Professor Layton and the Curious Village -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the Nintendo DS. The game is the fourth adventure title I've played on the system. We've had Trace Memory, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Hotel Dusk. I can safely say that Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the best title out of the bunch. Although that might not be saying much. The story of Professor Layton is well done, if a tad too obvious. You'll know exactly what it's about and what the secret of the village is, and also what the Golden Apple turns out to be just about a little over halfway through it. The gameplay here is entirely in the puzzles. There isn't really anything else. The game is going to depend on what you make of them. And again the puzzles are brainteasers that make you feel like you're right back in school doing homework. The game could be hell for some people. It took me a while to get through the game even though my clocked time was just nearly thirteen hours. And that's because I played the game in essentially sound bite fashion. A little here, a little there. The game became too much like the homework of old for me in long stretches. But this really can't be that much of a complaint considering that the game is designed for a portable system. It does play perfectly for those who can only grab a little time here and there throughout their day. The graphics are great, such as they are. The game uses a clean art style. The controls work perfectly, again, such as they are. There isn't a lot going on and the game is controlled entirely by touch with the stylus. The writing recognition programming works rather well and only hiccups once in a while. The sound and voice work is rather good, although the music is repetitive and there are too few tracks. The animation for the full motion video sections is quite impressive for the Nintendo DS.  Overall I'm satisfied with Professor Layton and the Curious Village. But I'd only recommend the game to those who are serious fans of brainteasers. I'm giving Professor Layton and the Curious Village an average 7.5.