Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review

Written by: Tracy Bosworth Posted: 28th January 2009

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Things just got curious in the village!

Professor Layton and the Curious Village Details:

Goto Professor Layton and the Curious Village Game Page

	Puzzle
	Nintendo DS
	Nintendo
	Nintendo

Out Now

Why is it that those simple brain teasing puzzles have the ability to infuriate even the most placid of minds, yet at the same time, we just cannot put them down? You know you can get the answer, it’s on the tip of your tongue, you know its there but when the dreaded “wrong!” message presents itself, it makes you all the more determined to try again to PROVE you can do it!

Maybe this is what makes Professor Layton and the Curious Village for Nintendo DS so appealing? The actual story behind the game centers around a ‘Sherlock Holmes’ type character, Professor Layton and a young boy who acts as his side-kick, Luke. The pair travel to a village called St. Mystere to investigate a case of a mysterious will and upon arrival, find that all is not what it seems with the village inhabitants. To unravel the mysteries and solve the case, Professor Layton and Luke must work their way through a huge selection of puzzles, search for clues and use their knowledge and skill to find out what is really going on in St. Mystere.

Aside from the actual puzzle mini-games, Professor Layton and the Curious Village plays like a classic point and click adventure. Every villager can be spoken to, doors can be investigated, pathways explored, it’s all about finding your way around the village and completing puzzles on your way.

The puzzles are dotted around the game map in various ways, for instance, a villager might present you with a puzzle in order for you to prove you are, who you say you are. Puzzles can also be found on random objects, for instance click on a candle and Luke might suddenly remember a candle related puzzle he once heard of! The puzzles are literally all over the place.

The puzzles themselves range in difficulty settings so whilst you might find one really easy, the next one could have you stumped for hours. The most irritating ones are the puzzles that present themselves in a really confusing and complicated manner only for you to spend ages trying to work it out before realising that the answer is actually really obvious! Watch out for the trick questions!

Also hidden around the map are coins which can be found in bushes, behind pictures or even on light fixtures. These come in useful when you find yourself completely stuck on a puzzle. Tried every answer you can think of? Considering the possibility that the puzzle is actually impossible to work out? In that case, trade in your collected coins for ‘hints’. Each puzzle has three hints which you can unlock to help you complete it. The first hint tends to simply re-word the original question, the 2nd hint gives you a gentle clue and the 3rd hint more or less gives you the answer (or at least makes it extremely easy to work out).

Unlike most puzzle games, The Curious Village offers a real variety in types of teasers it asks you to complete from math problems to visual tasks. Each puzzle (of which there are over 100 in the game) is different so you can’t really get bored because there is enough variety here to keep you playing. Of course, the story also manages to get you hooked with its twists and turns! Puzzles aside, you’ll want to keep playing just to find out what happens!

Graphically Professor Layton and The Curious Village, really makes the most of the Nintendo DSe’s capabilities. Cut-scenes are well presented and interesting and the village is original and very pleasing on the eye. Even the game’s audio is done brilliantly with good voice acting and fitting effects and music. The only drawback is when, after numerous attempts at the same puzzle (and you’re really starting to lose your temper) hearing little Luke say “How embarrassing” over and over, which may just be enough to flip you over the edge!

In closing, Professor Layton and the Curious Village offers a fun, fresh and interesting spin on the DS “brain train” genre. It’s very well done, addictive and worth every penny with lots of re-play value even after the story is finished.