Review for Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires Plot. Game for Nintendo 3DS, Android and iOS, the video game was released on 20/07/2017 The version for 3DS came out on 06/10/2017
Level-5 has been making children and adults dream for many years, ever since, on the Nintendo DS, he released the first chapter of the successful saga of Professor Layton. The atmosphere of the game and its puzzles had conquered everyone, making it deserve a large number of sequels that found an epilogue in the sixth chapter, called The Legacy of the Aslant. Despite the painful farewell to the professor, we were able to see him one last time thanks to the beautiful crossover Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright, which we enjoyed and promoted here on our pages.
However, apparently the Layton series has yielded so much that it is difficult for the developers to let it disappear, and here is the seventh chapter called Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires Plot, already released on 20 July even on iOS and Android and only now on Nintendo Nintendo 3ds.
Daddy Long-legged Layton
This time we will not follow the adventures of our favorite professor, but of his daughter Katrielle. On the opening day of her office as a private detective, Katrielle dreams of her father Hershel, who has disappeared who knows where. Determined to find him, wherever he is, Katrielle opens her own agency together with her assistant Ben, a real doormat for the girl because of her feelings towards her. The first customer is not long in coming, but contrary to all expectations it is a talking dog, whose words are for some reason understood only by Kat and Ben.
The dog has amnesia and does not remember anything about himself, much less why he can speak. Baptized Sherl (from Sherlock Holmes) by the young detective, the four-legged dog begins to follow the duo in the hope that Katrielle can unravel the mystery of her identity. The girl accepts, however for the duration of the game she will do something else. We hope to find out the identity of the big dog in one of the next sequels, as this chapter turns out to be a mere presentation of the characters without a real main story, with a division into 12 different chapters each of which is a small case to in its own right to solve.
Between dresses and sweets
The heart of the game does not differ in the slightest from the previous chapters: we will be able to travel between different locations in which, through the use of the stylus, we can investigate objects and talk to the characters present there, so as to obtain clues that can carry us forward in the main plot. Between a clue and the other we will be catapulted often (and quite randomly) to solve the most varied puzzles, which can range from mathematical riddles to annoying pitfalls, earning a certain number of Picarats depending on our skill, which determine our score . In case of hesitation we will be able to use the Help Coins that will give us more or less useful clues on the development of the enigma, and can be found in hidden ravines of the various locations.
The only real novelty of the game compared to the old iterations is the fact that our protagonist is now female: so why not take advantage of her love for clothes to insert a fashion themed minigame? Looking for secret spots while exploring the places, we will be able to unlock a large amount of objects with which to furnish our office and clothes with which to customize Katrielle, who is crazy for shopping and sweets. Unlike her father, she goes where curiosity and gluttony take her, regardless of the importance of the current case.
More of the same
The technical sector of the game remains at the same level as its predecessors, with static places, characters with good polygonal models and animations, and a flagship donated by the magnificent anime-style movies, in which the dubbing in which the talented Emanuela Pacotto shows off herself in the role of the protagonist. The new direction taken by the series would have given hope for a qualitative leap, however the decision to release the game also for smartphones has probably pulled the handbrake, leaving Level-5 with the unpleasant - but very comfortable - decision not to change anything. to what we already know by heart.
The tracks of the soundtrack are nice and well integrated with every place and situation, managed in such a way that they give the same sensations and atmosphere of the main saga at every moment. Even the longevity does not differ from the previous chapters, even if a story with 12 small chapters all well or badly unrelated to each other could lead to boredom or at least in a total absence of interest.
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Plot is Level-5's attempt to resume a series that, despite being long overdue, was too famous and profitable not to continue. The very fact that it was released for Smartphone even before Nintendo 3DS shows the willingness of the developers to expand even more the user of this series, which now has a large number of fans thanks to nice and funny puzzles and a very Sherlockian atmosphere. . If in the previous chapters, however, we had an intriguing story and mysteries linked to each other, this time we will live only 12 small cases totally ends in themselves that have the sole purpose of introducing us to the characters, laying a basis for future chapters . This not only does not give the user any kind of interest in the continuation of the story, but also sheds a bad light on the title itself, which automatically becomes a mere sponge to exploit the brand.
► Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires Plot is a Puzzle type game developed and published by Level 5 for Nintendo 3DS, Android and iOS, the video game was released on 20/07/2017 The version for 3DS came out on 06/10/2017
