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Professor Layton series
| Professor Layton | ||||||
| レイトン教授 | ||||||
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Professor Layton (Japanese: レイトン教授 Layton-kyōju, literally Professor Layton) is a series of puzzle games developed by Level-5 in Japan, and published by Nintendo outside of Japan. The series debuted on the Nintendo DS with the release of Professor Layton and the Curious Village. Since then, the series expanded to include an animated film, a manga series, and several novels.
The series revolve on solving puzzles and the mysteries of areas that the main characters visit during the game.
History
Games
Note other Professor Layton games exist, however this page only lists ones published by Nintendo.
Atmosphere
The Professor Layton series has a particularly striking atmosphere, especially in the earlier games in the series. The first two games have a gradual unnerving sense that something is wrong, that a puzzle may lead to a terrible truth. The theme of the Curious Village is in minor, somewhat dissonant. This game, in particular, has a continual sense of dread and unease. Additionally, Pandora's Box has an effective sense of having to move on. The main protagonists visit Doctor Shrader at the start, before boarding the Molentary Express, unable to ever return to London in-game. They arrive at Dropstone, a village centred around its time from the anniversary, but eventually have to leave here, too, unable to look back. Once the pair reach Folsense, they are unable to ever get on the train, but are stuck at the end of the line. Moving around the village, there is a slowly rising sense that something about this place is untrue, a false sense, and that they are going to end up travelling towards Herzen Castle. This gradual inclination of tension rises until the pair open the box and do head to the castle, following a rickety carriage. This game achieves such an effect marvellously, more than any other in the series. The third game retained some of this dramatic suspense, with Future Layton and the Brotherhood, though it was a little more overt. The fourth game was the last to keep this effect in any power, with a Spectre that attacked a village only at night, keeping an obvious sense of tension towards the nights. A disquieting atmosphere hovers about the misty village, with a house on a distant hill inspiring curiosity and the mysterious garden a beautiful rendition of the last truth.
The fifth and sixth games lost this effect almost universally. Losing the effective minor music, they garnered 3D models, which could not keep such an arty, gripping effect. The fifth game had no real sense of gradual unease, particularly through its ongoing length (the series becoming longer overall with each game) and several chapters filling the time with puzzles that didn't progress the story too much. The sixth game decimated the old atmospheric sense beyond all recognition, with the Live London theme from the third game's soundtrack playing in London, despite not fitting the scene at all. The old idea of a forlorn, puzzling place was completely abolished in favour of a more positive, overtly-welcoming experience - the series had changed direction from its initial idea. The next game in the series, Katrielle Layton and the Millionaire's Conspiracy, also decimated the atmosphere, totally and utterly scrapping the uneasy acceptance in favour of a light-hearted romp. The olden times of being immersed in a village, far away, were over. The Professor Layton series had changed. It is likely that the next game in the series will also lack the old atmosphere, disappointingly.
| Game | JP release | NA release | EU release | AUS release | KOR release | Platform | |||
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Main games
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| Professor Layton and the Curious Village | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2009 | 2008 | Nintendo DS | |||
| Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box | 2007 | 2009 | 2009 | 2009 | 2011 | Nintendo DS | |||
| Professor Layton and the Unwound Future | 2008 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | N/A | Nintendo DS | |||
| Professor Layton and the Last Specter | 2009 | 2011 | 2011 | 2011 | N/A | Nintendo DS | |||
| Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask | 2011 | 2012 | 2012 | 2012 | N/A | Nintendo 3DS | |||
| Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | 2013 | N/A | Nintendo 3DS | |||
| Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy - Deluxe Edition | 2018 | 2019 | 2019 | 2019 | N/A | Nintendo Switch | |||
Spin-off games
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| Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | 2012 | 2014 | 2014 | 2014 | N/A | Nintendo 3DS | |||
References
External links
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