During today’s Nintendo Direct press conference, Level 5 CEO Akihiko Hino announced Professor Layton and The Secret of Super Civilization A (expect that title to change when the game hits Western shores,) the latest and apparently last entry in the popular Professor Layton series.
Hino announced that the game would be “Layton’s final adventure,” much to the surprise of series fans. Hino also said that the game would feature new styles of puzzles not seen in previous Layton games. A sort of successor to the series, entitled Layton Bros., starring Prof. Layton’s son, has already been announced for iOS.
The Professor Layton series was something of a surprise success for both Level 5 and Nintendo, who publishes the game in the West. The puzzle-adventure game was first quietly released in 2007, and the series has since gone on to sell over 13 million copies, making it one of the most successful original IP’s to emerge on the DS.
It’s strange then that Level 5 would put an end to the series when it’s still very, very popular, but then again, I suppose ending it now is preferable to dragging the series out longer than it needs to go. Of course, this is the video game industry, and nothing is ever truly over — Halo 3 and God of War 3 were both advertised as the end of their respective sagas, and we’ll be getting sequels to both of those games within a year, so perhaps Layton fans can hold out hope that Level 5 and Nintendo will bring back the character at some later point.
Source: Siliconera
