Luke Triton's Odyssey

Luke Triton's Odyssey
Game Box Art
Developer(s)	Pencil Interactive
Publisher(s)	Level-5
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Genre(s)	Platformer, Action-adventure
Release Date(s)	JP: July 24, 2020 US: September 24, 2020 EU: September 24, 2020
Mode(s)	Single-player
Age Rating(s)	ESRB: E PEGI: 3 CERO: A OFLC: G
Media Included	Nintendo Switch Catridge Digital Download

Luke Triton's Oddysey (known as Luke Triton Land in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) is a platformer game developed by Pencil Interactive for the Nintendo Switch. It is the first Professor Layton platformer game and also the first game starring Luke Triton. The game's animations for the cutscenes and gameplay were done by Korean animation Studio Mir.

Plot

Narrator: Once upon a time, two young lovers in a walk outside their home, where the sky was blue and sunny and the birds sang, Luke and Marina were so happy hat they were certain everyone must feel the same. But, alas joy is not fount in all hearts. Where there should be love and kindness there is jealousy and anger. The queen Darkering had such a heart - one filled with darkness and envy.
  Marina: Oh dear.
  Luke: Don't Worry, Marina. I bet the sun will be back.
  Narrator: Luke's wish was not to be. The day turnet dark and the skies thundered with ill will and fury.
  Luke: YIKES!
  Narrator: In the brief moment that Luke closes his eyes, his happiness was shattered...
  Luke: MARINA!
  Narrator: The evil queen Darkering had kindnapped Marina. She had always been jealous of the girl's beauty. Now she would rob her of it.
  Darkering: (Sinister laugh) Poor, Lucki. You never appreciate what you have until it's gone. Isn't that right?!
  Luke: No! No! Give her back!
  Narrator: As Darkering took to the skies with his beloved Marina, Luke knew he had to act fast.
  Marina: Luke! HELP ME!!
 

Narrator: Running with all his might, he chased the queen through the lands. Luke scampered and scurried all the way to... The Unknown Land!

Characters

Main

• Luke Triton

Supporting

• Dicky the Seller
• Marina Triton
• Animals Fairies
• Mighty Minotaur

Antagonists/Bosses

• Queen Darkering
• Demolisher
• Lugosi
• Zuta the Armadillo
• Crunsher
• Dunga Pigletdrik
• Shadow Luke

Gameplay

Unlike all Professor Layton games, Luke Triton's Odyssey is a 2D platformer. The is used for Jumping, while the is used to perform a Dash Attack. The is used for ducking. When using in midair, Luke performs a Ground Pound. Throwing an enemy or object is done by pressing the , but the player must tilt the Nintendo Switch L-Stick in the desired direction, and then press again to make Luke throw in that direction.

Areas and Levels

There are six lands with six levels (ten in the final land) each; five normal levels and one boss level. Additionally, secret levels can be unlocked by finding a Secret Map in certain levels. After beating a boss, Luke Triton must return to Marina to buy a map of the next continent. Depending on the amount of money the player has, they can go in any order they choose.

• Pacific Sands
  • Tutorial: A New Journey Comes
  • Shop: Dicky's Shop
• Area 1: Lost Ruins
• Level 1
• Level 2
• Level 3
• Level 4
• Secret Level 1
• Secret Level 2
  • Boss Level: The Night of the Treeman
    • Boss: Demolisher
• Area 2: Disturbed Deserts
• Level 1
• Level 2
• Level 3: Shadow's Race
• Level 4
• Secret Level 1
• Secret Level 2: Shadow's Race Rematch
  • Boss Level: Crunchy Time
    • Boss: Crunsher
• Area 3: Savage Jungle
• Level 1: Spooky Waters
• Level 2
• Level 3
• Level 4: Night in the Creepy Mansion
• Secret Level 1
• Secret Level 2
  • Boss Level: Look Out, with the Gargoyle!
    • Boss: Lugosi
• Area 4: Casinotopia
• Level 1
• Level 2: Midnight Jellyfishes Seas
• Level 3
• Level 4
• Secret Level 1
• Secret Level 2
• Secret Level 3
  • Boss Level: Armadillo's Showdown
    • Boss: Zuta the Armadillo
• Area 5: Frozen Cliffs
• Level 1
• Level 2
• Level 3: Icecy Waters
• Level 4
• Secret Level 1: The Spider Empire Strikes Back
• Secret Level 2
• Secret Level 3
  • Boss Level: The Pigs Kitchen
    • Boss: Dunga Pigletdrik
• Area 6: Queen Darkering's Fortress
• Level 1
• Level 2: Deep Black Seas
• Level 3
• Level 4
• Level 5
• Level 6
• Level 7
• Secret Level 1: Shadow's Final Lap
• Secret Level 2: Danger Mountain
• Secret Level 3: Land of Despair
  • Boss Level: To the Queen's Lair
    • Boss: Queen Darkering

Development

Luke Triton Odyssey's development staret in 2018 and was developed by Pencil Interactive. Akihiro Hino was the game's director, while Ken Motomura and Tatsuya Shinkai were the producers. Development began after Pencil Interactive approached Level-5 and suggested that a Professor Layton platform game be made. The studio wanted to extend a gameplay dynamic prevalent in similar to Wario Land and Kirby games, which is Luke's "use of strength to overcome opposition", and had the developers at Pencil Interactive play those games to understand that dynamic. Design director Tadanori Tsukawaki asked Luke's animators "to strongly emphasize his manly characteristics" to help re-create this feel. Composer Kenichiro Saigo used Yo-Kai Watch for inspiration when writing the game's music.

Luke Triton's Odyssey was designed to be played by holding the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons sideways to emulate holding a NES or SNES gamepad.

Hino proposed the hand-drawn art style seen in the final game, though was initially opposed to the idea since future changes to a character's design meant changes to all of its individual animation frames. Over 2,000 frames were drawn to animate over 200 actions for Luke alone; over 6,000 frames were drawn for all enemy characters, including those that were removed from the final game. All the game's backgrounds and scenery were also hand-drawn. Program director Koichi Yagi stated that clever programming techniques were required to efficiently store and handle both the non-repeating backgrounds and the thousands of character frames in the Nintendo Switch console RAM during gameplay. Korean studio Mir assisted with character animations and both the opening and closing cutscenes, while studio OLM drew the backgrounds.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	87/100
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	B+
Eurogamer	9/10
Famitsu	34/40
Game Informer	9.5/10
GameSpot	8/10
GameSpy	88 / 100
GamesRadar	90 / 100
Game Bomb	90 / 100
IGN	9/10
NintendoLife	9/10
Nintendo World Report	9/10

Luke Triton Adventures received critical acclaim with a score of 9 out of 10 from IGN and a score of 34 out of 40 from Famitsu. Nintendo Life gave a score of 9. X-Play gave the game a 4.5 out of 5, praising the gameplay, soundtrack, and Luke's personality called "He's [Luke] pretty funny when starring an adventure like this". GameSpot gave it 8 out of 10, praising the beautiful art style, fun gameplay and Luke's Personality, but criticizing short game length.