New Professor Layton Game Announced: Layton 7, for Mobile & 3DS

Japanese developer Level-5 has recently announced at their annual Level-5 Vision Conference a new instalment in the Professor Layton series, currently titled Layton 7. The game will be a departure from the rest of the franchise and will not feature the famous Professor Layton and his trusty companion Luke, but rather a new set of unrelated characters. The new characters are currently not named but ranges from a taxi driver and businessman, to a dog and a zombie.

Layton 7 will be headed in a new direction from the rest of the series with the game will also be for mobile devices, IOS and Android, as well as the 3DS. The game will not retain the puzzle adventure aspects of previous Professor Layton games and will instead be a “Role Playing Puzzle Game”. The extent of either genres, if there will be more RPG elements than puzzles or vice versa, is currently unknown.

You can view individual images of the new characters below:

Layton 7 will be set in a small miniature full 3D town, with the name currently unknown as well, that was not featured in any previousProfessor Layton game. The town itself is reminiscent of a typical small western suburban town but even smaller. You can see the town below and a mock up of the game’s user interface.

Level-5 International has released an official statement on the game, which may hint that the game will be released internationally.

LAYTON 7 is a puzzle game for the new generation that follows in the footsteps of the PROFESSOR LAYTON series, which has now shipped over 15 million units worldwide. Players take on various character roles; you may be a taxi driver, a young boy, a dog, a fine lady, a philanthropist, an elderly man, or even a zombie. The player will earn points as they fulfil a given role. But, what is the role of these characters? And what is the greater meaning of these roles to begin with? The latest title in the LAYTON series is shrouded in mystery and is about to begin! The game is being developed for Nintendo 3DS and iOS / Android devices as part of our UNIPLAY line-up. Release date has yet to be determined.

Layton 7, for Mobile & 3DS pic 1

Layton 7, for Mobile & 3DS pic 2

There is also some footage of Layton 7 in action, showing the town and characters in action. It also demonstrates the detail of the game and the 3D effects being utilised, of course with the 3DS taking this feature to the fullest.

The Professor Layton franchise was created by Akihiro Hino of Level-5. The first puzzle adventure game in the series, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, released on the Nintendo DS in 2007 in Japan and 2008 worldwide. The game was a critical success and sold strong numbers, enabling the developers to publish more games in the series. Since then, 6 more games in the main series was released that continued the adventures of the eponymous professor, that are split up into two trilogies. The last game in the second trilogy, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, is due to release in North America on the Nintendo 3DS on February 28th. Two additional spin-offs were created, one of which was a crossover game between Capcom’s Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. A manga adaptation, feature film and novel have also been produced since 2008. A live action film is also being planned.

Layton 7 is a new direction for the series which many fans may not like initially. But in due time, the game may not even be part of the Professor Layton series but a separate spin-off that may spawn more mobile Layton games. The game will be releasing on the Nintendo 3DS, Apple’s IOS and Google’s Android. The release date has not been announced yet.