Professor Layton and the Curious Village

 DS
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 231 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 192 out of 231
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 231
  3. Negative: 7 out of 231
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  1. grandpajoe6191
    Nov 8, 2011
    8
    "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" is a engrossing adult and child DS game that will hold your attention for a long period of time with its brilliant puzzles and questions.
  2. gboukensha
    Jan 23, 2012
    9
    This adventure-puzzle game really surprised me and was in fact the reason why I bought a DS console in the first place. The majority of the puzzles are really fun and well-balanced, with only a couple of instances where the puzzle explanation is not very clear. The nice story, marvelous setting and fun characters (all of which supported by gorgeous graphics and nicely fitting music) doThis adventure-puzzle game really surprised me and was in fact the reason why I bought a DS console in the first place. The majority of the puzzles are really fun and well-balanced, with only a couple of instances where the puzzle explanation is not very clear. The nice story, marvelous setting and fun characters (all of which supported by gorgeous graphics and nicely fitting music) do their work also. What's incredible about this title is that it can attract people of all kinds and of all ages, and each of these categories will find their share of fun and challenge. If had to find a flaw in this game is the fact that most of the puzzles are completely unlinked to the plot, and above all the graphic styles used in the puzzles differ too much between them. It would have been nice to have a little more graphical coherence in this game, but apart this, the game should be played and finished by anyone possessing a DS.… Expand
  3. ChimC.
    Apr 6, 2008
    10
    This represents a very good game for all ages. Lots of puzzles. Great artwork. An enjoyable concept all around.
  4. Kozz
    Jul 23, 2015
    10
    一番おもしろくしたDSゲーム。子供も大人もみんな楽しめる良いゲームだと思います。後続作が続い出たらと思います。
  5. curzon_dax
    Jan 14, 2021
    8
    The game is fine with many good puzzles so it can not disappoint if you're looking for a puzzle game though it has 2 flaws that should be mentioned. First: some of the bonus puzzles can not be solved by a human without brute forcing or backtracking (e.g. the eight-queens puzzle which according to chess literature itself is in need of a computer program or heavy backtracking) which canThe game is fine with many good puzzles so it can not disappoint if you're looking for a puzzle game though it has 2 flaws that should be mentioned. First: some of the bonus puzzles can not be solved by a human without brute forcing or backtracking (e.g. the eight-queens puzzle which according to chess literature itself is in need of a computer program or heavy backtracking) which can become obnoxious though luckily the issue was minimal on the main questline so it doesn't take away much from the game. Second: the developer that wrote the text commenting on the puzzles after their correct solutions and sometimes even when giving hints was obviously not the one that created the puzzles and didn't understand many of the puzzles themselves because in several cases the text wasn't on-point at all (which is pretty obvious to players that have already solved the puzzles and understood them).… Expand
  6. ChristopherR
    Feb 27, 2008
    10
    Despite having obvious problems with the grander story (see: Game Informer), namely that the large mysteries are solved for you in a series of explanations as you near the end, the story-based mysteries seemed obvious to me and not at all intriguing. BUT I still enjoyed the game immensely and I look forward to its future iterations. I used to purchase puzzle books filled with exactly the Despite having obvious problems with the grander story (see: Game Informer), namely that the large mysteries are solved for you in a series of explanations as you near the end, the story-based mysteries seemed obvious to me and not at all intriguing. BUT I still enjoyed the game immensely and I look forward to its future iterations. I used to purchase puzzle books filled with exactly the same types of riddles and this felt so much more natural rather than ruining a puzzle you got wrong because when you read the answer in the back of the book you couldn't try to correct your mistake and re-solve it. Placing it into a video game format is simple and far better. The artwork and occasional cutscenes are what sold it for me, and turned what would have been a great game into a memorable game.… Expand
  7. Gina
    Aug 18, 2008
    10
    Great!!! I'm really sad that the weekly downloads have finished. Monday won't be the same. Can't wait for next release.
  8. Lev
    Aug 20, 2008
    9
    Very enjoyable, very fun game. I wish more games had this kind of more creative imagery instead of the generic anime look or the wanna be realistic fantasy stuff. And the thing I liked most were the animated cartoon cutscenes. God, how I wish that games would have hand/computer drawn 2d animation instead of most of the lame 3d cutscenes. I'm still not finished with this game since I Very enjoyable, very fun game. I wish more games had this kind of more creative imagery instead of the generic anime look or the wanna be realistic fantasy stuff. And the thing I liked most were the animated cartoon cutscenes. God, how I wish that games would have hand/computer drawn 2d animation instead of most of the lame 3d cutscenes. I'm still not finished with this game since I picked it up only recently, but it was really refreshing for me. The puzzles are challenging, yet not impossibly annoying, and there are many kinds of them. The music could be better but, hey, nothing is perfect. Already looking forward to the other two Professor Layton games.… Expand
  9. Level5IsAwesome
    Feb 12, 2008
    9
    Level 5 strikes gold again with a truly original and highly addictive title!
  10. [Anonymous]
    Mar 20, 2008
    10
    Wonderful adventure with great graphics(considering its a handheld) and a beautiful story. The puzzles can get a bit frustrating at times, but they kept me on my toes! I would definately recommend this to anyone that likes cute storylines with challenging puzzles along the way.
  11. ShawnF.
    Jun 5, 2008
    8
    Great puzzle game! Quite a few puzzles weren't that difficult or should have had multiple working answers. The story was lackluster (which was too bad since that was what originally got me interested in the game) but the overall experience was a nice change from other puzzle games.
