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Professor Layton And The Curious Village

Gameplay

The Curious Village is an adventure/puzzle game. The player controls the movements of Professor Layton (voiced by Christopher Miller in the UK version) and his young assistant Luke (Maria Darling, also UK version) around the village of St. Mystere to locate the "Golden Apple" and solve other mysteries that arise during their search. St. Mystere is divided into several sections, some of which are inaccessible until the story has advanced to a certain point or the player solves a certain number of puzzles. The player can talk to characters or investigate objects on screen by tapping them. In many cases, the characters will ask Layton and Luke to try to solve a puzzle; there are also hidden puzzles that can be found by investigating certain objects. As the story progresses, if an unsolved puzzle can no longer be accessed (for example, if the person offering it has departed), it will reappear at Granny Riddleton's Puzzle Shack at the plaza, midway through the game.

Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with each puzzle and its value in "picarats", and is given unlimited time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one "hint coin" to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more can be found by searching around the village. Once the player feels he has the answer, depending on the puzzle he enters it by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific part, or entering the answer through character recognition on the DS's touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, he can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times he is wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time (or more, in the case of multiple-choice puzzles). Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game's menus.

As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards. Gizmos are collected in order to create a robot dog that can help sniff out hint coins for the player. Pieces of a portrait can be assembled as in a jigsaw puzzle. Pieces of furniture can be distributed between Layton's and Luke's rooms at the inn to try to maximize the overall happiness of both. By completing all 120 puzzles in the main game and each of these additional puzzles, the player can access 15 bonus puzzles. The game is compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing players to connect to the internet and unlock new puzzles. The first unlockable puzzle was made available on the day of the game's Japanese release, and one new key has been released every week thereafter. Each new key is released on a Sunday. "The Hidden Door", only available after the player finds a unique code in the sequel Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, contains development art of the characters in the game.

A playable demo of The Curious Village is available on its official website.

Plot

Professor Layton series fictional chronology

The Specter's Flute

The Eternal Diva

The Mask of Miracles

The Curious Village

The Diabolical Box

The Last Time Travel

Specific order of events in the game will vary depending on choices that the player has made during the game, but the overall plot remains unchanged.

The game opens with Professor Hershel Layton and his young assistant Luke driving to the town of St. Mystere, summoned by a letter from Lady Dahlia, widow of the late Baron Augustus Reinhold. The Baron stated in his last will and testament that whoever solves the mystery of the Golden Apple will inherit his fortune, and several people have attempted and failed. The two enter the town and find that most of the population is fond of puzzles and brain teasers, which both Layton and Luke are adept at solving. They see a large, haphazard tower that occupies one side of town that no one can get to; people hear strange noises emanating from it at night. Layton and Luke meet Lady Dahlia and other family members, including Simon, Gordon, and the family servants. Before they can discuss the mystery further, a loud exploding sound is heard and Dahlia's cat Claudia flees out of the door. Layton and Luke chase Claudia through town, solving puzzles along the way. Meanwhile, a strange soot-covered man plots a deadly plan against the heroes. Eventually they discover the cat's fondness for fish and tempt her back with one. Upon returning to the mansion, Layton and Luke find that Simon has been murdered and the case is already under investigation by Inspector Chelmey, a renowned detective. Chelmey initially suspects the two, but their alibi holds up. He lets them go, but tells them to stay out of the murder investigation. However, Matthew tells Layton about a small gearwheel that he found in the room near Simon's body.

As Layton and Luke continue their search for the Golden Apple, they witness the kidnapping of one of Dahlia's servants, Ramon. A strange man stuffs Ramon into a bag; they give chase but are unable to catch him, though they do find another gearwheel similar to the one before. However, they are befuddled as Ramon is back the next day as if nothing had happened. They continue to explore the town, and are eventually led to the town's abandoned amusement park by a young girl. As they explore the Ferris wheel, the sinister figure from earlier uses a remote to tear the wheel from its moorings, sending it rolling after Layton and Luke. They barely escape as the wheel smashes through a locked building. Exploring the wreckage, they find a key shaped similarly to the tower, and Layton gets an idea of what's going on in the village. The two return to face Chelmey, who Layton realizes is an impostor. The man reveals himself as Layton's arch-enemy, Don Paolo, who is seeking the Golden Apple for himself and who tried to use the Ferris wheel to knock Layton out of the picture. Paolo escapes before Layton can capture him.

