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Professor Layton travels through time for trilogy wrap-up
While we wait (im)patiently for the first of the Professor Layton trilogy, the third and final installment was just announced in Japan. Professor Layton and the Final Time Travel, which has no firm release date yet, will be set in a dark, futuristic London, and will feature time traveling. With a title like that, who'd have thought?Any Layton addicts out there might also be pleased to learn that the franchise is going to expand into other media. Guess those games must be good -- but those of us who aren't importing will have to wait until next year to find out.[Via Bilingual Gamer]
Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village dated Feb 18
Here's a concept: take Brain Age and write a story to it. Level-5 did just that, creating Professor Layton for DS, a combination of classic brain teasers and an adventure-style narrative driven by irresistible Totoro-esque looks -- the celebrated developer even got a University professor to slap his seal of approval on it (but stopped short of making Prof. Akira Tago the game's antagonistic talking head). The first game in the trilogy, Professor Layton and the Curious Mysterious Village, was released in Japan back in February (its sequel arrives this week, with the third game not far behind) and became the envy of westerners keen to the next Ouedan or Gyakuten Saiban breakout hit. Like those series (known as Elite Beat Agents and Phoenix Wright in the US), Professor Layton will be localized for western audiences. Today, we have the date: February 18th, 2008.If you can navigate through the language barrier, there's a playable demo on the official Japanese site.
Professor Layton and the tantalizing sequel
We were forced to see screenshots of the second Professor Layton game while still eagerly anticipating the first one, so of course we wanted to torture you in the same way. Look what Japan has two of. These screens aren't exactly the most exciting things to look at, consisting mostly of Luke or Professor Layton reacting to another character's statement. But that's kind of enough. Think about the average Phoenix Wright gameplay session.The screens feature two chapters from the game; in general terms based on the limited information presented in the article (and then clumsily translated): the first chapter deals with Layton and Luke's arrival in the town of Volscens and their subsequent investigation of the Pandora's Box to which the game's title alludes; the second takes place in the purportedly haunted Felzen house, which is related to the box in some way.
Professor Layton trailer makes us green with envy
Professor Layton and the Curious Village isn't coming to the U.S. until February, but we're already so over it (not really) and ready for the game's sequel. This is why we're showing you trailers of the next game in the franchise, Professor Layton and the Devil's Box, which comes out next month ... in Japan. The game looks absolutely stunning, and we want to play it immediately.Did we mention that we're getting extra content in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates? Take that, Japan! Excuse us while we go cry now.
E307: Great while it lasted
... but all good things must come to an end, eh? It's always nice to wallow in the explosion of news that surrounds a trade show, and even the diminished E3 was no exception. Sure, for Nintendo fans, at least on the DS side, things started out a little slowly, but once the media hit, we no longer had anything to be disappointed about! So what was tops for DS owners? Here's the best -- according to us, at least.Top E3 trailers: Contra 4 -- After all our Contragasms, you knew we were going to say this! Front Mission DS -- What can we say ... we're big fans of ass-kickery. Brain Age 2 -- We know you'll probably disagree with us here, but we can't help it. We a) dig a good, brainy challenge and b) think the selection of games looks even better than before. Less-discussed games we desperately want right now: Professor Layton and all his mysterious locales -- Okay, we wanted this before. But it was mentioned in passing around E3, and now we're more rabid for it than ever! Nintendo Magic -- Another game we weren't sure would head our way, but that just sounds like fun. Advance Wars 2 -- The first is one of the best the DS has to offer, though it seems to rarely get a mention. Worst trailer that should have been awesome:Insecticide, hands down. Please pass us some Dramamine on your way out.Biggest disappointment:Probably the missing wi-fi for Mario Party DS. C'mon, Nintendo, slip it in there! We promise not to complain about friend codes for at least a week.
E307: Advance Wars 2, Professor Layton, and other games Nintendo forgot to mention
With so much emphasis put on The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and casual games during this afternoon's media briefing, Reggie neglected to mention a few titles that I'm sure gamers would've loved to have heard about. News of Advance Wars DS 2, for instance, was hidden in a European press release, dated for the fourth quarter. Freshly Picked - Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, starring everyone's favorite cosplaying fairy, was also quietly announced for this September 14th in the same report.On the North American side, Nintendo revealed that it will be publishing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on December 3rd, the same day Super Smash Bros. Brawl is expected to hit store shelves. Two previously unannounced titles, Nintendo Crossword and Nintendo Magic, were also listed. Follow the link below to see what other first and third-party games are due for the remainder of 2007.
At last: Professor Layton coming to U.S., per EGM
Now, this is being reported as a rumor, but the mere mention of Level-5's Professor Layton trilogy gets us too excited for words. Since this game was first revealed, with its beautiful character designs and logic puzzles, we've been hoping against hope for an English translation, and Electronic Gaming Monthly intimates that it is probably going to happen. Now we're going to be chewing our nails down to nubs as we wait for some hint of confirmation. We can't help it. We're adventure junkies, and the Studio Ghibli-esque look of the Professor Layton franchise completely had us at hello. If it all works out, the good Professor may even compete with a certain Ace Attorney for a place in our hearts. And speaking of hearts -- in that same issue, there are a few other rumors worth mentioning. The first involves whispers of a remade Bonk game for both the DS and the Wii. The other is a little more cryptic: the next Kingdom Hearts will be a spin-off, and it's coming to a "hearty" console. Unless they mean "hearty" as in robust (which would probably indicate the PS3 or the 360), then this could very well refer to the DS, which certainly reaps a hearty profit every month, no matter where you are. And for good measure, it's available in pink. We'll ponder that one once we're done jumping up and down and singing the unofficial "Professor Layton is coming," song, which is really just us chanting that single phrase over and over until someone throws a paperweight at us.Luckily, we're adept at dodging.
