I put a few hours into the fourth Professor Layton game and found a delightful package. Layton complements occasionally fiendish puzzles with an immaculate presentation.

Though Professor Layton features significant storytelling, prior experience with the series is not necessary. In fact, as a prequel, Last Specter is the perfect pick-up point. Last Specter covers the story behind Luke's partnering with Layton. Professor Layton is summoned to the village where Luke lives in order to investigate a specter, which has been destroying the town at night. Accompanying him is Emmy, an assistant assigned by the dean of Layton's university to help keep Layton organized. The three of them are all avid puzzle solvers, and hopefully you are too.

The story of Last Specter is told through a combination of anime videos, voiced and text dialog, and point-and-click adventure-style map traversal. Level-5 did an excellent job with the graphics and sound production, packing a very polished experience into a two Gbit game card. Specifically, the entire world and each individual puzzle feels carefully hand-drawn, and a mildly ominous soundscape includes a distinctly European-invoking collection of instruments such as the accordion. The voice acting is very competent, not cheesy or grating.

Wedged into the story are numerous puzzles that must be solved in order to progress. The inclusion of the puzzles is sometimes humorous and strained, but the package as a whole does well in keeping players engaged. Last Specter features tons of touch screen-based puzzles of all types, including logic puzzles, math puzzles, image searching, and mazes, of varying degrees of difficulty. Hints can be purchased with coins that are found throughout the point-and-click portions of the game, and players can scribble on the screen to help visualize solutions. Several other unlockable features are included, such as a minigame where you must plot out tracks for a train to traverse in order to pick up all its passengers. Additional weekly downloadable puzzles are promised as well.

Last Specter includes an entire second game, Professor Layton's London Life, an RPG by Brownie Brown done in the simple sprite-based style of Mother 3. Marketing material promises over 100 hours of gameplay in this RPG, which makes the fact that it was only unlocked after beating the primary game all the more absurd. Thankfully, it is unlocked at the start in the North American version. London Life features an impressive localization effort as practically every item you encounter, be it tree or park bench, includes a brief description.

Though it looks like Mother 3, London Life is not a traditional turn-based RPG. Instead, it is similar to Animal Crossing or The Sims -- you start off by creating a character and getting settled in your apartment in London. You can get jobs, get to know characters around the city, and work your way up the social ladder. If you are not a fan of those types of games, London Life is not for you. Success is measured by levels of things such as "happiness." Completing tasks opens up more of the city, and characters from the Professor Layton series make appearances.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter is a wonderful game for new and old fans alike. Its mind-benders are weaved into an engaging and mysterious tapestry, which can easily be played in small or long play sessions. The game is filled to the brim with content and character, and I recommend checking it out. The game's website has a few puzzles from the game in Flash form that you can try out online.