Professor Layton and the New World of Steam Trailer Reveals Series' First 3D Gameplay

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam brings the beloved puzzle solving franchise forward by incorporating 3D gameplay for the first time.

A trailer released during the Level 5 Vision event, below, shows off this new means of exploration as we see Professor Layton and his trusty companion Luke walking around the U.S. town of Steam Bison.

Previous games in the franchise almost worked as a visual novel, with players’ movement being limited to choosing an arrow button and being shifted to a new 2D image. And while Level 5 hasn’t moved away from this mechanic completely, players will instead navigate a fully built 3D world in The New World of Steam.

Players will similarly be presented with a scene and arrows to move around but now have this full 3D world to explore from a first person perspective.

Unlike previous games, players can, for example, see a shifty character well in the background and make a point to head straight there, instead of not knowing what’s around the corner at all.

Announced in early 2023, The New World of Steam has been a long time coming but fans still have a while to wait. Though many were hoping for a more concrete release date at the showcase, Level 5 stuck to its generic 2025 guns.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.