Review: Professor Layton and the Curious Village - DS - 9.8

One could compare Professor Layton and the Curious Village to other "puzzle" games such as the brain training series, but that would be doing it an injustice.  Professor brings its own charm to the genre, packing tons of puzzles into this $30 value.

While not trying to give any of the fabulous story away, Professor Layton opens with the titular Professor and his sidekick Luke stranded in a, dare i say, Curious Village?  Yes, that\'s right - a puzzle game with a fantastic story.  The point of the game is to unravel the mystery that makes the town so curious.  You\'ll move around in a point-and-click fashion, talking with an eclectic cast of townspeople, and basically sticking your nose everywhere.  Everything is textbased, and there are excellent cg cutscenes with full audio that show up at pivotal plot points.  Everyone you meet has some puzzle or another for you to solve, after which they\'ll give you your next clue and point you in the right direction.  The puzzles are well integrated, with a hint system.  They can be quite challenging - even with the hints, I must confess i resorted to Google a few times.  Puzzles are varied, and increase in difficulty as the game progresses.  That\'s all there is to say about the puzzles.  Wait, did i mention that there are over 100 of them?  And you can download more for free over the wi-fi service?  Oh yeah, must have slipped my mind...

Professor Layton is a fantastic package.  You really feel like a detective as you solve the mystery, and the excellent cutscenes bring it to life.  The puzzles have just the right amount of challenge, and free downloads only enhance the value of the game.  Just remember, there\'s no shame in Google.

Score Breakdown:

Gameplay: 10 – Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles!  You won\'t find any Brain Training rubbish here - these puzzles will test your mind but won\'t break it - and there\'s always Google

Presentation: 10 – Featuring point and click gameplay refined to it\'s best, Professor Layton\'s puzzles are well presented. With an easy to use interface and an intentionally quaint village atmosphere, Professor Layton feels like no other DS game before it.

Graphics: 10 – Crisp and clear, Professor uses muted brown tones for most of its backgrounds, which hide a surprising amount of detail.  Amazingly well done cg cutscenes surpassed anything I imagined the DS was capable of.

Sound: 9.0 – The cutscenes are well voiced, with appropriate dramatic music when necessary.  While playing there\'s a charming tune with an old-time feel that can quickly become grating if heard for too long.  Other sound effects are appropriate.

Value: 10 – With over a hundred puzzles and even more available for free download, Professor Layton will keep you busy until it\'s sequel makes its way on over from Japan.

Final Score: 9.8 – With an excellent point and click mystery tying everything together, Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the best puzzle game on the Nintendo DS thus far."

Kiran Sury
Editor - PS3, DS
"The Gaming Corner