Even more than the story, when thinking about the Professor Layton franchise, the first thing you will probably think of are puzzles. The game is littered with 150 puzzles in the main game itself for you to choose from, with a good majority of them being very different from one another. There is some repetition with the same puzzle type showing up a few different times, but there are no more than three of any one puzzle, and they are progressively harder and more complex to where they are still worth doing. The biggest problem is if you have played the full series, as most of these puzzle types have shown up again and again and may begin to seem repetitive and tiresome.
These 150 puzzles do not even include the puzzles you come across in the actual story, such as facing off against the villain at the end in a battle of wits. Beyond that, there are also 15 extra bonus puzzles you can unlock in the extras menu for completing various tasks during the game, as well as daily puzzles that you can download online. Needless to say, you have plenty of puzzles at your fingertips.
As with past Professor Layton titles, the standard puzzles are not all you can expect in this game. As you play through the game, you will unlock special games and sidequests for you to complete from within Professor Layton’s case. The two games you have available are Nutty Roller and Bloom Burst, which unlock new stages as you solve puzzles in the main game. Dress Up is another sidequest, which you won’t complete until late in the game, upon collecting all of the clothes from specific puzzles in the game. The World Times allows you to solve mini-mysteries, some through the use of puzzles and some without. Lastly, you have a collection of 40 different items that you can acquire in various places during the game. These definitely add a level of longevity to an already fairly lengthy experience.
The Professor Layton games have been relatively linear in the past, outside of various sidequests, but Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy completely turns that upside down with a good portion of the game being able to be done in the order you choose. This segment is the aforementioned search for the Azran eggs during Chapter 4. During this part of the game, you get to pick one of five areas to travel to and solve mini-mysteries and collect the eggs you are looking for in each location. This allows you to mix and match your experience in future playthroughs, something pretty new to the Professor Layton franchise.
As with all of the past games, Level-5 utilizes animated cutscenes at certain points of the game to let us experience the biggest moments of the game in action. However, I was hoping for a few more of these in areas that just choose to have discussions between characters, due to how beautifully drawn they are in this game. Outside of the cutscenes, the characters are mostly 2D, but have more depth than usual thanks to the use of 3D. I didn’t personally have 3D turned on during my playthrough, but the option is there for gamers. The music is also quite good, with the soundtrack perfectly setting the mood on many occasions.
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is exactly what you’d expect from a game in the Professor Layton series. While the game isn’t incredible groundbreaking, it still kept me captivated the entire time. The story and characters are both engaging, especially in the last chapter or two of the game, and you have tons of puzzles and sidequests that will keep your busy for many hours. If you have enjoyed past Professor Layton games or are interested in mysteries or puzzles in the least, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is a must own for your Nintendo 3DS.
[Editor’s Note:Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]