Professor Layton and the Curious Village

"Meet Professor Layton. He wears a top had. Not to be confused with Willy Wonka."

I first heard about this game last September, when it was originally given a release date of December 3rd. All I had were a couple of Japanese trailers to go by, all of which contained the great music and adorable character design of the game, with the promise of some brain teasers. That was pretty much enough to excite me. After one frustrating delay and a couple of more months of waiting, I was finally able to play this somewhat mysterious game. And I absolutely love it.

The game is about Professor Layton and his assistant Luke who go to a strange village called St. Mystere. They have been called by Lady Dahlia, wife of Baron Reinhalt who just passed away. He left a message in his will saying that whoever can find the "Golden Apple" can inherit all of his fortunes. Layton and Luke's job is primarily to find the Golden Apple, though there are several plot twists along the way. The story isn't amazing, but it's very enjoyable. You're left with that happy feeling that games should leave you with by the time you get to the end.

As I said, the character designs are adorable. They originally reminded me of a Hayao Miazaki film, though other people have mentioned a French cartoon called "The Triplets of Belleville" that they also bear resemblance to. Each character has a somewhat French look and they each have their own uniqueness to them. The environments are quite pretty as well, and did I mention there are cut scenes?

Yes, there's a small handful of short cut scenes, complete with voice acting that play whenever something very important plotwise happens. While the voice acting has a little to be desired (Luke's stuffy voice is a bit annoying...), it's a nice feature, and the great (once again-French esque) soundtrack makes up for it.

In Prof. Layton, you wander around the town in a point and click manner and solve puzzles, lots of puzzles. Everybody in St. Mystere seems to be obsessed with puzzles. There are puzzles everywhere, given to you by the residents of the village and hidden among various objects of the town. They vary in difficulty, and that influences the amount of "picarats" are won for solving them. Picarats unlock things like cutscenes and music clips at the end of the game. It also measures how well you do. If you answer a puzzle wrong, the amount of picarats the puzzle is worth diminishes each time.

The puzzles are of the logic manner. Some are math based, some involve fancy word play and some are just process of elimination, but there's a pretty wide variety of them. Many of them are not what they seem to be; that is, if you think that you found the answer rather easily, then you're probably wrong. :D You really have to put on your thinking cap for most of them. If you're stuck on a puzzle, you can always use hints. Each puzzle has three hints to it, which can be accessed by using hint coints. Hint coins are found by navigating the town.

Also, you don't have to solve EVERY puzzle. About 80 finished puzzles are required to beat the game but there are 120 total. The more puzzles you solve, the painting pieces, "gadget" parts, and furniture you get, which in turn leads to unlock even more.

The only real complaint I have with this game is the length. I didn't get 100% yet, but I beat the main story in about 9 hours. I believe it'll take a few more hours to beat everything. 9 hours isn't bad for a handheld game, mind you, but I wouldn't exactly mind if the next game is longer. And, yes, the next game is pretty much confirmed for an American release. However, downloadable puzzles each week do expand the replayability of the game. Also, while the music is well written, it's a bit repetitive, especially in the beginning of the game. A bit more variety would be appreciated in the sequel.

Overall, Professor Layton is charming. The presentation of the game is great, and it's sure to win over puzzle fans and anime fans alike. The puzzles are great and varied. It's perfect for both a hardcore gamer and a "casual" who bought a DS to only play Brain Age. You'll think, you'll possibly get smarter, and you'll have fun doing it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/08

Game Release: Professor Layton and the Curious Village (US, 02/10/08)