Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
Encyclopedia
, known in Australia and Europe as Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, is the second game in the Professor Layton series by Level-5
. It was followed by a third game, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. The game follows Professor Layton and his self-proclaimed apprentice Luke as they travel cross-country by train to solve the mystery behind a strange box that is said to kill anyone who opens it.
The puzzle menus for this game are very similar to those in Curious Village. Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with each puzzle and its value in "picarats", and is given unlimited time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one "hint coin" to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more can be found by searching the game's locales.
Once the player feels he has the answer, he enters it, either by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific part, or entering the answer through character recognition on the Nintendo DS
's touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, they can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times they are wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time. Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game's menus.
As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards. Hamster toys are collected to help Luke give a morbidly obese hamster a workout. Pieces of a shattered camera that Sammy accidentally dropped can be assembled to repair it. Also, players can earn tea ingredients to brew new recipes and serve cups of tea to Luke, Layton and people they meet.
By completing all 138 puzzles in the main game and each of these additional puzzles, the player can access 15 bonus puzzles for a grand total of 153 puzzles (excluding the downloadable puzzles). The game is compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing players to connect to the internet and download new weekly puzzles. The first unlockable puzzle was made available on the day of the game's Japanese release, and one new key has been released every week thereafter. New keys are released on Sunday. There are also two bonuses in "The Hidden Door" that are only available after the player finds one unique code each in the game's predecessor
and sequel. Other bonuses include a soundtrack, cut-scenes, soundbites, character profiles, and scenes from the game.
Layton and Luke help to resolve an incident aboard the train of a missing boy named Tom, who is later revealed to be a dog. This discovery coincides with Layton and Luke's discovery of Flora's presence on the train. The train makes an extended stop at the town of Dropstone where the citizens are celebrating its 50th anniversary. While Layton and Luke explore, Flora is captured by Layton's archrival, Don Paolo. Layton learns that Dropstone's founder, Sophia, was also interested in the Elysian Box up to last year and her death, and that her granddaughter Katia now also seems interested in finding it, though her father, Mr. Anderson, disagrees about her leaving. Don Paolo disguises himself as Flora, having locked the real Flora in a barn, and rejoins Layton as they reboard the train along with Katia.
The train continues on, and the train's conductor, Sammy Thunder, places sleep-inducing flowers in the train's VIP car, where Layton, Luke, and the disguised Don Paolo fall asleep for the remainder of the journey. As they sleep, the car is switched to a different track and left at an abandoned station. The three wake up and find themselves at Folsense, a town mentioned in Schrader's diary as where the Elysian Box originated. They are briefly struck with a wave of nausea before entering the festive town and meeting its odd inhabitants. Don Paolo, still posing as Flora, takes his leave of Layton and Luke at the hotel, which was disguised among the flashy buildings. The pair explore the town, learning that it was once a successful gold mining town under the kind leadership of Duke Herzen and, later, his sons Anton and Fredrich after his passing. By the greed of gold, Duke Herzen continued to dig the mine, and eventually it became a great crater under the Duke's castle. Layton and Luke learn of events 50 years ago when a new ore was discovered in the mine. That caused most of the town to evacuate and form the town of Dropstone; Fredrich left with his part of the family fortune and founding the Molentary Express, changing his name to Mr. Beluga. Later on, Duke Herzen passed on leaving the responsibility to Anton. The mine was sealed and Anton created a rumor that he was a vampire.
Layton and Luke return to the hotel, where Inspector Chelmey has arrived. Chelmey comes to the incorrect conclusion that Sammy was the thief, but because of an offhand remark from Flora, Layton sees through Don Paolo's disguise and reveals that he was the true thief that had stolen the Elysian box. Don Paolo is captured and taken away by Chelmey, but he promptly escapes despite being pursued by the inspector. Layton and Luke open the Elysian Box with no ill effects and find that it is empty, leading to more questions as to its value and legend. They again encounter Katia and decide to visit the Herzen manor built over the mine. There, the remarkably-young Anton says little about the Elysian box and invites them to stay the night. Later, Anton ties up Layton and Luke and locks them in a store room, revealing that he really is a vampire as rumored. However, they easily escape, and it becomes clear that Anton merely created the rumor to stop people from looting the gold.
