Continue reading »]]> Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a point and click adventure game that includes over 120 brain teasers for the player to solve. The game was developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo DS, and is the first installment of the Professor Layton series. The game was released in Japan, and was later released in North America, Australia, South Korea and Europe.

Gameplay

The Curious Village is a puzzle game, with the player controlling the movements of Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke around the village of St. Mystere to locate the “Golden Apple” and solving other mysteries that arise during their searching. St. Mystere is divided into several sections, which the player can move between, though some sections are inaccessible until certain parts of the story have been advanced or they have met a minimum requirement of number of puzzles solved. 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 the player has not solved some of the puzzles made available by talking to characters, these will be collected at a special location so the player may still attempt them.

Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with the puzzle and the value of the puzzle 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 are available by searching around the village. Once the player feels he has the answer, he enters it, either 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, they can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times they are wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time. 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 satisfy 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 additional puzzles accessible as a bonus item in the game. 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. A new key is released every Sunday. There is also a “The Hidden Door” that is only available after the player finds a unique code in the sequel Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box that contains development art of the characters in the game.

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

Plot

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 Layton and Luke driving to the town of St. Mystere by request of Lady Dahlia, widow of the late Baron Reinhold. The Baron has left in his last will and testament that whoever solves the mystery of the Golden Apple would inherit the Baron’s fortunes, 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, both which Layton and Luke are adept at solving. They also see a large, haphazard tower that occupies one side of town that no one can get to, but that people keep hearing strange noises emanating from at night. Layton and Luke meet Lady Dahlia, other family members including Simon, and their servants, but before they can discuss the matter 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 cats fondness for fish and tempt her back with one. upon returning to the mansion, Layton and Luke to find that Simon has been murdered and the case is already under investigation by Inspector Chelmey. Chelmey initially suspects the two, but as their alibi holds up, lets them go, but tells them to stay of out of the murder investigation. However, Layton cannot help to notice a small gearwheel 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 the next day, Ramon is back as if nothing had happened. They continue to explore the town, eventually led to the town’s abandoned amusement park by a young girl met at the dead end. As they explore the Ferris wheel, the sinister figure from earlier uses a remote to tear the wheel from its moorings, sending it chasing after Layton and Luke, who barely escape as the wheel smashed through a locked building. Exploring the wreckage, they find a key shaped similar 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, 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 the dead end. Inside, they discover the man that previously had kidnapped Ramon, named Bruno. Layton exposes the truth with Bruno’s help; all the residents of St. Mystere are robots, created by the Baron and Bruno to challenge the wits of anyone seeking the Golden Apple, explaining why all the townsfolks were obsessed with puzzles. Simon wasn’t murdered, only that he malfunctioned; similarly, Bruno kidnapped Ramon in order to perform repairs. Having solved the puzzle of St. Mystere, Layton and Luke climb the tower, solving puzzles and meeting minor characters along the way. Eventually, the pair reaches the top of the tower, and much to their surprise, find a small house there. Inside, the young girl from before awaits. She reveals herself as Flora, the only daughter of the Baron, and was the Golden Apple that the robots were protecting. However, this realisation is short-lived as 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. the villain swears revenge and leaves. the three are safe in town and as Flora laughs in happiness an apple like birthmark can be seen on her shoulder. As they regroup at the Reinhold manor, Layton realizes that there’s more than just Flora as the treasure, 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 note from the Baron congratulates those that had followed the clues, and tells Flora to take the treasure, warning 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 years of service to protect her and as her friends. As the game ends, Layton, Luke and Flora leave St. Mystere, having not taken the treasure, allowing the residents to continue on with their lives. Flora leaves the village with Layton and Luke. 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.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Level-5
• Publisher(s)  JP Level-5, Other regions Nintendo
• Series  Professor Layton
• Platform(s)  Nintendo DS
• Release date(s)  JP 15 February, 2007, NA 10 February, 2008, AUS 10 April, 2008, KR 11 September, 2008, EU 7 November, 2008
• Genre(s)  puzzle

Links

• Official website
• Italian official website