Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

European box art
Developer(s) Level-5
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Level-5
Director(s) Usuke Kumagai
Jun Suzuki
Producer(s) Akihiro Hino
Composer(s) Tomohito Nishiura
Series Professor Layton
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS
Release date(s)
  • EU: November 8, 2013
Genre(s) Puzzle, Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, known in Japan as Professor Layton and the Legacy of Super Civilization A[4] (レイトン教授と超文明Aの遺産 Reiton-kyōju to Chō-Bunmei Ē no Isan), is a puzzle game developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the sixth entry in the Professor Layton series, making up the third and final part of the prequel trilogy of games and according to Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino, it will be the last Layton title to star Layton himself as the protagonist. The game saw a release in early to late 2013 in all territories except North America, where it was released on February 28 of the following year.

Story

Following the conclusion of Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, the Azran Legacies, the relics of an ancient civilization, are now possessed by a mysterious organization called Targent, which wishes to use the Azran's untold power for itself. In addition, Jean Descole, Targent's rival, also wishes to harness the power of the Azran Legacies, thus setting the stage as the conflict for the Legacies unfolds. The story begins with Layton, Luke, and Emmy boarding the airship Bostonius. They discuss the letter they received from Professor Desmond Sycamore, an eminent archaeologist, who tells the professor that he had found a so-called living "mummy". They travel to Froenborg, where they meet Sycamore and Aurora, a girl frozen in ice. After solving a puzzle that frees her from the ice, she is captured by Targent, which is led by a man named Leon Bronev. Targent's agents then escape with Aurora onboard their zeppelin, and Layton, Luke, Emmy, Sycamore, and Raymond, Sycamore's butler, give chase in the Bostonius. Layton and Luke rescue her and find she has lost her memory before Layton accidentally drops her as they are flying over forest woodland.

The allies realize they are in the town of Kodh, and the next chapter follows their escapade through the town to find Aurora. When they first see Aurora, she appears to be walking on water, but Layton figures that there is ice underneath the ocean which can be used as stepping stones. They eventually make their way across the lake to Aurora and find her speaking mysterious word in an unknown language. Her words open an Azran chamber located under the huge lake surrounding Kodh. There, they find that they must recover the five Azran eggs, scattered around the world by an ancient Azran leader, to unlock the Azran Legacy.

To prepare for their global expedition, Layton, Luke, Emmy, Aurora, and Sycamore depart for London. The intention is to stock up on necessary supplies, but they meet Inspector Grosky, who is also investigating Targent. They then investigate a case where the local museum had been robbed of several archaeological artifacts, and they uncover Targent's involvement as well as that someone in the London police force was involved in the crime. Layton then identifies the perpetrator as Detective Inspector Leonard Bloom and, having recently become aware of Targent, is able to expose him as an agent of Targent. As a result, Bloom is arrested, and the allies are free to embark upon their expedition. However, Targent continues to pursue them.

Layton's group travels to five different locations to acquire the eggs, each town requiring their aid. In the jungle village of Phong Gi, the chief of the tribe is only willing to give his egg to them if they can make him laugh. Layton eventually realizes he is blind and handcrafts some glasses for him; in return, he is given the egg. In the tropical town of San Grio, the party learns that the egg (nicknamed the "Popoño") is passed around the townsfolk as part of a tradition. In the desert ghost town of Torrido, an old wolf who has the egg keeps attacking, but in reality, the wolf is merely trying to visit an old friend from many years ago. In the windy village of Hoogland, the group learns of a tradition where a young woman is seemingly sacrificed in order to appease a wind god but discover there is an Azran machine, currently broken, that is creating the stormy winds. After fixing the machine, the townsfolk give them the egg. Finally, in the walled-off city of Mossinia, Layton and company find themselves in a mystery after learning all of the adults are comatose. After successfully filling the waterways in the town, the adults are revived, and the party receives the final egg.

After retrieving the five eggs, Aurora attempts to unlock her true power and regain all of her memories, but soon finds out one of the eggs is a fake. They head back to the Azran dome in Kodh and find out the last egg was there previously, but it was taken by Targent, and a fake one was put in its place. Layton, Luke, Emmy, Aurora, and Sycamore fly to Targent's base of operations called the Nest to retrieve the final egg. On the way, they meet up with an archaeologist from Kodh who attempts to hijack Targent's airship, but he ultimately succumbs to his injuries sustained by Targent. He is taken away from the Nest to be hospitalized by two former Targent agents, and the group makes it to the Obsidian Tower located at the heart of the Nest. They scale the tower and make it to the top, reaching Bronev's office. There, Bronev offers Layton a spot on Targent, which Layton declines. The two then proceed to play a game for the last egg, with Layton coming out as the victor. Before he hands the egg though, Bronev shows Layton video footage of his parents, Lucille and Roland. He then proceeds to threaten their lives if Layton does not join Targent. Prompts by Sycamore allow Layton to decline the offer once again, and Bronev leaves the Nest while the group takes the final egg.

