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Tea
18 January at 17:58
Hey all - Nioh collection for PS5 if now up for pre-order [link]

Releases 5th Feb.
Ntando
18 January at 17:47
@Wazza , to get your ps5 from where ?
Wazza
18 January at 16:58
I sold My Pikachu & Eevee Edition Switch to get my PS5 lol I mis it but I don't regret it.. maybe Ill pick up the next one
KnightFall500
18 January at 14:42
@Nishaal Haven't played it yet, but will be picking it up!
Don't have a Switch, so can't play Breath of the Wild. & Immortals has the same look & game play.
Nishaal
18 January at 14:39
@KnightFall500, I was looking out for my first PS5 game. Immortals Fenix Rising looks like the one to me.
Wazza
18 January at 11:48
@Coffeboy just started the download for it haha
Coffeboy
18 January at 11:41
@Wazza try the demo of little nightmares 2, its really good.
Wazza
18 January at 11:40
@KnightFall500 Thanks Ill Dive Into That Next...
Wazza
18 January at 11:40
so I just Heard Eskom is blaming Covid for load shedding hahahaha...
KnightFall500
18 January at 11:39
@Wazza Immortals Fenix Rising
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Review

Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy

Don't do yer 'ed in.

by Garth Kaestner on 05 October, 2017

      1

     

The Professor Layton series is known for its tough logic-based puzzles, clean artwork and inspiring, multi-layered story. In Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy, Katrielle Layton, the daughter of Professor Layton, her talking dog, Sherl and uninvited assistant, Ernest Greeves, set out to solve numerous mysteries throughout London. Katrielle is tasked with assisting a group known as the Seven Dragons, the seven richest people in London via the newly opened Layton detective agency.



There are many similarities to the previous outstanding Layton titles but this time around there are aspects that make Layton's Mystery Journey fall slightly short of greatness; most of which comes down to the titles writing. In a puzzle title that revolves around mystery and fierce detective work, you need a well-constructed plot brought to life with memorable characters. Rather than having a theme of intertwining arcs, each episode acts more like a standalone adventure that does little to build up any sort of tension or actual mystery. Katrielle on occasion has her charming moments but not enough from a protagonist aspect. Sherl, the talking basset, plays a far more entertaining role and is sadly the only truly memorable character of the entire cast.

In the early stages of the game, two thought provoking mysteries are touched on but they are seemingly sidelined to search for ‘Ratman’, a local superhero, and Madame Doublée’s missing pet. These less interesting cases have their moments, but not having a more prolific overall story makes them seem pointless. This continues until the final case where the characters you’ve interacted with throughout the game make noteworthy contributions. After completion, the story isn’t completely resolved and leaves you questioning the game's writing even more. Thankfully, once a case is solved, you can revisit it and see how many puzzles are left to solve and the number of hidden hint coins there are left to discover.



Katrielle moves around from area to area discovering new aspects of the current case at hand. Sadly, there is little to no skill involved during this process. You enter a section, talk to the characters that populate the screen, pick up a few hint coins and then get prompted to move onto the next section. It simply feels like you’re being spoon-fed. Fortunately in-between this mundane experience there are the trademark Layton styled puzzles to solve. For me these have always been the highlight of the series. These range from basic logic puzzles to upper-tier difficulty, which are a pleasure to tackle. There are close to 200 of these puzzles to discover and attempt to solve, with only some that are mandatory to progress the story. Some may find the hint system helpful in some of the puzzles assisting with the more challenging problems. I would recommend trying to make it through without using the hint system as this is the best aspect of the game by far.

While it’s always a joy to have another entry to the Layton series, Layton’s Mystery Journey finds itself as an average addition to the franchise. The puzzles are both fun and challenging, which somewhat make up for the uncompelling story and generally weak characters. If Level-5 choose to continue with the Mystery Journey series much improvement will be needed, specifically with the story. An underwhelming first entry for Katrielle and friends and while the game can improve, it remains a fun experience that fans, for the most part, will still enjoy.

7.5
Fun & challenging puzzles
Uninspiring characters
Story falls flat
7.5
See our scoring policy here

Garth Kaestner

Banjo wielding, moonshine drinking, dungaree enthusiast. When not laying back on the porch couch he will be found making minor additions to his porcelain dog home décor.

Follow Garth on See more articles by Garth

There are 1 comments

Scottie
Talking dog! Sold!

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Overview


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Developer

Level-5

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Level-5

Platform

3DS

Release date

6 October 2017

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