  12. BlaineC.
    Feb 11, 2008
    9
    I've been looking forward to this game since I first heard about it, mostly because I like the DS's mystery offerings, sans one (I'm looking in your general direction, Touch Detective 1 and 2 1/2). I also grew up on a lot of the brain teasers in this game, so it was nice to see some classics and even some variations on classic teasers (like the "get the chickens and wolves I've been looking forward to this game since I first heard about it, mostly because I like the DS's mystery offerings, sans one (I'm looking in your general direction, Touch Detective 1 and 2 1/2). I also grew up on a lot of the brain teasers in this game, so it was nice to see some classics and even some variations on classic teasers (like the "get the chickens and wolves across the river" puzzle). I think my only complaint is that I've now solved about 70 puzzles and I'd like to get more into the story (and more of the great cutscenes), but it's now becoming a little tedious to talk to villagefolk for information, only to be offered a response of "If you solve my puzzle, I'll give you something juicy!" How about spacing out the puzzles a little more? But otherwise, after about 5 hours of gameplay, that's my only complaint, and it's not even a really big one. I hope to see more of Sherlock...er, I mean, Professor Layton.… Expand
  13. MiZuNo
    Feb 14, 2008
    10
    Not only a SUPERB compilation of puzzles with some equally stunning graphics and music, but a very original masterpiece of a storyline full of entertainment and elegance. It even gives you the chance to update the puzzle list weekly via WIFI. A must have.
  14. JustinB.
    Feb 27, 2008
    8
    This is a great puzzle game with a decent story attached to give it it's own, unique feel. The graphics are very stylish and creative, including both the in-game graphics and interwoven animated cut-scenes. The music tends to get a bit annoying as the same music seems to play through the majority of the game. I found myself turning the volume down on some puzzles because it was This is a great puzzle game with a decent story attached to give it it's own, unique feel. The graphics are very stylish and creative, including both the in-game graphics and interwoven animated cut-scenes. The music tends to get a bit annoying as the same music seems to play through the majority of the game. I found myself turning the volume down on some puzzles because it was affecting my ability to concentrate on the problem. The main part of the game--the puzzles--are challenging enough to keep you interested throughout and some are downright hard. Overall, I would recommend playing this game and I look forward to seeing the next game in the series released on this side of the Pacific as well.… Expand
  15. seungp
    Oct 11, 2009
    8
    Puzzle games with a full scale story like this game are a rarity in today's video game industry, however, for a handheld system it works well, and Layton is one of the best in its genre. Many people argue that there is little replay value to Layton because once you solve the puzzle, you know the answer, but I don't agree with this view because many of puzzles are intuitive and a Puzzle games with a full scale story like this game are a rarity in today's video game industry, however, for a handheld system it works well, and Layton is one of the best in its genre. Many people argue that there is little replay value to Layton because once you solve the puzzle, you know the answer, but I don't agree with this view because many of puzzles are intuitive and a month or two later you will have a hard time solving them again. The main problem is that there are too many puzzles that are plain bad and not worth my time to try to solve. I thought maybe 1/4 of the puzzles are total garbage. Maybe half were decent and the remainders were really great. Story is charming I suppose, but it's not anything remarkable, nor is the game design anything to clap for. You basically go around the village and touch every part of the screen with stylus repeatedly in hopes of finding more puzzles to solve. Then you solve the puzzle, and story progresses until you have solved something like 150 puzzles. (i forget exactly however) When you beat the game, you can access the bonus features, including more puzzles which is great because puzzles are the reason I bought the game. As far as the story goes, it tries to add elements of surprise and suspense, but I really couldn't care less because dialogues were so silly. Overall, however, I enjoyed playing this game, but I would have enjoyed it almost the same even if there was no story and just had a list of puzzles to solve.… Expand
  16. JasperP.
    Feb 13, 2008
    9
    Early days, but loving it so far. Very addictive and so charming!
  17. TobyO.
    Mar 12, 2008
    9
    A very charming, clever little game. Nice story ties together already-engaging puzzles. About 15 hours to beat, but plenty of extras. Note: This is no kiddie game, and not for the easily frustrated! If you're fine with that, then you'll have a ball.
  18. DonaldO.
    Mar 14, 2008
    10
    Good fun, clever puzzles at moderate difficulty range. A good story to boot.
  19. theshonen8899
    Jun 4, 2011
    8
    While it might not be the most well written or original story, the characters are charming and the puzzles are quite fun. The problem is that the puzzles are presented with generally no context to the story, so instead of playing a game where you are solving puzzles to advance a plot you mainly feel like you are answered SAT questions every two minutes with a short tidbit of story inWhile it might not be the most well written or original story, the characters are charming and the puzzles are quite fun. The problem is that the puzzles are presented with generally no context to the story, so instead of playing a game where you are solving puzzles to advance a plot you mainly feel like you are answered SAT questions every two minutes with a short tidbit of story in between. The game lasted a good ten hours but again most of that was puzzles, the story itself is incredibly short with it neat little twist towards the end. If you are a fan of puzzle games definitely check it out but Ghost Trick and 999 remain the dominant games in the genre.… Expand
  20. Daavpuke
    Jan 31, 2011
    9
    Let's get this straight: Level-5 is one of my favorite developers, ever since I discovered their masterpiece Dark Chronicle on PS2. Does that make me biased? Perhaps, though they've always brought quality titles to the game world, such as Dragon Quest and Rogue Galaxy. Furthermore, Professor Layton And The Curious Village bears little resemblance to any of those games.

