Level 5 reveals a fascinating new trailer for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

During its recent Level 5 Vision 2024 livestream, Level 5 unveiled an incredible new trailer for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, a new entry in this classic puzzle series that will launch exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.

This is obviously not the first trailer that Level 5 released for this game, but this one was especially fascinating because it focused mainly on the gameplay and not just the story and presentation. It also confirmed that Professor Layton and the New World of Steam will release in 2025, with no specific date revealed.

What immediately sets New World of Steam apart from its predecessors are its ambitious 3D environments that players will be able to explore to look for clues and interrogate eccentric characters. The location is also quite interesting, as this game takes place in Steam Bison, a western/steampunk American city that looks very different from other settings in the series.

However, the most important part of any Professor Layton game is the puzzles, and this trailer certainly delivers on that front. Level 5 boasts that New World of Steam will feature the most puzzles in the series, with over 97 in total, and that it hired QuizKnock, a popular Japanese online group that focuses on creating riddles and puzzles, to design them.

Level 5 also revealed some interesting details about the plot of this game: The story will follow the mystery of Gunman King Joe, the ghost of a gunslinger who “was lost to the relentless march of progress”. So Professor Layton and the New World of Steam may have one of the most interesting main antagonists in the series.

Why is this game so important for Level 5 and its fans?

Undoubtedly, Professor Layton is one of Level 5’s most popular IPs, and fans often cite it as being responsible for putting the studio on the map. On top of that, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam is the first new entry in the series since 2017 and the first one since 2013 that actually stars Hershel Layton himself, so this return is quite a big deal for most fans.

New World of Steam is also the first Professor Layton game that Level 5 developed for the Nintendo Switch from the ground up (Since they also ported Layton’s Mystery Journey from the Nintendo 3DS in 2019). This is technically the Professor’s first foray into the home console market, which is especially significant for a franchise that used to be exclusive to handheld consoles for so many years.