Professor Layton and the Last Specter

 DS
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 92 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 69 out of 92
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 92
  3. Negative: 5 out of 92
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  1. mailordermonstr
    Jul 17, 2017
    4
    I really wanted to like this game. I had heard so much positive talk from people whose opinion's usually line up with mine, but unfortunately this isn't the case.
    I like the animated bits and the voice work is good. The art style in general reminds me of a mix between 80's french cartoons with a side of anime. Looks and sounds great throughout. In fact, that's really the only reason I'm    I really wanted to like this game. I had heard so much positive talk from people whose opinion's usually line up with mine, but unfortunately this isn't the case.
    I like the animated bits and the voice work is good. The art style in general reminds me of a mix between 80's french cartoons with a side of anime. Looks and sounds great throughout. In fact, that's really the only reason I'm giving this game a 4. Without the care that was put into this game, it would've scored much lower.
    The problem with this game is the puzzles, which is very unfortunate for a puzzle game. When I used to visit my grandma's home when I was younger, there was nothing to do. No videogames, nothing on TV, and the parents were all talking about boring stuff. So in order to pass the time, I'd go through a book of 1,001 puzzles. The puzzles in Layton feel like they were ripped right out of one of those books. There's at least 150 different puzzles and none of them are very creative or original. Some of them are downright broken or explained so poorly that the only way you'll solve them is luck or by getting hints (4 hints are offered per puzzle, typically the last hint being the answer).
    If you're thinking about getting into the Layton series, make sure you check out the types of puzzles that you'll be faced with. I like puzzles, just not the generic back of a cereal box type of puzzle.    … Expand
  2. skads7
    Nov 8, 2019
    3
    Una basura de juego. No tiene mas, de lo peor de Layton. Y el final de la historia ya bueno, una absoluta maravilla
  3. Reniachii
    Mar 9, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am sorry, I genuinely did not liked this one.
    Professor Layton games usually have these very sweet stories full of empathy and lovable characters because they're cute in what personality refers to, even the main villain of the original trilogy is cool, you can compare it to Doofensmirthz from Phineas & Ferb, but Last Specter introduced one of the most cliché and boring villains with a cool design, which really is a shame because I was really looking forward to this guy, and to know I'll have to deal with him in 3 more Layton media.. damn, atleast I hope the story is better than this one, because I swear to god, the first three laytons had their own puzzle in the story, and the endings sequences were amazing but this time... The specter plotwist was really cool, I'll give them that, but everything else was really easy to find out and understand before it was revealed, and it lowkey tilted me that they were revealed so late because in the time It took me to reach there, I had a better conclusion on my mind, I even ended the game with a lot of questions which is unusual for a Layton game. It's the first Layton game that didn't made me cry because of how short and cliché the sad scenes were like, even ending the game with le female character giving a kiss to the male kid for "saving her" like come on, that was such a letdown and what made me give it a 4 rather than a 5, which is still very generous, as there are a lot of things bad with this game, like how majority of the puzzles are a downgrade of the other games, being almost all of them math and 3D perception puzzles. Near the end of the game, I was legit using a guide because of how boring those puzzles are.

    Now, by far the worst is that the events that succeded in the game not only had cliché moments, but also sexist, dark and even horny which is like... they really weren't really big, but as much as a character almost swearing and a girl making an adult joke, it's like come on writers, why are you getting horny on a **** Layton game...
    Emmy is also such a bad character, it goes against all the principles the series tried to conveil, and it's such a shame because as a girl, I really got excited when I saw there was a girl on the main cast but fr, she's so pushy and annoying, games went from "you can solve all with critical thinking" to "yeah, let's just **** them up with violence cuz why not lol" and like... I really wouldn't care if this wasn't a Layton game, but idk. I'm dissapointed, underwhelmed and mad because I expected so much of this series. It genuinely is a pity to see a bad game in a series you love so much.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best DS Game of 2011
10
#10 Most Discussed DS Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 58 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 58
  3. Negative: 0 out of 58
  1. Gamer.no
    Feb 6, 2012
    80
    Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call is, as the rest of the games in the series, a very entertaining way to keep your brain fit. 170 puzzles test your noggin on various themes such as visual memory, logic and mathematics, and it's all wrapped up in a beautiful package.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 19, 2012
    80
    Maybe this puzzle-solving game is the last reason to find your long forgotten Nintendo DS – you will be amazed by the contents the developers were able to put on a single cartridge. [Christmas 2011]
  3. GameOver.gr
    Jan 12, 2012
    80
    Even though the prequel to professor's first three games is not as spectacular and the formula seems a little worn out, it can still deliver some great puzzle-solving hours. Oh, and the absence of the London Life mini-game from the European version is inexcusable.
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