Professor Layton and The Curious Village has received a surprise release on mobile devices. This new, upgraded port of the DS puzzle game classic is out now on the Apple App Store and Google Play to download. This mobile release will be available for $9.99 and is available to purchase worldwide.
LEVEL-5 has released the iOS and Android port to the first game in the Professor Layton series today. It features remastered HD graphics and brand new never-before-seen animated cutscenes. The trailer and press release for the game does not suggest any new puzzles for the game. Equally, however, it does not look like puzzles have been removed or tampered with.
The soundtrack “beloved by many players” for the game has been retained for this version of the title. It will require iOS 8.0 or higher to play on Apple devices, meaning that hardware prior to the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 cannot run the app. For Android, OS 4.4 or higher is needed. You can watch the trailer for the remastered Professsor Layton game below.
The HD remaster of Professor Layton and the Curious Village was originally announced earlier this year in May. Famitsu broke the news for the game, with its native title being Professor Layton and the Curious Village EXHD for Smartphone. There was a confirmation of a Japanese launch, but prior to this surprise release, only a release placeholder was available for the West.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village was originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2007 for Japan, and 2008 for the West. It garnered a positive reception, with our own review giving it a three out of five. It cited its “good range of challenge” and localization as high points, with “vague and subjective puzzles” and lack of replay value detracting from the experience. As of this release, the first game in the series has sold over 17 million units worldwide.