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Adventure Game Scene of the Day - Thursday 17 December
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
My second AGSotD that I take over from wilco, and it’s another Professor Layton game…
Hey, it hadn’t featured in an AGSotD before! 
This sixth game in the series (and final part of the ‘prequel trilogy’) is once again for the 3DS (just like Miracle Mask), and this time, they went all-out!
Miracle Mask had more cutscenes, more voiced lines, more puzzle, etc. than any other game before in the series. Azran Legacy tops it easily AND opens up the scope of the game, letting you travel to very different places all over the world.
The cel shaded 3D seems to have a bit more charm than it did in Miracle Mask, and they added a lot of urgency by having Layton and his crew “hunted down” throughout the game. Don’t worry, nothing is timed, and you still evade capture by - what else? - solving puzzles.
Personally, I thought Miracle Mask was the “weakest” of the Layton games. While I haven’t fully finished this one, for now it seems to me to be the strongest of the bunch. So, if you play just one game in the Layton series, why not go for this one???
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
While I haven’t fully finished this one, for now it seems to me to be the strongest of the bunch. So, if you play just one game in the Layton series, why not go for this one???
Agreed. They definitely went out on a high note.
That being said, I have at least a vague recollection of the five previous games’ stories, but I absolutely can’t remember anything about that one beyond liking it a lot. Except maybe… travelling a lot? Like one minute you’re in a snowy village, and then a tropical island? Or was that another one?
I’ve tried playing a Professor Layton game (I think curious village), I enjoyed it but never finished it.. It felt that the story was too much of a pretext for the puzzles and the puzzles were fun but got boring after a while…
That being said, I have at least a vague recollection of the five previous games’ stories, but I absolutely can’t remember anything about that one beyond liking it a lot. Except maybe… travelling a lot? Like one minute you’re in a snowy village, and then a tropical island? Or was that another one?
It’s in this one that you travel a lot. With a girl that was trapped in ice. And everybody chasing you. 
Overall, all the games in the entire series are pretty similar in style and execution, so it’s no wonder that you start misremembering things after a while. It makes it hard to pin down exactly why you found this game weaker/better than the rest…
It felt that the story was too much of a pretext for the puzzles and the puzzles were fun but got boring after a while…
That never really changes, so if you don’t like the puzzles, don’t bother with the rest of the games. There’s more variety (and more minigames) in later installments, but not so much that they never get tedious if played in longer sessions, imo.
The stories go way out of control after the first game, though, so they’re often interesting just for the WTF? factor at the endgame.
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
So, because of this thread, I ended up replaying the game (damn AGSD). It’s definitely the best in the series. The amount of content is impressive, as is the quality. The earlier games had their share of tedious or repetitive puzzles, but this one felt almost entirely free of them, and manages to still feel fresh after 30 hours. If you only play one, it should definitely be this.
However, I now understand why I had repressed all memories of the awful, awful story. Obviously, it’s a Layton game, so you expect the story to be written for (and probably by) pre-schoolers, but Azran Legacy’s ending belongs in its own category of whatthefuckiness.
I mean, first everyone double-crosses everyone. Then there’s that insane “Hershel, I am your father” sequence in which it’s revealed that every character in the damn game is part of the same inbred family. Then Cylons (!?!) come out of nowhere, but they get defeated in under three minutes by THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, which involves our heroes dying and then getting brought back to life by another Cylon and THE POWER OF BAD POETRY. In the end, all is well, and Layton has his Oprah moment in which he yells “You get forgiveness! You get forgiveness!” at everyone around. Cue happy violin music!
And yet, none of this is half as disturbing as the frozen teenage girl moaning “Hmm, I enjoyed that!” whenever she solves a puzzle.
Seriously. What. The. Fuck.
Timovieman, you really need to finish the game. That ending has to be experienced first-hand to be believed.
ahahah, what a description, I stopped playing this one because I was “Laytoned-out” after Miracle’s Mask but I do need get back to it someday.
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