Though Luke is eager to leave the castle, Layton realizes that searching the castle is the only way to learn the truth of the Elysian box. While searching the castle, they encounter Katia once again. They learn that Sophia was once betrothed to Anton, but left Folsense for the love of another. Anton finds them and mistakes Katia for Sophia, and thinks that Layton is attempting to steal his beloved away. Enraged, he challenges Layton to a sword fight. Eventually Katia explains that Sophia didn't betray Anton for another man, but rather left Folsense to protect her unborn daughter, Katia's mother, from the gas from the mine. Once Katia explains that she is Anton's granddaughter, and Sophia had died the previous year, Anton becomes even more enraged and begins to swing his sword around wildly. Anton's actions cause the manor to start to crumble. They flee the manor in time as it falls into the mine.
As the crumbles of the bricks and the pieces of the rocks seal the crater, the mysterious gas vanishes. Anton begins to change into an old man, and Folsense's appearance transforms into that of an old, desolate village. Layton explains that fifty years ago, the workers in the mine hit a vein of hallucinogenic gas that altered the residents' perception of the village and, in some cases, caused their imaginings to become reality. This gas was also probably what caused Layton, Luke, and Don Paolo the wave of nausea back at the station. The "legend" of the Elysian Box is a result of the trace amounts of gas inside of the ore that the box is made of, causing the curse to become a reality when those who opened it believed that they would die. Away from the mine, Anton has reverted to his true form and his vision of the village at its height has disappeared. Anton, regaining his sanity, reveals that he had made the box with a secret compartment only he and Sophia knew how to open. The key to opening the box is the riddle "The sun rises when you and I meet, and when the wind blows, you will know my heart". He had tried to send the box to Sophia after her founding of Dropstone for the evacuees from Folsense, but the box was stolen so many times due to its legendary status, he gave up hope. Layton and Luke help Anton open the secret compartment to find that Sophia had indeed received Anton's message, and left her own in its place just before her death, explaining her love for him, why she left him, and that Katia is his granddaughter. Anton vows to spend the rest of his days loving Katia as much as he did Sophia.
The group return to Dropstone, where Anton is reunited with his brother, Mr. Beluga, and Layton and Luke rescue the real Flora from the barn where Don Paolo trapped her. As they return to London, Layton is happy to discover that Schrader, having only been in a deep coma, quickly recovered from his exposure to the gas.
After the credits, the game ends showing "to be continued" along with a picture of Layton and Luke standing in front of a time machine which continues on to the next adventure Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.
Level-5 learned several lessons from the critical response to Curious Village. Critics had often claimed that the puzzles in the games were too disjointed from the game's plot, so in Diabolical Box, they attempted to make the puzzles more relevant to the game's narrative. The puzzles within the series from Diabolical Box onward tended to use English more than Japanese. This was coincidental, but allowed the game to be translated without replacing as many puzzles. Level-5 also tried to update existing systems within the game, such as the Professor's suitcase and minigames; ultimately, Diabolical Box used up nearly twice as much data than its predecessor.
, Akihiro Hino listed Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box as an English title for the game. At an interview following the conference, he confirmed that the name was the official English title and that the localization was currently being worked on, which he hoped to be finished in about six months.
The game was released in North America during August 2009, as Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It would be released in PAL regions during September of the same year, as Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, where it would become the fastest-selling Nintendo DS game ever released within the United Kingdom
.
, respectively.
As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 815,369 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu
. The UK's Official Nintendo Magazine awarded the game a score of 92% (and consequently their Gold Award medal), praising the increased number of puzzles, animated scenes and voice acting, but complained that it could be slightly repetitive at times. The magazine concluded that the game was "a great sequel that fully lives up to the high standards set by the original adventure." IGN
and GameSpot
each gave the game a score of 8.5. IGN also gave the game Editor's Choice Award, and IGN rated it the eleventh best Nintendo DS game as of 2010. Gametrailers
gave the title its best puzzle/parlor game of 2009 award.
Upon its release to Western countries, the game sold more than 1.26 million units by September 2009.