With Luke in tow, Layton heads for the tower, using the key to unlock a secret wall in a dead end. Inside, they discover the man that previously had kidnapped Ramon, who is named Bruno. With Bruno's help, Layton discovers the truth: all the residents of St. Mystere are robots, created by the Baron and Bruno to challenge the wits of anyone seeking the Golden Apple, hence their shared obsession with puzzles. Simon has not died, only malfunctioned; similarly, Bruno collected Ramon in order to perform repairs. Having solved the puzzle of St. Mystere, Layton and Luke climb the tower, solving more puzzles and meeting minor characters along the way. Eventually, the pair reaches the top of the tower, and much to their surprise, find a beautifully-kept cottage there. Inside, the young girl from before awaits. She reveals herself as Flora Reinhold, the only daughter of the Baron. She is the Golden Apple that the robots are protecting because she was the "apple of her father's eye".

Layton's triumph is short-lived as Don Paolo returns in a flying machine and starts demolishing the tower. Luke escapes down the stairs, but Layton is forced to improvise a glider to take Flora and himself to safety as the tower collapses. Don Paolo, with his machine malfunctioning, he drops a bag containing the stolen Simon. The villain swears revenge and leaves, and the three reach the town safely. As Flora hugs the Professor and laughs, an apple-like birthmark can be seen on her shoulder. As they regroup at the Reinhold manor, Layton realizes that there is more to the treasure than just Flora, as the birthmark points to the Baron's riches. Luke finds a switch on the portrait of Flora which leads to a secret room filled with gold.

A voice recording from the Baron, intended for those who solved the mystery, congratulates Layton. The voice tells Flora to take the treasure, explaining that if it is taken, all the robots will stop functioning. Flora opts to leave it as a way to repay the robots for their services in protecting her and her new friends. As the game ends, Layton, Luke, and Flora leave St. Mystere without the treasure, allowing the residents to continue on with their lives. The three (and other characters) are shown laughing and living together during the game credits.

As the first part of a trilogy, the main story ends with a "to be continued" message with a picture of Luke and Layton at a train station. They are about to take the Molentary Express in Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.

Development

Chiba University Professor Akira Tago supervised direction on the game's development, with Level-5 President and CEO Akihiro Hino serving as producer.

Layton's creation was a direct result of Hino's childhood love of Tago's Head Gymnastics series of puzzle books, which have sold more than 12 million copies to date in Japan. The game makes use of many puzzles from Tago's books, all of which have been modified to support the DS stylus and touchscreen. Tago also contributed 30 brand new puzzles to the game, developed specifically with the unique capabilities of the Nintendo DS in mind.

Reception

 Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator

Score

GameRankings

86 (48 revs)

Metacritic

85 (57 revs)

Review scores

Publication

Score

1UP.com

A

Edge

7/10

Electronic Gaming Monthly

8.8/10

Game Informer

7.5/10

GameSpot

9.0/10

GameTrailers

9/10

IGN

8.0/10

Giant Bomb

5/5

The Curious Village received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game had an average score of 86% based on 48 reviews. On Metacritic, the game had an average score of 85/100, based on 57 reviews. The combination of the adventure game and "brain training" genres received mixed appreciation. Some reviewers praised the game for the successful combination with 1UP commenting on how the game's approach is much better than games where the puzzles were integrated into the environment. Other reviewers felt that these two genres do not merge well within the game; Game Informer noted that while the player is given numerous small puzzles to solve, the mysteries of the main plot are basically solved for the player. The game was noted to have little replay value; once all the puzzles were solved, there was no point in playing through them again. The presentation of the game, including both the general European animation style and cutscene animations, was appreciated by reviewers. Hyper's Darren Wells commends the game for its "clever concept, with plenty to solve and unlock as well as its fantastic presentation". However, he criticises "some puzzles feeling tacked on and the music can get annoying".

