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Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy |OT| The end of an era! Crazy astrology plans!

R

R.I.P

Member
OMG Aero said:
Yep, the second puzzle (about how many cups of hot water to melt a block of ice) totally got me. I'll spoiler what I thought so I don't ruin it for anyone who hasn't started, but it was literally puzzle 002:
I spent ages working out the puzzle literally of how many 150ml cups it would take, then I re-read the puzzle text and saw it said it takes five 150ml cups of water to melt the example block of ice and assumed I had spotted where the game was trying to trick me. So I started working out the numbers and at some point thought I was doing way too much work for the second puzzle so I looked at the answer input, and realised it only accepted double digits but the way my working out was going was leading to more than that. At this point I figured "yep, it's a trick question", entered 1 as my answer with the reasoning that you only use one cup but fill it up multiple times to melt the ice and thought I had the answer in the bag. Nope, wrong answer. The only logical place to go from there was 0 which I entered to get the right answer.
No other early puzzle in a Layton game has got me like that.
Click to expand...

Haha, I did the exact same thing and cursed my own stupidity when I finally figured it out :p
 
A

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
I'm really kliking this game. I had the chance to play it a little bit during the weekend and I'm falling in love with it!
Story up to now is good, OT majestic as always, grapchis top nothc (they spend time to adapt camera and parallax to the 3D effect, that't for sure), environments are varied, puzzles well paced with some different gameplay approach here and there...
 
O

Oxx

Member
Leaving a puzzle unsolved when closing the system is never a good thing, but my brain cannot process those petals at this time.

I had forgotten about the download puzzles. Too much to handle.
 
V

VegiHam

Member
Kouriozan said:
Just finished it, I finally can read some spoilers!

Oh well, I hope I'll like Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney.
Click to expand...

I think knowing that was coming slightly dulled my enjoyment of this one, in fairness. Ace Attorney 5 was amazing and I loved it, and it was so recent that I'm still hyped for more Phoenix Wright, Now I've had a little more time to reflect, Sycamore is, I think, my favourite thing about this game, so it kinda sucks Layton 6 is this last one. If they bring out a 'Professor Sycamore and the Enigmatic Stuff' spin-off I'd buy it so fast.
 
B

Beaniedude

Member
Woah woah woah woah!
This game is released!? Like... it's been released for a while now?
I didn't even know!

I didn't even know what it was called!
My word!
This..... this.... I go on the eshop to get Picross and see there is a brand spanking new Professor Layton game!

My words.... A BRAND SPANKING NEW LAYTON TITLE!
It's like Christmas came early but without the tv specials! It's like I went to the shops to buy some carrots but found the Oculus Rift on sale.
I knew it was coming but didn't expect it this early!

My word.
Flabbergasted I am!

I can't even.....


And yet I should be studying for my exams...

Screw that! I have to beat this before Zelda and Mario come out.
Bloody hell Nintendo.
Bloody hell, from nowhere.
FROM NOWHERE LAYTON!

FROM NOWHERE LAYTON AND THEN ZELDA NEXT WEEK AND THEN MARIO AFTER THAT!

WHAT I AM TRYING TO PUT ACROSS HERE IS THAT I AM BLOODY HAPPY THAT THIS GAME IS OUT RIGHT NOW!

Bloody hell.... I think I need a lie down.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
I'm finally done with the main story, yep it's Layton alright, there's not much to say really. Okay so if I were to play the ranking game now that i've played all 6 entries it's something like...

1. Lost Future
2= Miracle Mask/Azran Legacy
4. Curious Village
5= Pandora's Box/ Spectre's Call

Wishy washy listing because really having only played each game once its hard to recall everything about each individual entry, I mean they're all pretty similar when it comes down to it so its like i'm running off how I felt at the end of each game and how their crazy Layton plots turned out, puzzle wise all I really recall was Pandora's Box being kind of tricky compared to the first.

Layton may be a series that's flung itself out every year to the point of it all feeling routine but the series always feels consistent in quality and makes advances in the right areas, at some point possibly around the third or fourth game they seemed to nail the whole package down. We'd gone from simplistic side stuff like the robot dog to the more elaborate puzzle minigames, plot elements fleshed out further through more cinematics and stronger presentation overall. So even if it's all a bit too familiar I like how each entry never feels like it was half assed.