    This game tells the    Let's get this straight: Level-5 is one of my favorite developers, ever since I discovered their masterpiece Dark Chronicle on PS2. Does that make me biased? Perhaps, though they've always brought quality titles to the game world, such as Dragon Quest and Rogue Galaxy. Furthermore, Professor Layton And The Curious Village bears little resemblance to any of those games.

    This game tells the tale of a puzzle master and his apprentice that travel around to solve mysteries for people in need. Gentlemanlike as they are, they hop in their deux chevaux to aid a family with a peculiar inheritance issue they're having. These aristocrats have been asked to seek out a mysterious Golden Apple in order to claim the vast fortune of their befallen kin. In doing so, they'll have to solve a series of intricate enigmas. So queue the good Professor into the town of Saint Mystère. Yes, they're masters of puzzles, yet can't come up with a decent town name. I guess you can't win them all.

    The cheesiness doesn't stop there though. Although the story is nicely written and brews along casually, most of the actual mysteries become so transparent so fast. Not only that, but in most cases there's little to no creativity in presenting you puzzles. In fact, the gratuitous one-liners, such as "Hey, there's a hidden puzzle in this piece of meat!" will grace your screen more than often. If they've gone out of their way to concoct a complex story with mysteries, one may wonder why they stopped caring halfway through. I suppose it would've made things unnecessarily complicated.

    And complicated is the word you'll think of when playing this game, because this game is hard! Supervised by real-life puzzle master Akira Tago, he has done all he can to torture your brain goo. With well over 100 puzzles, you'll get completely stumped at a good quarter of all riddles and will most likely fail at some as well. However, winning some puzzles after some hard thought, will leave you with an immense sense of self-satisfaction. Many times you'll feel like the smartest and smuggest person on this planet, after finding out that the matchstick had to go to that place. But that will be short-lived, for the villagers will soon enough present you with some other stunning problem.

