“Riddle me this, Layton”, said the Riddler, and the greatest crossover ever was born. While you think about that, I’ll tell you all about the actual latest outing from Level-5. The most gentlemanly gentleman ever has taken to the 3rd dimension for the first time and things have changed quite significantly. To be honest, when I originally booted up the game all I felt was disappointment, but like a good little reviewer, I settled in and let this “next gen” Layton game have its moment.

I should explain my disappointment before anything else. The drawn characters that inhabited the world of Professor Layton now exist only in cutscenes, of which, thankfully there are many. Hershel, Luke, and the rest of the world are now rendered in full 3D models. Thanks to the processing power afforded to Level-5 by the 3DS, the areas you explore are now displayed with depth and puzzles can be displayed with angles!

It makes sense. With the technology there, the possibilities for gameplay were too huge for Level-5 to ignore. Within the first 5 minutes or so, players will find themselves controlling Professor Layton riding a horse down a street after a mystery man. This is all in real time and is controlled using the touch screen. It came as quite some surprise, and this is not the only spur of the moment events that takes place.

This leads to not only some interesting gameplay and puzzle designs, but story developments as well. As you now get to play some of the more dramatic moments in the plot, you feel more involved in its development. Seeing Professor Layton school some chumps is nothing like doing it yourself. It would also appear that either the translation from Japanese is better or the script writing is simply better in this game. I would go so far to say that the story and the manner in which it is told is the best in any Layton game yet.

Ultimately though, the most important element the improved technology affords is the new possibilities with puzzles. I’ll admit it takes a little while for this to become evident, and certainly isn’t a “wow” moment when it does rear its head, but sometimes it’s the subtle changes that make the difference. Simple elements like watching someone do the old “ball under one of three cups” trick may not sound impressive, but it wasn’t something that could be done before. What this really means is that unlike the last few Professor Layton games, we don’t see so many puzzles returning from previous outings with subtle changes to make them look new.

I will say that a large quantity of these puzzles now involve the manipulation of some on-screen element, with riddles taking a back seat to a more hands-on adventure. The punishment for getting these wrong is far less too, with many of the puzzles being impossible to fail, with submission of your answer only possible on the successful completion of the task at hand. Even the puzzles you can fail on seemed less taxing than previous Layton games, and I found myself having scored the maximum amount of points a considerable way into the adventure, coming unstuck due to my own stupidity in the end, rather than being outfoxed.

I mentioned earlier that the translation from Japanese is of a higher standard than before in terms of the story, but I am afraid to say that this quality has not been replicated in the puzzle descriptions. Words like “maximum” and “minimum” get mixed up an alarming number of times, causing some trepidation and frustration when answering puzzles.

Inputting your answer and, indeed, interacting with the world has changed significantly too. The puzzle screen has changed to an ergonomically pleasing design, with less clutter. I would never have said the puzzle pages needed changing, but this new design is certainly an improvement. In terms of location interaction, you can still collect hint coins and talk to the inhabitants, but only after pressing the interaction tab.

Obviously wanting to take advantage of the 3D screen, everything is now on the top screen, with the lower screen reserved for the new map function which replaces the arrows of old. Players now have to choose to tap furiously at their environment. Players also have to drag a magnifying glass icon around the top screen by dragging the stylus on the bottom screen, and to select something they need to tap that location again, which “totally” sometimes doesn’t register and move your magnifying glass instead. I can imagine by the next game that this design flaw will be addressed and changed.

With that said, I was expecting more of the 3D. When I originally got the 3DS my mind immediately considered the AR cards’ ideal function as an element of a Professor Layton title, bringing the puzzles to life. Unfortunately, the 3D function is used nowhere near as imaginatively. Everything is just in 3D, nothing special, no inclusion in puzzles, nothing. I suppose this is in case people want to turn the 3D off, but if you are going to account for that in every game, you’re essentially shooting the 3DS in its unique little foot.

That pretty much sums up the look of the new Professor Layton. With the switch to fully rendered models, the game seems to have lost its unique charm. While the models do their very best to replicate the movement and facial expressions of their old cartoon counterparts, it’s just not the same. I found myself really missing the old look, and not in a “I can’t accept change” way, as the new look would be fine in any other game, it’s just not as good as it was.

The gameplay is still fantastic, the story better than ever, but the new look just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not even implying that fully rendered models could not work in a Layton title–simply that the ones used are subpar. While the 3DS doesn’t have the power of the Vita, a cel shaded look similar to Gravity Rush would be phenomenal at bringing the old chap and his pals to life.

I would hope they sort out the problem soon as it has been confirmed that the next true Layton game will be the last one to feature the professor himself. To have the series struggling to maintain its image and lose its main protagonist would not bode well for future releases, but I have faith in Level-5. The Miracle Mask is a great game simply missing that final piece of the puzzle that would have made it amazing.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes and completed in about 8 hours. This title was is a 3DS exclusive.