After two hits in a row, the first Layton trilogy comes to an end with "The Lost Future". It is currently the last game in the series chronologically, as the new, ongoing trilogy is a prequel series. It ties all the loose ends of every sub-plot that started in "Curious Village" while telling its own story. Let's take a look:
The Story:
The professor and Luke receive a letter from someone claiming to be Luke himself from ten years in the future. In it, he requests the professor's assistance to stop the future version of Layton, who has apparently became a mob boss, rendering police useless, and now rules London.
The story is once again fantastic. The time travel aspect is handled in a brilliant way to the point that it creates no plotholes at all, thanks to a specific plot point that prevents that possibility.
The characters are also quite great. We get some character development for old characters, including the main duo, and the new characters are all charismatic and interesting. As Layton tradition demands, it all builds up into an emotionally powerful climax, and this one is even better than the previous one.
Overall, it's a fantastic story with fantastic characters.
10/10
The Gameplay:
This game perfects the formula that was already established in the previous two games. The puzzles are as clever and creative as ever, and all of them use the touch screen brilliantly. The puzzle mini-games are also better this time around, especially one where you have to lead a car through a course that resembles SEGA's "Chu-Chu Rocket". There's also the addition of a Super Hint added to the three hint system from the previous games, which pretty much tells you the answer to the puzzle at the cost of two hint coins.
Overall, the gameplay is the Layton formula perfected.
10/10
The Audio:
Tomohito Nishiura once again did the music and it's once again charming thanks to the European flavor the accordion gives it. I don't find this soundtrack to be quite as catchy as previous ones, but the brilliant composition more than makes for it, as it always fits the context of every situation. The track for the Puzzle Battles in particular is fantastic. The voice acting is once again brilliant. Christopher Miller, in particular, gives a standout performance as Layton.
9.5/10
The Graphics:
Just as in previous entries, the game uses 2D animated sprites to achieve a hand drawn look. The FMVs are, as always, very well made and help the cinematic feel a lot, and character design is still full of variety and charm.
10/10
Overall, The first Layton trilogy stands as one of the greatest ever in any entertainment medium. Each game is better than the last, and it tells an overall brilliant plot.
Final Grade: 10/10
Next time, we take a look at Level-5's attempt at pulling off what George Lucas couldn't: Create a great trilogy of prequels. See ya then ;)
