Level-5 announced today that the latest title in the Layton franchise, Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy, is coming out later this year. The news comes via a newly launched official website for the upcoming Layton game, off the back of a bunch of marketing for the game's release in Japan. Many fans were curious whether the game would make it overseas at all, but this confirms it will arrive on mobile platforms and 3DS before too long.

Expect Layton's Mystery Journey to arrive on mobile devices first, specifically on July 20, 2017 in a global release. A Nintendo 3DS release for the puzzle game should follow in the months afterwards, "early autumn" according to Level-5. The 3DS release comes as somewhat of a surprise after the previous Layton spin-off game, Layton Brothers: Mystery Room, was launched solely on mobile platforms. Mobile appears to remain the priority for Layton's Mystery Journey, but a 3DS release confirmed so early says the platform remains a major consideration in development.

Layton's Mystery Journey is not, unfortunately, a Professor Layton title. The popular Professor Layton games from the past decade included two distinct trilogies as well as a spin-off cross-over with Phoenix Wright. Modern Layton titles, including the Layton Brothers title, the previously announced Layton 7, and now Layton's Mystery Journey, are stylistically similar and implied to take place in the same world as Professor Layton, but stand apart. It's unclear why Level-5's gone so far to separate themselves from the Professor Layton series, but it is what it is.

That said, it appears Layton's Mystery Journey will prove a true spiritual successor to Professor Layton. It'll focus on the same puzzle-rich, humorous experience with several unique characters, and bring back animated sequences as well. It will change in some ways, however. Layton's Mystery Journey will break apart the game into several smaller mysteries, likely compartmentalized to better suit mobile marketplace standards. Level-5 says that the smaller adventures do build into a larger plot, at least.

Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy launches on mobile platforms worldwide on July 20, 2017, with a 3DS release to follow in "early autumn." Stay tuned for more information in the months to come.