Ultimately, the five keys join together to form a master key. Sycamore suddenly betrays the professor, revealing himself to have been Descole the entire time. After a fight between Layton and Descole, Descole steals the key and flees to Froenborg. The group goes on without him back to Froenborg's cave where they first found Aurora. There, Layton, Luke, and Emmy attempt to stop Bronev, but Emmy follows suit in betraying the professor, revealing that she had been working for her "uncle" Leon Bronev all along as she seizes Luke and threatens to kill him with an icicle. After they steal the key to the Azran sanctuary from Descole, Emmy and Bronev take Aurora into the bowels of the sanctuary, intending to use her power to unlock what they perceive to be the "Azran legacy". With these revelations, Descole forms an alliance with Layton to fight the common enemy. It is further revealed that, although Emmy was raised by Bronev, she is not truly evil, nor is Bronev the man she remembers. It seems to her that the Azran Legacy is all he lives for, and he will sacrifice anyone to uncover it. To this end, she wants the professor to reform Bronev however he can and leaves Luke behind, hoping this act will achieve this goal. Together, Layton, Luke, and Descole take turns solving puzzles to pursue Bronev through the sanctuary. Upon saving Luke's life at the expense of injury and near-death, Descole reveals his true identity as Layton's older brother, who was separated from him at a young age when their parents - their father is Leon Bronev himself - were kidnapped by Targent. Layton then recalls memories that he involuntarily suppressed when he was very young: Descole was born Hershel Bronev but gave his first name to his little brother before they were adopted so the latter could be adopted by the Layton family and grow up a happy life without remembering the Bronev family history. Descole's malice towards Layton was merely to prevent him from being hurt as a result of getting in the way of Targent, against which he holds a personal vendetta.

When Bronev unlocks the "legacy" by stabbing Aurora through the heart within the "Chamber of Light" at the center of the Azran sanctuary, the Azran legacy is revealed to be not a source of great power, as Bronev had expected, but to be the resting place of the Golems, an advanced race created by the Azran that became sentient and declared war on the Azran, ultimately becoming the reason for the Azrans' demise; as such, their creators froze them away in ice in order to prevent this from happening again. Aurora reveals that she is a Golem herself, created to be the emissary of the Azran, the one who would judge the worth of the human race in the future. The unleashing of the Golems by Bronev has erased all of mankind's worth in the eyes of the Azran, leading Aurora to order a devastating attack on Froenborg and the Targent military. She soon wakes up, though, distraught at the atrocities happening around her. To prevent mankind's annihilation, Layton, Luke, Emmy, Descole, and ultimately Bronev all sacrifice themselves to stop the procedure by stepping in beams of light, activating the procedure and killing them all. Saddened, Aurora begs the Azran spirits to take her instead, which they do after she solves a death-reversing puzzle, reviving the group and causing the sanctuary to crumble from the sky into Lake Kodh. Before her self-destruction, Aurora thanks Layton and Luke for everything they've done and states that she cherished every moment spent with them. She leaves telling Luke that she hopes she can be reborn as a human. As the sanctuary crumbles, Layton, Luke, Emmy, and Bronev fall to earth on one piece of the sanctuary, while Descole does so on another, bidding farewell to his brother.

Bronev is apprehended by the police, after informing Layton that his real name is, in fact, Theodore Bronev, not Hershel Layton. Layton denies this and wishes to keep his adoptive name, refusing to recognize Bronev as his real father. Layton states that, to him, his parents are Roland and Lucille, but he hopes that he and Bronev can meet again as friends and fellow archaeologists one day.

Back in London, Emmy bids an emotional farewell to Layton, passing the role of his assistant to Luke, and promises to return when she is worthy of her place as Layton's assistant once again. Descole is last seen having apparently survived the collapse of the Azran sanctuary as he flies away with Raymond on a restored Bostonius, searching for a new purpose in life. The game ends with Luke and Layton driving in the countryside as they plan to solve an inheritance dispute. As Luke looks through the window, the village of St. Mystere appears on the horizon, setting up the plot for Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

Gameplay

Similar to previous games, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is a puzzle game split into various chapters. The game follows Professor Layton and his friends as they explore various environments and solve many puzzles. Gameplay is similar to that of Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, in which players utilise the stylus on the touchscreen to search environments for clues and solve the various puzzles the game has to offer. In certain areas, it is possible to zoom into areas with the magnifying glass, to get a closer look at things. The game features over 500 new puzzles, more than its predecessor, in which there were 515. Hint coins can also be found and used to help the player solve a puzzle if they are stuck. Throughout the game, you can also unlock minigames which appear in the trunk including Nutty Roller, Dress Up and Bloom Burst. Gameplay involves travel to different parts of the world, such as the United States of America, South Africa, and Russia.[5]

Music

The soundtrack was composed by Tomohito Nishiura. The ending theme, entitled "Surely Someday", was performed by Miho Fukuhara.

Reception

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy has received positive reviews: Famitsu: 36/40, Destructoid: 7 out of 10, Game Informer: 8.25/10, GameSpot: 7/10, IGN: 8.5 out of 10, Eurogamer: 9 out of 10.

References

  1. ↑ "Professor Layton and the Ruins of an Advanced Civilization dated for Japan | GoNintendo - What are YOU waiting for?". GoNintendo. 2013-01-08. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  2. ↑ 3DS (2013-04-18). "New Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy detailed, coming this year - 3DS News from". Vooks. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  3. ↑ "Twitter / NintendoAmerica: Completing the second trilogy". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  4. ↑ "LEVEL-5 Presents Its Tokyo Game Show 2012 Line-up | LEVEL-5 International America". Level5ia.com. 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  5. ↑ Ressler, Karen. "Latest Video for 'Final' Layton Game Previews Ice Lake Puzzle". Anime News Network.
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