It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Level-5’s top-hatted, puzzle solving English professor, but he’s coming back in a big way in 2014: during this morning’s Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced that two Professor Layton games will finally be making their way West next year.
The first game is the long awaited Professor Layton X Ace Attorney, a crossover game that combines the cross-examination sequences of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series with Professor Layton’s trademark brain teasers and logic puzzles. The game focuses on both Prof. Layton and Phoenix Wright, as they attempt to use their specialized skills to unravel the mystery of Labyrinth City, a medieval town that they were magically transported to. The game’s story was written by Shu Takumi, the writer behind most of the Ace Attorney games. While Nintendo of America lists the game as a “2014” release, Nintendo of Europe was a little more specific with their timing, as they say the game will be out sometime early next year.
The next Prof. Layton game coming our way is Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, the sixth and supposedly final game in the series. The Azran Legacy will be released in Europe in November of this year, but for some reason it won’t be available Stateside until sometime in 2014.
Level-5 says that the Azran Legacy will be the final game to star Professor Layton, but it won’t be our last glimpse of the Professor: following the success of the original Prof. Layton movie (The Eternal Diva,) Level-5 says they’re producing at least two other movies starring characters from the game.