Details on the second in Professor Layton's trilogy
Just when we thought we had settled the issue of Professor Layton and the Townlike Area of Disputed Size (aka the 'Mysterious Village'), 1UP's preview of the second installment in the trilogy raises questions about the upcoming game's translated title. Thus far we've seen it written Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, but according to 1UP, it's the 'Devil's Box.' By any name, however, the first game looks incredible, and the second may be shaping up to be even better.Some things in this second installment will be the same, such as the logic puzzles created by Akira Tago, and the Professor will again be accompanied by his assistant Luke. The story is where the second title really takes a turn. Instead of exploring -- you guessed it -- a mysterious village, the action in the second adventure revolves around a corpse, a train, and a strange box. Since the game already features a soft, retro look, mixing that with a traditional train-based murder mystery looks like a match made in heaven. Now if only we could get some localization news!
Already, screens from the Professor Layton sequel
They don't believe in wasting time over there at Level-5. The first game was just released in Japan, and not only do we have a sequel in the works for Professor Layton, but we're already seeing more images from the game. Yes, more -- we already saw a few when the sequel was announced!We expect Professor Layton and Pandora's Box to have a firm release date by next week, and to be on shelves the week after. Okay, not really, but the sarcasm may not be too far off the mark. Check out a few of the pics after the jump. They're from scans, so may not be the best quality, but certainly good enough to see that the visuals are still uniquely gorgeous.
Professor Layton will rock your socks
Now we feel justified for all those times we were jumping up and down over new details on Professor Layton and the Mysterious Town (that may be a Village). Chris Kohler had nothing but love for this import over at Game|Life; he's praised everything from the animation to the story to the game's logic puzzles. We're expecting his homage to the box art any moment now. If you want a sense of the level of challenge in Professor Layton, Kohler's put up the text of a few of the logic puzzlers that pepper the game, as well as one of the trailers. We've added it here as well, just in case you missed it the first time around. Check it out after the jump, and we're sure you'll join us in keeping our fingers crossed for an English translation.
Already, a second round with Professor Layton
It looks like we were totally justified in going nuts for Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village. The game is barely out of the gate in Japan and Level-5 has already announced a second installment in what will apparently be a trilogy. The upcoming sequel, tentatively titled Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, will feature a train -- and that's all we know. If it's anything like what we've seen from the first game, it will be a beautiful, Miyazaki-inspired train rendered in muted colors, and it will probably make us drool.Right now, all we want for Christmas is an English translation ... or intensive Japanese lessons. We need this game!
DS releases for the week of February 12th
After last week's flood, it looks like DS owners are back down to a trickle of releases, but importers take note -- there's all sorts of hotness in Japan this week. The three Japanese releases are definitely games to watch. While we drool and dream over those, gamers in Europe can finally get in on some 3-on-3 basketball action, Mario-style.DS releases (US) F-24: Stealth Fighter For the rest of the world, check after the jump.
Scanning Professor Layton
We've seen a flood of scans and screenshots and other media from Level 5's upcoming Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village, but there's a common theme in what we see: it's all the same. We want more! The latest Famitsu and Nintendo Dream scans reveal a few more details (likely more for those lucky enough to be able to translate the Japanese); of particular note are the gameplay screens that give us a look at how it all fits together.As adventure games go, this seems to have a lot of potential, though much will depend on the story, since it seems so driven by the tale. It's nice to see a few more pictures of characters as well, though unfortunately, the two scans feature a lot of the same images.
A deeper look at Professor Layton
Another video (complete with crowd noise) from Nintendo World, and this time it's for our latest obsession, Professor Layton and the Unknown and Sorta Mysterious Town-like Place That We've Seen Called Many Different Things*. Uh, pretty sure that's a working title.So, the truth -- this video is, frankly, a little long. And devoid of sound, part of it is a little repetitive. However, it seems worth a watch since it reveals an interesting cast of characters, as well as some hints of the gameplay. And that's worth sitting through a little of the back-and-forth, though for a minute there, it looked like the sequel: Professor Layton and This Really Angry Woman. It's also somewhat impressive to see such a long clip of storyline, though the whole foreign language thing makes sad pandas of us all. Oh well. This forthcoming adventure/puzzle hybrid has us intrigued. Check out the video after the cut.*No, really, it's Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village. Probably.
Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village trailer
Just yesterday, we reported on the upcoming Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village (though yesterday, silly us, we thought it was a town), and lo, a trailer has materialized. How convenient! And is it ever eye-poppingly beautiful. Level 5 seems to really have a potential gold mine on their hands with this one. Check out the trailer embedded after the jump -- we promise it will not disappoint! The Japanese website is also open, and after you wipe away the drool that's sure to dribble a little while you're watching the trailer, you'll want to stop by.
