Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The first of many critiques: Professor Layton

Maybe it's because I finally finished the third game the other day, maybe because I saw an ad for the game on tv today (which, the ads are, in my opinion, a bit odd,) maybe it's because I know I have very little else to talk about once I am in love with a certain thing, be it a phrase, a game or a tv show.

Either way, today is all about Layton.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village was released about two years ago, and it was received at first a bit confusedly, but then it was loved. Combining adventure and 'brain-training' in the form of puzzles that could be found in the environment or dispensed by the characters, the game was the first of it's kind to present logic with a story. The story is deep in a sense that it draws you in with it's characters, and then all the sudden presents a serious problem within the first few minutes. The game has a great way of keeping you guessing, presenting new information and plot-puzzles that make you need to know what's going to happen.

I played this game only this year, so yes, I am a bit behind the times, but it was amazing and I enjoyed it very much, enough to get the second game and the third as well when it came out in America. While some of the plot points are similar, the presentation is amazing and the journey even more so.

There are some negatives, however, it's hard to tell where all the puzzles and hint coins are, where hint coins allow you to buy a hint that can range from puzzle-solving to needless information. Some of the puzzles will show up at a special place, but some hint coins are lost to you forever during a play through. the majority of puzzles are however not too hard to find, and the game gets you used to looking in esoteric areas for both puzzles and coins.

What I always find funny about the games is the 'puzzle-lock' that tends to show up, or an interruption to get one more good puzzle in during a cut scene. It makes sense because the world is puzzle based, at least towards the main characters. Probably this is because Layton is renowned for his puzzle solving rather than his true profession which is archaeology.

Anyway, if you haven't gotten into these games, I strongly suggest you do, the plots are fun, the puzzles range from easy to difficult as hell, which is perfect for this kind of game, and even though the re-playability is virtually non-existent, it's still a great experience to play through.

Last thing, to those who didn't read the white text in the last post and were indeed expecting porn well...


You should probably look closer next time.

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