Professor Layton and the Last Specter will be released for regular DS on October 18th, 2011 announced Nintendo!
Professor Layton and the Last Specter is the long-awaited fourth entry in Level-5’s best-selling series of puzzle-based Adventure Games, all of which are Detective Stories in which players take on the role of Professor Hershel Layton, a renowned archaeologist and a well-mannered gentleman, and his apprentice; a rambunctious little tyke Luke Triton, who is always cheerful and a bit too curious.
This latest game was originally known as “Professor Layton and the Specter’s Flute” in Japan, but has been localized for America under the title “Professor Layton and the Last Specter”. It will be released in Europe in November 2011 under the title “Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call”.
The Last Spector is the fourth game in the series following: Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Professor Layton and the Diaboloical Box and Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.
However The Last Spector is a prequel to the series and the beginning of a new trilogy that takes place three years prior to the events depicted in Professor Layton and the Curious Village. As such, it will give us a look into the history of Professor Layton himself and show fans how exactly Luke and Layton met.
“This fourth installment of the Professor Layton puzzle adventure series begins a new trilogy that is a prequel to the original games. Three years before the events in the Professor Layton and the Curious Village game, Professor Layton receives a letter from his old schoolmate Clark, telling him that ‘a mysterious giant is destroying the town.’ The professor heads to the town of Misthallery to investigate, and is joined by Emmy, his new assistant. What is the meaning of all the destruction, and is it related to the village’s folklore legend of a ‘specter’? The unfolding story details how Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, met.”
Here is a trailer for Professor Layton and the Last Spector.
In addition to the standard adventure game formula interspersed with brain-bending mini-game puzzles to solve, for which the series is famous, Professor Layton and the Last Specter will also include an ENTIRELY SEPERATE RPG GAME that was developed by Nintendo 2nd Party developer “Brownie Brown” in conjunction with Level-5.
Brownie Brown is made up of Squaresoft employees and are the brainchilds behind many of Nintendo’s best handheld RPGs; As well as many overlooked titles that didn’t get the recognition they deserve. Titles Brownie Brown is responsible for include: Mother 3/EarthBound 3, Magical Vacation, Heroes of Mana, Magical Starsign, Sword of Mana, Blue Dragon Plus and most recently, A Kappa’s Trail [DSi].
Since Level-5 themselves are also a big RPG developer. Level-5 having developed Dark Cloud 1 and Dark Cloud 2, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, and Rogue Galaxy 1 and Rogue Galaxy 2 for PS2, as well as White Knight Chronicles and White Knight Chronicles 2 for PS3; among many other titles (including the cancelled Xbox MMO True Fantasy Live Online).
So it only makes sense that Level-5 would be itching to create an role-playing game out of the deep Professor Layton universe, which has many beloved characters and a long chronology. The fact that they turned to Brownie Brown to do so is icing on this already delicious cake. The Professor Layton RPG is entitled “Professor Layton’s London Life”. It will be included as a bonus game that is available to play from the start, and is so deep that the developers promise Professor Layton’s London Life offers over 100 hours of gameplay!
Reportedly, Professor Layton’s London Life has a graphical style similar to the EarthBound series, specifically Mother 3 (which was released in Japan for the Game Boy Advance way back in 2006 but never released outside Japan. It was co-developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory) and will be a prelude of sorts to Brownie Brown’s upcoming 3DS RPG called “Fantasy Life” (previously in development for regular DS).
Here is a look at gameplay footage from the Japanese version of Professor Layton’s London Life, which must first be unlocked in the Japanese version of Last Spector by beating the game, before it can be played.
Key features of Professor Layton and the Last Specter include:
- Players move the mysterious story forward by solving a multitude of brain teasers, riddles and conundrums. This game contains more puzzles than any in the series so far.
- Free downloadable puzzles will be available weekly after the game’s launch.
- Players will unlock a bonus role-playing game called Professor Layton’s London Life that contains 100 hours of additional content.
- In the bonus role-playing game, Professor Layton and characters from the series live in “Little London.” Players can customize their characters with special clothing that will help them enter certain areas of the city or perform certain tasks help out the townspeople.
It’s worth noting that Professor Layton and the Last Specter is NOT the 3DS title “Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle“. That title has yet to be announced for localization in the West, but Nintendo has promised that it is coming. Mask of Miracle is the follow-up to Last Specter, but takes place after the events of “Professor Layton: The First Movie – The Eternal Diva“, an animated film released in Japan and the UK. Hopefully Eternal Diva will finally get a release in America as well, it’d make sense to have the film ready as a promotion tool for Professor Layton and the Last Specter, as a eShop download of some sort followed by a home video release on DVD and Bluray.
Also in development by Level-5 is the upcoming Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney 3DS crossover!
