Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Review

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Since the beginning stages of creating this blog, the plan was to have a review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl ready by this date. It seemed like the perfect fit to launch a website in honor of Nintendo by featuring the game that is looking to be a love-letter to Nintendo fans. Unfortunately, the last minute pushback of Brawl’s release date changed that plan.

While it’s gamer nature to lament the delay of such a high-profile game, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. Luckily, a kindly professor was there to lend a helping hand.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village is definitely a unique game. At its core, it is a collection of brainteasers. Anyone who has ever flipped through a book of riddles is sure to be familiar with the fare presented here. For instance, in one puzzle you are given the task of determining which one of four children is lying, based solely on one statement from each person. But while using deductive reasoning and wit to solve puzzles is a fun way to pass a few minutes every once in a while, Professor Layton has actually found a way to make these activities exciting in a way I never thought possible.

Obviously, the game’s story and presentation are a big part of Professor Layton’s appeal. The brainteasers are placed between a well developed mystery, which has the professor, and his apprentice Luke, attempting to explore an odd town to find clues to help find a hidden treasure. The old-fashioned detective story is kick started with an impressive animated movie, and more of these films are spread throughout the game, rewarding the player for their progression through the story.

Seeing the mystery through to the end is enticing enough, but there is more to Professor Layton’s allure than just the tale it tells. The game’s ending can be seen after completing a little more than half of the puzzles, but most players will be anxious to seek out every brainteaser that they can. This is because finding and solving puzzles feels more like working toward completing a collection than solving a problem.

One of the mini-games the player can partake in is a jigsaw puzzle that can only be completed by collecting every piece of the puzzle; pieces that are only awarded to the player by completing certain brainteasers. Other collectibles include mechanical pieces that can be used to rebuild a mystery item and furniture items that can be used to furnish the character’s room. These rewards had me anxiously talking to every character and searching every area of the village in the hopes of finding all the brainteasers. This lent Professor Layton an addicting quality that makes it feels a lot like the original Pokemon game (and considering there are 150 brainteasers hidden throughout the game, this comparison seems quite appropriate).

If there is anything negative to be said about Professor Layton and the Curious Village, it is that most people are going to have difficulty solving a good portion of the puzzles.
The developers did a fairly good job at solving this issue, however. Astute players will be able to find a limited number of hint coins hidden throughout the village. When you get stuck, you can always use this specialty currency to purchase hints. This is a much better alternative to simply using an online-walkthrough to solve the problems, but it still feels rather cheap at times, especially when you are forced to get help on four or five consecutive brainteasers.

Overall, Professor Layton is a surprisingly fun game that offers an experience that cannot be found anywhere else. It may not be a blockbuster like Smash Bros. Brawl, but it is certainly a rewarding game that will appeal to both casual and hardcore game players.

Score: 9/10