Ranking Every Professor Layton Game

May 30, 2024 • 2900 words (12 min)

Professor Layton is one of my favorite series of games ever made. They were some of the first games I ever played—I own every single one on DS—and I deeply enjoy the characters, the world, the puzzles, and the wild but still somehow emotional plot twists. Since I've played every game in the series (that released in the US; no Mansion of the Deathly Mirror), and since a new game is coming out in 2025, I decided to rank each game from worst to best.

9. Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy

This spin-off game follows Katrielle, the daughter of Professor Layton, as she solves mysteries around London. It culminates in a conspiracy involving her assistant, Ernest, who's secretly a member of a wealthy family and believes that the millionaires in London have betrayed his family. Katrielle is also searching for her father, who has gone missing. However, this plot thread goes unresolved and only exists to set up the anime.

This is the most recent game in the series, and it suffers from a few problems: it's a spin-off (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as we'll see later), its characters and plot aren't very interesting, and it's aimed at a much younger audience. I wanted to like Katrielle as a protagonist, but she isn't given much of a personality beyond being energetic and liking food. her interactions with her companions aren't particularly interesting either. The talking dog is just kind of annoying, and while Ernest's unrequited feelings for her are at least something, the game doesn't do anything with that plot thread. The only time I was invested in him as a character was during the final case, where he's a lackluster twist villain.

All of the cases in the game feel like busy work. Unlike most other Layton games, where each mystery is another step toward uncovering the overall story, the cases are disconnected from each other. They're also just kind of boring, something this game has in common with the next one on the list. The last case is the only one that piqued my interest at all, because it comes the closest to a classic Layton mystery, but it's too little too late. This game also suffers from a common problem in the 3DS era of Layton games, which is that the puzzles are too easy. That does make more sense in this game, which is aimed at a younger audience, than something like the Phoenix Wright crossover. However, the game's childish tone is another reason why I'm not a fan. It was clearly meant to bring new, younger players into the series, rather than being a follow-up for people who grew up with the original games.

8. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

In the final game in the mainline series, Layton works with another archaeologist named Professor Sycamore, who has discovered the last member of the ancient Azran race frozen in ice. They set off on a journey around the world to discover the mysteries of the Azran civilization while being chased by an evil corporation, who wants the Azran technology for their own purposes.

While I don't have strong feelings about Layton's Mystery Journey and recognize it wasn't made for someone like me, my dislike of Azran Legacy is much more personal. It was meant to be the big dramatic finale to the series, so the choice to drop the classic Layton formula in favor of a much less interesting story structure is baffling. Like Layton's Mystery Journey, it's made up of a series of smaller disconnected cases that take place around the world, rather than a single case unraveling in a mysterious town like most other Layton games. This structure destroys the emotional connection and atmosphere that could be built up in a single location, and makes a good chunk of the game feel like boring busy work.

The ending of Azran Legacy is defined by a series of plot twists, and not the fun kind from previous games. First, it's revealed that Professor Sycamore is actually Descole, the villain who has haunted the prequel trilogy. This is a twist I really enjoy—the contrast between the soft-spoken Sycamore and his theatrical alter-ego is great, and it's foreshadowed well throughout the game. However, then it's revealed that Sycamore is actually Layton's older brother, that the other villain of the trilogy is their father, that Layton's assistant has been working for their evil father the entire time… This is all fired at the player in quick succession and it doesn't add much to the story, it just feels like the writers felt obligated to have some huge twist and pulled these details out of nowhere. Most of the previous games had a twist related to the nature of the town Layton was exploring or the people living in it. However, Azran Legacy isn't focused around a single mysterious location, so it can't have that story beat, and the game trips over itself to make up for it. Overall, it's a disappointing conclusion to the series.

7. Professor Layton and the Last Specter

As the first game in the prequel trilogy, Last Specter explores how Layton met his apprentice, Luke. The pair investigate a strangle monster that attacks Luke's home town of Misthallery at night, responding to the call of a mysterious flute.

We're moving from games I think are outright bad to games that are just mediocre. Even though Last Specter was one of the first Layton games I played, I don't have any strong feelings about it. The story is fine, and although Descole kind of comes out of nowhere at the end, he's a fun character and the robot sequence is pretty good. The big twist is also fine, but doesn't strike the same emotional impact as some of the better games in the series; maybe I'm too heartless to get attached to the big squishy dinosaur. Still, I enjoy seeing Layton and Luke's early interactions, and the atmosphere and visuals of the game are as good as ever, especially compared to the other prequel games, which had a rough transition to the 3DS.

