Professor Layton - Highly Addictive - beware!!! (Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS))

Member Name: emmajt81

Product:	Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
Date:	13/08/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The great graphics and design of the town and the puzzles

Disadvantages: Not many, but sometimes the hint coins don't help that much!

I think I was one of the first people to own this game when it came out in the UK and was addicted from the moment it arrived. I didn't put it down 'til I'd finished it and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel ever since. I know the £30 price tag may make some people think they are better off buying Brain Training for half the price but believe me, this game doesn't even compare - it's so muchmore than a puzzle game!

If you like solving puzzles and platform games then this game is the perfect mix for you. Basically, Professor Layton and his sidekick companion Luke go to the town of Mystere where there is a mystery to be solved - what and where is the 'Golden Apple'? As you go around the village gathering clues and talking to the locals you are asked to solve brainteasers and other puzzles, which all get harder as the game progresses.

The game is also beautifully animated, with a lot of effort put into the characters, voices, and the town itself. The game is basically a brainteaser game mixed in with a mystery to make it more accessible for those who don't just want to play a simple puzzle game. This makes the game quite unique and it's little wonder this game has been hanging about in the top of the DS games charts for months now.

The games vary from maths problems, to logic problems and if you really get stuck on a question you can get 'hints' by trading in some of the 'hint coins' you've collected from around the town on your travels, using one coin for one hint - you're allowed up to 3 hints per puzzle. To find these coins just tap your stylus on the DS all around the town (the windows, the floors, the cupboards - everywhere). There's even a little shop in the town you can go into to solve the puzzles you may have missed along the way, and the ones you've already solved if you really want to go back and play certain games again. You get the more old fashioned games (which are brought up to date with the great graphics) like the sliding tile puzzles and how to get the chickens and foxes across the lake one at a time without them eating one another, and there are also riddles which seem impossible until you realise the answer lies right in front of you! Frustrating at times yet ultimately satisfying when you solve something!

Theres well over 120 puzzles on this game (although you only need to complete about 85 of them to finish the game), and you can download a weekly puzzle for free once you register. There's other fun things you can collect during the game such as bits of a painting, funiture (!) gizmos which all unlock bonus material.

Professor Layton is one of those games where you get a puzzle and are determined to solve it and will sit there for hours until you do. And it's also one of those games that once you've completed it you can pick it up again in a few months time and do it all over again. I don't think this would be as good on any other platform as the touch screen and stylus operation definitely make this game what is it. Like I said, the sequel awaits and I can't wait!!

Summary: Love this game - can't wait for the sequel I'll be pre ordering it!