Professor Layton and The Curious Village: Official Thread of AWESOME

So Professor Layton has been on my radar for quite a while now. It's been an absolute SMASH HIT in Japan, already spawning two sequels. What is it? Well I'll leave that to the official press release:

Professor Layton and the Curious VillageTM

Format: Nintendo DS™
Launch Date: 02/10/08
ESRB: E (Everyone): Mild Violence
Game Type: Puzzle Adventure
Players: 1
Developer: Level 5

Game Information

KEY INFORMATION
In the curious village of St. Mystere, townsfolk speak to each other in riddles, lock their doors with sliding puzzles and hide their secrets within brainteasers. When a wealthy baron passes away, his will reveals an elusive treasure hidden someplace inside the village. Now it's up to Professor Layton to untangle St. Mystere's riddles and puzzles, find the hidden treasure, and crack the case.
As Professor Layton, players tackle more than 130 puzzles as they unravel the mysteries of the village. Challenges range from mazes and riddles to logic and sliding puzzles, many of which are new for the North American release. Touch-screen controls make working through puzzles a snap for players of all skill levels, and new puzzles are available weekly for download via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection.
Unlike other puzzle-driven titles, Professor Layton is the first to offer a story, cast of characters and style that are just as strong as the game play. Fully voiced animated scenes bring the story to life, while the funny and eccentric villagers and the classic, hand-drawn art provide a stylish charm that will appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike.

Game storyline: When the wealthy Baron Augustus Reinhold passes away, his will reveals a hidden treasure in the village of St. Mystere. Unable to locate the treasure themselves, the baron's family calls upon renowned puzzle expert Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, for help. Upon the pair's arrival, their search for the treasure is interrupted by the suspicious death of another member of the Reinhold family. Now with two mysteries on their hands, Professor Layton and Luke must work their way through the village's many puzzles, riddles and brainteasers to find the truth.

How to progress through the game: The storyline and puzzles are tightly integrated, so that as you explore the world and progress through the adventure, you will encounter more and more puzzles. Many of the puzzles are new to the North American release.

Characters: Archaeologist and puzzle master Professor Layton, his wide-eyed apprentice, Luke, and a host of quirky townsfolk.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Content: Each week for half a year, a new puzzle will be available for download via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Screens:


The game is hitting the shelves in the US in a mere two weeks or so and is a must have for any DS owner. It's a day one purchase for me, anyone else looking into it?

It looks really good. I played one of those flash demos of it months ago and I knew I was going to pick it up way back then. Absolutely love the character designs/animation too.

The puzzles look very intuitive, but I don't think I would enjoy the childish storyline and character involvement. I think I might suggest this to my little brother.

Originally Posted by spruce58052

The puzzles look very intuitive, but I don't think I would enjoy the childish storyline and character involvement. I think I might suggest this to my little brother.

Who said anything about a childish story? The charm and nature of the story is supposed to be one of its strongest qualities.

Hey, and Slime, mind linking us to the demos on the website?

Wow, this game looks gorgeous : o.

AND it's made by Level 5 < 3.

HOpefully it gets a PAL release. *crosses fingers*

EDIT: Slime may be talking about this

How did I not see anything on this game up until now?

The game looks fantastic, and the animation looks great. Level 5 have made a few awesome titles, so I've got faith in this one.

No information on a PAL release, that sucks. Maybe even worth an American import?

Oh yes. I have been looking forward to this game since i saw the early preview in ONM a few months back.

With the feel of classic point and click and a puzzle logic that puts Zelda to shame, who could argue with it?

I will be getting it as soon as it hits the british shelves. Wait... Hell no. Region free DS... I'm gonna order it online when it hits the american shelves in two wks. Duh, should have thought of that before now. xP

Originally Posted by Hylian #1

Oh yes. I have been looking forward to this game since i saw the early preview in ONM a few months back.

With the feel of classic point and click and a puzzle logic that puts Zelda to shame, who could argue with it?

I will be getting it as soon as it hits the british shelves. Wait... Hell no. Region free DS... I'm gonna order it online when it hits the american shelves in two wks. Duh, should have thought of that before now. xP

Professor Layton: Level 5 Heart Europe, Announce Layton Release Date

Layton comes to Europe at the same time : DDD.

I love how DS games have such charm to them ^_^ there are so many games out there that just make me smile when I see them. The videos are even more entertaining to watch, I'd really like to purchase this game but I'll probably end up getting wrapped up in other purchases. Chances are most people won't buy the game and it'll get removed pretty quickly and I'll have to go hunting just to find the game. =(

Bump for the heads up: Professor Layton and The Curious Village is coming out next week! Everyone get geared up for the Level-5 series that Miyamoto has recently praised as being one of the best franchises on the DS!!

Ahh, I just want to hug this game.

I hope I'll be able to get it. I don't know if I'll have the money though. But I'm definitely getting it as soon as I possibly can, and I know I'm going to love every minute of it.

The US website has been updated!

The demo still is MIA, but the game looks so sweet.

ENGLISH VIDEO!! WITH VOICE ACTING!

Go out and RESERVE THIS GAME. NOW. Only 5 more days!

I havn't bought it yet but I've heard that New puzzles are available weekly for download via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Mr. Wonderfull - can you explain why it's a day 1 purchase for you ?

Gametrailers.com - Professor Layton - Murder Mystery Trailer

I absolutely love what I saw there...

To be quiete honest, I never even HEARD of the game before. I saw the title of this thread, checked the screens, went to Gametrailers and I'm totally loving this. Since I'm a fan of puzzle games in general, I think I'm going to buy this game this week. Just like Mr. Wonderfull said, it's the natural charm that makes me feel like buying this, although I haven't even read an article about it. I'm going to investigate some more.. it doesn't happen often I'm that intersted in a DS game though.

Also, from Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it sais: "... is the first installment of the Professor Layton trilogy. It combines a traditional narrative with puzzle focused gameplay." - Intersting.. a triology.

Originally Posted by spruce58052

The puzzles look very intuitive, but I don't think I would enjoy the childish storyline and character involvement. I think I might suggest this to my little brother.

That doesn't make any sense. The same 'd go for let's say Super Mario Galaxy?

Edit
Any news about a European relase?!

Originally Posted by dnice

Also, from Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it sais: "... is the first installment of the Professor Layton trilogy. It combines a traditional narrative with puzzle focused gameplay." - Intersting.. a triology.

Yeah, the second game hit Japan in November, and has stayed in the top ten since then.

What grabbed me about the game first of all was that Level-5 was the developer. They've made some pretty interesting games. The crazy, dreary looking French style is what got me though. That and the fact that importers and the popularity in Japan over the series has been so crazy.

The quirky premise is too neat to pass up. It's about a village obsessed with puzzles and mysteries, combining the training trend that non-games on the DS have been promoting, and a more traditional game style. As I said earlier, Miyamoto recently praised the series as his favorite third party developed games too.

Concerning the downloadable content: Yeah, new puzzles have been released weekly in Japan, and Level-5 is advertising the same for the US. The levels are available though through the Everybody's Nintendo Channel, which isn't even out yet in the US. With the release of Layton though, I would suspect we'll see the channel soon.

Anyways, the game is out on store shelves now! Also, a demo is now up on the official US website!

I just got the game this morning, and I'm currently off to play it. I'll be sure to post my impressions here!