Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 149
 Professor Layton and the Occasionally Frustrating Village February 18, 2008
J. Chang (Texas)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
I won't summarize the plot here as it's been presented in both the publisher's review. This review recounts my personal experience with the game although your mileage may vary.
As others have mentioned, Professor Layton is beautifully done. The graphics, voice acting, and cut scenes are all pretty top notch. The controls are also easy to use and not clumsy at all. The story captivates - lots of weird happenings that border on the uncanny (Hoffmann would eat his heart out) - and the puzzles are challenging.
Well, problem is, some of the puzzles are way too bloody obnoxious, and I feel like that that's saying a lot given how I eat and breathe puzzle games. I seriously felt that I was teleported to my middle school and high school years where I'm forced to solve those damned train problems (train A goes 45 mph at 10am from the west, and train B goes 30 mph at 12:00pm; what time do they meet?).
I really enjoyed the puzzles that required you to play around -- like moving around pieces of your puzzle (both literally and figuratively), using your stylus to map out different paths, or turning your DS around to figure out some of the puzzles. The algebra/trig -- no thanks; to me, it ceased being a puzzle game when it recounted memories of the SAT and other standardized tests. Penny Arcade did a strip that perfectly illustrated my feelings on this.
I like the integration of puzzles with the games, but it seems like the storyline and the puzzle factor constantly compete with each other. Yes, I know that this is a puzzle game, but the flow between story and puzzle is far from fluent; at times, it's down right awkward. I wonder how conducive the puzzles are to the storyline because on more than one occasion, they seem like an incessant filler. When you talk to someone, he/she always always proffers, "HO HO HO, I gots a puzzle fer ya! Are ya as fancy and smart as you look??" I mean, I'm asking if you saw someone or if you will get out of my way; WHY are you giving me another puzzle to solve?
Scattered throughout the village are hint coins. If you're stumped on a puzzle, you can pay a coin per hint, up to three per puzzle. Contrary to what the villager told you and his warning, hint coins aren't located in just suspicious looking areas and aren't as limited as he'd like you to believe. Click around on your screen (somewhat along the lines of button mashing), they're located EVERYWHERE, and you'll find a plethora of them.
I do like the game. It's extremely enjoyable for puzzle lovers or for those who want to play something new and innovative!
 fun and challenging game, beautifully presented March 14, 2008
Patrick Regan (Northampton, MA USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
How is it that the graphical presentation in a game on the Nintendo DS can be better than the graphical presentation on a high powered console? The answer is given by this game which artfully depicts the inhabitants and locale of St. Mystere, a fictitious city in Europe. Clearly, there are two parts to creating great graphics. Part one is simply the horsepower behind the graphics. Part two is best described by terms from the art world such as quality of composition and the overall attention to the feel of the presentation. As the DS is not known for being the most powerful of hand held consoles, and the graphics in Professor Layton and the Curious Village are clearly superior to most games I have played, I argue that the second part is the most important. The graphics for this game are simple but artfully done. Nowhere does the presentation veer from the feel established for the game by the opening animation. Also, the arrangement of characters, objects, and houses on the screen is flawless. I wish that, instead focusing on the rendering of yet more polygons per frame, game designers would pay more attention to aspects of composition and the creation of a feel for their subject matter. That said, the game play and story are a lot of fun too. The game play revolves around simple exploration and a lot of puzzle solving. Although there is a hint system, the puzzles are sometimes quite challenging. Solving them definitely requires some thinking and herein lies the fun of the game. If you don't like puzzles you will probably not like this game. The story is also very interesting. I was drawn in from the beginning and found myself motivated to solve puzzles as fast as I could just to see what would happen next. I said above that if you don't like puzzles you will not like this game, but if you have never tried a puzzle game before and want to try one for yourself, I highly recommend giving this one a try. The quality of the story and graphical presentation will motivate you to give even the most difficult of puzzles that extra spurt of effort needed to them.
 Good Game But Nothing Special In the Long Run February 29, 2008
Arcade Bear (Paris, France)
8 out of 22 found this review helpful
It's a great game the first time you play. The puzzles are hard and interesting. But the magic disappears when you're doing the same things over and over again. You have to just solve puzzles and the story develops very slowly. It's got nice art direction and is pretty original but the fun doesn't last. I was so bored with the second and third time I played it... by the forth time I was so frustrated with the repetition that I sold it.
Possibly not for everyone! February 13, 2008
Michelle Moss
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Don't get me wrong! I love this game but I don't know how younger kids will respond to it. A lot of the puzzles are very challenging even for me and I'm 28 :) I just wanted to let parents know that they might expect complaining from kids because the puzzles may be just too difficult for them. One thing that is great about this game is that it has all of the completed puzzles in a list for you to go back and replay. After I'm done with a few of them I have my husband try his hand at them. It's very cool to see how differently our brains work. Some puzzles that I find are difficult for me are really easy for him and vice versa. I have also absolutely needed some paper to write out some of the puzzles. Definitely a fun game but not really "E" for everyone.
Bad Professor Layton! Very Bad! February 20, 2008
JennX (Bothell WA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Professory Layton is a bad game. I skipped a shower on Saturday, failed to do my laundry, cook meals (hot pockets aren't that bad actually) and didn't want to leave the house. My back hurt from spending days on the couch, I slept poorly and I took a long lunch yesterday to keep playing!!!!
This game is addicting. I bought in on Friday night and by Sunday afternoon I completed it. I was up all night until 3 am on Sunday morning, slept a few hours and wittled away my afternoon on the couch.
Although, I am still trying to locate 3 of the puzzles within the game. I clocked close to 13 hours on this stupid thing within the first 48 hours of owning it. I do admit, several of the puzzles did require pen and paper. The 33,333 was the most difficult for me. But many of the puzzles just require you to read it carefully to understand it and the answers are sort of a "DUH!" once you "get it."
The story is aptly termed "a light hearted mystery." It's fun, interesting, creative, easy to follow, but most of all challenging and intriguing.
I highly recommend this game and if you want to wait about another week, I'll be selling mine. jennw84@gmail.com
Save your dough and don't buy Brain Age, this is a lot better!
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