x_59's Reviews

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is indeed a curious game. As if there weren't enough brain training games out there already, this one takes brain busting to a whole new level. Hidden behind the mask of the quaint town of St. Mystere, the story of Professor Layton and the Curious unfolds as you search for the Golden Apple by solving puzzle after puzzle. You play as Professor Layton and his young, eager assistant Luke, who are invited to the village by one Lady Dahlia after the death of her husband. Your main task is to search for the mysterious Golden Apple, but as fate would have it, the Professor and Luke discover that there is far more to this mystery than meets the eye.

Gameplay: In order to progress through the game, you must solve puzzles. These puzzles are either given to you by the different people you talk to in the village or by discovering them. But at times it gets so ridiculous that glancing at a mere dirty jar on the road will remind Layton or Luke about a puzzle they have heard about. As for the puzzles themselves, they range from being childishly simple to punishingly difficult; this can be seen by the amount of Picarats each one is worth. The more Picarats the harder the puzzle will be. Some of the harder puzzles will definitely have you scratching your head for a much longer period of time than what you're willing to spend on them. At times the difficulty of a given puzzle will get to be so hard that you'll probably just end up searching the internet for the answer. Exploring the town of St. Mystere is done by tapping on an icon on the touch screen and simply choosing which direction to move in. Each new area has more puzzles to be found, however, the puzzles do not remain in their locations forever. But don't fret; a simple trip to Granny Riddelton's shack will have you racking your brain again in no time.

Graphics: The originality of the art in Professor Layton & the Curious Village is definitely a sight to see. The game's hand drawn style adds to the games antiquated feel, and further enhances the atmosphere of the game. The game also features some animated cut scenes that are truly remarkable, the quality of the movies are absolutely crisp and clear for the DS. The cartoony style of each individual character adds a certain distinction that separates this game from others.

Sound: The score for Professor Layton is something that is very different from what we hear in other games out there. The accordion laced soundtrack in the game gives a very warm and inviting feel, which is something that is definitely needed if you would want to play this game for hours on end. But for all this game delivers it definitely has enough content and length to keep you playing for a while, and with the addition of weekly downloadable puzzles Professor Layton won't be leaving your DS' cartridge holder for a long time.

Perfection is the only word that comes to mind when Bioshock is mentioned. This game is rich with story, enemies, and environments for you to explore. You start off as some unknown person sitting on a plane, when suddenly it crashes in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately for you there is an ominous lighthouse not too far away, seeing as how that is your only option for shelter you enter and from then on all hell will break loose. Bioshock is a gripping survival experience that will have you guessing until the very end, as you would expect from a game that has been hyped up for months, Bioshock certainly delivers to all of those expectations and much, much more. You play through the game in the underwater utopia called Rapture, and as you would expect from first impressions not all is the way it should be. Every person that you bump into is either mentally insane or plainly wants to kill you. The levels in the game are fairly large and allow you to explore the area to your heart's content, but still reminds you of where you should be headed thanks to a little goal arrow at the top of the screen. Every enemy in the game has a very sophisticated A.I, and that really forces you to think about what you have to do for everything because ammunition seems to run thin right when you would need it the most. Overall, Bioshock is a very solid game that will keep you coming back for more each time.

Graphics: Among the many things about Bioshock that stand out is its stunning presentation. The city of rapture really immerses you into the experience with an in-your-face, rundown, art deco look, and gives you the feeling that you're right in the middle of the sinking underwater city. The graphics of this game are simply unprecedented, the water effects are virtually photo-realistic, and the dynamic lighting gives the game that very eerie, creepy feel. As you progress through the game, the visuals will keep grabbing you back in as each level deserves its own praise on design and originality. From the underwater fisheries, to the underwater forest, you will be continuously stunned by all the intrinsic detail in the game. Though at some points throughout the game those lovely details weren't loaded up and all that was showing at some points were the pre-rendered models for some of the walls and corpses. Other than those minor glitches the game suffered from no slow-downs even when the on screen action was starting to get really hectic.

Gameplay: The way that the game plays itself is nothing new; however it is in the various ways that all the enemies react to your fighting tactics in the game. The A.I, in Bioshock is definitely a force to be reckoned with, especially with the tougher foes like the Big Daddy. When facing them I often found myself setting all my traps before hand and checking my ammo to make sure that I had the right type of ammo ready to face them. The secondary weapons used in Bioshock are Plasmids, which are the genetic modifications that you inject into your character and he then gains the ability to shoot electricity out of his fingers or turn foes against each other or even force the Big Daddies to help him. The Plasmids are more of a support weapon more than anything because they really help you when you're in a tight situation, should you need to find a quick way to escape your enemies. They come in four different categories: Plasmids, Combat, Engineering, and Physical; where the last three are your passive abilities. There are over 75 different Plasmids and Tonics that are scattered throughout the game and you can use them in many different combinations that range from making you invisible whenever you're not moving, to having security cameras taking much longer to sound the alarm after they spot you. The choices in this game are endless. The Primary weapons are the basic assortment of rifles, shotguns, and BFG's that are standard to any shooter, but what makes these unique is that they will utilize about three different types of ammunition that are useful in certain situations. Each will serve their own purpose; these weapons can also be upgraded to further enhance their firepower, accuracy and range. There really isn't a shortage of things to do when you're playing through this game, it can keep you coming back for more each time.

Sound: The atmospheric sounds and voice work in Bioshock is of AAA quality. Every sound happens when it should and adds just that much more value to the game. The game plays on ambient and distant sounds that will throw off the player's judgment, footsteps and desperately psychotic voices give each foe a certain distinct individuality. If you can remain unseen by an enemy splicer you can hear them either mumbling to themselves about some horrible tragedy that may have taken place in the past, or hear them scheming about something that they want to do. The eerie footsteps of the characters, to the distant sound of water coming trickling through the ceiling; the mixture of each of these sounds will constantly keep you on the edge of you seat. A highly original soundtrack further enhances the atmosphere of the game reminding the player that this game is taking place in the 1960's despite the fact that all of this heavily sophisticated technology in your immediate surroundings. You could be roaming through a dilapidated theater, defending yourself from a pack of tragic psychopaths while having Mama Loves Mambo playing quite poorly in the background. All of these little intricate elements combined together into one package will take for the ride of your life in one of the greatest fictional worlds ever conjured. Overall Bioshock should be at least a game of the year nominee for the sheer vastness of its playability and longevity to come.

It’s when you play games like this that you know you’re in for a real treat. Okami is a beautiful self-shaded Adventure RPG that takes you across vast environments in an unbelievable fictional world. You play as a White wolf by the name of Amaterasu who is the Goddess of the Sun reborn in the form of a wolf. This game features a deceptively long story, that last well over 40 hours of gameplay giving you an ample amount of time to explore the vast world of Nippon. Though a few similarities can be drawn from Okami to the Zelda franchise it still stands out on its own as a completely original game. During your adventures you are a companied by a flea like creature called Issun who basically does all of the talking for you, as you forge through your quest to vanquish evil from the land by regaining your divine powers. This is where a most interesting game mechanic is introduced. The Celestial Brush is basically the core to how you progress through the game and the long battles. Simply activating it with the R1 button turns the screen into a large piece of parchment in which you paint your powers into action; these paintings range from a quick stroke across the screen to mince your enemies to restoring bridges and plant life back to their original state. For the rapid completionist this game can go far beyond the 60 hour mark as there are many side quests and treasures to find everywhere in the world. This game maybe a long one but it is worth every second of action for it delivers a stunning experience from start to finish for both veterans and newcomers to the gaming experience.