Professor Layton and the Curious Village is indeed a curious game. As
if there weren't enough brain training games out there already, this
one takes brain busting to a whole new level. Hidden behind the mask of
the quaint town of St. Mystere, the story of Professor Layton and the
Curious unfolds as you search for the Golden Apple by solving puzzle
after puzzle. You play as Professor Layton and his young, eager
assistant Luke, who are invited to the village by one Lady Dahlia after
the death of her husband. Your main task is to search for the
mysterious Golden Apple, but as fate would have it, the Professor and
Luke discover that there is far more to this mystery than meets the eye.
Gameplay: In order to progress through the game, you must solve
puzzles. These puzzles are either given to you by the different people
you talk to in the village or by discovering them. But at times it gets
so ridiculous that glancing at a mere dirty jar on the road will remind
Layton or Luke about a puzzle they have heard about. As for the puzzles
themselves, they range from being childishly simple to punishingly
difficult; this can be seen by the amount of Picarats each one is
worth. The more Picarats the harder the puzzle will be. Some of the
harder puzzles will definitely have you scratching your head for a much
longer period of time than what you're willing to spend on them. At
times the difficulty of a given puzzle will get to be so hard that
you'll probably just end up searching the internet for the answer.
Exploring the town of St. Mystere is done by tapping on an icon on the
touch screen and simply choosing which direction to move in. Each new
area has more puzzles to be found, however, the puzzles do not remain
in their locations forever. But don't fret; a simple trip to Granny
Riddelton's shack will have you racking your brain again in no time.
Graphics: The originality of the art in Professor Layton & the
Curious Village is definitely a sight to see. The game's hand drawn
style adds to the games antiquated feel, and further enhances the
atmosphere of the game. The game also features some animated cut scenes
that are truly remarkable, the quality of the movies are absolutely
crisp and clear for the DS. The cartoony style of each individual
character adds a certain distinction that separates this game from
others.
Sound: The score for Professor Layton is something that is very
different from what we hear in other games out there. The accordion
laced soundtrack in the game gives a very warm and inviting feel, which
is something that is definitely needed if you would want to play this
game for hours on end. But for all this game delivers it definitely has
enough content and length to keep you playing for a while, and with the
addition of weekly downloadable puzzles Professor Layton won't be
leaving your DS' cartridge holder for a long time.
