Level-5 revealed the next Professor Layton game as Layton 7 for smartphone during their recent “Vision 2015” event. Here are some details on exactly how the game plays, from a clip of the event.
CEO Akihiro Hino describes Layton 7 as a game that puts the world of the Professor Layton series together with smartphones, with a new way to play. Players will take on the role of various characters from the series to participate in a seven-person “table talk deduction game”.
The objective of the game is to talk and figure out who the Vampire is. At the start of the game, all seven players will be given a role, and nobody knows the other players’ roles except for their own, so they’ll have to rely on clues and hints to find the Vampire.
The demonstration footage starts at at 1:35. Players need to find out who the Vampire is, but in order to do that, they’ll need to communicate with the other players participating using keywords. Keywords in the game will be used to accuse and be accused by others of being the Vampire.
Once everyone makes their picks, the game will indicate how many people got it right, but it won’t say who just yet. While it may be difficult to explain with just a simple clip, the game revolves around these keywords and using bluffs to figure out who is lying or telling the truth. These keywords can be selected and quoted afterwards.
Additionally, gameplay will vary according to what role you get, and the player in this case received the “Fortuneteller” role for the demonstration. Once the game enters the “Night Phase,” certain abilities can be used. For example, the Fortuneteller can pick two players and find out if any of them are the Vampire; however, simply knowing the Vampire’s identity won’t be enough, as you’ll need to get everyone else to agree on your deduction and pass the information along through clues and quotes.
The trick is, no one will know who the Fortuneteller is, so someone making accusations could either actually be a Fortuneteller and know who the vampire is, or it could just be one of the other players bluffing or making a guess. Presumably, the Vampire will be able to bluff to divert attention away from himself as well.
There are many other skills, too, including some that prevent “assaults” by the Vampire, and many other unique character skills. After some time passes, there will be a moment where you’ll need to guess who is the Vampire. If there weren’t any good hints provided along the way, you’ll just need to take your best guess.
The Vampire can assault villagers, and once they do that enough times, they will be declared the winner, so players will need to work together and figure out the Vampire’s identity before this happens. The game ends when either the Vampire or other players win.
Layton 7 will release sometime this summer in Japan for iPhone and Android devices. A Western release has not been announced yet.
Published: Apr 13, 2015 04:29 pm