    There is however the double-edged side of the fluent gameplay that allows you to enter your inventory and save effortlessly. This will result in you cheating yourself out of some experiences and randomly guessing and restarting, if you're really at a loss. They should've implemented a system where failures are permanent; this would've improved the game a lot.

    Other than that the game is a beautiful experience to go through. There is no end to the creativity of the puzzles, even if some are recurring or revolve around the same subject. Finding squares in dotted fields or placing pawns on a chessboard will require you to go all out. You'll tabulate all possible outcomes over and over, in the name of the good Professor.

    More so, the world he lives in is presented in a way unique to any other puzzle game. And this is what separates Professor Layton from the pack of brain teasers on DS. Saint Mystère is a visual wonder, even in its simplicity. A charming French looking village (vil-aaj) that brims with small details, pictured in a unique cartoon fashion. Everything lives and breathes quirky country town and, to a point, St Mystère is perfectly drawn. It makes it such a pleasure to rummage through and it will leave you with a smirk on your face for hours.

    Add to that the perfect soundtrack to amplify French country life. Think of those cheesy, old Parisian tunes with accordions and beret mustaches, waving baguettes around. In short, it will whisk you away to a magical experience. But that will only be in between the suspense moments, which ring in with immaculate sound effects. With the use of the dual screen, you'll get hints of dark touches popping up whenever something's amiss, accompanied by a single grim tone.

    This makes Professor Layton truly stand out and make it the best puzzle game yet created. Much in the line of older Broken Sword games, it combines charming cartoon graphics with mind-crippling puzzles to both charm and infuriate you at the same time. And it's hard to hate on a game that tries so hard to appeal to you. It's almost as hard as its hard puzzles!

    So, forget other flaunters of thinking exercises. Sure, this might not be a perfect game in terms of story, but what it lacks there it makes up with simplicity. It enhances perfectly the core gameplay of any puzzle game, with its alluring appearance and absolute logic. Professor Layton And The Curious Village is like Brain Academy on an acid trip! It's an unforgettable experience with a puzzle game, if you'll ever have one. Kick your mother in the face if she ever dares to touch another brain teaser, other than a Professor Layton game, for that's what she should play!    … Expand
  21. namDa65
    Mar 10, 2012
    9
    This game is awesome. The FMVs are great and enjoyable to watch. The voice acting is better than a lot of triple a console releases. The puzzles are fun and engaging. Some puzzles are difficult but w.e, I love layton!
  22. maxxy3000
    Mar 6, 2012
    9
    I really enjoyed playing this game. Not only were the puzzles very clever and appealing, but the overall atmosphere and story were both well made and portrayed.
    The story rounded itself up quite nicely, and left it wide open of a sequel.
    There was some difficult questions, and some hard to understand places; but these weren't too troubling, and I was able to really enjoy every second of this game
  23. timeparadox
    Mar 16, 2012
    8
    The definitive puzzle/riddle game for the DS. A must-play. I would recommend this game to anyone. Not the best for story, but wonderful puzzles/riddles for all ages.
  24. MrHayden4495
    Mar 11, 2013
    9
    This game is arguably the best puzzle video game on the DS. Complete with challenging puzzles and a well written story, the game forces the player to think in new ways, and as a matter of fact, the game greatly increases cognitive ability. All puzzles are done with the stylus, and this seems logical because when you see people completing puzzles like a crossword or a cryptogram, thereThis game is arguably the best puzzle video game on the DS. Complete with challenging puzzles and a well written story, the game forces the player to think in new ways, and as a matter of fact, the game greatly increases cognitive ability. All puzzles are done with the stylus, and this seems logical because when you see people completing puzzles like a crossword or a cryptogram, there are no buttons. But enough about gameplay, how is the story? The game has a marvelous cast, including my new favorite video game character Professor Layton, who was actually based off of Phoenix Wright with the "bad qualities" removed. The lush anglomaniac environment and lovely cutscenes and charming side characters emanate the game's most prominent quality: character. This game is its own, isolated from other puzzle games like Momento Mori or Brain Age.… Expand
  25. sJagstang
    May 6, 2013
    8
    Professor Layton & the Curious Village is a great little puzzle game with a interesting story and great characters, the story follows Professor Layton and his apprentice Luke as they go to the village of St. Mystere to solve the mystery of the Golden Apple. I'm not going to say much more than that since I don't want to spoil the characters or story.