The Curious Village sold over 700,000 units in Japan in 2007. The game was the top selling game for the Nintendo DS in the United States in the first three weeks after its release. After it was restocked in the UK, sales of Professor Layton increased 54%, moving it from 10th place to fourth place.

Awards

Professor Layton and the Curious Village was awarded the Best Handheld Game award in the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards For Best Handheld Game,[citation needed] and awarded Best Nintendo DS Game and the tenth best game overall of 2008 by GameSpy. In March 2009 it was awarded Best Handheld Award at the British Academy Video Games Awards. It was also nominated for Best Puzzle Game on the Nintendo DS in IGN's 2008 video game awards, and for Children's BAFTA Best Video Game Award in 2008. It won Best DS Game of 2008 on GiantBomb. Professor Layton and the Curious Village was awarded fifteenth game of 2008 overall by Eurogamer and DS game of 2008 from Gamespy. It also won the "Best Puzzle Game Of The Year" award in the Nintendo Power magazine. In February 2009, Professor Layton and the Curious Village was awarded the Aggie for Best Console/Handheld Adventure in the first award presentation by AdventureGamers. It was also nominated for Best Handheld Game on G4's G-phoria in 2008.

Music

An album titled Layton Kyouju to Fushigi na Machi Original Soundtrack was released in Japan only, containing all the music featured in the game.

Tracks

01 Professor Layton's Theme 2:10

02 The Curious Village 2:59

03 The Adventure Begins 0:29

04 About Town 3:10

05 Puzzles 1:53

06 Reinhold Manor 2:44

07 The Plot Thickens! 2:10

08 Gant's Bar 1:45

09 The Mysterious Girl 3:56

10 Gloomy Basement 3:22

11 Ferris Wheel Park 2:46

12 Pursuit in the Night 2:27

13 The Veil of Night 3:55

14 Don Paolo's Theme 3:14

15 The Village Awakens 1:45

16 The Looming Tower 4:58

17 Memories of St. Mystere 3:07

18 The Girl Departs 1:31

19 End Theme 2:56

20 Professor Layton's Theme 3:36 (Live Version)

21 The Veil of Night 5:30 (Live Version)

22 The Looming Tower 4:42 (Live Version)

23 End Theme 2:51 (Live Version)

24 About Town 3:16 (High Quality)

25 Reinhold Manor 2:44 (High Quality)

26 The Village Awakens 1:47 (High Quality)

Disc length 75:48

References

^ Professor Layton and the Curious Village | Nintendo

^

^ WEB

^ Akihiro Hino Interview

^ Lumb, Jonathan (2006-10-11). "Professor Layton Preview". 1UP. http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3154379. 

^ Cochran, David (2006-10-18). "Level-5 Interview with Akihiro Hino". Games Are Fun. http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=7066. 

^ a b "Professor Layton and the Curious Village Reviews". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/936050.asp. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ a b "Professor Layton and the Curious Village (ds: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ds/professorlayton. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ a b Parish, Jeremy (2008-02-12). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village". 1UP. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3166174. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ Edge staff (April 2008). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review". Edge (187): 95. 

^ "Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review". Electronic Gaming Monthly: 78. April 2008. 

^ a b Kato, Matthew (2008). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village". Game Informer. http://gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/A0E33D81-DCB6-45EC-B167-F45F6C3C8ACA.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ a b c Thomas, Aaron (2008-02-14). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/laytonkyoujunofushiginamachi/review.html?sid=6186070. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ "Professor Layton and the Curious Village". GameTrailers. 2008. http://www.gametrailers.com/gamereview.php?id=4050. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ a b c Harris, Craig (2008-02-13). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review". IGN. http://ds.ign.com/articles/851/851856p1.html. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ Gerstmann, Jeff (2008-03-07). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Review". Giant Bomb. http://www.giantbomb.com/professor-layton-and-the-curious-village/61-11865/reviews/. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ Wells, Darren (June 2008). "Professor Layton and the Curious Village". Hyper (Next Media) (176): 60. ISSN 1320-7458. 

