The DS is in a period of uncertainty. As the handheld becomes more bottled up with quick collections of mini-games and other games geared towards the casual gamer (Imagine Babiez, anyone?), it’s becoming a little harder to find true quality games on the DS.
Thankfully, Professor Layton and the Curious Village is one of those titles, with appeal to both the casual and hardcore gamer. It’s just tough enough at points to appease long-time gamers and puzzle genre fans, but accessible enough for casual gamers like Mom and Dad (well… like my mom and dad, at least) to enjoy.
Handling the game is Dragon Quest VIII, Jeanne d’Arc and Rogue Galaxy developer Level 5 (not to be confused with Rogue Squadron and Lair developer Factor 5). Given there past history of producing quality titles, one should expect their first DS title to be just as solid.
It should be noted that this is the first game in the Layton series: a second title, Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, has been released in Japan. The third game in the series, Professor Layton and The Last Time Travel, is set to hit the DS later this year alongside Level 5’s other DS titles, the soccer RPG Inazuma Eleven and Dragon Quest IX.
The game centers around the journeys of Professor Layton and his young sidekick Luke, called from London to the far-away village of St. Mystere., but this one puzzle quickly turns into another and another, leading Layton and Luke down a path far darker and deeper than they ever could have imagined. More hardcore gamers and fans of the mystery genre might pick up on some of the game’s big secrets long before they’re revealed, but the story is incredibly well-written for both a DS title and a game centering around puzzles.
Most of the game’s puzzles come from the Head Gymnastics series of puzzle books, developed by Professor Akira Tago of Chiba University in Japan. It should come as no surprise that Professor Tago was pretty involved in the process, coming up with new puzzles for the game alongside many others included from the Head Gymnastics series.
The puzzles themselves differ in their difficulty and style. Some are simple math problems, while others involve moving around matchsticks or solving riddles and optical illusions. Earlier in the game, the puzzles are pretty simple, but they do tend to get more difficult as the game progresses. Getting to the end of Professor Layton and the Curious Village is no easy task, but it is a bit fulfilling, at least.
Each puzzle also comes a “picarat” value, which is basically a fancy word for points. Solving a puzzle correctly gets you all the picarats. Fail, and you’ll get to try it again for a lower picarat value. All of the puzzles have no timer, meaning you can take your time. You can also opt out without penalty if you need to back out of a puzzle because your boss is coming by and you don’t want to get fired. Hints are available for each puzzle, but they’ll cost you one hint coin apiece. You start out with ten coins and can find more hidden throughout the village.
Article comments
1 - Brandy
Great review! I liked this game a lot also. You really captured the story, gameplay and attributes it has.
This was one of the more quality games for the casual gamer. And yes, more serious gamers liked it too.