Eraserhead
There is one thing we need to get off the bat right at the beginning of this review. Puzzle Agent isn't like Professor Layton or gives homage to Professor Layton. It is Professor Layton. Everything about the pacing of the game and how the story develops is taken directly from the Professor Layton games. Is this a bad thing? No, not really. But it's something that needs to be said.
Besides the Professor Layton aspects of the game, how is Puzzle Agent? Well it's pretty good. It's flawed, but none of the flaws really stuck in my craw. I was never angry at the flaws in the game, and the flaws never detracted from my enjoyment of the game overall.
Let's begin with the unique style of the game. The art style is... original. I wouldn't call it good since it's Graham Annable, who draws crude figures on purpose. Crude on purpose kind of creates a problem when assessing art. The art definitely works for the game, it helps set the mood and is used very effectively. However, at the end of the day the game is still composed of crude drawings. It's not good, it's not bad, it's original.
As for the story itself, well stop me if you've heard this before but the game is inspired by Twin Peaks! I know right? Who would ever green light a game based off that television show? Anyway, besides twin peaks, the story also lifts from other sources like Fargo and 2001 A Space Odyssey. The game takes these inspirations and tries to form a coherent story out of them that doesn't quite work but serves to help out the strengths of the game. This definitely wasn't the type of game where I expected everything to make sense when I finished it, but there's one moment in particular that is so out of place it just seems like it was thrown in for another puzzle.
Besides my minor gripes with this game, I can only think of two major flaws. The first of which is the problematic difficulty curve that's found in so many adventure games. It's hard to make a difficulty curve in a game where the difficulty is derived from puzzles and the players intelligence, but I found the hardest puzzle in the game to be the 2nd/3rd puzzle. It wasn't just me either, that puzzle in particular was so hard I had to look up the answer on telltale's forums, in which the thread for it was three pages long. Every puzzle after that one felt challenging but I still felt it wasn't as hard as that one at the beginning of the game. Even the final puzzle in the game, wasn't as hard as the 2nd/3rd puzzle.
The other major flaw I had was the length of the game compared to it's price. It took me 4 hours to beat Puzzle Agent, one of those spent trying to figure out the puzzle in the previous paragraph. I've also read from other people who've finished the game that it took them 2 hours to beat it. Considering that the price for the game is 10 bucks, this may be an issue for some players. I didn't feel like I didn't get my money's worth, but I can see where some people would feel underwhelmed. I consider the game a definite buy at 5 dollars, but at 10 dollars you may want to think about it.
Overall, I still enjoyed the game. The combination of Professor Layton and horror is oddly satisfying. Even though the game is flawed, you'll still look back on the game with fond memories. Or you'll look back on it as a fun little distraction while you wait for the next Sam and Max episode to come out, or the next Professor Layton title. I would definitely like to see more Puzzle Agent in the future, and see where TellTale takes Nelson Tethers. As long as the price is right.
