If you would have told me six years ago that a game about a puzzle loving professor who solves mysteries through a variety of brain teasers would become one of the most popular franchises on a system with as much competition as the Nintendo DS, I… probably wouldn’t have doubted it. After all, games like Brain Age were huge at the time. Still, it’s hard to believe that a game of this nature would have such staying power with a loyal fanbase, but that’s exactly what the Professor Layton franchise has earned. Now that we’re on game six, developer Level-5 has decided that it’s time for Layton to hang up has hat, but not before his final adventure, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy. While the finale brings a fitting end to the prequel trilogy with hundreds of puzzles in tow, it’s not hard to see why the top hat gentleman didn’t want to overstay his welcome.
Azran Legacy picks up where the previous game, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, left off. Following Layton, his apprentice, Luke, and his assistant, Emmy, the group is contacted by Professor Sycamore, a fellow archeologist who has discovered a living mummy. The mystery surrounding this find may be the key to unlocking the secrets to an ancient civilization that was advanced beyond its years, but after an evil organization tries to claim this discovery for itself, it becomes a race that will take them around the world to unearth the secrets of the Azran people.
If you’ve never played a Layton game, (and if you haven’t, you REALLY should, starting with Last Spectre since it’s the start of the current trilogy), the idea is that players will guide Layton and his friends through a variety of prerendered maps in a point and click style of game play. Examining and tapping the environments on the touch screen will lead to NPC conversations, new areas, hint coins that are used to purchase clues when you’re stuck, and of course, puzzles. In these titles, puzzles can consist of math, measuring, logic or pattern based challenges amongst others. Solving them awards a certain amount of Picarats depending on its difficulty, which are like a score that will earn some post game goodies depending on how high the count is. Naturally, you can’t score high if you’re terrible at puzzle solving, which is why the score goes down each time you get an answer wrong, so you’ll have to be careful.
While progression in terms of puzzle solving is mostly open ended, key points in the story require you to have a certain amount of puzzles solved before you can advance, so mopping up as many as you can solve is a big priority. It helps that even after all these years, solving a puzzle you’re unsure of is a surprisingly rewarding experience, so why wouldn’t you want to? Lastly, certain puzzles unlock items for additional mini games that are found throughout the story, which are great when you want to take a break from the standard fare. For a puzzle game, this series has always had plenty of content, and Azran Legacy is no different.
In terms of the story, Azran Legacy is a bit of a departure from its predecessors. For the most part, the first five games stuck to one locale for the crew to thoroughly explore. In this game however, the environments are divided into multiple smaller sections, each with their own mystery to solve on the way to the bigger prize. The highlight of my playthrough was meeting all of the quirky characters, solving the mysteries of each land and reaching their satisfying conclusions.
The only drawback from these splintered sections is that their brief run times keep you from getting attached to these stories compared to the full experiences of the previous games, and it’s unfortunate that this problem spreads to the overall narrative. Considering that the game serves as the big payoff for the prequel trilogy, we spend so much time with sub plots that the climax of the story ends up feeling rushed and sloppy. Don’t worry, this is a spoiler free zone, so I won’t go into details, but I will say that some moments that should be shocking are cheapened because twist after twist hits you within the last two hours. It feel s like when a TV show is going to be cancelled, so the writers tie as many loose ends up as possible within two episodes. Layton’s final adventure deserves better, but sadly, that’s not what we got.
Story aside, as a huge fan of the franchise, I can see why the developers decided it was time to let go. It’s true that most of the puzzles are still expertly crafted, but the novelty of being “reminded” of puzzles by examining a water jar while the world around you is falling apart has largely faded. Six games in, and its formula has started to feel very paint by numbers. Now, that’s no fault of the game itself, but is a byproduct of being the sixth game in a series that can’t innovate too much by the nature of its premise. Even the mandatory story puzzles, (and most of the optional ones), feel much easier than in previous games, taking away some of the challenge we’ve come to expect. It’s hard to say whether or not this is because they were made intentionally easier or if I’m just used to the game after so many hours spent playing them, but it’s hard to argue against the former considering many of the puzzles don’t let you submit wrong answers. I always considered the story and puzzles to be the highlights of the Layton experience, so with those areas on the decline, I didn’t walk away from this one as happy as I have with its previous entries.
Thankfully, when this game excels, it does so in a big way. The music is still top notch, with old tunes being brought back to accompany plenty of new, charming tracks which continue the trend of catchy audio for the series. Bringing back the 3D models from Miracle Mask, each of the animations are fluid and full of character, not to mention that the game features some of the most eye popping use of the gyroscopic 3D I’ve seen yet. As always, the animated cutscenes are fun to watch, and serve as a well-deserved reward for reaching important plot points.
Overall, the legacy Professor Layton leaves behind is as legendary as the mystery he solves, with Azran Legacy being a fitting, yet flawed finale for one of the most popular handheld franchises of the last decade. Sure, the formula was getting tired and the game’s finale doesn’t pack the punch that a final game should, but that shouldn’t take too much away from the fact that fans of the franchise cannot miss our favorite gentleman’s farewell. With a variety of fun areas to explore, a fantastic soundtrack that continues the series trend, over two dozen hours of content to uncover, free downloadable puzzles every day on top of the 150 in game teasers, and mini games to break up the action, you’ll be forced to forgive the areas where Azran falters. While I’m sad to see Layton go, I’m satisfied to know that Level-5 knew when the time was right to say goodbye. Now, bring on Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney!
The Positives and Negatives:
+ The map variety keeps the environments charming and fresh.
+ Beautiful animations and fantastic use of the 3D make the game a visual treat.
+ The soundtrack is as great as you would expect from a Layton game.
+ More content than you’ll know what to do with, including hundreds of puzzles and mini games.
– The game play formula has worn itself out, with few ideas being introduced.
– The climax of the story is rushed, giving players no time to let major revelations sink in.
– The multiple maps may have divided the story too thin, never allowing us time to grow attached to the characters as much as its predecessors.
Final Score: 3.5/5