As a lifelong Ace Attorney fan, I initially viewed the Professor Layton series as some sort of competitor to the franchise I was in love with. I didn’t ever want to delve deeper or even give the games a try. I just didn’t want anything to do with it at all. Looking back now I am a bit sad that I let myself get involved in some pathetic franchise rivalry, which I have often criticized other people for. Thankfully a game came to my attention that started a shift in my mindset. In 2012 Capcom cooperated with Level-5 and did the impossible: the legendary Phoenix Wright meets the legendary Professor Hershel Layton, combining aspects of both franchises into one adventure. It’s through that game that I first got introduced to what Professor Layton was all about, and I got charmed by the gameplay style and the characters present in the story.

Still, it didn’t make me start playing the Layton games right away. In fact, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I randomly decided enough was enough and I should give it a go. I’m glad that I did. As these games have a progressive story throughout the installments, naturally I landed on the first game ever released featuring the top hat wearing gentleman.

Gameplay

Professor Layton and the Curious Village was released worldwide in 2008 for the Nintendo DS. It’s an adventure game that uses puzzles throughout the story as its main gameplay gimmick. The game makes use of the touch features on the Nintendo DS by presenting the player with all sorts of puzzles for which drawing, writing, or dragging objects is necessary.

Each puzzle is given an arbitrary difficulty rating in the form of ‘Picarats’. The more picarats Layton obtains by solving the puzzle, the harder it is. Said Picarats can then be used to buy things in other areas of the game, to unlock features or extra puzzles. Every puzzle includes some hints that the player can opt to make use of, although at the cost of a hint coin, which are scarcely spread throughout the game by examining secret areas or objects of the village.

When the player thinks they have solved the puzzle, they can submit their answer and an animation will play. If correct, the player receives the picarats said puzzle is worth. If incorrect, the game will let the player attempt the puzzle again, but some picarats will be reduced from the prize when the player eventually solves the puzzle. Players can choose to give up on puzzles, except the few required to progress the main story. Certain puzzles get unlocked by talking to townsfolk or finding areas of the village. If through story progression these are no longer available, the player can buy the missed puzzles in a shop, so 100% completion isn’t dependent on when the player should progress the story.

Graphics

As this is the first Layton title and is almost 20 years old, the graphics have not aged as well as other titles in the series. Still, there is a unique charm to the character designs, even if some of them are a bit basic in expression or outfit. The characters feel like they come out of a picture book, which works to create a friendly and casual atmosphere.

The village itself doesn’t look the best. The DS just isn’t quite capable of making the areas in the game look smooth instead of pixilated. There were a few areas where I couldn’t quite make out what I was looking at, especially objects in the background. As a result I missed a handful of puzzles that I didn’t know were on my screen.

The UI is actually very clean, especially for such an early DS title. The puzzles look clean, polished, and have a nice charm to them that makes them approachable and fun to solve. Each one includes a small little story that you can read as well. The button layout is very easy to understand and use, so I never got confused at things like how to write notes or how to submit my answers.

The game also includes cutscenes! These do look a bit aged, but this didn’t really bother me while playing. I really enjoy solving a puzzle and then watching the story unfold in front of me. I think it’s impressive for its time.

Sound

The music in this game is very relaxing and this is very important, as I do not like feeling stressed out when attempting to solve a puzzle. None of the tracks quite stuck out to me as mindblowingly good, but I never got annoyed by the background music in the different areas of the village.

What’s really impressive is the voice acting! Of course the DS isn’t going to make voices come out as clean as modern consoles, but I think they did a fabulous job with this and I enjoyed hearing the characters interact whenever they did. My favorite line is Luke’s “Professor, I’ve solved it!” when he solves a puzzle. It’s done in this fun British accent and he sounds so proud of himself/wanting to impress the man he looks up to. I quote that one very frequently, like when I solve a sudoku or something.

Addictiveness

I’m not sure if addictive is the right word to describe this game. It’s not like I was left longing for more every time I shut the game off, and the story wasn’t so captivating that I found myself playing for hours on end to get to the next part. I don’t think it’s supposed to be addictive. This feels more like a game you pick up for 30 minutes to an hour, solve a few puzzles, and then call it a day. This way you get a lot of enjoyment out of it spread over a week or so.

