Let's be honest. If you played Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box back in 2009, you probably cried. Or at least, you felt that weird, heavy lump in your throat when the credits started rolling and the music swelled. It’s a game about a cursed box that kills anyone who opens it, but really, it’s a story about the devastating nature of loneliness and the way time rots our memories.
Level-5 really hit their stride here. While Curious Village was a charming proof-of-concept, the second entry—known as Professor Layton and Pandora's Box in Europe and Australia—elevated the series from a collection of brain teasers into a legitimate piece of gothic interactive fiction. It’s messy. It’s weird. It features a vampire who isn't actually a vampire and a town that doesn't really exist.
And somehow, it works perfectly.
The Molentary Express and the Art of the Slow Burn
The game starts with a death. Dr. Andrew Schrader, Layton’s mentor, is found slumped over in his apartment after finally getting his hands on the Elysian Box. It’s a bold opening. It sets a stakes-driven tone that the rest of the series often struggled to match. You aren't just looking for a missing heir; you’re investigating a murder—or what looks like one.
Most of the first half of the game takes place on the Molentary Express. This was a stroke of genius by the developers. By confining the player to a luxury train, the game forces you to engage with a small, eccentric cast of characters. You’ve got the flamboyant inspector Chelmey, the suspicious Beluga, and a literal dog that needs puzzling out.
The pacing is deliberate. You stop at Dropstone, a sunny, pastoral village that feels safe. It’s the "breather" before the plunge into the dark. In Dropstone, you learn about the festival and the history of the box, but the game is subtly feeding you clues about the reality of the situation.
Why the Puzzles in Diabolical Box Hit Different
The puzzles are the backbone, obviously. Akira Tago, the "Puzzle Master" behind the series, curated a set that feels significantly more integrated into the world than in the first game. In the original Curious Village, some puzzles felt like they were just... there. In Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, they often serve the narrative or the immediate environment.
Take Puzzle 001, for example. You’re literally looking for the Elysian Box in a cluttered room. It’s simple, sure, but it anchors you in the mystery immediately. Later, when you’re navigating the streets of Folsense, the puzzles become more atmospheric. You’re solving riddles about shadows, old photos, and decaying architecture.
It isn't just about math or logic. It’s about observation.
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One of the most frequent complaints about the Layton series is the "sliding block" puzzle. You know the ones. They’re frustrating. They feel like filler. Diabolical Box has its fair share—looking at you, Garlic Growth and the various tea-serving mini-games—but it also introduced the Camera and the Hamster. The Hamster mini-game is surprisingly deep, requiring you to place items to help a chubby rodent lose weight. It’s a bizarre distraction that somehow feels essential to the cozy-yet-creepy vibe.
The Folsense Twist: Fact vs. Hallucination
If you haven't finished the game, skip this. Seriously.
The "big reveal" of Folsense is one of the most polarizing moments in Nintendo DS history. When Layton explains that the entire town is essentially a mass hallucination caused by hallucinogenic gas leaking from a mine, it sounds ridiculous. On paper, it’s a total "deus ex machina."
But in the context of the game’s themes? It’s brilliant.
Folsense is a ghost town that looks beautiful because the characters want it to look beautiful. Anton Herzen, the "vampire" in the castle, is actually a frail old man living in the ruins of his own heartbreak. He’s been breathing in the gas for fifty years, seeing his town as it was in its prime and seeing himself as a young man waiting for a lover who never returned.
This is where the game transitions from a mystery to a tragedy. The "monster" isn't a supernatural entity or a cursed object. It’s just grief. The Elysian Box didn't kill people with a curse; it killed them because they were already weak, and the gas did the rest. Or, in the case of those with a specific mindset, it showed them a final message of love.
A Masterclass in Atmospheric Sound Design
We need to talk about the music. Tomohito Nishiura is a wizard. The main theme of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is a haunting accordion-heavy track that perfectly captures the feeling of a moving train and a fading memory.
The transition in music from the bright, bouncy tunes of Dropstone to the melancholy, eerie violins of Folsense is subtle but effective. It creates a sense of unease that you can't quite put your finger on until the final act. It’s the kind of soundtrack that makes you want to sit in a coffee shop on a rainy Tuesday and think about your life choices.
