Layton's Mystery Journey Launches Worldwide On July 20

A recent English edition of Nintendo Direct contained lots of big news, including release dates for Arms (June 18) and Splatoon 2 (July 21). But the Japanese edition had even more.

As announced during the streamed event, Layton's Mystery Journey (formerly known as Lady Layton) will debut on Japanese 3DS systems and smartphones around the world on July 20.

Professor Layton's adventure ended in Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, but his spirit lives on through his daughter, who stars in Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaire's Conspiracy. As in previous Layton games, players will guide the titular detective through a quirky, endearing world filled with mystery and intrigue, in which they'll need to solve crimes by completing a variety of different logic puzzles.

As Gematsu notes, the 3DS version of Layton's Mystery Journey will be a complete package, while the mobile version will cost less but will contain (optional) item-based in-app purchases. Otherwise, aside from presentations tailored to each platform, the games will be identical. At launch, Layton's Mystery Journey will be available in Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Korean. According to Gematsu, the Japanese press release said that the game will launch on Japanese 3DS systems "first," implying an eventual release in the U.S., but doesn't offer any more details on that front.

Hopefully, American and European Layton fans will hear more soon, maybe at E3 2017. The Professor Layton series is one of the very best that the 3DS has to offer, and while the mobile version is more than welcome, it'll be nice to play the game on a device free of other distractions (and in-app purchases).