Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Here's the third game in the Professor Layton puzzle series, a franchise I've now visited in the summers of 2008, 2011, and 2013. It's essentially the same game as its two predecessors, and I have no reason to believe the two most recent games in the series, which I have yet to buy or play, will be much different. All the same, I enjoyed this one a little bit more than the second game, The Diabolical Box. I beat that game only two years ago, and for the life of me I can't remember more than one or two basic plot components. Even reading the Wikipedia article on that game has left me with only the fuzziest of memories. In other words, the game was almost entirely forgettable. That wasn't the case this time around. True, it hasn't been two years since I've beaten The Unwound Future, but the game's story impacted me to a deep enough degree that I doubt I'll have forgotten all about it years from now. There was an emotional resonance to this tale of love and loss, and while the ultimate solution to the vague mystery was once again a bit convoluted and silly, I felt an actual investment in the characters of Layton and Luke for the first time. What makes Layton tick? What's in store for Luke, who won't be a young boy forever? As far as the puzzles themselves - the real meat of these games - were concerned, there was a complete mixed bag. Some were absurdly easy, others were dumb trick questions, a few were mindless but cumbersome mazes, and plenty were clever or thought-provoking in some way. I'll credit the Layton series with this much - there sure is a diversity and variety to its many puzzles. Three games in, I've solved close to 500 of them, and while there have been repetitious elements to a few of them, I'm left impressed overall at the strength and relative consistency after hundreds of riddles, visual curiosities, and math tricks. All in all, I had my share of fun with this thirteen-hour game, but I'm in no rush to obtain or play the two other games in the series. I'm sure someday I'll find one of them listed for a great price online and I'll jump back into the series. That's exactly how I ended up buying and playing this game after a two year hiatus, after all. For now, though, it's time to get back to Kid Icarus, hand cramps and all.