When Level-5 released Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask in 2011, they announced that its successor, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy would be the final game to feature the puzzle-loving Archaeologist, but the series would continue. Finally, a new contender has thrown their top-hat into the ring with Lady Layton.
Announced during the Level-5 Vision 2016 event, Lady Layton: The Millionaire Ariadone’s Conspiracy stars the daughter of Hershel Layton, Katrielle “Kat”Layton and her, apparently, talking dog “Sharo” as they travel around London solving mysteries. Unlike her Professor father, Kat will be taking a more active roll in solving puzzles, working as an actual detective.
Supposedly, Lady Layton will focus less on dynamic problem-solving and more on solving multiple mystery cases, making the game more fast paced than its predecessors and adding a more comical tone to the series.
Following the tragic passing of the series’ puzzle creator Akira Tago, Kuniaki Iwanami will be designing the game’s puzzles, bringing new challenges and core-mechanics to the franchise.
Speculation is circulating like wild-fire on just who Lady Layton is. Whether or not this will tie into the Layton Brothers mobile spin-off — having Kat be the sister of Alfendi Layton — who Kat’s mother will be, or even if Hershel will make an appearance within the are among a few of the questions fans want answered.
Lady Layton: The Millionaire Ariadone’s Conspiracy will be released for 3DS and mobile and is targeting a Western release in 2017.
Level-5 also announced a new spin-off entry in the Professor Layton franchise titled Layton 7 (which refers to the number of players, not its place in the series.) Players, who are randomly and discretely assigned a role from: Villager, Knight, Oracle, Traitor, or Vampire use an integrated instant messaging system to try to determine the identity of the Vampire amongst them.
Players can easily communicate through messages by choosing and combining preset statements and keywords. Characters each have their own unique abilities, such as the ability to see through the Traitor’s deceit.