About Azran Legacy in particular, it of course retains the minor changes to the interface and extra visual flourishes of Miracle Mask which works for me, even a year later the two 3DS Layton games still have some of the best 3D depth on the system and unlike the recently released Ace Attorney 5 it doesn't hammer my eyes in for whatever reason. One thing I really noted this time around is just how well the scenery pops in 3D, there's a lot of layering going on and dialling it back down into 2D feels oddly lifeless by comparison so hopefully my eyes will forgive me for leaving the slider up so often.

The variety of locations open up a lot more varied backgrounds, I'm kind of surprised that I never really noticed just how nice they look until this entry. Speaking of location variety i'm of two minds regarding the more open section of the game,
hunting for the eggs leads to a nice set of side stories, some stronger than others but due to their brevity there's not much to the locations or the small scale mysteries within. I'd sooner have cut out two of the areas and focused on fleshing out the remaining three in which case I'd be going with the Island Resort, Windmill Hills and Phoenix Walled City (yeah I clearly forgot the area names). I didn't find the Jungle and Desert areas to be as strong as the rest with lacking mysteries. Back to the main point here, as Vegiham said earlier the pacing feels a bit out of whack because of this egg hunt though I appreciate the opportunity to choose your own order which adds a small change to the usual proceedings.

So then there's this whole plot thing...
*Big spoilers of course*
Swerves upon swerves at the end there, it felt a bit much to drop so many big twists within such a short span of time and I don't recall much in the way of foreshadowing for most of them. Even so I enjoyed them for the sheer novelty factor, secret family members all over the place but I was legit shook When Sycamore was Descole all along when Emmy was revealed as a member of Targent, I actually felt a bit betrayed though I don't think they explained nearly enough about Emmy's backstory to expand upon the initial twist. All the bits relating to the beginning of The Curious Village at the games end filled me with some nostalgic glee even if that game wasn't actually that long ago. Anywho the plot was a fun ride, a bit too loaded at the back instead of balanced throughout.
I like how they don't even try to hide Descole's identity on this occasion what with his butler and all.

So yeah, it was another reliable entry into the series and I'm happy with this conclusion to the prequel plot. Barring the crossover with Ace Attorney finally coming out here next year I think Layton could do with a bit of a rest, they've done well with this formula adding and refining small things as they went on but we've reached a point where Layton's top hat teeters on being old hat. Hopefully they'll have some ways to shake things up more considerably when Layton likely returns (not counting whatever that Layton seven thing was all about).

Oh and I've yet to find a single "get the ball out" style puzzle, I'm overjoyed!
 
solomon

solomon

Member
I've always been interested in Professor Layton games but never actually played any, and coming to the party so late is sort of rough. 5 games not including this have come out, so gaf what should I do, start from the beginning and buy them (blows dust off R4 to get a feel for the game and later buy them) or be lazy and youtube it and start with the 3ds games.
 
L

Lusankya

Member
Great game! The final games of each trilogy are the best and this is a real tear jerker.
Now it's even harder to wait for PLvAA, I just love both series too much.
 
O

Oxx

Member
Somewhat surprisingly I have already maxed-out my streetpass queue.

It might take a while to work through. I doubt the game is too keen on allowing you to backtrack everywhere looking for items.
 
O

Oxx

Member
Just reached Chapter 4 and this seems like the place where the game opens-up. Finally I can start clearing my backlog of Streetpass challenges.

It's kinda weird playing this without the safety-net of exhaustive faqs/solutions out there, but it just means my hint coin stack is a bit lower than usual.
 
O

Oxx

Member
I need to get back into the game. Zelda and Bravely D quickly overtook Azran Legacy in my affections, but I was quite liking the game.
 
P

podracer35

Member
^ I don't. :/ Either that, or I do get it, and just don't know it.

I don't think I'll be able to get this until later this year. I still have Bravely Default and Pokémon to deal with. (Not to mention classes...) meh... I'll maybe pop in MM and finish some daily puzzles if I want my Layton fix. :p


Speaking of Pokémon, Professor Sycamore is in this?!? XD
 
JeTmAn81

JeTmAn81

Member
This should be out on Friday in the U.S. I care! It's been more than a year without a Layton game stateside. My puzzling hunger intensifies.
 
