The director of the Zone of the Enders series, Noriaki Okamura, brings us Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights. You play as the titular Doctor Jean-Pierre Lautrec, an archaeologist and lecturer at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle (read: a French Indiana Jones) in this puzzle adventure game for the 3DS.
The adventure takes place in the 19th century before the construction of the Eifel Tower. A woman named Marie visits the good doctor with a gadget that reveals a map pointing to a hidden treasure that belonged to King Louis. Lautrec immediately sets out on the streets of the anime-style Paris with his trusty assistant, Sophie Coubertin. One thing is strange, though – the characters in the game have English accents though they are in 19th century Paris.
Always a Catch
These are cursed treasures, however. The only way Doctor Lautrec can obtain them without being cursed is to beat the “Treasure Animatus,” the guardians of the treasure. Apparently you can capture them and use them to defeat other Animati’. Konami calls them “living treasure” as each treasure has different abilities. Once you have obtained the treasures you can summon their monsters, each with its own unique attributes. If you use treasures in battle, you can gain experience points which also strengthen them (read: Pokémon).
Gameplay involves the aforementioned battles, as well as the player walking around, looking for clues, and solving puzzles to unlock more mysteries. As you control Doctor Lautrec directly, he can explore in different environments. There is also an area where he has to use stealth potions to sneak past people to continue an area. The game uses both 2D and 3D to tell the story with animated cutscenes. It has a cartoony, comical feel to it, and it suits the game very well. The puzzle system matches another well-known puzzle adventure that shall not be named, with three hints per puzzle that will give you extra help. Players are able to play the Story Mode in single player or link up with four others for Treasure Hunt.
Any good adventure needs a good group of villains, and Lautrec has plenty of foes. He is followed by the Knights of the Iron Mask, an unknown group with iron masks and claws, and a mysterious man named Vidocq. Others are Jean and Paul, leaders of a crime syndicate that is also searching for the treasure.
Dr. Lautrec and the Curious…the Diabolical…the Unwound…forget it
Okay, it shall be named – the game really resembles the Professor Layton series, down to a similar top hat. However, rather than tapping on the environment to find puzzles, you can control Lautrec directly and battle opponents with your Animati. Hopefully this will be enough to elevate it from the realm of the shameless rip-off. Expect its release for the Nintendo 3DS in December.
