Nintendo DS - Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Filed under: Games, Reviews | Last updated: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Arstechnica reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“On their own, the two elements of Professor Layton may not hold up all that well. But put together, they create one of the most captivating experiences that can be found on Nintendo’s portable. Instead of being just another collection of brain teasers, Level 5 has created something much more compelling. And with weekly downloadable puzzles available through Nintendo’s WiFi connection, there is plenty to do after the main game is over.”
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Eurogamer reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“It’s originally a Japanese game, made by Level-5, who you might know from Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud or Dragon Quest VIII, released last year. But the large gap for translation and localisation has been entirely worth it. There isn’t a missed beat; it’s perfectly translated, and superbly reshaped. Japanese-centric puzzles, especially those featuring kanji, have been replaced with Western equivalents. Level-5’s RPG background shines through, never subverting the game from what it is - an adventure/puzzle game - but demonstrating a talent for telling a good story.”
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1UP reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“Rather than simply toss 10 dozen mindbenders at players, Layton wraps them in a quaint, classically styled adventure. Admittedly, the game’s puzzle and story elements likely wouldn’t stand well on their own — the puzzles are excellent but often rely on certain tricks of language that, once spotted, become transparent in subsequent iterations; the adventure game is unrepentantly simple and linear.”
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Dreamstation reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“Another high quality component of the game is its music. All the music features an accordion and xylophone as the key instruments and works really well to set the mood for this small and strange village. The music is relaxing in nature and is the perfect style that you would expect in a game set in a small village in England. It also fits well with the puzzles and is soothing and doesn’t distract while you are trying to solve the puzzles.”
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Gamestooge reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“The heart of PL are the puzzles; there are a total of 135 puzzles in the game, 120 of which can be found hidden through out the town and by talking to its residents. The next 12 require you to solve special meta-puzzles in the game, and once you’ve mastered all 132 puzzles, the last 3 are unlocked. It took me about 6 ½ hours to get through the story-line and another 30 minutes to find the remaining puzzles.”
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Gamezone reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“The graphics are splendid. The anime is brilliant take on actual, documented European structures. The characters reflect the artistic anime influence, yet do not cross that line into being annoying gaping-mouth manga or otherwise silly. Facial features are expressive and contain personality, without making everyone look like a robot. There are a lot of little details within the buildings, but the style maintains the crucial artistic charm throughout the game. The visuals match the game perfectly.”
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Gamespy reviews the Nintendo - Professor Layton and the Curious Village and writes;

“Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a game that you’ll likely fall in love with, but it will be a short-lived romance. While the story will take you upwards of ten to twelve hours to complete — maybe longer based on how challenged you are by some of the puzzles — there’s little replay value here. On the other hand, Level-5 is releasing one new puzzle a week, so while you won’t be married to the game long-term, you may still meet up for a cup of coffee on weekends.”
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