The hint system, making the jump from previous titles, throws this into sharp relief at no point did I have to use more than one coin on a puzzle. But while they’re all entertaining, they rarely challenge, and there’s often no punishment for getting them wrong. There’s a nice variety to them as well, only a handful of times is a puzzle repeated out of the 60+ on offer. The Professor sections have inventive puzzles, which contextually make sense with what’s going on at the time a door will lead to a lock and key puzzle for example. The gameplay itself is what you would expect. Likewise you’ll spend time exploring the town as Phoenix and his assistant Maya, solving puzzles and finding clues. Evidence found by Layton and Luke can be crucial in court, with the Professor and his apprentice gentleman even interjecting in the courtroom to help Phoenix.
The crossover isn’t just an excuse to have both puzzles and the trial aspect in one game, either. To sort the mess, you end up unravelling the mystery of Labyrinthia, and in all it’s pretty original.
The overarching story is to save the girl, but along the way the narrative throws up some surprising twists that are genuinely unexpected. It adds up to make their teamwork and more necessary and believable.
Moving to a magical location new to both series helps connect the characters, as both are put on the back foot: Layton challenged by the introduction of magic that combats his logic, and Phoenix having to work with a law system he doesn’t know. There, they must defend a girl accused of being not only a witch, but the Great Witch. I won’t spoil anything, but their paths finally cross once they find themselves in the mystery town of Labyrinthia, whose fate is dictated by the Storyteller. There’re no magic portals between universes (I’m looking at you Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe), and instead we’re shown the two characters in London, just missing each other while on the same case. Starting off, the story serves to gel the two series together sensibly. Phoenix Wright is a combination that you would expect to work, and it does.