, was omitted from the CD; the instrumental version of it heard in the international versions is also absent, as it hadn't created until the game was released in those countries.
Like the previous game, the music has European influences. It's instrumentation is rather influenced by Spanish music, like the recurring use of the accordion and violins. Just like the one of the previous game, the main theme is influenced by tango rhythms and melodies. Overall, the original sound track of the game is very melancholic and rather sad. Only the ending theme leaves space for some lighter mood even though it stays quite sad and ends with an open cadence, signifying that this is not yet the end of the story.
The album scored slightly better than the previous one. Squareenixmusic.com gave it a 7 out of 10, criticizing that "there are no masterpieces on this score, even though the variety and entertainment is much more enhanced [over Curious Villages]."
The music of the game was composed by Tomohito Nishiura
.
Level-5
is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Fukuoka, Japan. The company, which currently employs about 200 individuals, was founded in October 1998 by Akihiro Hino after he departed from the now defunct Japanese developer Riverhillsoft...
. It was followed by a third game, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. The game follows Professor Layton and his self-proclaimed apprentice Luke as they travel cross-country by train to solve the mystery behind a strange box that is said to kill anyone who opens it.
Gameplay
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is an adventure/puzzle game. The player controls the movements of the eponymous Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke through several locations, unlike in the previous game which is confined to just one town. Along with completing many different types of puzzles, players must explore different areas, solve mysteries, and aid the Professor on his quest.The puzzle menus for this game are very similar to those in Curious Village. Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with each puzzle and its value in "picarats", and is given unlimited time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one "hint coin" to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more can be found by searching the game's locales.
Once the player feels he has the answer, he enters it, either by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific part, or entering the answer through character recognition on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
's touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, they can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times they are wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time. Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game's menus.
As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards. Hamster toys are collected to help Luke give a morbidly obese hamster a workout. Pieces of a shattered camera that Sammy accidentally dropped can be assembled to repair it. Also, players can earn tea ingredients to brew new recipes and serve cups of tea to Luke, Layton and people they meet.
By completing all 138 puzzles in the main game and each of these additional puzzles, the player can access 15 bonus puzzles for a grand total of 153 puzzles (excluding the downloadable puzzles). The game is compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing players to connect to the internet and download new weekly puzzles. The first unlockable puzzle was made available on the day of the game's Japanese release, and one new key has been released every week thereafter. New keys are released on Sunday. There are also two bonuses in "The Hidden Door" that are only available after the player finds one unique code each in the game's predecessor
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Professor Layton and the Curious Village, released in Japan as , is a puzzle adventure video game for the Nintendo DS system. It was developed by Level-5, and published by Level-5 within Japan and Nintendo internationally. It was released in Japan during 2007, and in PAL regions and North America a...
and sequel. Other bonuses include a soundtrack, cut-scenes, soundbites, character profiles, and scenes from the game.
Plot
Layton and Luke visit Layton's mentor, Dr. Schrader, who claims to have found the Elysian Box that is fabled to kill anyone that opens it. When the pair arrive at Schrader's home, they find him unresponsive on the floor, and the Box is missing, with only a ticket stub for the Molentary Express as a clue to its disappearance. Layton and Luke purchase their own tickets for the Express. They are followed by Inspector Chelmey, who is seeking Schrader's murderer, and Flora, who secretly tailed the two aboard the train. Aboard the train, they encounter Mr. Beluga, the founder of the rail-line.Layton and Luke help to resolve an incident aboard the train of a missing boy named Tom, who is later revealed to be a dog. This discovery coincides with Layton and Luke's discovery of Flora's presence on the train. The train makes an extended stop at the town of Dropstone where the citizens are celebrating its 50th anniversary. While Layton and Luke explore, Flora is captured by Layton's archrival, Don Paolo. Layton learns that Dropstone's founder, Sophia, was also interested in the Elysian Box up to last year and her death, and that her granddaughter Katia now also seems interested in finding it, though her father, Mr. Anderson, disagrees about her leaving. Don Paolo disguises himself as Flora, having locked the real Flora in a barn, and rejoins Layton as they reboard the train along with Katia.
