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Katrielle’s adventure is one of the weaker entries in the Layton series, but it’s still a decent low-stakes puzzler for Nintendo Switch owners.
In the ever - expanding pantheon ofNintendo Switch ports , remasters , complete remakes , anddeluxe editions with additional depicted object , Layton ’s Mystery Journey : Katrielle and the Millionaires ' Conspiracyis a relatively small name . This upbeat puzzle / dangerous undertaking plot was to begin with issue for mobile devices and the Nintendo 3DS in 2017 , serve as both a continuation and a fresh kickoff for the long - runningProfessor Laytonseries . Now the Deluxe Edition of the secret plan has come to the Switch with over 40 young puzzles , HD visuals , an enhanced layout , and any previously release DLC . Beneath all of that , though , is still an underwhelming and oversimplifiedLaytontitle - but not needs a bad puzzle game . entrant to the series or other Switch owners just look for some perfunctory puzzle - solving will still get plenty of fun out ofLayton ’s Mystery Journey .
The game stars a new protagonist for the first time in the principal series : Katrielle Layton , daughter of the renowned Professor Hershel Layton , who mysteriously disappeared when Kat was younger . Now 21 years old , Kat has just established the Layton Detective Agency and is hoping to attract potential clients who need avail with theirunsolved mysteries . Her first guest ends up being a speak dog with amnesia , and he seems to believe that he was once human . Under her motto of " any closed book solved " , Kat reluctantly takes his case to rediscover his past along with her unshakable assistant , Ernest Greeves . But it ’s not long before more urgent cases originate coming in , and before long Kat and Ernest are off solving the liberal capers in London along with their newly - refer talking cad , Sherl O.C. Kholmes .
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As the tierce traveling around London , the musician is treated to the always - lovely art and sound design that theLaytonseries is known for . The HD touch - up of the Deluxe Edition really pays off ; the quirky character models and multilayered background ofLayton ’s Mystery Journeylook well than ever . Each grapheme design is wildly different and uniquely exaggerated , make up all of them memorable no matter what their role is . Moving between locations finger like walking through equally wide-ranging and detailed paintings , and the game encourages you to visually research these place to discover secret collectible . Of of course , Layton ’s Mystery Journeyis also utter with a top - nick soundtrack that include plenty of tricky new compositions along with variations on classic line from the series ' history . The overall audiovisual quality of the game is what gives it its cheery , " Layton - esque " position , in spite of some eat into representative act as ( which there is n’t much of ) .
Layton ’s Mystery Journeyalso features an exceeding level of customization for aLaytongame . Kat can pluck up " Fashion Farthings " from daily bonuses and during investigation , which can be exchange for full outfits . The Deluxe Edition let in more than 50stylish usage outfitsin addition to the former DLC turnout , and all of them can be unlock through gameplay . It ’s undeniably fun to pick out unlike fashions at any fourth dimension , and even Sherl can be dressed up in little dog clothes . As the participant lick more and more puzzles , they ’ll also get memory access to a growing entourage of interior design choice for the power at the Layton Detective Agency . Everything from wallpaper to upholstery can be redone separately , allowing you to turn the office into a middling home plate or a uneven incubus .
When it come to gameplay , puzzles still make up the mass of the experience . Puzzles are everywhere - they come up in clues , in conversation with NPC , in random spots on the ground … there ’s plenty of them in terms of quantity . But in term of character , these brainteasers are a mixed bag ; most of them are fairly dim-witted byLaytonstandards and can be solved comparatively quickly , but some of them can give your mind a nice little workout . Despite the transparent amount of puzzles in the game , a lot of them are also holdovers from previousLaytongames . TheLaytonseries has been reuse mystifier at an increase pace for a foresightful time , and while that may not be a concern for newcomers start out withLayton ’s Mystery Journey , the game still recyclesits ownpuzzles as it goes on . There were a few occasions where I finished solve a puzzle and moved on , only to encounter another teaser of the same type next . It ’s not that these puzzle are spoiled in themselves - it ’s just that the variety leaves something to be desired .
The story ofLayton ’s Mystery Journeyis the biggest variety of step for the series so far , but it ’s not really an improvement . Unlike Professor Layton ’s longsighted tales that revolved around cracking a primal mystery , Katrielle ’s adventure has anepisodic structure based on puzzle out separate example . These episodes have little to do with one another and are hold together by only the thin overarching thread , which does n’t make for a very engaging secret plan . The thing that stimulate them downright boring , however , is the fact that Kat automatically " figure out " each mystery for the thespian once all clues have been gathered . irrespective of whether the ratiocination is blatantly obvious or patently derisory , the player is n’t given the hazard to act upon it out for themselves . Some major report threads are also leave dangling at the terminal of the game , forget too much in uncertainty about our cardinal protagonist .
Speaking of our key protagonists , the three of them amount off as funnily unlikable characters - which is strange for the series . It ’s not as though the III is unendurable , but they ’re just gently annoying and do n’t convert or develop much over the course of the game . For a gentlewoman , Kat is often presumptuous and cocky , and can even be exploitative when it come to Ernest . Ernest himself is such a lovesick yes - man that most of his dialogue involves heaping extolment on Kat in some fashion . Sherl is perhaps the worst of them ; he ’s insistently sarcastic and rude no subject the situation . These control surface - degree descriptions might make them vocalise worse than they really are , but these are still the figure of speech that you ’ll be stuck with throughout the game .
Layton ’s Mystery Journeyisn’t the best biz in the series by any means , but it can still be an gratifying collection of downcast - stress puzzles - especially in the absence of any otherLaytontitles on modern systems . Between the glorious production values and the prominent number of clever but recycled puzzles , novel player will plausibly be the ones sire the most out of this Deluxe Edition . Other elements of the biz may be disappointing , but it ’s good to have played aLaytongame than never to have bet one at all .
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Layton ’s Mystery Journey : Katrielle and the Millionaires ' Conspiracy Deluxe Editionis available now on Nintendo Switch for $ 39.99 . A Switch codification was put up to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review .
