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Professor Layton and the Curious Village
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[1] AUS 10 April, 2008 KR 11 September, 2008 EU 7 November, 2008[2]
Genre(s)	puzzle
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: E OFLC: PG GRB: ALL PEGI: 7+
Media	128 MB and 512 KB EEPROM
Input methods	Touchscreen

Professor Layton and the Curious Village (レイトン教授と不思議な町 ,Reiton-kyōju to Fushigi na Machi^?) is a puzzle adventure video game developed and published by Level 5 in Japan originally, and later by Nintendo in North America, Australia, South Korea, and Europe for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It is the first installment in the Professor Layton series, and was followed by Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box and Layton-kyōju to Saigo no Jikan Ryokō.

It includes over 120 brain teasers for the player to solve as the player controls a Professor named Layton and his young assistant named Luke.

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 3 Development 4 Reception 5 Awards 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The Curious Village is a puzzle game and, 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.^[3]

[edit] 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 Hershel Layton and Luke driving to the town of St. Mystere by letter request of Lady Dahlia, widow of the late Baron Augustus 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, Gordon, 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 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 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 beautifully-kept cottage 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 because she was the apple of her father's eye..

However, any 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. With his helicopter malfunctioning, he drops a bag. 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 voice recording 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 instead of using the Laytonmobile.

[edit] 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.^[4] Tago also contributed 30 brand new puzzles to the game, developed specifically with the unique capabilities of the Nintendo DS in mind.^[5][6]

[edit] Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 86 (48 revs)[8] Metacritic 85 (57 revs)[7]
Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com A[9] Edge 7/10[10] Electronic Gaming Monthly 8.8/10[11] Game Informer 7.5/10[12] GameSpot 9.0/10[13] GameTrailers 9/10[14] IGN 8.0/10[15] Giant Bomb 5/5[16]

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.^[8] On Metacritic, the game had an average score of 85/100, based on 57 reviews.^[7] The combination of the adventure game and "brain training" genres received mixed appreciation. Some reviewers praised the game for the successful combination^[13] with 1UP commenting on how the game's approach is much better than games where the puzzles were integrated into the environment.^[9] 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.^[12] The game was noted to have little replay value; once all the puzzles were solved, there was no point in playing through them again.^[15] The presentation of the game, including both the general European animation style and cutscene animations, was appreciated by reviewers.^[15][13]

The Curious Village sold over 700,000 units in Japan in 2007.^[17] The game was the top selling game for the Nintendo DS in the United States in the first three weeks after its release.^[18][19][20] After it was restocked in the UK, sales of Professor Layton increased 54%, moving it from 10th place to fourth place.^[21]

[edit] 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^[22] and the tenth best game overall of 2008 by GameSpy.^[23] 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,^[24] and for Children's BAFTA Best Video Game Award in 2008.^[25]It won Best DS Game of 2008 on GiantBomb.^[26] Professor Layton and the Curious Village was awarded fifteenth game of 2008 overall by Eurogamer^[27] and DS game of 2008 from Gamespy.^[28]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Italian official website

v • d • e Level-5 Nintendo DS Professor Layton series (Devil's Flute • Curious Village • Diabolical Box • Last Time Travel) • Inazuma Eleven • Dragon Quest IX Hoshizora no Mamoribito • The Another World PlayStation Portable Jeanne d'Arc • Ushiro • Cardboard War Machine PlayStation 2 Dark Cloud • Dark Chronicle • Rogue Galaxy • Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King PlayStation 3 White Knight Chronicles Xbox True Fantasy Live Online (cancelled)

v • d • e Professor Layton series Curious Village · Diabolical Box · Saigo no Jikan Ryokō · Majin no Fue

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 • Kill Bill: Volume 1 (animated sequence) • MiniPato • Patlabor: The Movie • Patlabor: The Movie 2 • Sakura Wars: The Movie • Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters • The Sky Crawlers • Tsubasa Chronicle - The Princess of the Birdcage Land • The Prince of Tennis - Two Samurai: The First Game • The Weathering Continent • xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer Night's Dream Television series Blade of the Immortal • Blood+ • Blue Seed • Cromartie High School • 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 Sensō • Vampiyan Kids • Windy Tales • xxxHOLiC Original Video Animations Ani*Kuri15 (animated sequence) • Batman: Gotham Knight (animated sequence) • Chocolate Underground • FLCL • Kai Doh Maru • One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak! • Please Save My Earth • The King of Fighters: Another Day • Zillion: Burning Night • Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations • Tsubasa Shunraiki • The Prince of Tennis • Tokyo Marble Chocolate • xxxHOLiC Shunmuki Video games Blood: The Last Vampire • Children of Mana • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance • Ghost in the Shell • Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū 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