Professor Layton and the Curious F%#&*@~ Village!!!
AAAAND breath.
I started playing Professor Layton and the Curious Village for my Nintendo DS yesterday. Seven hours later I threw my DS on the floor. Thank god for that nerf armor.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village is an adventure game developed by Level-5 which uses puzzles to move you through the story. You can play a demo of the game on it’s official website (click the title of this entry). In order to reach certain areas of the game you must complete a specific number of puzzles. If you get stuck on a puzzle you can use “hint coins” you find along the way. Each puzzle is worth a certain amount of “picarats,” a unit of value that tell you how difficult the puzzle is. If you guess wrong, the number of picarats you’ll receive decreases the next time you attempt it (it will stop decreasing after the second wrong answer). Picarats are used to unlock bonus features at the end of the game.
Now, I know I’m partial to the adorable factor, that’s the main reason I decided to play it. I mean, look at that picture. Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke are too cute for words, especially when they’re thinking REALLY hard about a puzzle. I guess all that made me underestimate the make-me-feel-like-I’m-taking-the-SAT’s factor. Seriously. I felt like I was taking the SAT’s or an IQ test for seven hours. And I’ve only solved 48 puzzles so far. I’m an intelligent woman, but trust me when I say this game likes to be sneaky at times.
All in all, it’s a good story so far. A nice little murder mystery with a few missing people thrown in for good measure. There’s even a few cats! We all know how much I love cats. Would I recommend Professor Layton and the Curious Village? Not if you have high anxiety or anger management issues that’s for damn sure. But if you enjoy that sort of thing, go for it. Remember, it IS adorable. And hey, if you wind up loving it, there’s already a sequel called Professor Layton and the Devil’s Box out in Japan which should be here in no time. Actually they are both part of a trilogy. The third installment is in development.
Well I better go get myself ready for another marathon of torture, uhh I mean, fun! The cover of the box says, “Solve brainteasers to crack the case,” or your DS in my case.