Gaming Professor Layton = Stupid Puzzles

[ShadowSoldier]

I've been playing this game a lot recently, and I'm curious as to what you guys think of it.

Anyways, I started playing it, and I'm up to chapter 6, and I have to admit, some of the puzzles in this game are just bogus. For example, one puzzle that you are forced to do and can't progress further in the game until it's solved is there are 9 poker chips on a table in the order of

6 5 4
1 3 2
8 7 9

and you have to only move 2 chips to make it so each row, column and diagonal row equal 15.

I was stuck on this puzzle for a good 30 minutes. I couldn't figure it out. Nothing was working. So I thought I was just not seeing something.

Went onto the internet to look at the answer, and I walked away pissed off:

Spoiler

You're supposed to take the 7 chip, and push the 5 chips down which pushes the 3 chip down. Then you're supposed to take the 4 chip, and push up the 9 chip so the table now looks like:

6 7 2
1 5 9
8 3 4

What bugs me is the game makes no mention that you are able to do this and you also get no hints. With the rules being written, this was the last thing on my mind.

And there are a few puzzles like this where you basically have to cheat to solve the puzzle instead of actually following the rules.

Anyways what have you guys thought about the game? I think it's one of the weaker Layton games...

 

[chavosaur]

Havent gotten to this layton yet (own it, but wont touch it til I finish the others) But I have experienced that in the past layton games. There are some puzzles that have soloutions to where your just like "How in the world did you expect me to know I could even DO that."
Ive actually run into that problem more then 3 times in the Diabolical box.

 

[Janthran]

Oh now you've done it.

 

[Terenigma]

Layton has never been good since the first game.

How many layton games have been released now? 5 is it? Each game having around about 120 puzzles? They were bound to run out of good puzzle ideas eventually and put in a few cheap puzzles just to drag out the gameplay time.

 

[Warrior522]

The trick is to think outside the box, honestly, as it is with many puzzles in the series, and if you fuck up enough times, he actually says to do exactly that... push the chips. My problem is that it takes several seconds for them to actually move when you do it right, so it's very easy to be confused, even if you figure it out.

I love the original Professor Layton games 1-3(and 4 is actually pretty solid overall), but I do have to say that thus far, Mask of Miracles(it's official title is too stupid to type, bar a particularly clever plot twist), is far and away the worst of the series; the puzzle quality is all over the map, the gameplay is so easy as to be quite nearly boring, and the story is a mess(bar a clever plot twist, which even then would only save the backstory portion; the present bit is just flat out garbage). I suspect this is why the next one, Lost Empire, will be the last... and thank god for that; if it's worse than this, I may very well not even play it at all...

now if Capcom will just pull their heads out of their rectums and give us the fucking crossover...

 

[RPG_Lover]

I'm not that far into Miracle Mask (I'm in Ch. 4, I think), but I agree with chavosaur - there are some puzzles (in all of the titles, really) that make you think "WTH?" when you find the solution. That's just the design - forcing us to try and think outside of normal. Yeah, it's a little frustrating at times - but it's just how it is. Overall, I'm enjoying it. Is it the best Layton title overall? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I don't know, I've enjoyed them all equally. I do know that Miracle Mask is the primary reason I even wanted a 3DS, and I'm happy with the purchase. That's just my $0.02.

 

[gifi4]

Worst out of all the Layton's.
I had honestly expected much more from such a brilliant series.
And yeah, some puzzles like that exact one are bloody stupid. I did the same thing and checked it out online.

Sadly, I was truly disappointed of the overall game.
Even puzzles that were actually legitimate just got repeated with a slightly different set-up, not even enough to make you think much.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Layton has never been good since the first game.

How many layton games have been released now? 5 is it? Each game having around about 120 puzzles? They were bound to run out of good puzzle ideas eventually and put in a few cheap puzzles just to drag out the gameplay time.

I actually liked Unwound Future a lot. Diabolical Box was okay, but definitely not as memorable.

 

[bowser]

Hmm...I don't think it's a problem. Some puzzles want the player to think out of the box. But I agree this one is bogus.

 

[Coconut]

Lolz, the game will give you the answer of that puzzle

 

[ShadowSoldier]

So I beat the game last night... and I have to say, aside from the twist ending (not talking about who the masked gentleman is), the game is pretty weak. The puzzles just aren't that good overall. That wasn't the only puzzle that I thought was dumb.

The story is pretty good and the post-credits scene is pretty cool especially if you watched the Professor Layton movie first like I did (never played Last Specter). The puzzles aren't all that good and as others have said, a lot of them are re-used with pretty much no changes at all. I suggest you guys pick it up if you can get it on sale, or pay full as long as you don't expect the best gameplay but rather play for the story.

 

[Clydefrosch]

well, layton always had lots of cheap puzzles, but so far, im in chapter 5 and theres just two riddles i didnt solve yet. what annoys me the most about this game is the huge number of textpuzzles.
those where you get like 4 sentences and then have to decide if theres someone lieing, or who wants to live in what house or something like that.
god the one with that little girls mother pissed me off so much, not because it was hard or anything, just because this mother rather talks about having the wrong bag instead of why that creepy guy with the hat is walking around with her daughter...


though, at least they kept the math riddles at a minimum so far. riddles that are essentially math problems and the time/clock puzzles from unwound future where the worst in my opinion. and slide puzzles

the series itself is still nice. i like the cutscenes and appart from being more than obvious and often ridiculously stupid, i even like the plot twists.
though i actually didnt like the twist in the 4th game... i mean wtf, how is it even possible that a whole town cant make out a fucking robot just because its nighttime?

 

[Deleted_171835]

@Clydefrosch.

1. Spoiler that shit son.

2. It's Layton, crazy illogical awesome twist endings are its specialty.

Layton has never been good since the first game.

 

[rayword45]

Since the first game Layton has had plenty of puzzles that relied on sort of trick answer. Those actually add some nice diversion to the gameplay IMO. As people have said, you're supposed to "think outside the box". If those relied on some boring math puzzle answer, it would be dull. If they told you, where would the puzzle be?

Layton has never been good since the first game.

Fucking no.

 

[Janthran]

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, Puzzle No. 74, "PU"

best puzzle in the game, trufax

 

[VMM]

Hey guys, I just bought the first game(Professor Layton and The Curious Village), started playing yesterday,
already did more than 40 puzzles, and I'm starting to think the game will end sooner than I expected.

What Proffessor Layton game do you recommend me to play after beating this one?

 

[rayword45]

Hey guys, I just bought the first game(Professor Layton and The Curious Village), started playing yesterday,
already did more than 40 puzzles, and I'm starting to think the game will end sooner than I expected.

What Proffessor Layton game do you recommend me to play after beating this one?

In order:
(Curious Village)
Diabolical Box
Unwound Future

Then there's the prequels
Last Specter
Movie
Miracle Mask
(unreleased) Azran Legacies

 

[2ndApex]

I admit to playing Professor Layton for everything but the puzzles.

 

[navimegaman]

Puzzle 26, mangled maths. I actually used a coin for the first time here and was truely shocked at how useless the hint was, then even more shocked at the solution. It's about as 'out of the box' as you can get.

 

[Clydefrosch]

Puzzle 26, mangled maths. I actually used a coin for the first time here and was truely shocked at how useless the hint was, then even more shocked at the solution. It's about as 'out of the box' as you can get.

thats the one with the broken piece of paper right? i remember that, felt like one of the easiest they had so far.
wait till you get the one with the black and white tiles where they ask you to shift the the black to white ratio.