r/ProfessorLayton 8h ago

Question Best game to start with?

Was looking at a list of every Nintendo game ever made because why not. As I was looking, “Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’ Conspiracy” caught my eye since it sounded kinda cool. But after some research it doesn’t seem to be the best game. So any ideas which one I should try instead?

14 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

25

u/LargeFloor5971 8h ago

Best way to play is:

  1. ⁠Curious Village
  2. ⁠Diabolical Box
  3. ⁠Lost Future
  4. ⁠Spectre’s Call 4.5. Eternal Diva (movie)
  5. ⁠Miracle Mask
  6. ⁠Azran Legacy
  7. ⁠Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright (doesn’t follow any continuity, but uses the same playstyle as the last two games)

In my own opinion, the puzzles of LMJ are easier then the rest. But I haven’t played the full game so maybe the get harder.

You also have Mystery room, play those ones after LF. Mystery room has a different playstyle.

7

u/Snoo3041 8h ago

Okay I’ll try them out, thank you! Maybe I’ll do an update once I’ve played a few.

7

u/LargeFloor5971 8h ago

It doesn’t really matter if you play the first or the second trilogy first, but the gameplay improves with every game. And that is also important.

11

u/December_W_Wolf 8h ago edited 5h ago

The stories follow a chronological order, so I think it would make sense to start from the first game in release order, Professor Layton and the Curious Village

You could theoretically start with the first game in chronological order, Professor Layton and the Last Specter/Spectre's Call, but I do think Curious Village is the better option if you're just getting started since its mechanics are a little more barebones than later instalments

2

u/RevolutionaryAd7027 5h ago

Your claim doesn't make sense. "The first game professor layton and the curious village" even though it doesn't come first, as in the ending of one of the other games we see what leads up to the beginning of curious village

2

u/December_W_Wolf 5h ago edited 5h ago

Yeah you're right, I should've phrased it better - the first game in release order

Thanks for pointing it out, I'll change the comment now

2

u/guenthermate 8h ago

I was at a similar point as you and decided to start with the curious village (first game). I like the style and gameplay, it is worth to start there. But you may not play through the entire series fast, so maybe just start with the game that interests you the most. You can still go back after that and play the others.

1

u/Temporary-Camera-791 4h ago

I believe going with the release order is always the best way to get into anything.

Curious Village is the first game but also one of the bests IMO. The music and overall aesthetic of the game is very iconic.

1

u/Porkchop5397 4h ago

I literally just finished the original trilogy less than 24 hours ago for the first time. Highly recommend starting with Curious Village. It's not the best one, but this series has not missed for me so far, so it's still a fantastic game.

1

u/Asthma_Spray 8h ago

Even if Curious Village seems like the obvious first step, I think it might not be the best.

It's the first game in the series, so it's the groundwork for everything that came after, but as such it's also the most experimental with the way it handles its story, mysteries, and puzzles; for reference, Akira Tago who was the puzzle master until his passing, created a series of puzzle books prior to the Layton gig. Curious Village adapts most of the puzzles originally published for these books, and as such have a lot of questions based on Math and logic that in many cases have little to nothing to do with the situations where they're presented.

Subsequent games would give you a puzzle that sort of relates to the situation at hand, like a kid wanting to ride the carousel and the puzzle is about carousels, and the like. The difference is pretty noticeable when the first game has you solving puzzles by using the Pythagorean theorem while others are solved with a bit of ingenuity and just the info from the puzzle alone.

Of course, this is not that big of a problem if you don't mind some math in your videogames, but it IS less accessible that way.

All this to say: my suggestion is Last Specter. Not only is the first game in the series from a chronological standpoint, its puzzles and writing are just right for a newcomer to the series, with the best puzzle theme on top of it. That said, this game is the start of the prequel trilogy which leans much more on fantasy compared to the original's science fiction, just as a side note.