Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

I got it, the final game in the series!

So I finally got around to it and got the last game in the series. And what a ride. It starts with the Professor, Luke and Emmy being taken to the town of Froenburg where an archeologist professor Sycamore have found a living mummy and needs the help of the professor. They find the professor near an cryogeneticfrozen girl hidden behind a wall appearing to be ice, but is actually glass. And as soon I see Sycamore I know the twist of the story... he's freaking Descole. A bit tipped off by his butler that I recall from the end of the last game. But as that ending set up, Descole isn't anyone to care about during the game since instead we have the military organisation Targent looking for the remnants of the Azran, a prehistoric civilisation that created futuristic technology but somehow disappeared from the face of the earth, the Atlantis myth pretty much. And that is something I really like. I liked it in Golden Sun, I liked it in Mysterious Cities of Gold and I like it here. It's a staple of fantasy, especially since Tolkien and the Akallabeth.

Professor Sycamore I assume

So they release the girl that don't have any memory so Targent arrives and kidnapps the girl and Layton and Sycamore chase after on "Sycamores" flying machine... this scene and music is amazing. And it's the beginning of the game. Well, Layton and Luke boards Targents ship and rescue the girl as they fall near a town with Azran connections that opens up a chart on where to find five eggs that will lead to the Azran legacy. So your on a world tour. And like in Mysterious Cities of Gold they find ancient artefacts of the Azran and showcases this ancient civilisation. I don't know why, but I really like it. So they find the five eggs, but for some reason one of them have been switched by Targent so they infiltrate Targent's main base. As you climb the tower... like any Layton climatic ending, you confront Bronev, the leader of Targent that tries to pursued Layton to join, but Layton resist because he's Layton and then... Sycamore appears to be Descole and steals the key that was formed by the five eggs... oh no, didn't see that *sarcasm*. They escape and travels to Froenburg and enters the hidden chamber again and there Targent, Descole and Layton have a standoff until... Emmy betrays Layton for her Uncle Bronev... That took me by surprise. No really, that was an interesting twist. Especially since they established her for 3 games and a movie. But that doesn't stop there. Emmy uses Luke as a bargain tool and goes with Bronev which leaves Layton and Descole as the only ones to stop Bronev as they figured out that the Azran Legacy can potentially destroy the world. The rivals find Luke after crossing a chasm and enters a maze with stone guardians. Descole breaks most of them, but one get ready to fire on Luke, but Descole jumps in between and yet another twist is revealed. Descole and Layton are brothers. And Descole is the real Hershel Layton as their parents were kidnapped by Targent and the older brother gave his name to his younger brother as he was adopted by his foster family that was introduced in the other 3DS game.

Best scene in the game, the attack of the flying machines

And that is not all. Apparently Bronev is their real father that went insane due to losing his wife and somehow climbed to the top of Targent. Layton and Luke continues and confront Bronev and Emmy at the top of the tower, but are unable to stop Bronev to put the girl in a sacrificial machine and, even if he hesitates for a moment, stabs a dagger in her heart. This actives the girls real function as the last created Golem of the Azran civilisation that went under due to giving the Golem sentient and still treat them as slaves so they revolted and crushed the Azran civilisation that in their final act locked the Golems away with the safeguards Layton traveled around to find. This is pretty much like the first season of the Mysterious Cities of Gold. Of course what they need to do is stop the machines heart by blocking the light it emits to some crystals. Layton, Emmy and Luke steps up to the task and even Descole appears again. But there is five lights and the girl can't enter the light due to being a golem so Bronev atones for his sin as all he believed in has proven false so he enters the light and stops the machine. The girl dissolves as she has fulfilled her purpose and Grosky apprehends Bronev as he have been chasing Targent all over the game. Meanwhile Chelmey was on a honeymoon toghether with his wife. A clever way to have him in the game while not interacting with Layton who he doesn't meet until Pandora's Box. The game ends with pretty much Emmy saying her farewell as she need to get away and the ending sequence is Layton and Luke travelling to a little town to solve an inheritance dispute which is the start of the very first game, the Mysterious Village. A really fun way to end the series and tie it together with all the games. Of course one point I thought that the game hinted toward the spider machine in the Unbound Future episode, but maybe it was mentioning the Spectre's Call. I was a bit disappointed in that it was rather short on the puzzle side. Really, apparently only 150 puzzles and they weren't that hard to find either. It says I got 149, but I don't know if it doesn't count the final game ending puzzle or not. Well, can't wait until Lady Layton releases.