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Review: Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2008)
I tried playing this game a long time ago but the puzzles felt like a chore to me and I didn't continue playing on. This time around, as a much older person, the casual nature of the story really appealed to me.
Spoilers.
Story
The story of this game was good enough. Part way through I had guessed that all of the villagers were robots so it wasn't a surprise when Professor Layton revealed it, though I felt like the reveal could have been a little more dramatic than Professor Layton just mentioning it.
Otherwise, I did enjoy the writing for the characters, just clicking on them and getting to know their personalities by their dialogue and the kinds of puzzles they offered was pretty fun.
Presentation
The art style of this game was excellent. I think one of the reasons why this series might have been so popular would have to have been its charming and cohesive aesthetic. The entire game had a very cozy feel.
Gameplay
As mentioned, this game was very suited for a casual play style. The puzzles themselves ranged in difficulty and honestly I looked up guides for the ones that stumped me anyway. But I liked that the game was constantly tracking your progress and reminding you where you were, which really enforced that this game is for casual players, who may only pick this game up once a week and play for 20 minutes or so.
I also loved the side quests: collecting the gizmos, collecting furniture, and completing the puzzles. They were really fun to do. I admit I did love rearranging the furniture in the way that I thought Professor Layton and Luke might like, even if I wasn't totally correct. It was a really fun minigame.
Overall
I guess this game just didn't come to me at the right time the first time around. This time, I am really only interested in casual play with cute visuals and this game totally fit the bill.
Spoilers.
Story
The story of this game was good enough. Part way through I had guessed that all of the villagers were robots so it wasn't a surprise when Professor Layton revealed it, though I felt like the reveal could have been a little more dramatic than Professor Layton just mentioning it.
Otherwise, I did enjoy the writing for the characters, just clicking on them and getting to know their personalities by their dialogue and the kinds of puzzles they offered was pretty fun.
Presentation
The art style of this game was excellent. I think one of the reasons why this series might have been so popular would have to have been its charming and cohesive aesthetic. The entire game had a very cozy feel.
Gameplay
As mentioned, this game was very suited for a casual play style. The puzzles themselves ranged in difficulty and honestly I looked up guides for the ones that stumped me anyway. But I liked that the game was constantly tracking your progress and reminding you where you were, which really enforced that this game is for casual players, who may only pick this game up once a week and play for 20 minutes or so.
I also loved the side quests: collecting the gizmos, collecting furniture, and completing the puzzles. They were really fun to do. I admit I did love rearranging the furniture in the way that I thought Professor Layton and Luke might like, even if I wasn't totally correct. It was a really fun minigame.
Overall
I guess this game just didn't come to me at the right time the first time around. This time, I am really only interested in casual play with cute visuals and this game totally fit the bill.