Time for one last puzzle

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies is likely to already be on the wishlists of a number of puzzle fans in the West, arriving in Japan as the sixth main-series title starring the tea-drinking and fashionable hat-wearing academic. It'll bring a conclusion to the prequel trilogy and, if Level-5 sticks to its decision, the adventures with Layton at the forefront.

Six games following the same formula — give or take the occasional tweak — is a decent run, and this final adventure promises hundreds of puzzles to keep gamers happy. Of course, its arrival in Japan led to some sales disappointment as it was pushed to second in the charts in its debut week, and Siliconera has found a Media Create sales comparison that perhaps explains why the series is ending in its traditional form. Its arrival on 3DS has seen a major downturn in launch week sales.

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(2007) Professor Layton and the Curious Village – 136,736
(2007) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box – 293,897
(2008) Professor Layton and the Unwound Future – 347,360
(2009) Professor Layton and the Last Specter – 306,473
(2011) Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask – 119,591
(2013) Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies – 130,686

You can see a graphic of the results below (click to enlarge). There are considerations to bear in mind, of course, such as Miracle Mask launching with the 3DS in Japan and having a far smaller user base to target. With that said, sales of Azran Legacies are likely to disappoint Level-5, with well over ten million 3DS handhelds now sold in Japan; it's notable that Azran Legacies was outsold by the debut of Dynasty Warriors 8 on PS3, yet the 3DS has actually already surpassed the lifetime sales of Sony's home console in the region.

Perhaps too much of the same thing has deprived the series of some of the hype and anticipation it enjoyed in the past, but it's nevertheless been one of the most iconic franchises on Nintendo handhelds in the past six years.

[source siliconera.com]