Professor Layton And The Mask Of Miracle has been in development for a while now, and it's starting to shape up very nicely indeed.
As much as we enjoyed The Lost Future, we're pleased that the series is finally getting a bit of a makeover. The most obvious change can be seen during the conversation screens that appear whenever you meet and talk to someone.
The exploration sections of the game have also been given a revamp. The DS Layton games tended to keep your eyes trained on the bottom screen, with all the exploration and puzzle-solving taking place there. It's fairly obvious though that the 3DS's most important screen is the top one, and that's where everything will be happening this time.
What does this mean? Well, whereas in previous Layton games you used the touch screen to tap on items of interest and choose where to travel next, in Professor Layton And The Mask Of Miracle you'll be using it to control a cursor that appears on the top screen (allowing you to explore locations in three dimensions) and double-tap the screen when you see things you want to investigate. There's also a nifty little effect when you travel to another location, as everything whooshes past your eyes at full speed.
Puzzles, meanwhile, will be far more varied and should feature less of the simple 'here's a question, type in the answer' formula that's appeared so many times in the past. Instead, you'll be using the stylus, tilt sensors and 3D capabilities to solve a much wider variety of puzzles (although we'd imagine any 3D-based ones will still be solvable with the 3D turned off).
Fun Of The Mask
That's the puzzles sorted then but, as any die-hard Layton fan knows, they're only half the story, while the other half is... well, the story.
In this game, Layton and Luke hear about the Mask Of Miracle, a special trinket which is said to grant the wishes of anyone who wears it. Having dealt with the likes of death-cursed boxes, dodgy villages and time machines in the past, they're naturally intrigued by the sound of this wish-granting mask.
So, they head out to Montdol, the 'town of miracles' where it's said the mask can be found. Layton and Luke arrive fashionably late, just in time to see an evil chap wearing the mask and turning everyone in the village into stone. Yikes. Naturally, it's up to them to save the day and try to figure out a logical reason as to how this mask could be doing these things.
There's also a second plot running through Mask Of Miracle which takes us back to Layton's years as a student, complete with one of the greatest perms we've ever seen. Throughout this sub-plot, we'll learn about Layton's friendship with a fellow student called Lando, and discover how their adventures got Layton interested in archaeology. From what we've seen of this storyline so far, we get the distinct feeling that another weepy ending is on the way.
Masked Improvement
The final pleasant surprise about Mask Of Miracle is the fact that it will be making full use of the 3DS's Wi-Fi connectivity. The first three Professor Layton games allowed players to download a brand new puzzle every single week, but the vast majority of Layton gamers have got absolutely no idea that this is the case.
What happened to Professor Layton and the Spectre's Flute, but this is looking amazing and I'm definitely getting it.
can never complain when it comes to a new layton. but we do need number 4 first
Their talking about the ones for the 3DS. Not the DS.
and to be honest, the graphics for the movie scenes don't look much better than the DS's ones. I know it'll be in 3-D, but...
Being a nerd here but in the article it said 'Having dealt with the likes of death-cursed boxes, dodgy villages and time machines in the past' when it should have said 'Having dealt with the likes of death-cursed boxes, dodgy villages and time machines in the FUTURE'
which, by the way sounds awesome
Will we be getting "Specter's Flute", then? Or is that going to be forgotten about? I hope not.
layton vs wright NOW or i will stand in front of capcoms office and shout objection until the message gets through
I won't say the obvious (WHICH IS WE NEED LAYTON FOOOOOOUUUUURRRR!!! ;D), as I'm looking forward to this all the same. And his friend's called Lando... reminds me of Star Wars for some reason ;D
Being as anal as I am, I won't be able to play this until Layton 4. WE NEED CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER GODDAMMIT!!!!!! So I will simply sit and watch as this game starts to look more and more cracking.
I wasn't going to watch Eternal Diva, as it takes place after Specter's Flute, but I gave into temptation. I can honestly say it was worth it. I really hope Specter's Flute is released before this, as much as I can't see it happening.
i agree that this will be epic
i also agree that spectre's flute must be released first.
You do relise the Game isn't finished and needs to be translated, and that takes time.
Anyway, Have Completed the first game and started the 2nd. Should really be playing it.
We need Layton 4 first but this should be good nevertheless.
http://keded.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cobridge.png?w=443&h=262
Yay! I do think we should get Layton 4 first but I when I saw that you could download new puzzles on the other games, I was dissapointed because I have the kind of internet connection that the DS doesn't connect to. So, this means that I will be able to play the downloadable puzzles ^-^ yay!
I want to play this but not before Professor Layton and the Spectre's Flute
this does look like the best professor layton game yet my fav layton is lost future the curouis village the pandoras box. And one question wheres spectres flute?
I'm pretty sure there is no game called Spectre's Flute, 3DS is not a DS, its a whole new console. Kinda like Pokemon games continue into the next console, so will Professor Layton.
EDIT: OK, I was wrong but Spectre's Flute is a prequel to the very first game, that's all. Mask of Miracles is the one after Lost Future/Unwound Future.
The games should all be in order but I am excited about doing 3D puzzles
You're still wrong!
Spectres flute is the first in the prequel trilogy! Mask of Miracles being the second! They are both set before Curious village!
Spectres Flute is the 4th game and Mask of Miracles is the 5th!
The Animated Movie "The Eternal Diva" takes place between the 4th and 5th game! I wish I had not watched it, but at did not realise at the time!
If the 5th game is released before the fourth I wont play it until the 4th is released!
I don't wanna read it (Layton games are best completely un-spoiled), but this will be incredible and i really can't wait. We got the Spectre's flute first though.
As others said, don't want spoilers. I want to play the games as orignally intended. So not hearing any news about Spectors Flute is kinda worrying
It does look the best!!!
cool
Can't wait to buy this and stare at it until layton 4 is out
Yay, no more static dialogue! And I'm intrigued to see how this new exploration system will work, since I thought the other one worked quite well...
And I'd rather get Specter's Flute before this for chronology reasons, but any Layton game is better than no Layton game =).
if you look on zavvi it says it comes out on the 22nd of july?
Layton is awesome! Although I complete the game in a matter of day because it is so addictive :3
I would like if the Professor Layton series stayed on the normal DS but obviously that won't happen due to making money and 3DS sales and stuff, but I would like if some aspects of the game stayed 2D like the people and only have a background in 3D and some puzzles in 3D.
It'll be great for everyone except DSi, Lite and XL owners! I can imagine it becoming harder due to the introduction of the 3D effect - you'll probaly have to find lanes that are hidden by bigger houses leading to a puzzle like in Super Mario 3D Land where you have to have the 3D on or else you wont be able to see it.