of the series. It's still a charming adventure, drawn by professional artists and animators from the hand. The story inserts was created by the Japanese animation Studio A-1 Pictures. This is not to say that it is a traditional anime. The style is a cross between Japanese and European animation. The same Studio was responsible for the creation of cutscenes for such popular video games like Persona 4, Valkyrie Chronicles II, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and many others. Partially two-dimensional game graphics (backgrounds, scenery, objects), but uses three-dimensional models of the characters are stylized in 2D thanks to the technology of the cel shading. The game looks great. She is adorable and even cosy in its style, so to speak.

As for the gameplay, here everything is as close as possible to the previous games in the series. Katriel travels around London, talking to NPCs, interviewing them and collecting evidence. The only major difference from the main series is the fact that the plot is divided into separate business. A total of 12 and the story begins with the fact that someone stole a giant hour hand from a clock Elizabeth Tower Westminster Palace (among tourists popularly called big Ben, even though it is fundamentally wrong – big Ben has always been called the biggest of the five bells of the clock tower). Katriel step by step solves the mysterious theft, solving puzzles and folding the overall picture of the tiny leads. Once all the clues are collected, the young detective makes the only correct conclusion and convicts the criminal. Unfortunately, the choice of the perpetrator does not depend on the opinions of the player, which is somewhat frustrating. It would be nice to locate a suspect and point a finger at him.

The Puzzles are divided into several categories. There are puzzles in logic, attentiveness, there are math puzzles, visual and many others. For example, to correctly arrange the pieces of the puzzle to put it together, to shift the matches to build the necessary picture to help candidates for the mayor's position to calculate the probability of victory of each of them, based on preliminary voting results, turn to the mirror to properly direct the light rays into the scene, to calculate the age of a person on the basis of text terms logic puzzles and so on. The puzzles are divided into categories according to their level of difficulty. For the right solution each player receives a certain number of so-called points – of picarats. If you are unable to solve the puzzle the first time – the prize amount of picarats decreases. Thus, the game motivates players to ensure that they are fully focused on the decision and made no mistakes. In the end the amount you earn picarats affects what the outcome of the game. The more points you earn, the more bonus content you can unlock in the final.

If you feel that the puzzle you just can not handle, you can use four tips. The first clue only suggests to you which direction you need to think. The second and third explain the mechanics of finding the correct answer. And the fourth – almost directly tells about the right decision (but it does not give you it!). To use the tips, you need to spend special game coins. In each game location hidden on three of these coins that the player can find using the cursor and taps on the touch screen (the game was released for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as for mobile systems iOS and Android). Search in locations you can not only coins, but also all kinds of bonus items. They do not affect the progress of the investigation and the gameplay, but their search will satisfy players who like to obtain the most from the game embedded in it's content.

None of the games in the series is not complete without a variety of bonus mini-games. In this game the player will offer to cook a variety of culinary delights, katriel dress up in beautiful dresses, decorate her room according to Feng Shui Agency and much, much more. This is not a complete list of bonus features after completing the game you'll unlock many more puzzles, which will only increase with the release of new DLC. The main plot of the game is really completed in 15-20 hours. But to reveal the game at 100%, you will need much more – about 40-50 hours. And this game series Professor Layton is always pleasing to players. To leave this world never want too fast.

the

Pros:

the

the
• has an Interesting plot with an unexpected ending.

Nice graphics, animation and great dubbing. the

• Memorable new characters in the series.
the
• addictive gameplay as before.
the
• Sea bonus content, side-quests and mini-games.
the
• Pleasant, free of tension and intelligent humor.
the
• More than 200 kinds of puzzles.

The Game is now available for mobile platforms. the

• 12 interesting detective cases to solve.
the
• Free DLC with additional puzzles.

the

Cons:

the

the
• Almost no serious innovation.
the
• investigation of the cases do not depend on your decisions.
the
• Sometimes the game seems too simple.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy is a worthy continuation of the series, though, and presents us with completely new characters. Katriel gracefully picks up family business of father and incredibly fit harmoniously into adventure story. The game, as before, charming in its visual style, nice music and great voice acting of the characters. No questions arise for a great puzzler based on the gameplay of the franchise. Despite the fact that the chief ideologue of the franchise Akihiro Taga left this world last year, puzzles remain faithful to the traditions and continues to entertain players, and are actively developing their cognitive skills. Somewhat frustrating, just the fact that the game does not appear anything new relative to the previous series. Yes, and significantly simpler it became, like it or not. The game gets a from me 8 out of 10....