An essential for anyone with a DS and a love of puzzles.
The plot centers around Prof. Layton and his apprentice Luke. Called on to solve an inheritance problem, they travel to the town of St. Mystere. But the more they explore the village, more and more questions arise, and there appears to be a much greater underlying mystery than the inheritance of the town's Baron.
The game offers a series of fun puzzles accompanied with a variety of side-quests like finding hint coins, completing a painting or arranging the furniture of your hotel room. The atmosphere of the town is nicely done, with a beautiful soundtrack and a simple yet suitable art. The dialogues aren't ridiculous and the plot twist is remarkable (although easy to predict by the middle of the game).
I have few things to say against the game but they are worth paying attention to. For one, the difficulty is not impressive. While some of the last puzzles can be quite challenging, the bulk of them are easy, often because they are recycled from well known puzzles or IQ tests. Another aspect is the missing feature of notes. While solving puzzles, if you want to write down something, you have to do so on top of the graphics which can be annoying.
Regardless, Prof. Layton is an unquestionable essential for anyone with a DS and a love of puzzles.