Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
•Nintendo DS •Puzzle, Visual NovelThe third game in the Professor Layton series. In it, Layton meets an older version of his apprentice, Luke, who brings him to a terrible future he wishes him to help fix.
Thoughts
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, which you may know as ‘Professor Layton and the Lost Future’ if you’re European, is the third and final game in the original Nintendo DS trilogy. It builds on the puzzle-centric world established in The Curious Village and the gameplay improvements from The Diabolical Box, and delivers what I consider to be the most emotional story so far.
To me, The Unwound Future feels like an exploration of Layton as a character. We’ve learnt bits and pieces about him during his previous adventures, but his personal life has always remained fairly mysterious. Ironically, in this game that is set in a future version of London, we finally get to learn more about Layton’s past. It’s a deeply personal story that fits in perfectly with what we know about him so far, while making him more relatable.
My only gripe with this game is that it gets too fantastical towards the end. The absurdity of the climax felt a bit unnecessary, since the story was compelling enough already. It took me out of it, to be honest, but I’m sure my younger self enjoyed it regardless.
Sneak peek
These came straight from my 3DS! Please excuse the quality.