    Obviously the meat of the game is in    Professor Layton & the Curious Village is a great little puzzle game with a interesting story and great characters, the story follows Professor Layton and his apprentice Luke as they go to the village of St. Mystere to solve the mystery of the Golden Apple. I'm not going to say much more than that since I don't want to spoil the characters or story.

    Obviously the meat of the game is in it's Puzzles, There is about 130 puzzles in the game, Most of the them are good but some can be a bit so-so in there logic and sometimes they don't give you any indication of how to solve a particular puzzle since they sometimes leave out key information but this happens rarely and may be a localization issue.

    The game has a nice art style with characters that really stand out, It's fun to explore St. Mystere to find some of it's hidden puzzles. The town is fairly small so there isn't really an issue of getting lost in the town or anything like that.

    Sometimes the puzzles can feel like they are not really relating to what's happening in the story and can be somewhat random but they do a fairly good job of trying to make them cohesive, Not that it really matters since the puzzles are still good for the most part.

    In the end if you like puzzle games or at least want to try one then Professor Layton is a great game to play on Nintendo DS or 3DS, If you generally turn away from puzzle games because you want an interesting story to keep you going then you won't have the problem here since the characters are a big standout, especially Layton and Luke. Go pick this one up.    … Expand
  26. carlosgtardon
    Jun 10, 2014
    8
    Consiguió mantener jugando a las personas mayores que fueron atraídas por la DS con el Brain Training, lo cual supone todo un mérito y es merecedor de estar dentro de la historia del videojuego, además hace de las tareas de rehabilitación cognitiva algo entretenido y motivante. Sin duda debería estar en todos los centros de mejora del aprendizaje.
  27. BucksMacFan
    Jul 2, 2014
    8
    Really liked this game, not my normal choice (it was a gift) but quickly got hooked by the story and the puzzles. Often my girlfriend and I would sit up nights working through the puzzle together. It also highlighted that we are both better at different puzzles - very useful teamwork for this one.
  28. WheelzFourReelz
    Dec 30, 2014
    8
    The game gets repetitive and there's not much of a consequence for getting a puzzle wrong, but Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a very charming and fun puzzle game with a great story, beautiful art direction, and some really creative puzzles.
  29. pdxl
    Mar 15, 2015
    9
    An exciting and original story, interesting mysteries and a cute animation. A good game for those who enjoyed of RPG or strategy games.

    unfortunately once you finish the game there are no reasons to play it again, poor replay value.
  30. ZaikoDrox
    May 4, 2016
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Un juego fresco, ademas de ser el debut de una de mis sagas favoritas, a pesar de algunos fallos que pueda tener, es un muy buen inicio, que la verdad tan solo jugarlo 5 minutos me hizo sentir que este juego tiene mucho por ofrecer, dandole mas importancia a los puzzles, los cuales la mayoria son muy ingeniosos, a pesar de estar basados en los libros de Akira Tago creador de los Head Gymnastics, una serie de puzzles japoneses exitosos que en El Profesor Layton son muy bien aprovechados. Dejando de lado todo lo anterior, LEVEL-5, nos ofrece una muy buena historia que para mi es un enorme puzzle que se ira resolviendo con el avance del juego. En resumen, El Profesor Layton nos presenta un concepto poco explorado, teniendo como enfoque principal una serie de muy buenos puzzles que parten desde lo sencillo hasta lo complejo, con una historia inteligente que llamara la atencion del jugador estableciendo el tipo de atmosfera que se presentara, es muy ingenioso y "Laytonesco" los que hallan jugado "La llamada del espectro" reconoceran la refeencia.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best DS Game of 2008
3
#3 Most Discussed DS Game of 2008
22
#22 Most Shared DS Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 72 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 72
  3. Negative: 0 out of 72
  1. games(TM)
    70
    Taken as a purely forward-looking puzzle game (with a well-told story, to boot), Layton provides DS entertainment in a unique fashion. [JPN Import; May 2007, p.112]
  2. Nintendo Gamer
    86
    Lots of variety, good use of the touch screen. [May 2008, p.73]
    Read full review
  3. Play Magazine
    80
    As good as the puzzles are, the presentation is almost better. [JPN Import; May 2007, p.77]
See all critic reviews »