The train continues on, and the train's conductor, Sammy Thunder, places sleep-inducing flowers in the train's VIP car, where Layton, Luke, and the disguised Don Paolo fall asleep for the remainder of the journey. As they sleep, the car is switched to a different track and left at an abandoned station. The three wake up and find themselves at Folsense, a town mentioned in Schrader's diary as where the Elysian Box originated. They are briefly struck with a wave of nausea before entering the festive town and meeting its odd inhabitants. Don Paolo, still posing as Flora, takes his leave of Layton and Luke at the hotel, which was disguised among the flashy buildings. The pair explore the town, learning that it was once a successful gold mining town under the kind leadership of Duke Herzen and, later, his sons Anton and Fredrich after his passing. By the greed of gold, Duke Herzen continued to dig the mine, and eventually it became a great crater under the Duke's castle. Layton and Luke learn of events 50 years ago when a new ore was discovered in the mine. That caused most of the town to evacuate and form the town of Dropstone; Fredrich left with his part of the family fortune and founding the Molentary Express, changing his name to Mr. Beluga. Later on, Duke Herzen passed on leaving the responsibility to Anton. The mine was sealed and Anton created a rumor that he was a vampire.
Layton and Luke return to the hotel, where Inspector Chelmey has arrived. Chelmey comes to the incorrect conclusion that Sammy was the thief, but because of an offhand remark from Flora, Layton sees through Don Paolo's disguise and reveals that he was the true thief that had stolen the Elysian box. Don Paolo is captured and taken away by Chelmey, but he promptly escapes despite being pursued by the inspector. Layton and Luke open the Elysian Box with no ill effects and find that it is empty, leading to more questions as to its value and legend. They again encounter Katia and decide to visit the Herzen manor built over the mine. There, the remarkably-young Anton says little about the Elysian box and invites them to stay the night. Later, Anton ties up Layton and Luke and locks them in a store room, revealing that he really is a vampire as rumored. However, they easily escape, and it becomes clear that Anton merely created the rumor to stop people from looting the gold.
Though Luke is eager to leave the castle, Layton realizes that searching the castle is the only way to learn the truth of the Elysian box. While searching the castle, they encounter Katia once again. They learn that Sophia was once betrothed to Anton, but left Folsense for the love of another. Anton finds them and mistakes Katia for Sophia, and thinks that Layton is attempting to steal his beloved away. Enraged, he challenges Layton to a sword fight. Eventually Katia explains that Sophia didn't betray Anton for another man, but rather left Folsense to protect her unborn daughter, Katia's mother, from the gas from the mine. Once Katia explains that she is Anton's granddaughter, and Sophia had died the previous year, Anton becomes even more enraged and begins to swing his sword around wildly. Anton's actions cause the manor to start to crumble. They flee the manor in time as it falls into the mine.
As the crumbles of the bricks and the pieces of the rocks seal the crater, the mysterious gas vanishes. Anton begins to change into an old man, and Folsense's appearance transforms into that of an old, desolate village. Layton explains that fifty years ago, the workers in the mine hit a vein of hallucinogenic gas that altered the residents' perception of the village and, in some cases, caused their imaginings to become reality. This gas was also probably what caused Layton, Luke, and Don Paolo the wave of nausea back at the station. The "legend" of the Elysian Box is a result of the trace amounts of gas inside of the ore that the box is made of, causing the curse to become a reality when those who opened it believed that they would die. Away from the mine, Anton has reverted to his true form and his vision of the village at its height has disappeared. Anton, regaining his sanity, reveals that he had made the box with a secret compartment only he and Sophia knew how to open. The key to opening the box is the riddle "The sun rises when you and I meet, and when the wind blows, you will know my heart". He had tried to send the box to Sophia after her founding of Dropstone for the evacuees from Folsense, but the box was stolen so many times due to its legendary status, he gave up hope. Layton and Luke help Anton open the secret compartment to find that Sophia had indeed received Anton's message, and left her own in its place just before her death, explaining her love for him, why she left him, and that Katia is his granddaughter. Anton vows to spend the rest of his days loving Katia as much as he did Sophia.
