Welcome to the official website for Professor Layton and the Lost Future, the third game in the Professor Layton series. Layton and Luke must travel through time in order to solve the puzzle-filled mystery that awaits them and to save London!
The Storyline and Background
The famous Professor Layton and his assistant Luke Triton have begun investigation into recent baffling and disturbing events that have taken place in our capital city London. Most worryingly of all, our esteemed prime minister Bill Hawks has vanished and rumours in the city suggest that the jiggery-pokery involves time travel – maybe even into the future! Although touted to be Layton’s toughest challenge yet, local experts say if anyone can do it, he can!
These calamitous events began last week, when a certain Dr. Stahngun unveiled a machine he purported could send people through time. The professor clearly hadn’t tested his machine thoroughly as the demonstration resulted in a massive explosion and the disappearance of our prime minister. What is to be done?
There is more to the story though. Sources indicate prominent scientists nationwide have been vanishing for some time. Not only that, but it seems Professor Layton agrees that there is something to this time-travel theory. One informant even suggested Layton may have received a letter from a Luke Triton of the future! Unbelievable!
Professor Hershel Layton – famed archaeologist and mystery solver. We know of his famous cases, but who is he really? Where does he come from? And where did he get that distinctive hat?
The Characters
Layton: The redoubtable Professor Hershel Layton is faced with his toughest challenge yet. To crack the case he must both travel to the future and dig deep into his past, reliving memories of days gone by.
Luke: Luke is in for the shock of his young lifetime as he comes face-to-face with his future self. Nevertheless, our young sleuth is as determined as ever to assist Layton in solving this most troubling of mysteries.
Flora: A familiar face from previous Layton games, Flora reappears to band together with her favourite detective team and face the future of London together.
Prime Minister Bill Hawks: The prime minister goes mysteriously missing after a grand experiment goes wrong. Can Layton and Luke track him down before anything more calamitous occurs?
Inspector Chelmey and Barton: The boys in blue are back again, doggedly pursuing any clues that might lead them to the missing prime minister.
Dr. Stahngun: Inventor of a time-machine that malfunctions spectacularly on its first outing, Dr. Stahngun seems remarkably unrepentant for someone who has just lost the nation’s leader.
The Puzzles and Gameplay
Professor Layton and the Lost Future offers more puzzles than ever! Over 165 fiendish and flabbergastingly fun puzzles await the professor and Luke. There are lots of different types: maze puzzles, logic puzzles, picture puzzles and many more!
The puzzles are satisfyingly integrated into the story and so it feels like you’re really moving the case forward with each successful solution. You don’t have to solve every puzzle to complete the story – you can always come back to trickier ones later. Keep an eye out for a temperamental bee who will help you locate any puzzles you might have missed.
Everybody has a favourite type of puzzle and others they find more difficult. As you play through the game it’s wise to scour each location seeking out hidden hint coins with your stylus. If you’re stumped by a particular mindboggler, you can then use these to ease your path to the solution.
You can receive up to three gentle hints on each puzzle and, if you’re totally floored, use a Super Hint. A Super Hint is a very strong hint that should lead you quickly to the correct answer.
Each puzzle is worth a different number of picarats, depending on its difficulty. Each time you give a wrong answer, you lose some picarats. If you’re a puzzling perfectionist, why not go for a high score? The more picarats you finish the game with, the better the reward!
Can’t get enough of puzzling? Then make sure to download extra brainteasers via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection every week! These will be saved to your Puzzle Index , for you to take on at your leisure.
There are also extra-special puzzles for you to sink your teeth into. For example, if you’ve already played Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, you might have found a secret code that will unlock a certain puzzle in this game…
What's New in Professor Layton and the Lost Future?
Enjoy new types of puzzles that keep the challenge exciting and fresh. Trying to work out the correct way to fill in a tangram, working your way through a gravity maze and taking part in a frog hop are just some of the new treats in store. There are even brand new Battle puzzles that appear at important points in the story!
Professor Layton and the Lost Future features all-new minigames in the Professor’s Trunk to take on as you progress through the game. Help a parrot deliver parcels, set an obstacle-free course for your own toy car and collect stickers to fill in the story in a sticker book – they’re so much fun you’ll want to complete them all!
You can now access extra-helpful Super Hints if the normal hints aren’t getting you anywhere. These cost 2 hint coins, but will definitely help you get out of a super-sticky spot! You can also now find some hint coins and hidden puzzles by interacting with objects onscreen.
The new, upgraded Memo Pad now includes two different thicknesses of line and eight colours with which to write on the Touch Screen. Brighten up your puzzle-solving and use it to take notes during the adventure!
This description was provided by the publisher.