Excellent quality puzzle game, good production values. Intriguing plot. Lacks replay value but fun to share with others.
A pair of puzzle-solvers, Professor Hershel Layton and his young apprentice Luke, have been requested by Lady Dahlia of the town of St. Mystere. Dahlia is a widow of Baron Augustus Reinhold who left, in his will, his fortune to whoever solves the mystery of the Golden Apple. Upon arrival, it becomes clear to the duo that things aren't quite what they first seemed. And a sinister visitor from the shadows will only dampen your efforts in search of the Golden Apple.
Props must be given to 'Level 5' for what they've created. The presentation of the game is excellent and maintains a mature nature throughout despite its cartoonish visuals. There is a modest amount of full motion video with high-quality voice-acting; some people may mistake you for watching an episode on your DS. The music exhumes a character that fits the nature of the game, be it while exploring the village or while puzzle-solving. One downside however is that the puzzle-solving music never changes and if you were to spend a long time thinking through, that may annoy you. Every character in the game is drawn well with good imagination and their dialogues are well thought-out; even though many are nameless, it is easy to remember the many characters that populate the village.
An important aspect of the game are the controls and Professor Layton nails it. The game takes full-advantage of the touchscreen and the variety of puzzles do not impose a variety of difficult inputs because of how coherent the passive design is. Some puzzles require dragging and rotating objects, drawing lines or paths and the game even allows you to use the touchscreen as a small notepad if you need it. The game leaves little to thought on controls which is perfect for the puzzles because many of them would stretch your imagination. The amount and variety of puzzles is not disappointing and many are very satisfying to solve. If you get this sense of satisfaction, then there's probably some addiction as you anticipate the next fiendishly difficult puzzle. The game is not all about difficulty and progress-blocking though as you can always leave a puzzle to solve for later. The hint system, in which you spend hint coins (found by searching around), works well for for younger gamers and will help pacing for many players. Solving puzzles in your first attempt will yield you more picarats and the more difficult puzzles are worth more picarats. Picarats can be seen as a score system for those you like to compare with other players, but it's also something which unlocks more bonus content. There isn't that much scope for replayability but it is fun when you share puzzles or replay some puzzles with others. There is some unlockables to be attained when connecting to Nintendo Wi-Fi but all in all, this is mostly a single playthough game.
To conclude the review: the game has excellent characters and the interesting story is presented in quality visuals, audio and interactivity. It's mature, accessible and yet appealing to both young and old gamers. The variety and number of puzzles are excellent but ultimately it's a one-time affair unless you can forget things very easily. There is good entertainment value, particularly if you're the type to share with others around - even to those who don't normally play games. This can easily be recommended as a rental but a purchase is more deserving for such a quality game. This first outing has definitely got me looking forward to the next in the series.