Professor Layton series

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Professor Layton series

Developer(s) Level-5
Publisher(s) JP Level-5
NA Nintendo
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release date The Curious Village:
JP February 15, 2007
US February 10, 2008
Pandora's Box:
JP November 29, 2007
US TBA
The Last Time Travel:
JP Autumn 2008
US TBA
Genre(s) Adventure/Puzzle game, Interactive novel
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) CERO: A (All Ages)
ESRB: E

Professor Layton series ("Reiton-kyōju series" (レイトン教授シリーズ?)), is a puzzle game video game series for the Nintendo DS. In this series, there are three games in total.

Each title is based in a series of puzzles and mysteries given by the citizens of towns that the main characters visit, and must be solved by the player. It's not needed to solve all puzzles to progress in the game, but a required number of them, including some mandatory ones are required to complete it.

Contents

[edit] History

Professor Layton was a direct result of Akihiro Hino's childhood love of Akira Tago's popular Mental Gymnastics series of puzzle books, which have sold more than 12 million copies to date in Japan.

[edit] Games of series

  1. "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" (レイトン教授と不思議な町?) [1]
  2. "Professor Layton and Pandora's Box" (レイトン教授と悪魔の箱?) [2]
  3. "Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel" (レイトン教授と最後の時間旅行?)

Additionally, the Japan-only "Level-5 Premium Silver/Gold" collections on Nintendo DS included an exclusive side-story, "Professor Layton and the Holiday in London" (レイトン教授とロンドンの休日?) in addition to demos of the second Professor Layton game and another Level-5 game, Inazuma Eleven. "The Holiday in London" includes ten puzzles (some from the first game) and a short storyline, set in Layton's London office, in which the Professor reminisces about his previous adventures around the world.

[edit] Main characters

  • Professor Hershel Layton (Original voice by Yō Ōizumi, English voice by Christopher Miller)
An English gentleman and one of the protagonists, notable for his skills at solving puzzles, as well as his signature top-hat.
The other protagonist, Luke is Layton's assistant and apprentice.
An orphaned young lady whom Layton and Luke met during the events of the first game, and since then lives with them. Her name is Aroma in the Japanese version.
A famous detective who was impersonated by Don Paolo in the first game, but appears as himself in the second one.
  • Don Paolo
A mad scientist who was banished from the scientific community due to illegal practices, and declares himself as Layton's arch-enemy. Despite this, the professor does not seem to know the reason of his hatred towards him.

[edit] New characters in Devil's Box

  • Anthony (Original voice by Takao Ōsawa)
An "immortal vampire" who holds the key to the mysterious events in a town.
Sophia is the love of Anthony; Katia is the granddaughter of Sophia, making Anthony her grandfather.

[edit] New characters in Last Time Travel

[edit] Game play

The game is essentially a collection of puzzles with adventure style exploration between minigames. The puzzles take the form of brain teasers and are only loosely tied to the plot, although the player must solve a certain number in order to progress past some points in the game. A hint system is also included, which requires the use of "hint coins," found hidden in the landscape of the game and in limited quantity, in order to reveal each hint. Each player is given 10 hint coins at the start of the game.

All puzzles are created just for this series by Akira Tago, who is famous for his best selling series "Atama no Taisou" (Mental Gymnastics). Curious Village contains 135 puzzles, and Pandora's Box contains 150 puzzles within the cartridge.

[edit] Wi-Fi compatible

All games in this series are compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing players to connect to the internet and download new puzzles every Thursday at noon (UTC-9). In the downloadable puzzles, the player cannot earn any additional picarats, and rather than use the hint coin system, a new hint is provided weekly (up to 3 hints per puzzle)

[edit] Plot

[edit] Curious Village

Main article: Professor Layton and the Curious Village

The game's plot revolves around Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke. The pair are invited to St. Mystere by Lady Dahlia, widow of the late Baron Reinhold, to solve the mystery of the Golden Apple. The Baron stated in his last will and testament that whosoever should solve the mystery would inherit everything he possessed, but no one in the town has any idea what this Golden Apple is.

[edit] Devil's Box

Main article: Professor Layton and Pandora's Box

The main story revolves around Professor Layton and his young apprentice Luke traveling to meet Layton's mentor, who has sent them a letter about a mysterious box. Layton's mentor writes that he wishes to have Layton take care of his information if anything were to happen to him. Professor Layton and Luke rush to the mentor's home, only to find him killed under mysterious circumstances. From there the pair travel to discover the secrets of the "Devil's box".

[edit] Last Time Travel

Main article: Professor Layton and The Last Time Travel

The main story takes place in the future London, England. There's a new character in the game, a talking dessert named Max who will guide Professor Layton and Luke throughout the story.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] Feature film

A live action movie is going to be produced by Masakazu Kubo, who is mainly known for producing the Pokémon movies. The only information that has been released is that it will be an original story, separate from the game series.[2]

[edit] Manga

Manga intended for child audiences has been serialized since the February special edition of Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic. The title of this manga is Professor Layton and the Cheerful Mystery (レイトン教授とユカイな事件 Reiton-kyōju to yukai na jiken?), covering many mysteries through out the story.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Level 5's new game's genre is unknown? New style game to train your brain (Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
  2. ^ a b Layton Kyoju and the Devil's Box becomes a movie quality (Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
  3. ^ 小栗旬がレイトン教授でゲーム声優初挑戦 (Japanese) (2008-05-12). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.

[edit] External links

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