As both an adventure and a puzzle game, there is also the issue of replayability. Once you beat the game, that’s it. You know everything, so there is little reason to pick it back up. You know how the story goes so the suspense or mystery element is gone, and you have solved most/all of the puzzles so there is little challenge left with those. I don’t think this is a bad thing, and it’s common in its genres, but I think you’d be better off replaying something else.

Story

As I mentioned, the story was sufficiently interesting but didn’t blow me away. It’s the first entry of the series and I think they were still testing the waters with the characters and the level of seriousness/mystery they wanted to include.

In a nutshell, Hershel Layton is an archaeology professor who is obsessed with puzzles. He also insists on doing everything in a ‘gentlemanly’ manner. To be honest, I think he is quite unrealistic as a character, and I think it would have helped if he showed a little more emotion throughout the game. Even in serious moments he falls a bit flat. I know they want him to come across as collected and rational, but I lose some immersion in a story with such a neutral main character. Layton has an assistant, a young boy named Luke Triton. I think Luke is a much better character than Hershel; with clear motivations, dreams, and cleverness, but true to his age in how he presents himself. He looks up to Layton and does his best to make him proud, a feeling I think any young child can relate to to some extent. After receiving a letter announcing the death of an old acquaintance of Layton’s, the pair travel to the village of St. Mystere to uncover the truth behind the man’s will. There they meet a peculiar bunch living in the village, and get presented with many riddles and puzzles they need to solve in order to gain favor with the townsfolk.

As you progress the story, more events start happening and the situation spirals a bit out of control. It’s up to Layton and Luke to solve all the mysteries surrounding the deceased Baron.

In my experience the story starts a bit slow, but picks up in the middle. Unfortunately I think the ending is a bit of a letdown and left me confused and somewhat dissatisfied. As the series is one big story, you are left with several unexplained plot points and a big ‘To be continued’. I generally like overarching plotlines, they exist in my favorite franchise Ace Attorney too, but I still want every case/adventure within a game to have its own relevant plot points concluded or at least partly explained within said game, with the option to expand on them in future titles. Pet peeve of mine I suppose. The game introduces a character in the tail end of the story that will be relevant for future titles, but I had no clue who they even were or what their deal was, making their motivations unclear to me. Again, I lose immersion due to this. I have heard that future titles are better at this, so I’ll write this off as a first entry flaw.

Depth

The game isn’t very big or long. You can get through the main story in a very reasonable amount of time, as plenty of puzzles are not mandatory to beat the game. Still, it is fun to find and solve every single puzzle around the village. I mean, that’s one of the pillars of the franchise, so I would recommend anyone who enjoys the game to play it to 100% completion.

For a while after the game launched, a new puzzle could be downloaded through the internet every week, and there are some other secret puzzles you can unlock in a few other main menu options or mechanics. These puzzles are unfortunately not legally obtainable anymore, though footage of them exists and there also exists the option of obtaining them through other means I won’t get into.

I don’t think the game needs to be much longer than it is, so I was left pretty satisfied with the time and effort I put into it.

Difficulty

Okay I’ll be honest, this game isn’t hard. There were a couple puzzles I found confusing or challenging, but most of them didn’t lead to much struggle. The fact that you can retry puzzles at a very minimal cost doesn’t make it any better on this front.

But is this a bad thing? I don’t think so. I highly doubt this game was intended to be difficult for adult players, as its main intended demographic is a bit younger. As it stands now it’s enjoyable, not too challenging to be frustrating, and just a general feel good adventure with some charming characters and settings. For those who find parts of it a bit too easy, I recommend cutting the daily time you spend on it. It’s not fun to spend 2 hours solving easy puzzles, but doing a few a day will make it a more enjoyable experience.

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And that about sums up my thoughts on Professor Layton and the Curious Village! I quite enjoyed my time playing this game, though it’s not one I’m ever looking to replay. I also felt a little bit burnt out by the end, and didn’t quite feel like picking up the sequel right away.

If you’re looking for brainstormers or a completely immersive and thrilling mystery, this isn’t the game for you. It’s fun, it’s casual, and it makes you think just enough to be stimulating. If that sounds right up your alley, you won’t regret giving it a try!