Game in Review: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

All crafts aside, I occasionally play the odd video game or two.  More often than not, they're games that have already been out for a while and reviewed a million times, but ... well ... everyone has an opinion they like to express from time to time.


After about six months of intermittently switching between flavors of Nintendo DS games, I finally finished Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.  Not that it was any fault of the game itself, by any means.  I just have a short attention span when it comes to portable games.  The type of game I want to play varies greatly and is entirely dependent on where I am, what I'm doing, and how much time I have to sit and play.


As far as puzzle games set into a story go, this one is one of the best (if not the best) I've played.  The puzzles are diverse in both type and difficulty and utilize the touch screen of the DS very well.  And while puzzles are the main focus of the game play, the story is engrossing and charming as well.  


Much like Prof. Layton and the Curious Village, it centers around the Professor and his young apprentice, Luke, going on a quest to solve some great mystery.  In this case, the mystery in question is that of an artifact known as the Elysian Box.  Supposedly, any person to open the box is mysteriously killed when they see its contents!  When the Box falls into the hands of a scholarly friend of the Professor and this fate befalls him as well, Layton and Luke set out on a voyage to reclaim the Elysian Box from a tricky thief, travel aboard an extravagant luxury train to a hidden town, and crack the case.


With a host of endearing characters, great puzzles, and an ending that might just make you a little misty-eyed, this game is worth a play-through or two ... whether it takes six days or six months!