A fun, challenging puzzle romp with endearing characters and an exciting mystery to solve.

User Rating: 9 | Professor Layton and the Curious Village DS
By aaronelwhite | Review Date:
Professor Layton and the Curious Village, at its core, is a puzzle game from legendary puzzle mastermind Professor Akira Tago. The intent of the game is to solve the mysteries of a small village by answering puzzles and riddles. Although the puzzles are certainly the focus in the game, the characters and story are both fantastically done and will draw in most gamers. There are many other things to do as well, from collecting painting scraps to finding and solving new mysteries (the game's version of a side quest).

The puzzles themselves are both a strength and weakness of the game, depending on your personal taste. As a logic puzzle veteran, I experienced trouble with many of the beginning puzzles in the game, leading me to believe that younger gamers might be in over their heads. There is a hint system that allows you to gain clues toward solving the puzzles, but the clues are limited by how many "hint coins" you collect in the exploration mode. If you want a challenge, Professor Layton supplies it. If you're looking to breeze through the game from start to finish, you might be frustrated quite quickly.

Overall, this is a wonderful title for the DS and an excellent addition to the edutainment genre. The game makes almost exclusive use of the stylus and voiceover/sound is well above average. One other thing of note is that this title makes use of Nintendo's new daily download feature, allowing for new puzzles to be downloaded using a wi-fi connection every week. I highly recommend Professor Layton and the Curious Village to any gamer looking for a quirky, challenging experience that can't be found anywhere else. Take a stroll through St. Mystere with Professor Layton and his assistant Luke... you won't be disappointed.

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