the.blog @scwleung

Publisher: Nintendo

Genre: Puzzle

Platform: Nintendo DS

What they say:

In the curious village of St. Mystere, townsfolk greet each other with brainteasers, lock their doors with sliding puzzles, and hide their secrets in mazes. When a baron’s last will reveals a treasure hidden in the village, it’s up to puzzle master Professor Layton to crack the case.

What I say:

Do you remember the brainteasers and logic puzzles that we were occasionally asked to do when we were young? The ones that involved moving matchsticks and shifting blocks around to get a ball out? Now, combine over a hundred of these puzzles with engaging story and animation, and you come pretty close to creating your own [copyright infringing] version of Professor Layton. The player follows the exploits of Professor Layton, a mild mannered British academic known for his problem solving abilities, and his young ward in their quest to find the Golden Apple in the village of St. Mystere. Along the way, puzzles and hijinks ensue.

Not very good at brainteasers and puzzles of this nature? Fear not, the game has a built in system of hints and clues that can be purchased with a limited number of ‘hint coins’ located throughout the game. The three hints provided for each puzzle should be enough to get you to the solution.

The animation style for the entire game hails back to the modern European [well...more French] style of animation that is reminiscent of The Triplets of Belleville and The Count of Monte Cristo. It is easy on the eyes and fits quite well with the tone and theme of the game. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have Gonzo Animation Studios [Howl's Moving Castle, Transformers: Cybertron, amongst other Anime works] lacing the game with full animation video.

There were a few annoyances with the game, primarily with its length. While there are over 100 puzzles, I found the game to be extraordinarily short. The game’s timer clocked me in at just under 14.5 hours of play, and I’ve heard of others completing the game in even less time. Despite the promise of downloadable puzzles using Nintendo’s WFC and other little perks, there doesn’t seem enough to keep people hooked after the initial run through. [In fact, I lent my copy of it to Carol.] Still, with the promise of 2 more sequels along the way, I’m definitely looking forward to more puzzling fun.

Was it worth it? It’s a tad short, but it’s quite enjoyable. With DLC available every week and a sequel along the way, it’s an indubitably yes.