6. Professor Layton and the Curious Village

In the first game in the series, a baron has left a puzzle behind after his death, stating that whoever solves it will inherit his fortune. Professor Layton and Luke travel to the strange town of St. Mystere to solve the puzzle for the baron's widow, but they uncover a much deeper mystery about the townspeople as they investigate.

This is another game that I don't have strong feelings about. It mostly suffers from being the first Layton game ever made: some quality of life features like the memo function are absent, the puzzles are kind of random and unrelated to how you came across them, etc. Don Paolo isn't very strong as a main villain and is much more fun as a side character in later games, and he's also not connected to the main plot. However, he does cause the iconic ferris wheel scene, so I forgive him for his faults. Despite some early installment jankiness, this game established a lot of the personality of the series going forward, and it's a solid first entry.

5. Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

In this spin-off, Professor Layton teams up with Phoenix Wright to investigate the town of Labyrinthia, which seems to exist in medieval times with no knowledge of the outside world. People in the town are accused of doing witchcraft, and the team have to figure out if their "magic" is real, as well as what's really going on behind the curtains.

Finally, we're onto games that I really enjoy. This game is wild in a lot of fun ways. The twist at the end is one of the more out-there in the series, but it still manages to have an emotional impact behind it. Layton and Luke play off of Phoenix and Maya's characters very well, and every scene where they interact is great, including one of the final trials where Layton is positioned as a prosecutor against Phoenix, the defense attorney.

Combining the art styles of Ace Attorney and Professor Layton can be a bit jarring. While the 3D models in this game look much, much better than in the other 3D Layton games, it can be strange to see the cartoony Layton characters alongside the more "realistic" anime-styled characters. The puzzles in Layton's sections are also, again, too easy, making the Phoenix Wright sections more fun to play. I've never played an Ace Attorney game, but this video essay said Layton vs Wright innovated on their gameplay mechanics in unique ways, so that's cool. While it isn't a masterpiece, it's still a fun time.

4. Layton Brothers: Mystery Room

This spin-off follows a young detective, Lucy, who teams up with Alfendi Layton, the son of Professor Layton. Alfendi seems to flip between two versions of himself: a relaxed, placid personality, and a more vicious one that revels in the work he does solving crimes. As they investigate cases, the pair (or trio?) get closer to uncovering a mystery buried in Alfendi's past.

This game is surprisingly good, especially when compared to the other spin-off about a child of Professor Layton. It follows the same structure I hated in Layton's Mystery Journey and Azran Legacy—a series of somewhat disconnected cases—but handles this structure much better. The individual cases can vary, but they're generally interesting on their own. However, what carries them is the strength of the main characters, their developing relationship, and the overarching mystery of the game. This mystery is threaded through each case before culminating in the final few cases with a satisfying ending. Each investigation builds on the previous ones, increasing the tension of the game and revealing more about the characters and their secrets. The story is also darker than other Layton games, with quite a bit of violence and a serial killer villain. It works well as a more mature continuation of the series.

Mystery Room does have a few problems, most notably the racism in one case and the portrayal of Alfendi's dissociative identity disorder. It falls into stereotypes like the "evil alter" that demonize real people with the disorder. Outside of that, though, Alfendi is an engaging character. There's some real emotion behind the betrayal of one of his friends and his reaction to it, unlike in Katrielle's story. Lucy, while she is a bit bland in comparison to Alfendi, plays off him well, and their interactions make up the meat of the story.

The music is also fantastic. The jazz is gorgeous and has a ton of personality, like the music in every game except Layton's Mystery Journey. The main six games rely heavily on accordion, with the original trilogy using a mostly classical sound with a bit of jazz influence (Unwound Future's main theme does this particularly well). The prequel trilogy used guitar and percussion for more of a Spanish-inspired sound. Mystery Room also has a distinct sound, retaining very few of the original Layton instruments, but the music is so good that I can't complain.

3. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

The first game on the 3DS has Layton traveling to a party city in the middle of the desert to investigate a masked man who has been terrorizing the townspeople. Meanwhile, flashbacks explore Layton's childhood, focusing on his best friend, Randall, who seemingly died while exploring ancient ruins.

