Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is a puzzle game developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the sixth entry in the Professor Layton series, making up the third and final part of the prequel trilogy of games and, according to Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino, it was intended to be the last Layton title to star Professor Layton himself as the protagonist. However, with the announcement of Professor Layton and The New World of Steam in 2023, this is no longer the case.

The game saw a release in early to late 2013 in all territories except North America, where it was released on February 28 of the following year. One year after the events of the previous entry, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Layton, Luke, and Emmy are invited by Professor Desmond Sycamore, an eminent archaeologist who affirms that he discovered a so-called living “mummy”. Boarding the airship Bostonius, piloted by Raymond, Sycamore’s butler, the trio rendezvous with Sycamore in the city of Froenborg where they help him free Aurora.

A girl trapped in ice since ancient times with no memory of her past, when she is kidnapped by Targent’s leader Leon Bronev. With help from Sycamore, Layton and Luke rescue Aurora from Targent’s airship and the group escort her to some Azran ruins where she reveals the location of five Azran eggs, scattered around the world which are necessary to unlock the Azran Legacy. Similar to previous games, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is a puzzle game split into various chapters.

The game follows Professor Layton and his friends as they explore various environments and solve many puzzles. The gameplay is the same as that of Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. Players utilise the touch screen to navigate through locations, search the environment for clues or objects and solve puzzles. It is possible to zoom into certain areas with the magnifying glass, allowing to find more puzzles or objects. The game features over 500 new puzzles, more than its predecessor, in which there were 515.

Hint coins can also be found and used to help the player solve a puzzle if they are stuck. Throughout the game, you can also unlock minigames which appear in the trunk including Nutty Roller, Dress Up and Bloom Burst. A major new feature in the gameplay involves travelling to different parts of the world using the Bostonius, Professor Sycamore’s airship.