|
aparra's Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
|
| [March 4, 2008 02:15:50 AM]
|
GAMEPLAY
In my second run of Professor Layton, the same game design plagued my character. However, I was getting more and more frusterated by each puzzle that came up. I almost always had to use at least one hint in order to solve it, which really just makes me, the player, feel more stupid. However, there is a great sense of completion and success whenever I can solve a puzzle without using any hints.
So far the narrative in Professor Layton has been pretty boring. Some lady lost her cat, and now I'm being forced to chase it. Along the way, I find a bunch of people who have seen it, but will only tell me where the cat is once I solve one of their ridiculous puzzles. I hope the story progresses in a more intense way, or I may not be able to remain optimistic about this game.
DESIGN
Design in this game is extremely innovative. The overworld is simple enough I'm sure so that the programmers did not have to much work, but it also makes the gameplay extremely easygoing for the player. Each puzzle has its own unique feel to it, which makes it a lot more like a wario ware game than an actual puzzle game.
Level design is very mist like. You are given a drawn background and must choose which directiont to go. It has no character movement, other than that, and is given to us in a kind of first person camera mode. This makes the game very easy to navigate, and also easy to find new puzzles.
Rewards in this game are very minimal so far. There are promises of more luxurious rewards once you progress further into the game, however I have not been able to see any large rewards 2 hours into it. Every now and then, for clicking all over the screen, I find a bonus coin which can be used to give me hints in the game, but it sometimes seems like thats a lame way to give out coins. The game is great so far, as a Nintendo DS game, and works well on the console as something that someone can just pick up and go, but for the long haul, it certainly doesn't pay off.
read comments (1)  -
add a comment 
|
| [March 4, 2008 12:52:50 AM]
|
SUMMARY
Professor Layton and the Curious Village is about the great mind of Professor Layton, who travels with his young apprentice Luke. Together, they have been called to a city to investigate a case by one of the princess-like ladies. As Professor Layton, you are well known as a person who loves to solve puzzles. Your apprentice, Luke, is just learning the basics and would also love to be a puzzle solver. The end result is a game where in order to progress, you solve a variety of puzzles one after the other.
GAMEPLAY
Professor Layton is quite the amusing game. Perhaps one of the funniest aspects of it is that the world makes such a big deal out of puzzles. I suppose that since this game revolves around puzzles, it makes sense that it is the primary way to progress...However, if you even want to do mundane tasks such as crossing a river, you must solve a puzzle.
The characters in this game for very likable. Professor Layton and Luke are fun characters who you root for the entire way through. They meet a wide array of characters and character designs. From the fat and short to the tall and skinny, each character has their own unique look and feel that makes the game seem very open ended. They also each have their own personalities, which brings an added depth to the gameplay design.
Flow through this game seemed very straightforward. The agents give you a task, and you pursue it. The game tends to give the player hints if they are moving in the wrong direction. This forced game play makes the game linear, but still fun to play.
Lastly, there are the puzzles. Each one has its own unique way of solving it, and is typically very different than the last. One of the more interesting things about the puzzles, is the game tells you the background story behind a puzzle and whose culture it may be from. This makes the game not only educational, but also informative and interesting.
So far Professor Layton is proving to be a fun game, and I can't wait to see what adventures lie ahead.
add a comment
|
|
|
 |
aparra's Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
|
|
Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 2 March, 2008
|
|
