Professor Layton and the Curious Village

""My Word...""

I love puzzles. The frustration of not being able to master them, the moment of truth when the trick to solving a particularly devious one suddenly dawns on you, the exhilarating feeling of euphoria when you succeed at last – puzzles can irritate me to no end, but they always leave me feeling satisfied.

And because I love puzzles, I love Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The whole game is composed of puzzles. Puzzles upon puzzles, all hidden within the enormous puzzle of the game's story. It's unlike any game I've ever played, but it's a concept that works very well. Like the game's setting, the village of St. Mystere, the game is curious, but irresistible. And while the gameplay is wonderful, it's not the only good thing about Professor Layton. Everything else, from the graphics to the music, come together to create a game that simply shines.

~Story~

The story is this: Professor Layton, a scholar with a love of puzzles and an impressive hat, is traveling to the village of St. Mystere, along with his apprentice, Luke. The professor has been summoned by Lady Dahlia, the widow of the late Baron Reinhold. Reinhold was said to possess a fabulous treasure, known only as the “Golden Apple”, and in his will, he left it to whoever was smart enough to discover its location. Layton, being the puzzle enthusiast and all-around smart guy that he is, has been hired to find the Golden Apple. At first, the story seems simple, but as the game begins progresses, mysterious things begin to happen – disappearances, abductions, and even murder.

The story is well done and fun to play through. The pacing is good enough to keep you playing until you figure out the mystery. One neat feature of the game is a choice on the menu called “Mysteries” – it documents all of the unsolved oddities that Layton and Luke come across. At the end of the game, all is revealed, but until then, I was kept guessing. There is a big plot twist or two, and while some revelations were predictable, others were not. The plot fits together flawlessly in a way that might annoy some people – the ending could be considered a little too perfect – but I enjoyed it. The important thing about the story is that it ties the game together very well; it isn't a hollow excuse to throw endless puzzles at the player. A lot of work went into making the game much more than an average puzzle game, and the intriguing story is one of the best proofs of this. By the end, you will come to love Layton, Luke, the villain (who is very entertaining), and most of the residents of St. Mystere.

~Visuals~

In addition to the excellent story, Professor Layton boasts a unique art style that really enhances the game. It's a strange hybrid between a cozy European style and an anime influence. I really think it adds to the game's ambiance – it's been a while since I've encountered a game with such a simple yet lovable art style. Every character has a distinct look, but they all fit the general theme. St. Mystere itself is beautifully drawn. And perhaps the best part are the gorgeous cutscenes, which occur at major plot points and look great, even on the DS's tiny screen. All of the cutscenes are well done. I really liked the one at the climax of the story, as well as one where Layton and Luke are being chased by a runaway Ferris wheel.

~Music and Sound~

Supporting the great art in the game is the equally impressive music. There's a lot of accordion music – too much for some people. However, the more I listened to the soundtrack, the more I enjoyed it. There are a few annoying tunes (and the puzzle solving music, while good, does get old because you listen to it so much), but for the most part, the soundtrack is wonderful. The main title theme is good, as is the theme of St. Mystere. The more urgent tune that plays in town as you get to the end of the story is even better, and the slightly discordant song that plays in the final level is awesome. Finally, “Professor Layton's theme” – played only a few times during the game, but to great effect – is amazing, a memorable tune with a great accordion solo. Of course, it does no good to describe the music with words, but while the same musical styles persist throughout the game (accordion and music-box chimes show up a lot), the melodies themselves are quite memorable. The voiceovers for the cutscenes are also very well done. Layton's refined British accent especially is fun to listen to. "My word..."

~Gameplay~

The gameplay is, of course, the meat and potatoes of any game, and I'm happy to report that the gameplay in Professor Layton is top-notch. You travel around the town of St. Mystere with the stylus, speaking to people and solving puzzles. I am very wary of stylus controls. In many cases, the touch screen is thrown in as a gimmick (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow), or else used despite the fact that ordinary controls would be better (Zelda: Phantom Hourglass). However, in Professor Layton, the stylus controls are very intuitive. Traveling through the village and exploring is easy and fun. As you move around town, tapping at random places on the screen can yield certain rewards – you might discover a hidden puzzle, for instance, or else you'll find some hint coins (which can be spent to buy hints on tricky puzzles – up to three per puzzle). Hint coins are plentiful and easy to find, so if you're getting stuck a lot (by the end of the game, the puzzles are brutal), you shouldn't have trouble finding some.

As you talk to the residents of St. Mystere, you'll be presented with many, many puzzles to solve. Sometimes, you'll also find puzzles in your surroundings. What kind of puzzles are there, you ask? Any kind you could possibly imagine. There are word problems, designed to trip you up with how they are written. There are math-based problems. There are spatial visualization problems, involving cubes of the visible, hidden, and unfolded variety. There are chessboard problems, puzzles where you need a certain volume of liquid but are given only three umarked containers of varying sizes to find it (those tripped me up a lot), sliding block puzzles (the last few of these are insanely difficult), pictures that you must study carefully, logic problems, and many more. You'll probably find some puzzles easy and others very difficult. That's the beauty of this game – there's something to challenge everyone. It's in the puzzles that the stylus really shines. You can use it to drag blocks, select answers, write in a number, or even take notes on some tricky problems. It feels very natural. I enjoyed the fact that there is no timer, as it makes the puzzles feel much less stressful. There are also three “minigames”, which are basically puzzles that require parts which you can earn from solving normal puzzles. As you earn more parts, you will be able to assemble a robot, repair a painting, and (my favorite) customize Luke's and Layton's rooms at the inn to their liking. These puzzles take a while to complete, and it can be annoying to have to collect all the pieces needed, but they are a neat idea.

The slope of difficulty on the puzzles is also carefully tuned. At the beginning, you'll breeze through puzzles quickly, but by the end, every puzzle is a new ordeal. You can also unlock some extremely tricky puzzles by accomplishing in-game achievements; these “Layton's Challenges”, as they are called, will take awhile to solve. For solving puzzles, you will also receive “picarats”, which will unlock bonuses at the end of the game (you can view or listen to character profiles, art, some voiceovers, music, and cutscenes as you amass picarats). If you fail at a puzzle, its worth in picarats will decrease, but there's a limit to how many you can lose. Never fear, it is always possible to unlock the extras – but the more puzzles you fail repeatedly, the more you will have to solve in the end. The bottom line about the puzzles is that they are numerous and varied, fun and frustrating, and that if the entire game were just puzzles, it would still be worth playing.

~Replay Value~

The replay value of this game is decent. There are many puzzles to solve, and Nintendo has released weekly puzzles via Wi-Fi. By now, all of them have been released, so you can download them all at once. All in all, there are probably over 150 puzzles to solve. It might be awhile before you want to play through the story again, but the game will keep track of every puzzle you've encountered, so if you ever feel like revisiting that devilish block sliding puzzle again, you can do so whenever you wish. I would still recommend buying this game if you love puzzles, though – there's just too much to love to only borrow it.

~Conclusion~

Overall Score: 9/10 (Outstanding)

Professor Layton and the Curious Village was a pleasant surprise. Not only is it a puzzle lover's paradise, it has a great story to go along with it. Stellar art, music, and cutscenes provide the icing on the cake, coming together to produce an extremely memorable game experience. If you like puzzles, mysteries, or stovepipe hats, you will absolutely love Professor Layton. Don't let this gem pass you up; not only is it the best puzzle game on the Nintendo DS, it is one of the best puzzle games ever made!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/09

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