The Awesomest
Member
Hello all! Way back in April, at the beginning of spring break, I realized I needed a new game to tide me over. I had a bit of a Zelda craving, but figuring that getting a Switch would be near impossible, I settled on concluding the final game in the Professor Layton series.
Two days later I found a Switch in stock at Best Buy and started playing Breath of the Wild instead.
Nevertheless, I decided I ought to see this series through to the end, especially with a new game on the horizon, and so I wrapped up Azran Legacy last weekend, before I began working as a teacher for the next nine months.
I was at first impressed by the scope of the story. I enjoyed the idea of traveling around the world, but with the last three or so worlds, the plot points at each location left me unsatisfied. A pastoral town with a horrifying tradition of sacrificing young maidens? A town where all the adults have been asleep for a week? I was excited at the prospect of unraveling these mysteries, but finding these issues resolved neatly in an hour was kind of disappointing. I would rather have spent that time learning more about the backstory of the overall plot, which I'll speak to later.
In terms of puzzles, I'll admit I found myself frustrated by these early on, moreso than any other Layton game I'd played. It seemed to me like there was a lack of clear directions for some of them, and quite a few just weren't my type - like anything involving sliding pieces or creating patterns. There seemed to be more trick questions in the early game as well, which I did not expect. As the game went on, though, I seemed to hit my stride, and I enjoyed the puzzles more. The two major plot puzzles, the egg-hatching and revival puzzles, were a little too easy.
I do wish there was some more background for the clash between the Azran and the Golems. Part of me feels that it's silly to expect sensible plot twists in a Layton game - I did enjoy the stupid twists in the first three games - but it felt like with this game, and with this trilogy, they were trying to build more cohesive overall plots, and having that revelation about the golem uprising thrown out felt kind of jarring.
Now, with that said, my overall impression of the game is a positive one - the ending of the story was done incredibly well, and the story hit exactly the right emotional notes for me to be left glowing after the credits. Seeing the epilogue illustrations showing Luke trying on a new sweater and the Professor receiving a letter took me way back. And that song that played over the end credits may well have been the best credits music I've ever heard - shame the original version blocked on YouTube. There are a few other songs that are missing from the sound select as well - cutscene music, like the fight between Layton and Descole, and the final version of Layton's theme. At any rate, this was probably the most heartwarming game I've played this year, and the ending single-handedly allows me to overlook any of the flaws I've described.
I hope that people enjoyed this game as much as I did, despite its flaws. It's going to be the last game I'll be able to finish for a long while, and I couldn't be happier that this game was it.
Please enjoy this lovely vocal cover of Surely Someday.