The graphics in this game are rough: the 3D models are low-poly and have awkward animations, and it's always a relief when a cutscene uses classic 2D animation, so we don't have to stare into their soulless eyes. However, the story more than makes up for the visuals. It can be tricky to explore the past of an iconic character, and we already saw how Azran Legacy stumbled over expanding on Layton's childhood and family. On the other hand, the high school storyline in Miracle Mask is great for one specific reason: Randall. He has some great interactions with Layton and their other friends, and it's heartbreaking when he “dies.” It's even more heartbreaking when he returns later in the game as the Masked Gentleman, manipulated into attacking the town by Descole. He believes that Layton and their friends have betrayed him, and it makes for some fantastic angst during the ending of the game.

While the city of Monte d'Or doesn't have as much of a heavy atmosphere as other towns in the series, its background visuals are beautiful, and its unique vibe makes for a nice change of pace from the other gloomy, mysterious locations. I also like how the investigation into the identity of the Masked Gentleman plays out. Each possible suspect is looked into, and each of them has a plausible reason for why they might be the culprit, which speaks to the strength of the writing. The story spins a complex web of each characters' motivations, relationships, and their history with each other. A common criticism of this game is that the twist is too easy to guess, but I played these games at a young enough age that I can't remember not knowing the twist, and it's likely meant to be easy to guess to focus more on the interactions between the characters. This is easily the best game in the prequel trilogy, and if it looked and played like the original games, it would be even better.

2. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

In the second game of the original trilogy, Layton and Luke travel to the melancholy town of Folsense searching for the Elysian Box, which supposedly kills anyone who opens it. The town looks exactly as it did fifty years ago and is run by a man, Anton, who hasn't aged a day.

Diabolical Box and Unwound Future often trade the first place spot on people's rankings of the series, and for a good reason: they're both fantastic. For me, the only reason this game is second is because it didn't hit me quite as hard emotionally, but I've grown to appreciate it more as I've gotten older. Folsense is the best spooky little town in the series, thick with an incredible atmosphere thanks to the colorful glimmering lights, run-down darkened corners, and melancholic music. The story captures the eerie sense of a town and a person frozen in time, both literally and metaphorically. Anton, along with being at the heart of the emotional weight of the game, is a fun villain, and the cutscene where Layton and Luke are seemingly transported to a ballroom dance in the past is another one of my favorites. The ending captures the core of the Layton series' storytelling: an impossible to predict twist that is somehow interwoven into the deeply emotional themes of the story.

1. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

In the final game of the original trilogy, Layton is sent a letter from someone claiming to be an older version of Luke, who says that London ten years in the future has fallen into chaos. Layton and Luke seemingly travel to the future, where they meet "Future Luke" and uncover what's really going on.

Unwound Future is a perfect ending to the first trilogy, and a fantastic game on its own. Although it has some pacing issues, forcing you to go around in circles at a few points, once you get into the story, it's a great ride. Layton and Luke are given much more depth, both individually and in their relationship with each other. I love the subplot about Luke worrying about losing his friendship with Layton because he's moving to America (and I hope the new game continues this storyline). Their interactions with "Future Luke" are also entertaining, and he rounds out the cast as a sharp-witted, cynical companion to Luke's innocence and Layton's politeness. Layton's own storyline about his lost love is also well done, a great exploration of his past like in Miracle Mask, and the last scene of the game is heartbreaking.

Outside of the more emotional scenes, this game also has some of my favorite set pieces. The puzzle battle in the casino is a great introduction to "Future Luke," and the scene afterward where they're attacked by mobsters is the funniest cutscene in the entire series. The reveal that Future London is actually a set built underground is another classic Layton twist, paired with emotional reveals surrounding multiple characters' true identities. I can even forgive some of the clock puzzles for being too easy because the strong sense of theme is charming.

Conclusion

There are only a couple of games in the Layton series that I would consider outright bad—most of them are great for their own reasons, and even the spin-offs have unique elements that, for the most part, work. The original trilogy is one of the best video game trilogies ever made, with each game expanding on the previous, tightening the controls and storytelling before it comes to an incredible conclusion in Unwound Future. While the prequel trilogy has its flaws, especially in the jump to 3D, it still has a fantastic middle chapter that captures the emotional storytelling of the original trilogy while successfully experimenting with the Layton formula. Also, the movie is fun. The spin-offs that came after the mainline series ended are a mixed bag, but there's still more good than bad. In the future, I hope that New World of Steam is a worthy continuation of the series, and potentially sparks a trilogy of its own.