C

Conezays

Member
Haven't actually finished the last Layton game on the 3DS (still put 20 hours in, mainly being daily puzzles though). Looking forward to playing this at some point, though I think it'll feel a little bittersweet, if it is in fact the last game.
 
D

donny2112

Member
Downloaded Miracle Mask in order to get DK Original on 3DS, and it turned out to be an awesome move. Actually finished all the daily puzzles in that, since it was always on the system. Will be downloading Azran Legacy for the same reason, but since it's not $29.99 on the eShop like it is at Amazon, no rush to get it. Will probably wait until the registration survey would go on next Club Nintendo year, as well.

Definitely looking forward to the game, though. :D
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
game is really great - although suffers from a somewhat slow start - and expect a LOT of plot twists, some of them particularly hard to foresee. Maybe more than Unwound Future, and much more important for the characters
 
S

Smellycat

Member
I can't wait to get the game
3AQmK.gif


I usually stop any game I am playing when a new Layton comes out.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
As someone who played and beat this game a few months ago, I don't think people are going to be disappointed how this game ends.
Still not close to Lost Future standard, mind you

tmarques said:
What, ANOTHER one? I have yet to play the previous one that I got free after buying a 3DS + Luigi's Mansion. As much as I like the games, they seem determined to run the series into the ground.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they established that it was going to be a trilogy right from when they made Spector's Call, plus all the story elements from those games conclude in this one. It's far from a cashgrab.
 
K

Kouriozan

Member
Katzii said:
Yeah thanks for the spoiler stuff. 'ppreciate it.
Click to expand...

Well, as I said I was 10 mins in the game at that time, also, it's not one of the big secret of this game.
It's not a spoiler, the devs wanted us to believe that.

(months olf reply but in case someone think it is a spoiler)
 
S

Sorian

Banned
Shame that the interest on these games really isn't there anymore. Amazon has mine coming in this coming Tuesday and I'll probably get around to it after I finish my platinum in dangan ronpa and get through the rest of Bravely Default.
 
L

Lusankya

Member
KillGore said:
I just bought it on Amazon. I've only played the first game, will I be lost? or is the main focus the puzzles?
Click to expand...

1-3 and 4-6 are two trilogies and at least you should play both of them in order. Overall I would recommend you to play the games from 1-6 (unless you somehpw lose the motivation to solve puzzles on the way, because the puzzles are still the main part of the game, even though there is a nice story as well).
 
L

Linkstrikesback

Member
Sorian said:
Shame that the interest on these games really isn't there anymore. Amazon has mine coming in this coming Tuesday and I'll probably get around to it after I finish my platinum in dangan ronpa and get through the rest of Bravely Default.
Click to expand...

They never topped the 3rd game, in quality of puzzles or story, so it's not that surprising its popularity dropped. I'll give it to them that they tried a lot harder storywise with Azran compared to Miracle mask where you could guess the twist just from the trailers, never mind actually having to play the game.


The annual releases in the west probably hurt it too (as opposed to the second trilogy being biyearly in japan), and then there's the loss of userbase because it's a 3ds game, not a ds one (Though 4 still had a significant drop from 3)
 
S

Sorian

Banned
Linkstrikesback said:
They never topped the 3rd game, in quality of puzzles or story, so it's not that surprising its popularity dropped. I'll give it to them that they tried a lot harder storywise with Azran compared to Miracle mask where you could guess the twist just from the trailers, never mind actually having to play the game.


The annual releases in the west probably hurt it too (as opposed to the second trilogy being biyearly in japan), and then there's the loss of userbase because it's a 3ds game, not a ds one (Though 4 still had a significant drop from 3)
Click to expand...

I will agree 3 was really a crowning achievement for the series and 4 being a return to the average like 1 and 2 and 5 being extremely weak hasn't helped the case. It's my understanding that this game's story isn't really up to snuff either but I'd like to at least finish it all out.
 
C

ChickenHunter

Member
I just really hope that if this is the final Layton game, it ends in grand style leaves me satisfied. :L

Though I really want to know whats up after Unwound Future's ending.
 
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