Professor Layton series?

[noiseredux]

So I bought my wife a DS last week. She's mostly a non-gamer (or at least a casual gamer), but she's been really interested in trying a lot of DS titles (brain games, edutainment, etc). She's really interested in the Professor Layton series, but is a bit nervous dropping the $30 on it if it ends up being too hard to figure out for a "n00b". So that's the question: How linnear and easy to learn is the series? She likes solving puzzles and mysteries and the such, but she doesn't like games that give no clue as to what you should be doing next. Something like a sandbox game would frustrate her because it can be too open-ended. Any input is appreciated.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I love the series, and my wife liked it as well. (I have completed the first game, and I am working on the second.) The games have great atmosphere and charming art direction. Moreover, since the game prods you along, it is never difficult to determine where you are supposed to go and what you are supposed to be doing; however, some of the puzzles (especially towards the end of the game) can be extremely difficult. In my opinion, the puzzles in most games are too easy; so, encountering some difficulty was a nice change of pace. In any event, if you get stuck on a particular puzzle, you can either consult a walkthrough or, in many instances, skip the puzzle altogether.

Also, I think that you can pick up a used copy of either game for considerably less than $30.

[Niode]

Yeah it's pretty straight forward. I bought Layton for my mum when it came out and she loved it. She beat it before I did!

The sequel is much shorter than the first though.

[fastbilly1]

I just bought it but toyed on a friends copy. It is like any puzzle game, it is a one shot, maybe two after a while. If you wife likes puzzles she will like it. Other ones to look into are Picross DS and Clubhouse Games. The first is just picross, the second is 42 table top games: From Backgammon to Shogi.

[noiseredux]

I think she'll enjoy it. The thing is, she wouldn't really like say a Zelda game because she's not really into the exploration aspect of figuring out what the next task is. She just likes the puzzle tasks themselves.

[fastbilly1]

Then Layton is for her. It has the puzzle and only minor exploration.

[k.vlaros]

So I bought my wife a DS last week. She's mostly a non-gamer (or at least a casual gamer), but she's been really interested in trying a lot of DS titles (brain games, edutainment, etc). She's really interested in the Professor Layton series, but is a bit nervous dropping the $30 on it if it ends up being too hard to figure out for a "n00b". So that's the question: How linnear and easy to learn is the series? She likes solving puzzles and mysteries and the such, but she doesn't like games that give no clue as to what you should be doing next. Something like a sandbox game would frustrate her because it can be too open-ended. Any input is appreciated.

I just played through most of Diabolical Box. The art and 'fun' of the game is wonderful. How many titles have mini-games including 'brew tea' and 'assemble the camera'! Most of the puzzles are fairly easy, and the 'hint coins' that unlock puzzle clues are littered liberally across the scenes. It's a great title for an otherwise non-gamer type, I'd imagine. It is fairly linear. I was playing it... perhaps 'gamer style': double checking every room, every path, every character, and finding every coin and clue. But another personality would probably have no trouble quickly navigating from plot point a to plot point b.

[noiseredux]

FYI guys, I picked up Diabolical Box for her and she fired it up and played it for 2 hours straight -- which is something she NEVER does. She actually said she loved the game. So thanks for the help everyone!

[fastbilly1]

Awesome. My DSiXL comes in next week I think (sad, I just talked to the store an hour ago about it). So Ill be rocking the Diabolical Box soon aswell.

[Snickerd00dle]

If she ends up liking the second one, I would go ahead and pick up the first one too, the story was much better in that one, but both games are very enjoyable