Exuding Charm, this Game is a Blast!
One could compare Professor Layton and the Curious Village to other "puzzle" games such as the brain training series, but that would be doing it an injustice. Professor brings its own charm to the genre, packing tons of puzzles into this $30 value.
While not trying to give any of the fabulous story away, Professor Layton opens with the titular Professor and his sidekick Luke stranded in a, dare i say, Curious Village? Yes, that's right - a puzzle game with a fantastic story. The point of the game is to unravel the mystery that makes the town so curious. You'll move around in a point-and-click fashion, talking with an eclectic cast of townspeople, and basically sticking your nose everywhere. Everything is textbased, and there are excellent cg cutscenes with full audio that show up at pivotal plot points. Everyone you meet has some puzzle or another for you to solve, after which they'll give you your next clue and point you in the right direction. The puzzles are well integrated, with a hint system. They can be quite challenging - even with the hints, I must confess i resorted to Google a few times. Puzzles are varied, and increase in difficulty as the game progresses. That's all there is to say about the puzzles. Wait, did i mention that there are over 100 of them? And you can download more for free over the wi-fi service? Oh yeah, must have slipped my mind...
Professor Layton is a fantastic package. You really feel like a detective as you sole the mystery, and the excellent cutscenes bring it to life. The puzzles have just the right amount of challenge, and free downloads only enhance the value of the game. Just remember, there's no shame in Google.
