"It's elementary, my dear Watson"

Meet Professor Layton, not a detective, but just a professor who loves puzzles. Then meet Luke, Layton's apprentice, a young boy who apparently idolizes Layton. This duo reminds me of Sherlocke Holmes and Watson, going around solving mysteries. But this game has several mysteries wrapped into one.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is an edutainment game (and for those that do not know what that is, is it's a game that designs you to think, and educate yourself). Now this may seem dull but this game makes learning really fun. The edutainment part of the game involves 120 different 'puzzles' which vary from finding the 'curious village' on a map, with only one hint given to you, to moving two matchsticks from a matchstick dog, to make him a matchstick dead-dog. This game makes you think as you play and somehow makes it fun to play so it's not a chore.

Story
You start off looking at Layton and his apprentice in his car driving down a dirt path. You learn that Layton is a brilliant puzzle solver and he received a letter from Lady Dahlia, a women from St. Mystere, a town which hardly anyone knows about. Lady Dahlia wrote how her husband has passed away and mentioned in his will that the only person who receive anything from him is the one who finds the Golden Apple. The townspeople searched high and low and could not find this elusive Golden Apple and so they sent for help. This may seem like a weird storyline and not the best but it'll get better as you continue but you'll have to take my word on this because I can't reveal anything without spoiling. However I did predict most of the ending parts of the game but there were a few things I totally did not expect.
Verdict: 8

Gameplay
Basically this whole game is very much like the investigations of Phoenix Wright. You search area to area, screen-by-screen and tap where you want to search or to talk people. You may find puzzles hidden in the streets or while talking to people, and you enter a puzzle game. There are a few different ways to play a puzzle and they vary. Like matchsticks puzzles, or drawing on maps, or a simple word/number puzzle where you write your answer down. This game uses NO buttons, using the touch screen for everything. When writing, the game can usually detect what you are trying to write down, but don't get too hasty because sometimes it reads wrong; but it's not often enough to be a big problem.
Verdict: 9

Graphics
The graphics are beautiful. The characters are very cartoon-y and the backgrounds look very real but the characters don't look too out of place. They stand out from the background so it's easy to tell who you can talk to and who you can't (although there are never any background characters). Occasionally, such as the intro there are videos that show scenes that would look boring if they were just read. These scenes are beautiful. One of them sticks in my head as I write this, because it just looked so real (for a cartoon) and I've got to say it shows they've spent time in making this game look amazing, cutscenes and graphics alike.
Verdict: 10

Sound
This is where I think the game really failed. The music is classical, which helps portray the sort of Sherlocke Holmes style England that this game is based in. The game has some good background music but those good songs are only found in areas where you don't spend too much time. The main town square has dreadful music and it only sounded good when I first got the game, then over time made me mute the game; and unfortunately since you spend a lot of time there you hear it quite often. There are very few sound effects in the game, such as footsteps when changing area or doors opening and closing. However in the cutscenes the sounds are wonderful, and their voices sound amazing, and just as you'd imagine a game of this story would sound. However since there isn't a lot of cutscenes and they are only a minute long usually, you don't hear those wonderful voices too often.
Verdict: 6

Replayability
Since most people will not find/complete all the puzzles on their first run you can search the town for more puzzles to find all of them. Then there are more mini-challenges like making the gizmo, decorating the inn and fixing the painting. However each of these puzzles have pieces you must collect before doing them and unfortunately, if you finish all of the puzzles you'll have every piece. Then you just have to put them together, which generally isn't much of a challenge. After you 100% complete the main game you can download 'weekly puzzles' from Nintendo Wi-fi, for some more fun, but there isn't much after that, besides testing your friends on the puzzles you've unlocked, which is pretty funny if they get into it.
Verdict: 4

+++PROS+++
- The only DS game which I believe actually helps your intelligence, by making you think outside the box more often.
- Great storyline and gameplay and can keep you playing for 10+ hours on your first run (without cheating of course)
- Come on, it's a fun learning game, how often does that happen?

+++CONS+++
- Most of the music makes me want to mute the game and there are very little sound effects.
- Once you are done there isn't much to do, but wait for a sequel.


OVERALL: 8/10 Despite the little replayability and the gross sound it's a very solid game. If there is a sequel I will buy it for sure.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/28/08

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