Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a puzzle adventure game exclusively for the Nintendo DS, developed by Level 5, known for games such as Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy. It is a charming game with very nice aesthetics. The game boasts 135 puzzles, however, these puzzles are designed to be short. All puzzles are solved using input from the touchscreen, with the instructions displayed on the top screen. In fact, you can play the whole game using only the stylus and the touchscreen since progression is through tapping areas. Of course, the game heavily relies on the quality of its puzzles and the first one is so easy and kind of lame that you feel might have set the tone for the rest of the puzzles. Thankfully, the game has puzzles which are ingenious, such as the mathematical ones, however, there are more than its fair share of puzzles where the trick is a play on words, which feels lame. The game has more good puzzles than bad mind you. Naturally, you will get stuck in puzzles. When you're exploring the village of St Mystere, you are able to tap the screen on specific environmental objects to obtain hint coins. These hint coins will unlock one of three hints to aid you in puzzles.
Each puzzle will also award you with "picarats", the higher the number, the harder the puzzle. Getting as much of these picarats as possible not only is a mean of showing off your intellect through your high score, it also unlocks some in-game bonuses. Tapping environmental objects may also reveal hidden puzzles which are not required for story mode. If you find a puzzle that is too hard, you can give up on them. You can also replay puzzles at any time. Solutions are given at the end of each puzzle but sometimes it does not provide enough information for you to find out the most efficient way to get to the answer. Even if you miss finding a puzzle and pass the point of no return for it, there is an area for you to catch up on these missed puzzles. This is a nice feature and removes the stress of not experiencing everything the game has to offer. There are various types of puzzles, and some vary in style to each other by a huge margin. Types of puzzles including mathematical (such as using simultaneous equations), sliding block puzzles, word play and riddles. In one puzzle, you might be asked to solve a chess problem, in another, you will be given three water pitchers of varying sizes and aim to get a certain amount of liquid in each one.
Other puzzles might ask you to move a matchstick in a diagram to make a new diagram. The impressive thing is that all these puzzles only require one screen of instructions, and considering the small DS screen, this is quite an accomplishment. The huge variety also means that you can look forward to the next one even if you don't like the one you have just encountered. These puzzles are great at teaching you to think differently, it gets you to think about what matters when presented with a problem, and that not everything is relevant. That said, some of the puzzles are extremely difficult and abstract such that when you get the answer, you feel as if it's a bit of a stretch to assume someone can make the connection without outside help. The story is about a Baron who died leaving a huge inheritance to the person who can find the golden apple within the village of St Mystere. The Baroness hires Layton to find the golden apple, once he arrives, Layton and his sidekick Luke notices something odd with the village. Everyone loves puzzles and strange events after another continues to occur. The story is presented in textboxes with character portraits and static backgrounds. There is complete English voiceovers which is nice.
From time to time, there is also animated scenes, although the low resolution of the DS screen does not do these animations justice. The ending was a little bit predictable but the rapid revelations of all the mysteries during the climax was enjoyable. The villain felt tacked on and as the game was developed with a trilogy in mind, it ends in a "To be continued" note after the credits. The game is great fun in bursts but the puzzles get stagnant if you play for long periods of time. The other thing is that you will be traversing the same areas within the village multiple times, which get boring especially when you don't want to risk missing a puzzle so you end up talking to everyone again and again. Dependent of your skill level, the game takes around 7-8 hours to finish completely, and replay value is limited as you'll have the most fun if you haven't encountered the puzzles before. The game provides some bonuses such as music, artwork and extra super difficult puzzles. Overall, Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a fun game. Merging such a huge variety of puzzles with a coherent and engaging storyline is difficult but Level 5 have managed to do it well here. This is a game that is definitely worth a play since it tests your intellect and is a game experience you would not have encountered before.
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