Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

Professor Layton, Luke, and Emmy embark on yet another puzzle-fueled adventure in Professor Layton and The Azran Legacy. After receiving a letter from his friend Professor Desmond Sycamore, Layton travels to the city of Froneborg to have a gander at the discovered living mummy who is said to be the last of an ancient but very advanced civilisation know as the Azrans. Discovering that the mummy has been preserved in million year old ice, and is very much alive and kicking, Layton is closely followed by a shade group called Targent. Led by Leon Bronev, Professor Sycamore explains his suspicions that Targent are after the mummy for their own evil plans of world domination. Of course Targent must be stopped and the only person who could do this is our gentleman hero Layton.

Those familiar with the series will be able to pick up the controls. If this is the first time playing a Layton game then not to worry, to play the game all you need is your stylus. Its needed to scroll through text, move Layton along the map and to also interact with the puzzles. Each puzzle you find within the game is rated in picorats. The higher the picorat, the more difficult the puzzle. You come across the tougher buggers, normally around 40 picorats, when its a puzzle you need to complete in order to move on with the story. If you do struggle to complete a puzzle then fear not as you get three hints and one super hint. Only catch is that these cost hint coins. You begin with ten but you can find more through the game by tapping obscure items. The standard three hints cost one hint coin and the super hints cost two. Make sure you find as many hint coins as you can as these puzzles can be quite tricky.

So what’s new with this game? Well there are now over 500 puzzles to wrap your noggin around, which is the most puzzles ever seen in a Layton game. There are 150 puzzles within the game, a daily puzzle you can download, so another 365 plus 20 more bonus puzzles. There’s also a little addition called Episodes which you can access during the main game via Layton’s trunk. These short videos are pretty much the cut portions of scenes you’ve already seen and would have made the main game last a little too long. The mini trunk games make a comeback such as the Nut Roller and Blooms & Shrooms. These games comes more into their own the more you progress through the game as they require items you collect and find.

Beyond the main game Layton comes with additional bonus game. Using Streetpass, you can take part in a Treasure Hunt. Created by other Streetpassers the treasure hunt involves you collecting three specific items. When completed you then get reward points which can be used to buy items you find throughout the game. The more difficult the hunt, the more points you can get. You can also get reward points when a challenge you create is given a high rating.

Now I’m a huge fan of puzzle games so the Professor Layton series has always appealed to me. However just to mix it up a little, I do like to have the option to be able to play something else within the game. Whilst the story mode can take some time to get through, the additional daily puzzles and mini games available gives you something you can get your teeth into or if you just fancy taking a break from the story.