When Nintendo released Brain Age two years ago, the unique, educational title was heralded as a huge leap in innovation in gaming.  The title was geared more for the casual crowd, with heavy emphasis as an educational tool rather than an actual video game.  Many in the gaming press acknowledged the game’s merits, but clearly stated the title was a “non-game”.  Apparently listening to such feedback from the more core gaming market, Level 5 and Nintendo bring Professor Layton and The Curious Village to the table, a title that is everything Brain Age was in terms of innovation and appeal, but beefs up the entire package with a meaningful premise and more traditional gameplay objectives. Professor Layton is a story-heavy title in the vein of other graphic novel style titles like the Ace Attorney series or Hotel Dusk: Room 215.  However, unlike these titles, and more in line with the likes of Brain Age, Professor Layton’s core gameplay also heavily relies on puzzle solving, thus making the title more educational in nature.
 
 Players assume the roles of Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, as they are summoned to St. Mystere to investigate the mystery of the Golden Apple.  This opening sequence is more akin to a feature-length animated film, with an animation style sure to draw comparisons to Sylvain Chomet’s  The Triplets of Belleville, though character faces and expressions are very much derived from anime, and appear very Studio Ghibli-esque.  The entire presentation – the story, the characters and soundtrack – is top notch and simply gorgeous, and yet some may question why it appears in such a low-key title.  The title features full voice work for major narrative plot points, featuring British accents as the title takes place in England, and the voice actors do a super job.  The actual dialogue and writing in the title are very well executed.
 
 Once players are returned back to the realm of actual gameplay upon arriving at the gates of St. Mystere, the puzzle solving and exploration begin.  What is remarkable about Professor Layton is that right off the bat, players can learn that they can skip puzzles and still progress in the title.  Simply quitting on a puzzle is an option, without a penalty initially, though there are two segments in the game which will require a certain amount of puzzles to be completed in order to progress further, and some events will not begin until a character’s puzzle is solved for them.  This attribute gives Professor Layton a very non-linear feel, despite there being an overarching narrative present to drive the player.  Players are encouraged to wander around the village and are frequently rewarded for doing so.
 
 As for progressing, players use the stylus to tap command icons on the bottom screen.  From there, one can move, open up the options menus, or interact with the current location on screen.  Once players interact with a spot or character, dialogue follows and then sometimes a new puzzle will be presented.  These puzzles come in all forms and levels of difficulty, though they all share on thing in common; none of them require advanced knowledge of math, science, history or any real subject matter (though many of them will lead you to initially believe otherwise).  For those who are in the United States, think of these puzzles as SAT questions on the math section – they are not supposed to be difficult, but rather designed to see if you can think and find the solution which is not that difficult once you know what to do.  In fact, this title is more ways than one is much better suited for those looking to prep for the SAT math section than any prep class.
 
 Of course, sometimes the player will encounter a puzzle that simply stumps them, and is required to move on.  Players can use hint coins collected by exploring each area of the village to purchase up to three hints for any one puzzle.  Most of the time, by the third hint, the solution or the way to solve the puzzle becomes quite clear.  There were a few times when all three hints felt too vague and might not be enough to aid a person stumped, but perhaps this is due to individual nature – a puzzle that stumps this reviewer may not necessarily stump you, the reader.  Additionally, some puzzles may seem to require some note taking to work out some kinks to narrow down possibilities, and thankfully the bottom screen during most puzzles will allow for players to write down comments or notes using the stylus.
 
 Unfortunately, though not a huge issue, the game is highly susceptible to cheating.  First, most puzzles have a finite range of possible answers, and this range is typically not very large, so pure “brute force” guessing will eventually lead to the answer.  Now, each time you answer the puzzle incorrectly, you are docked a certain amount of Picarats (the point value assigned to any one puzzle to indicate its difficulty and subsequently are accumulated over the course of the game’s duration), but they have no real merit other than for achievement purposes and as such most players will not feel it is a significant enough penalty to warrant caution.  Not to mention, the deductions are only ten percent of the total value typically, and only occur twice (so after the second wrong answer, players will not receive a dock in Picarats again).  Secondly, for those like this reviewer who do want to collect everything, players need but save right before any puzzle, then spend all the time on it, using all three hint coins and/or getting it wrong over and over until the right answer is reached, and then reset the game and resume right before the puzzle and answer it quickly.  Of course, sometimes players will stumble upon a puzzle without warning so this isn’t always plausible, but some conservative players will be saving every few seconds to preserve a “perfect” play through.
 
 As for the story, it is broken into nine official chapters (with a final sequence after the ninth chapter which could be considered a tenth chapter), and players typically have a mystery or objective that must be solved in order to reach the end of the chapter, as well as advance in the game.  Arriving at this main objective requires detective work and exploration, not to mention solving a few puzzles.  Again, players can still roam and explore freely most of the time, as much of the village opens up early in the game, with only a few small areas locked off until later on.  Major mysteries are also present, which are recorded in the Mysteries area of the menu (the menu is also known as The Professor’s Briefcase, which houses other options and areas).  Most of these mysteries will not be solved until very late in the game, so players should not be frustrated if they feel they are far along and still not one is solved.
 
 There’s also more optional content available as the player progresses, all of which are puzzle-oriented in nature, such as assigning and arranging furniture in Professor Layton’s and Luke’s inn rooms, piecing together a painting with scraps like in a jigsaw puzzle, and collecting pieces of a device that will aid in hint coin collection once completed.  Nintendo also enabled a WiFi option that allows players to download new puzzles each week, and for those who must complete everything, there are special bonus options (more difficult types of puzzles) that can be unlocked once certain puzzles and objectives are completed.
 
 Players can plow through the title in as little as a few hours or can spend weeks on it, depending on how one likes to play their games.  One simply interested in the story and doing the bare minimum will reach the end faster, but those wanting to face the most challenging puzzles and unlocking all options can expect a good several days at least before achieving such feats.  The only real downside is for gamers who are looking for a little more action-oriented gameplay, or more in-depth gameplay mechanics – Professor Layton is not designed to cater to such a consumer, and as such this title may not be as enjoyable.  But strictly on pure design, premise and execution, Professor Layton is a gem and the best use of  Nintendo’s new “casual” gameplay style to date.  For those who are curious, a sequel has already been released in Japan, and a third title is slated.  A feature length anime and a manga series are also in the works.