Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Sorti le 29 novembre 2007 sur Nintendo DS et appareils mobiles d'ancienne génération, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box est un titre développé par LEVEL-5 et édité par Nintendo, mêlant point-and-click, réflexion par énigmes et roman visuel. Le jeu met en scène le professeur Layton, archéologue et amateur de puzzles, qui part enquêter sur la mort mystérieuse de son ami et mentor le docteur Andrew Schrader, survenue après l'obtention de l'énigmatique Boîte d'Élysée. Muni d'un billet de train pour le Molentary Express retrouvé chez la victime et accompagné de son assistant Luke, le professeur ignore encore les secrets qui l'attendent à bord. Avec le stylet de la console en main, le joueur doit prêter main-forte au célèbre détective pour résoudre des énigmes exigeantes. La durée de parcours de l'histoire principale est estimée à treize heures, contre dix-sept heures et demie pour une approche complétiste, et le score agrégé du titre s'élève à 82,54.
Côté accueil, la presse a salué la volonté des développeurs de ne pas se reposer sur leurs lauriers, 1UP jugeant que le jeu prend un titre déjà réussi pour le rendre encore meilleur, tandis que GameShark a relevé un mélange de conventions d'aventure et de puzzles tortueux dans un univers où l'on prend plaisir à séjourner. Certains joueurs cités sur Metacritic ont décrit une expérience proche du premier opus avec des ajouts de puzzles complémentaires, et d'autres ont exprimé leur enthousiasme pour les énigmes, la musique et le récit, tout en évoquant la difficulté rencontrée sur nombre de ces défis.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« Diabolical Box shows that the game's developers aren't content to just sit on their laurels -- they take a wonderful game, and make it even better. »
« Gameplay is the perfect mix of adventure staples and brain twisting puzzle devilry. Professor Layton's world is one you are happy to spend time in and hesitant to leave. »
« A spectacular sequel. It retains the wonderful and challenging puzzles from the original while offering grander story. There's a wealth of content, with over 150 puzzles and three different mini-games. »
« Anyone who likes puzzles and/or a good story should definitely buy Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. »
« Of course, it bears repeating that people who are already into Professor Layton will still find a lot to love. It's everything the first game was and more, so those who enjoyed The Curious Village will have a great time with The Diabolical Box. Even if you didn't like the first game, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. »
« A great sequel that fully lives up to the high standards set by the original adventure. [Oct 2009, p.71] »
« There isn’t any better puzzle game out there. You have to buy it, if you want a great masterpiece. »
« More puzzles will be introduced weekly online, so even if the relatively short game doesn’t have much replay value, there’s an incentive to keep picking it up for some brain exercise. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Similar to the first one, with some extra additions to the puzzles that complement it. »
« This game is awesome. The riddles are great, the music is awesome and the story overall is really great. I struggled with a lot of the riddles, but eventually you solve them and the end is pretty sad. »
« AKA Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, this is a Tin Tin style cartoon containing a series of simple puzzles aimed at kids. Younger players may find it entertaining but if your age is in double figures it's all a bit too lightweight and easy. »
« De forma totalmente contuísta, sigue con la historia pero con una trama no tan interesante como la primera. Notable, de todas formas. »
« 51/ 100 The Diabolical Box displays all the visual charm and unique artistry of its prequel, amping it up with richer, more lively illustrations accompanying the puzzles and a superbly composed, richer soundtrack bursting with cheery elegance gradually morphing into mellow sadness to fit the story's evolving tone, as the location changes. Indeed, the Diabolical Box provides a more expanse adventure than the Curious Village, with the cast exploring a much bigger area of various, finely detailed locales inhabited by endearing, witty characters that the plot uses to subtly, skillfully lay down the clues for its main mysteries. Regrettably, not all of them receive a satisfying answer: the story culminates with a tragically somber, emotional finale that beautifully ties many of its plot threads together, but its main outlandish revelation requires an uncomfortably sudden suspension of disbelief that haphazardly dismisses many others. The returning gameplay structure offers a slightly inferior puzzle selection than Curious Village due to an unbalanced variety with a disappointing shortage of Riddle-type puzzles and an overabundance of Sliding-type puzzles. Nonetheless, the game still offers a nice array of brain teasers that challenge the player's observational, deduction and lateral-thinking skills in various ways, now bolstered by a collection of simple but entertaining minigames to deepen the experience. »
« One of my favorite Layton games. Despite not having a tear-jerking story, the Quality of Life changes it brought stayed upon the series, and the puzzles are by far the best. In my opinion, best soundtrack of the original trilogy. »
« loved the puzzles and the story is also very good, definitely my second favorite professor layton game. Unwounded future is a bit better story wise but theyre both a ten imo. This was my childhood and is very close to my heart »
« I’m a huge fan of professor Layton but. And as in all the other games this one was my least favorite. The mini-games were good, but the story is the crappiest of all the series. Also, I didn’t like most of the character design. »
