Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke arrive on the island of St Mystere to solve the mystery of the golden apple. Whoever finds the golden apple is the one to inherit the late Baron Reinhold's vast fortune and along the way you learn of his complicated family history including the death of his first wife and the disappearance of his beloved only child Flora.
You use the stylus to move through the island village using the map on the top screen to guide you. Each section of the village has a number of nooks and crannies to explore and you will find yourself visiting homes, shops, cafes and the village hall before you unlock the park, sewers and the mysterious tower in the latter stages of the game. The village is well designed, when clicking around all the nooks and crannies you will discover a number of hint coins or hidden puzzles adding an extra dimension to the game.
You progress through the nine chapters of the game by completing various puzzles and challenges, there are 120 puzzles to solve during the game with
a further 15 bonus puzzles. Each puzzle has three hints to help you solve it which are unlocked using hint coins but if you are stuck on one then you can place them in Granny Riddleton's puzzle shack to complete later letting you progress with the rest of the game.
No village would be complete without its own idiot and St Mystere has three. These oddballs are joined by the other strange residents of the village who provide you with clues to help you to solve the mystery as well as giving you puzzles to solve. Not all of the people you encounter will want to help you and a mystery figure hiding in the shadows will eventually make their presence felt.
The puzzles have a very strong maths basis with many requiring you to make calculations. A basic knowledge of algebra would be handy for many of the puzzles as would the ability to think linearly. If you don't like maths type puzzles then you won't like the game at all and I think that introducing other types of puzzle would have benefited the game.
You will have seen some of the puzzles before like the one where you have to get wolves and chickens over the river on a raft two at a time without leaving a sheep and wolf together. Although they will be familiar I bet you won't remember the solution and it is fun and frustrating trying to work them out. A lot of the puzzles are repeated, the classic chess board puzzle where you have to place queens on the board without them blocking the others moves appears no fewer than six times in a progressively more difficult form and a block slider puzzle appears three times. The history and reasoning behind some of the puzzles is given at the end which is a nice touch.
As well as the main game you have a number of smaller challenges to complete. Some puzzles will unlock either a strange gizmo which eventually builds into a robot dog that helps you along the way, a painting scrap which you use to build a portrait or an item to decorate the Professor or Luke's room at the inn.
The graphics on this game are outstanding with sections of the story appearing in video form. The anime style of the characters is charming and the level of detail in the village is terrific. Reinhold Manor is lavishly decorated with chandeliers and portraits on the wall and this level of detail really enhances your gaming experience. The game is designed specifically for the DS so the scenes are easy to navigate using the stylus and the music is basic but fits in well with the game.
There are three save slots on the game which mean that three people can play the game at the same time which is great for multi DS households but there is no opportunity for multiplayer link up.
I have enjoyed playing Professor Layton, it is a well developed and unique game which is fun to play but the lack of variety in the puzzles and the sometimes slow pace of play means it lacks sparkle for me. It took me 11 hours in total to finish the game and complete all of the puzzles and there is still scope for extra bonus play so it offers a good amount of play for your money but once you have solved the mystery it is unlikely you will want to repeat the game. It's a good game but not one of my favourites.
This is another Nintendo game which can be hard to get hold of, the cynic in me wonders if they do this deliberately especially as they were still advertising this game on TV when it was sold out in the shops. Normal price for this game is £29.99 from all the usual retailers but even in January 09 it is selling for £60 on Amazons marketplace and the prices were as high as £90 before Christmas. It's a good game but not worthy of the hype created around it so make sure you don't pay over the odds for it.
Pictures
Professor Layton and Luke
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
In the curious village of St. Mystere, townsfolk greet each other with rebuses, lock ... more
their doors with sliding puzzles and hide their secrets within brainteasers. When a wealthy baron passes away, his will reveals an elusive treasure hidden someplace...
Postage & Packaging: £1.99 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In the curious village of St. Mystere, townsfolk greet each other with rebuses, lock ... more
their doors with sliding puzzles and hide their secrets within brainteasers. When a wealthy baron passes away, his will reveals an elusive treasure hidden someplace...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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most fanatical fan of cryptic challenges. Featuring more than 130 puzzles designed to leave you scratching your head, Professor Layton challenges you to think out...
Postage & Packaging: Free standard delivery on all orders over £30 Availability: In Stock
Advantages: Great fun puzzles and brain teasers!!!! Disadvantages: Some of the puzzles are very hard, once you have completed the game and all the puzzles it's over!
Advantages: Helps improve your thinking by solving the brain teasers and riddles Disadvantages: Can get tricky at times when your trying to think of the answer but you mind goes blank
Jan 17th, 2009
exceptional by (2%):
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