Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review

Professor Layton and The Curious Village
Genre: Puzzles
Rating: E
System: Nintendo DS
Developer: Level 5


Professor Layton is a unique type of game, where you travel about the town of St. Mystere, searching for puzzles, and solving 10 mysteries.


Graphics

Professor Layton has great graphics. The graphics look like an old European town when you are exploring, and in the puzzles, they are very colorful. All of the graphics in the whole game look amazing, from start to finish. I don't think they could be any better. Plus, the backgrounds are very beautiful. If there were a few more character animations, it would be perfect.

9.5
~
Music
The music for this game is very well composed and very catchy. As well as the graphics looking European styled, so do some of the songs. The songs are all orchestrated, ranging in a variety of instruments. The sound quality of this game is very good, too. Not just for the music, but for the voice acting too. I find myself humming Professor Layton's theme song a lot.

10.0
~
Puzzles


In this game, there are a total of 135 puzzles, ranging in difficulty of very easy to very hard. For every puzzle you beat, you get points called Picarats. The harder the puzzle is, the more Picarats you get for answering right. If you answer wrong, however, you lose picarats. After you beat the game, the number of picarats you have decides how many bonus features you unlock. You do not have to do all 135 puzzles to beat the game.

As I said, some puzzles are very hard. Luckily, you can unlock hints by using hint coins you find hiding in the town. The tips are usually very helpful.

Also, every week, Nintendo puts a new puzzle up for download via Wi-Fi. These also range in difficulty. Unfortunately, these puzzles are only available through Wi-Fi.

9.0
~
Story


This game has an absolutely beautiful (if somewhat sad) story. The story is great, and there are also many plot twists that make it even better. The characters are also great. By the end of the story, they really grow on you. This game may have one of the best stories on the DS.

10.0
~

Cut-Scene Movies

Professor Layton features cartoon movies that tell the plot. The movies are all fully voiced, and look beautiful. Plus, they add in some of the games best songs, making it even better. There are about 20 cutscene movies, all fully voiced, and animated beautifully. It's impossible to not love the cutscene movies.

9.9
~



Final Score: 9.6!!!