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The voice acting, too, deserves a nod. Christopher Miller as Layton and Lani Minella as Luke established the gold standard for these characters here. The warmth in Layton's voice when he finally confronts Anton is what makes the scene work. Without that specific vocal performance, the hallucination twist might have felt cheap. Instead, it feels earned.
Real-World Comparisons: The "Cursed Object" Trope
The Elysian Box draws heavy inspiration from the real-world myth of Pandora's Box, but also from historical "cursed" items like the Hope Diamond or the Delhi Purple Sapphire. In history, these "curses" are almost always explained by coincidence or environmental factors—much like the gas in Folsense.
Level-5 took a classic trope and grounded it in a pseudo-scientific explanation that, while far-fetched, fits the internal logic of a world where people solve matchstick puzzles to open doors. It challenges the player to think like Layton: "Every puzzle has an answer." Even the supernatural.
Common Misconceptions About the Game
People often think this is the "middle child" of the original trilogy and therefore skippable. That’s a mistake. While Unwound Future (the third game) has the biggest emotional climax, it doesn't happen without the groundwork laid here.
Another misconception is that the puzzles are harder in this entry. Statistically, the "Picarat" values are fairly similar to the first game. The perceived difficulty usually comes from the tea-brewing mechanic. You have to find ingredients and brew specific teas for NPCs to unlock certain puzzles. If you aren't paying attention to the clues in the dialogue, you’ll get stuck.
Also, can we talk about the "hidden" door? There is a secret door in the Molentary Express that requires a code from the first game. It’s a small detail, but for fans at the time, it was a massive "I see you" from the developers.
The Legacy of the Diabolical Box in 2026
In an era of hyper-realistic graphics and 100-hour open-world slogs, there is something deeply refreshing about the curated experience of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It knows what it is. It’s a visual novel disguised as a puzzle book.
It also represents a peak for the Nintendo DS hardware. The dual-screen setup is used perfectly—notes on the top, interaction on the bottom. The "memo" function, which allows you to scribble notes over the puzzle, was revolutionary for its time and still feels better on a stylus-based system than it does on modern ports.
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The HD mobile ports are great, don't get me wrong. The art looks crisp, and the animated cutscenes (by P.A. Works) are stunning in high definition. But there’s a certain magic to the slightly crunchy audio and the pixelated edges of the original DS version. It feels like a relic, much like the items you find in the game.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Playthrough
If you’re picking this up for the first time—or the tenth—don't rush. The temptation is to blast through the puzzles to see the next story beat. Don't do that.
- Talk to everyone twice. The dialogue changes after you solve certain puzzles, and the world-building is hidden in the flavor text.
- Complete the Camera first. Finding the camera pieces early allows you to take photos of various locations, which unlocks "hidden" puzzles that are some of the best in the game.
- Listen to the tea. The tea-brewing mini-game tells you a lot about the NPCs' inner lives. It’s not just a mechanic; it’s character development.
- Pay attention to the background art. The artists at Level-5 hid so many clues about the Folsense twist in the environment. Look at the way buildings are drawn. Look at the "distortions."
The game is a reminder that puzzles aren't just about finding the right answer. They’re about the process of looking closer at the world around you.
Final Insights on the Layton Formula
This game proved that the Layton formula could handle heavy themes. It isn't just a "kids' game." It’s a story about the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Anton created a fantasy because the reality of his loss was too much to bear. Layton, the ever-logical gentleman, has to dismantle that fantasy to save the man, even if it means bringing him face-to-face with a painful truth.
It’s sophisticated storytelling wrapped in a package of "how many hens are in the coop" riddles.
If you want to experience the peak of the DS era, or if you just want a mystery that actually respects your intelligence while breaking your heart, you need to play this. It’s not just a sequel. It’s the soul of the franchise.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your hardware: If you have an old DS or 3DS, the original cartridge is still the most tactile way to play. If not, the "Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box HD" version on iOS and Android is a flawless port.
- Download a Puzzle Guide (but don't use it yet): Keep a guide handy for the "sliding block" puzzles if you find your frustration levels rising—don't let three Picarats ruin the story for you.
- Invest in a stylus: If playing on mobile, a cheap capacitive stylus will make the drawing puzzles ten times less annoying than using your finger.
- Play in order: If you haven't played Curious Village, start there. The emotional payoff of the recurring characters (like the bumbling Inspector Chelmey) hits much harder if you know their history.