Professor Layton and the Curious Village is one of the best DS games that I’ve played in the last year. In a platform completely infested with “brain training” games, Professor Layton is a similar sort of game that pulls it off in a manner that’s fun, engaging and enjoyable all the way through. For those who played Brain Age or Brain Age 2, Professor Layton is a breath of fresh air that makes you think without feeling like a chore.
So how does it do it? First is its style. Professor Layton has a very unique European looking art style to it and very impressive 2D animation. The animation in the game makes me wish for a full TV series or a movie. Even if it weren’t on a tiny DS screen it would still look great. The animation, backgrounds and attention to detail are very impressive. The cutscenes are fully voiced with a good dub that feels very natural, possibly more natural than it might be in Japanese given the look of the game. I was also surprised at just how many cutscenes are in the game even for scenes that don’t have too much action.
Professor Layton has a speciality for difficult puzzles. He travels to the village of St. Mystere with his young assistant Luke after receiving a letter from Lady Dahlia who is the wife of the late Baron Reinhold. In his will the Baron statet that whomever solves the puzzle of The Golden Apple will inherit his fortunes.
As you investigate by talking to different people and tapping objects with your stylus you’re presented with puzzles either given to you by the citizens of the village or sometimes the professor will see something and say “this reminds me of a puzzle…” On paper this setup may seem like a poor excuse for lots of puzzles, but it doesn’t seem like that in the game. As you solve more puzzles the story slowly unravels in a way that makes you want to continue playing. Even more impressive is by the end of the game there’s an explanation for why this particular village has a fascination with puzzles, and it doesn’t come off as a shoe-horned in excuse for the game.
There’s a wide variety of puzzles which keeps things nice and fresh. Some of the puzzles are more difficult versions of previous, but they generally fall into a few categories. Do you remember in elementary school when the teacher would give you a puzzle which seems like it has a really obvious answer, but that answer would never be it? Yeah, that’s the kind of puzzles I’m talking about. You’ll look at it knowing that they’re trying to steer you in the wrong way so you’ll have to think about it from a different perspective. Whatever the type of puzzle, expect to have your brain challenged whether it’s a math problem, riddle, wordplay problem, optical illusion or one you just have to keep experimenting with until you get there. There is a limited hint system built in, but depending on the puzzle type its usefulness varies.
I beat them game solving a little over a hundred puzzles, but there are several secret games you have to find hidden around the village. The total count is over 120 or so. Aside from solving puzzles there’s a couple collecting quests too where you’ll slowly piece together a painting and a robot dog which helps you sniff out things once he’s fully assembled. When you’re done with the game there’re bonus puzzles you can get via wifi. I’m guessing the games were already on the cartridge and the wifi connection just unlocks them. When the game first came out they came out weekly, but I’m pretty sure they’re no more coming out every week. I have 26 on my game. They add no more story, but it’s still some nice added value for the game.
All together Professor Layton is a really great game that’s fun and leaves you with a great sense of accomplishment. The puzzle difficulty level varies a lot even later in the game so it’s not like it’s always totally frustrating. So put down the brain training games (you’re probably only playing it for the sudoku anyway) and get Professor Layton and the Curious Village. If you have a DS you absolutely have to play it. Really. There’s no excuse.
When I was playing the wifi games recently it made me really want to play the game over again even though I know some of the puzzles I’ll just remember the answer to and be able to solve quickly.
