Hi,
Thanks for my first ever diamond and of course the continued rrc's. It's beginning to look a lo...
Hi,
Thanks for my first ever diamond and of course the continued rrc's. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! xx
Member since:08.02.2008
Reviews:278
Members who trust:55
Professor Layton and The Curious Village was one of those games that I absolutely wanted to own right from the first moment I saw it advertised and so I was so happy when my mum and dad bought me it for my birthday.
*** The Game Premise ***
Professor Layton is a puzzle style adventure game that contains within it numerous min puzzles and games, which ultimately help you, answer the final puzzle and unravel the mystery of the game.
Professor Layton is a well-known and somewhat respected puzzle solver and along with his trainee Luke his presence has been requested in a small village called St. Mystere. As the player you technically play as Luke but both characters are present all the time throughout the game. Upon arrival in St Mystere you will find out what your overall mission/puzzle is but in order to complete this ultimate mystery you must puzzle your way through numerous mind-boggling quests and try and quell the locals passion for puzzles.
*** The Puzzles ***
The puzzles within the main game come in numerous different forms and there is a wide range of formats and difficulties. The puzzles within the game include jigsaws, sliding block puzzles, general logic questions, basic math questions and many, many more. Some of the puzzles are
exceptionally easy whereas others are much more taxing. Ultimately however it depends how your brain works and how you process puzzles as to which ones you will find the most difficult. Luckily however if you find a puzzle too difficult it is possible unlock a hint.
It is also possible to skip some puzzles and simply just not answer them; others however must be successfully completed in order for game play to progress. The puzzles that you skip then make their way to Granny Riddleton’s Shack and can be answered correctly at a later time when your brain feels more apt. Puzzles that you do not find and therefore do not attempt to answer also make their way here in order for you to have a shot at them.
*** Hint Coins / Normal Coins ***
I have mentioned hint coins a little bit earlier in my reviews and these are hidden throughout the village, which the Professor and Luke are free to explore. As they travel around the village you can tap numerous different objects within their environment in the hope that in doing so you may release some of these magical hint coins. These coins are then used to unlock handy hints about puzzle that you are stuck on. Each puzzle has three available hints and each hint will cost you one hint coin to unlock.
Hint coins aren’t the only coins that you will earn throughout your time in St. Mystere as each puzzle that you complete will earn you a certain amount of coins. The number of coins you earn for each puzzle usually depends on the complexity of it and will decrease if you answer the question wrong and continue decreasing with every incorrect answer.
*** Extras ***
Completing some puzzles will also result in Luke and the Professor being given items of furniture for their rooms or pieces of an old picture. These items and picture pieces can then be placed in an attempt to find them all and make Luke and the Professor very happy. It is worth noting that these side games do not have to be completed in order to fulfil the game criteria and solve the mystery of St. Mystere.
*** Game play / Controls ***
The game is played using the DS stylus throughout. Some of the puzzles require you to write a number of a letter, others to simply click or drag. I personally found this easy to get used to and never had any problems with the DS not recognising my handwriting, which is always a bonus.
The graphics for the game are also quite charming and from the moment it sprang into life I was quite taken by them. I’m not particularly into anime but I am aware that the characters are drawn in that sort of style, which added a real fun element to the games graphical representation of the characters and locations.
*** Game Duration ***
I personally took 12 hours to complete this game and that included finding all the hidden puzzles and collecting all of the items. I think that this is more than respectable for a puzzle style game and makes it well worth the money. The more logical your mind is however the quicker you are likely to play this game and the less logical of course the longer. The challenge is however to not try and complete the game as quickly as possible but to tax yourself by not eating your way through the hints in order to simply progress.
Professor Layton and the Curious village is now widely available in the shops but can cost you a pretty penny. The RRP is around the £30-£35 mark but shopping online or in second hand games shops will drastically reduce this price to a much more reasonable one.
*** Final Comment ***
I absolutely adored this game and got my best friends that hooked on it that they went out and bought their own copies. We battled between us to see who could answer the most puzzles and use the least hint coins in the process. Eventually though we all managed to answer all the puzzles and find all the hidden objects. It did take some of us longer than others though with our completion times ranging between 12 hours and 20 hours.
All in all I must say that this game is definitely worth purchasing. It seems to fit the Nintendo DS so well and is a real pleasure to play from the very beginning. What makes the game so good though is that upon completion you actually feel like you have achieved something, which isn’t always the case with a lot of game console games. Professor Layton and the Curious Village is certainly a game that I would recommend to all puzzle fans out there.
Pictures
Layton and Luke
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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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
Jul 18th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
