Professor Layton’s Next Iteration Could Be The Series’ Redemption

The Layton franchise is one of the largest when it comes to console gaming, especially for Nintendo devices. It is an excellent puzzle mystery game series that is widely received well by both fans and critics. Though, since the latest release “Layton’s Mystery Journey,” the franchise seemed dead and fans had no hopes for a new game.

However, fans can now see a silver lining as in the recent Nintendo Direct, a new game “Professor Layton and The New World of Steam” was announced. This unexpected announcement in Nintendo Direct has fans riled up and people are expecting redemption from the series since the last game was criticized harshly.

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam needs to do a lot more to make a redemption for the series. It needs to fix the mistakes that have been lingering in Layton’s franchise that also led to its temporary death. The series needs new innovative ideas to make it a cut above the rest of its previous releases.

Layton’s Mystery Journey’s Failure

Layton’s Mystery Journey seems to have a poor Metacritic score of 73 which was a deathly blow to the series. All earlier main games seemed to have a score of above 80. Layton’s Mystery Journey failed as a main Layton game and not many players enjoyed it. The game’s failure may have led to the death of the series.

The franchise seemed to have died after the release of the game since it was received poorly. The Metacritic ratings for the players remained at only 6.8. Furthermore, the game also felt underwhelming to a lot of players, which may have killed the hype for future series.

The game replaced Layton as a protagonist and instead, players play as her daughter Katrielle Layton. Since Layton was an iconic character, it was a pretty self-damaging move to not include him in the game at all. Furthermore, he was only reported missing with no information about his whereabouts.

Layton Mystery Journey ends with a cliffhanger with a lot of the plot left unresolved. The series later made an anime to introduce Layton back into the series and to resolve the plot of Layton’s Mystery Journey. However, the game’s plot felt weaker because of the absence of a resolution.

Furthermore, the game seemed to lack greatly when it comes to puzzle creativity. A lot of puzzles were reused and recycled from the previous games. If the Layton series hopes to make a redemption, more creative puzzles are needed in future games including the recently announced Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.

Layton’s Mystery Journey seemed to introduce various chapters for different cases. While this seemed to be a new approach to the series, Most of the cases ended up feeling boring and predictable. The game ended up feeling like a game targeted at kids. 

The Series’ Downfall

Blaming only Layton’s Mystery Journey for the downfall might be a stretch. As many players felt that the series is becoming exhausting and less creative, especially in the latter games. Since the franchise took a large gap and break all these years, we might see another great Layton game like the original trilogy of the franchise.

A scenario like Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy needs to be avoided. The game seemed poorly directed and plot twists were bombarded at the end without proper build-up. This made the experience for many players less impactful and harder to follow.

Furthermore, Azran Legacy seems to put players in different locations, and players were required to complete a variety of tasks. While the Narrative seemed to be a little different, fans just received a bit more of the same repetitive narrative style. Furthermore, the plots in different locations did not develop in an exciting way and felt boring and tedious. 

Professor Layton and the Last Specter might be the negative turning point for the series. The games started to lose it’s appeal for many fans, especially after the original trilogy. The game failed to deliver the quality it did in the Lost Future. 

The Layton series also tends to take fewer risks when it comes to newer gameplay and innovative narratives. Mostly, we see the same structure with barely anything new added. At this point, the series needed new innovative ideas to improve gameplay. A repeat of the usual gameplay made the game lose its luster over time.

Possible Redemption

The Layton franchise has a lot of potential if they fix the various mistakes that were made in Layton’s Mystery Journey. The plot needs to be more solid in Professor Layton and the World of Steam, Furthermore, the game would also need better direction than previous games.

The game also needs a strong and well-focused plot unlike Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box. The game seemed to have a few plot holes. Furthermore, the overall plot felt unbelievable and unrealistic at the end. Professor Layton and the Lost Future seemed to handle that part well.

If Professor Layton has to make a comeback, they need another game like the Lost future. The game handled its plot, direction, and narrative almost perfectly. The game delivered a well-crafted mystery story in a great impactful and well-directed way. 

When the Professor Layton games made a transition from DS to 3DS games, fans loved Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. The game covers Layton’s backstory in a well-directed narrative and interesting plot. 

The first entry to the series was a spectacular one and got many players into the franchise. Professor Layton and the Curious Village was simple in its plot but delivered what it did well. The game introduced many great characters and a great narrative to many fans.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Professor Layton Franchise is one of the greatest puzzle mystery game franchises, It is delightful, to say the least, to make the series make a great return after years and they may just deliver well redeeming all the past mistakes the franchise made. 

However, Layton’s franchise has largely remained unchanged throughout the years. The series barely takes risks in its execution for the main games. It would be great if Professor Layton and the New World of Steam game introduce more gameplay instead of a point-and-click adventure style.

Furthermore, it would be great if more creative puzzles are added to the games. Furthermore, a few interactive cutscenes might also make the games much more engaging. It would be great if the game would incorporate some action scenes rather than showing action in cutscenes or solving action through puzzles.

The series has had its highs and lows. Games like the Lost Future and Miracle Mask were really well-developed. However, the occasional low points of the series may have done more damage than expected. Especially, the latest two releases “The Azran Legacy” and “Layton’s Mystery Journey” did not deliver well.