^ Gantayat, Anoop (2007-12-07). "Professor Layton Tops the Charts". IGN. http://ds.ign.com/articles/840/840183p1.html. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ Cowan, Danny (2008-02-15). "Saling The World: Professor Layton Tops North American DS Charts". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17417. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ Cowan, Danny (2008-02-22). "Saling The World: Professor Layton, Apollo Justice Impact DS Charts in U.S.". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17553. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ Cowan, Danny (2008-02-29). "Saling The World: The Sims 2: FreeTime, Gundam Lead Worldwide Charts". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/column_index.php?story=8821. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

^ "UK - Professor Layton Makes Big Jump, Skate 2 Sales Down". Chart Get. 2008-10-01. http://chartget.com/2009/02/uk-professor-layton-makes-big-jump.html. Retrieved 2009-02-07. 

^ "GameSpy - DS Top 5". 2008-12-21. http://goty.gamespy.com/2008/ds/6.html. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 

^ "GameSpy - Overall Top 10". 2008-12-21. http://goty.gamespy.com/2008/overall/index.html. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 

^ "IGN DS: Best Puzzle Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-15. http://bestof.ign.com/2008/ds/5.html. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 

^ BAFTA Children's Awards 2008 nominees

^

^

^

^ "The Aggies: 2008 Award Presentation". AdventureGamers.com. 2009-02-18. http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,981/p,16. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 

External links

Official website

Buy the soundtrack at CDjapan.com

v  d  e

Level-5

PlayStation 2

Dark Cloud  Dark Chronicle  Rogue Galaxy  Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Nintendo DS

Professor Layton series (Curious Village  Diabolical Box  Saigo no Jikan Ryok  Majin no Fue  Kiseki no Kamen)  Inazuma Eleven  Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies  Ni No Kuni (The Another World)

PlayStation Portable

Jeanne d'Arc  Ushiro

PlayStation 3

White Knight Chronicles  White Knight Chronicles 2

Other

True Fantasy Live Online

v  d  e

Professor Layton series

Video games

Curious Village   Diabolical Box (Pandora's Box)   Saigo no Jikan Ryok   Majin no Fue   Kiseki no Kamen

Media

Film

Eternal Diva

Printed media

The Cheerful Mystery

Developer and publisher

Level-5   Nintendo

Other

List of Professor Layton Characters

v  d  e

Works by Production I.G

Feature films

Blood: The Last Vampire  Cyber Team in Akihabara: Summer Holidays of 2011  Dead Leaves  Evangelion: Death and Rebirth  The End of Evangelion  Ghost in the Shell  Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence  Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society  Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade  Kill Bill: Volume 1 (animated sequence)  Nadesico: Prince of Darkness  MiniPato  Patlabor: The Movie  Patlabor 2: The Movie  Sakura Wars: The Movie  Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters  The Sky Crawlers  Tennis no jisama Futari no Samurai  The Weathering Continent  Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike

Television series

Blade of the Immortal  Blood+  Blue Seed  Cromartie High School  Devil Kings  Eden of the East  Medabots Damashii  Ghost Hound  Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex  Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG  Idaten Jump  Immortal Grand Prix  K-tai Investigator 7  Le Chevalier D'Eon  Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit  Otogi Zoshi  PaRappa the Rapper  PoPoLoCrois  The Prince of Tennis  Reideen  Real Drive  Sands of Destruction  Toshokan Sens  Vampiyan Kids  Windy Tales  xxxHolic  Kimi ni Todoke  Sengoku Basara

Original video animations

Ani*Kuri15 (animated sequence)  Batman: Gotham Knight (animated sequence)  Chocolate Underground  FLCL  Halo Legends (animated sequence)   Kai Doh Maru  Please Save My Earth  The King of Fighters: Another Day  Zillion: Burning Night  The Prince of Tennis  Tokyo Marble Chocolate

Video games

Children of Mana  Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance  Ghost in the Shell  Jikky Powerful Pro Yaky 12  Namco Capcom  Professor Layton and the Curious Village  Sonic Riders  Star Ocean: First Departure  Star Ocean: Second Evolution  Summon Night 4  Surveillance Kanshisha  Tales  Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria  Wario Land: The Shake Dimension  Xenogears

Categories: 2007 video games | Adventure games | Level-5 games | Nintendo DS games | Nintendo DS-only games | Nintendo DS puzzle games | Production I.G | Puzzle video gamesHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2008
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