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Re-review, Vol. 2

Soundtrack Review: Professor Layton and the Curious Village by Tomohito Nishiura

While not quite mainstream, the Professor Layton series has a large cult following due to its intriguing plots, addictive and challenging puzzles, and consistently high quality presentation. Produced by gaming studio Level-5 and published by Nintendo, the series has won over players and critics alike. Today I take a look at the soundtrack of the first game, Professor Layton and the Curious Village. This was my first introduction to the franchise and I was very impressed with the music upon hearing it.

One cannot analyze Professor Layton music without mentioning the accordion. Its distinctive sound is omnipresent throughout the entire series, and the game's European setting is effective thanks in no small part to this instrument as it effortlessly glides through the score. Chimes and mallets are also incredibly frequent. That being said, with so much of those instruments it does occasionally become tiresome, especially in some of the more formulaic tracks.

The opening "Professor Layton's Theme," which is by far the most fun piece, opens with a distinctive and quirky piano bouncing as a solo violin cuts through, occasionally passing the meandering melody to the accordion, with an incredibly catchy beat led by the piano underscoring the whole affair. Unfortunately, led lights piece tends to clash a bit compared with the rest of this album. Not much else in the score is really in this style of music. That's absolutely fine, as the rest of the music suits the game perfectly. The story is first and foremost a mystery, and the title theme, "St. Mystere," creates a mood to match. Its main melody is darkly mysterious, and the entire piece feels mechanical, with a guiro, tambourine, and triangle behaving like clockwork as the accordion accents the offbeats. Two string instruments carry the main melody and bass line, which suits the feel of the piece. This main theme is rearranged in "About Town," which mimics the clockwork with a mallet instrument and accordion comprising of the entire ensemble. The bass melody is unusually high, and at some points the accordion even dips below the mallets. Be that as it may, this theme, while repetitive, perfectly suits the town of St. Mystere and despite the fact that it is played constantly within the game, it never feels overused or annoying.

The "Puzzles" theme develops in a similar way, with high chimes and mallets creating an atmosphere that can only be described as utterly mechanical yet wholly elegant. "Baron Reinhold" begins with the same instruments, but adds the accordion after the piece's introduction. This piece is quite fitting for a mystery; it sounds like an old cheesy mystery film with its over-the-top suspicious atmosphere. It goes hand-in-hand with "The Plot Thickens," which begins a bit annoyingly yet progresses into the closest thing to the jazz heard in the main theme. The rhythm in this piece is addictive in its exotic nature, and the accordion's melody is catchy and complements the mallets very well. Unfortunately, the mallet/accordion combination doesn't fare well at all in "Crumm's Cafe," which is just plain grating with its spinning "melody"--I use quotes because the melody is more a series of repetitive trilling mallet notes. "Down the Tubes," which concentrates heavily on mallets and accordion while adding a bass and bassoon, is also quite tiresome after the interesting tritone chord at the beginning degrades into typical mystery-esque music that becomes too repetitive. "Deserted Amusement Park" also fails to bring much worthwhile, though while bland its inherent waltz tempo is more interesting than either of the previous two.

A few of the more relaxed themes, however, use chimes and accordion to their advantages-- "The Veil of Night" is incredibly repetitive, with chimes performing the same four notes throughout the entire lengthy piece, but the mood established by this piece is incredibly effective. The relaxing nighttime image is lovely in its innocent sleepiness. "The Mysterious Girl," in contrast, feels more like a lullaby; the chimes carry the melody before the accordion squeezes in, sounding wistful, nostalgic, and lonely. "Setting Out" and "End Theme," which segue into one another, offer some of the best of the album, their simple melodies managing to capture the series's charm and heart.

The rest of the score treads a variety of territories. "The Great Don Paolo" is an obvious highlight, providing the most innovative use of the accordion on the album. The wacky villain's theme is nothing more than a few manic accordions ranting wildly, but its effectiveness is astonishing, and the track offers a welcome comical deviation. In contrast, the lumbering accordions in "The Looming Tower" provide a great and engaging setup that never really goes anywhere. "The Village Awakens" is in a similar boat, with an ominous bouncing piano and forlorn accordion highlighting a somewhat meandering piece that doesn't quite develop fully.

The real prizes of the soundtrack album are the bonus tracks. The soundtrack for Curious Village contains four arranged tracks performed by the Layton Grand Caravan Orchestra. The obvious highlight is of course "Professor Layton's Theme," a piece that was destined to be performed live. Much of the piece's mechanical nature has been removed, replacing it with a sense of genuine jazz, and the orchestration is sublime. "End Theme" is also wonderful, the main melody allowed to truly shine on instruments other than the in-game version's mallets and accordion. The percussion is quite effective at complementing the oboe and various strings that enhance the quality of this piece. "The Veil of Night" is exquisite in its quality and orchestration, but at 5+ minutes it does tend to drag on. "The Looming Tower," in a track that is actually a good bit shorter than the in-game version, develops its theme a bit more effectively with the aid of strings and other instruments.

Other bonus tracks include welcome "high quality" versions of three tracks, all of which sound crystal clear. While there are no differences in the actual pieces, these use a more polished, realistic-sounding soundfont.

In general, the soundtrack for Professor Layton's first adventure is thoroughly charming and quaint and offers a few gems that stand very well on their own, despite containing an undeniably large number of pieces that strike the listener as bland and formulaic. It is a solid effort from Nishiura, but demands more in the future.

Overall score: 7.0/10

Track list (excellent tracks in red) [official English sound test names]:
1. Professor Layton's Theme
2. St. Mystere
3. The Adventure Begins
4. About Town
5. Puzzles
6. Baron Reinhold
7. The Plot Thickens
8. Crumm's Cafe
9. The Mysterious Girl
10. Down the Tubes
11. Pursuit in the Night
12. The Veil of Night
13. Deserted Amusement Park
14. The Great Don Paolo
15. The Village Awakens
16. The Looming Tower
17. Memories of St. Mystere
18. Setting Out
19. End Theme
20. Professor Layton's Theme
21. The Veil of Night
22. The Looming Tower
23. End Theme
24. About Town
25. Baron Reinhold
26. The Village Awakens

Very very nice review.. Just love it.. I hope you keep sharing some more reviews