My Top 10 Games of '08 - #8

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is probably one of the sleeper hits of this year. There weren't a lot of expectations coming from this game, unless you knew about its Japanese release already, you weren't aware of how good this game is. Granted, it wasn't one of the most revolutionary concepts of the year (basically 120+ puzzles and brain teasers), it sort of reminded of us of something: Those old brain teaser books were actually kind of awesome.

Now, the game could've settled for that, 120 puzzles that stumped both kids and adults alike is nothing to sneeze at, but it had to squeeze in a story. It's nothing special, but it's actually a passable mystery story, as you uncover clues about what's happening through the completion of these various puzzles, and once you get caught up in it, you'll want to do those puzzles half out of getting the satisfaction of doing them, and half out of wanting to see the story through.

Professor Layton isn't trying to be impressive; the graphics are all well-done 2D sprites, and it could hardly be said that they're pushing the power of the DS, with the presentations being as simplistic as it is. It's this simplicity that makes it so great though. It isn't trying to be this great, ambitious project that will change the way we think about games, and it isn't something that is really proving anything, except that simple doesn't mean bad. It can often enough mean good, and doing something small, that everyone can enjoy, is something to commend.