Nintendo DS Exclusive Getting Remake 20 Years After Original Release

A Nintendo DS exclusive game is getting an official remake, roughly 20 years after its original release. And while the original game was a Nintendo exclusive, this remake won’t be. Further, while Nintendo was involved in publishing the original, it is not involved in publishing the remake, which explains why it is multi-platform. These platforms include PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. While there is a last-gen Nintendo version, there is no last-gen PlayStation version. Meanwhile, there is no word of an Xbox version at all.

The new announcement comes from Japanese developer and publisher Level-5, who has specifically announced a remake of Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which will aptly be titled Professor Layton and the Curious Village Remake. According to Level-5, the remake is slated to release sometime in 2027 in its first-ever re-release, unless you count it being ported to mobile phones the following year in 2008. How much the remake will cost when it releases is not information we currently have, but there is an announcement trailer, which can be viewed below. The trailer is unfortunately in Japanese, but this will be a worldwide release, so there is no doubt there will be an English localization. Why an English trailer hasn’t been prepped for the announcement is a peculiar strategy, but not totally uncommon for games coming out of Japan.

2007 Nintendo DS Exclusive Game

As for the game itself, for those unfamiliar with it, it is a puzzle adventure game and the first game in the Professor Layton series, which continues with new installments in the present era. While it debuted in 2007, this was only in Japan. If you remember it as a 2008 game, this is because this is when it came to the United States. No matter where you were in the world, the only platform you could play it on was the Nintendo DS, and this is at least partially because Nintendo was the publisher of it outside of Japan.

Upon release, the Nintendo DS game earned a very solid 85 on Metacritic and won Best Handheld Game at the VGAs, which would go on to become The Game Awards. Meanwhile, no exact sales figures have ever been shared, but it’s understood to have sold well.

In the game, you play as an English gentleman and famous archeologist by the name of Professor Layton, who has traveled to the remote village of St. Mystere, accompanied by his young apprentice Luke, in response to a request from the widow of a wealthy baron. What does the widow of a wealthy baron want with Professor Layton? Well, the Baron’s will decrees that the family treasure, a Golden Apple, is hidden somewhere in the village, with whoever finds it first being declared the sole inheritor. You must find it on her behalf.

As for the remake, it is unclear what is new beyond updated visuals. No doubt the gameplay has been adjusted to retrofit the game to a single screen, but how exactly that will be realized remains to be seen.

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