The group return to Dropstone, where Anton is reunited with his brother, Mr. Beluga, and Layton and Luke rescue the real Flora from the barn where Don Paolo trapped her. As they return to London, Layton is happy to discover that Schrader, having only been in a deep coma, quickly recovered from his exposure to the gas.
After the credits, the game ends showing "to be continued" along with a picture of Layton and Luke standing in front of a time machine which continues on to the next adventure Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.
Development
The Professor Layton series was announced to be a trilogy immediately following the announcement of Professor Layton and the Curious Village within Japan. By this time, Level-5 had already decided upon the Japanese names of Curious Village and Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, but were originally planning to entitle the second game These plans were eventually cancelled due to the staff thinking that it was too strange for an English gentleman to try and survive on a desert island, and the story was changed to that of Diabolical Box.Level-5 learned several lessons from the critical response to Curious Village. Critics had often claimed that the puzzles in the games were too disjointed from the game's plot, so in Diabolical Box, they attempted to make the puzzles more relevant to the game's narrative. The puzzles within the series from Diabolical Box onward tended to use English more than Japanese. This was coincidental, but allowed the game to be translated without replacing as many puzzles. Level-5 also tried to update existing systems within the game, such as the Professor's suitcase and minigames; ultimately, Diabolical Box used up nearly twice as much data than its predecessor.
Release and reception
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was released in Japan during November 2009, nine months after the release of Curious Village. Following this, Nintendo began to localize the series internationally; Curious Village was released in 2008, though Nintendo had not officially announced the localization of Diabolical Box. The manual of Curious Village, however, implied an eventual release of the second game while mentioning a feature in which passwords are exchanged between Curious Village and Diabolical Box for bonuses in both games. In March 2009, at the Game Developers ConferenceGame Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, Akihiro Hino listed Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box as an English title for the game. At an interview following the conference, he confirmed that the name was the official English title and that the localization was currently being worked on, which he hoped to be finished in about six months.
The game was released in North America during August 2009, as Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It would be released in PAL regions during September of the same year, as Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, where it would become the fastest-selling Nintendo DS game ever released within the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Critical reception
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was met with generally positive reviews from critics, yielding scores of 85% and 84 from Gamerankings and MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, respectively.
As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 815,369 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
. The UK's Official Nintendo Magazine awarded the game a score of 92% (and consequently their Gold Award medal), praising the increased number of puzzles, animated scenes and voice acting, but complained that it could be slightly repetitive at times. The magazine concluded that the game was "a great sequel that fully lives up to the high standards set by the original adventure." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
each gave the game a score of 8.5. IGN also gave the game Editor's Choice Award, and IGN rated it the eleventh best Nintendo DS game as of 2010. Gametrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
gave the title its best puzzle/parlor game of 2009 award.
Upon its release to Western countries, the game sold more than 1.26 million units by September 2009.
Music
All the music featured in the game were released on an album titled Layton Kyouju to Akuma no Hako Original Soundtrack, in Japan only. The ending theme song "Iris", sung by SalyuSalyu
is a Japanese singer, produced by Takeshi Kobayashi. She debuted in 2000 as the fictional singer Lily Chou-Chou for the film All About Lily Chou-Chou, and later debuted as a solo artist in 2004...
, was omitted from the CD; the instrumental version of it heard in the international versions is also absent, as it hadn't created until the game was released in those countries.
Like the previous game, the music has European influences. It's instrumentation is rather influenced by Spanish music, like the recurring use of the accordion and violins. Just like the one of the previous game, the main theme is influenced by tango rhythms and melodies. Overall, the original sound track of the game is very melancholic and rather sad. Only the ending theme leaves space for some lighter mood even though it stays quite sad and ends with an open cadence, signifying that this is not yet the end of the story.
The album scored slightly better than the previous one. Squareenixmusic.com gave it a 7 out of 10, criticizing that "there are no masterpieces on this score, even though the variety and entertainment is much more enhanced [over Curious Villages]."
The music of the game was composed by Tomohito Nishiura
Tomohito Nishiura
Tomohito Nishiura is a Japanese video game music composer. He works primarily on games developed by Level-5.-Works:*Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva *Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box...
.