The player controls the actions of a group of three protagonists as they move about a village called Misthallery: Professor Hershel Layton, his assistant Emmy Altava, and a young boy named Luke Triton.

In order to move about Misthallery, players tap a shoe-shaped icon on the bottom-right corner of the touch screen, and then the arrow representing the direction of the path they wish to take.

[4] While in Misthallery, the player is capable of tapping anywhere on the bottom screen of the Nintendo DS system to investigate objects and reveal bits of dialogue, hint coins, collectible items, or hidden puzzles.

If they do not wish to solve the puzzle at the time, they can hit the button labelled "Quit" in order to exit the interface without losing any Picarats.

In order to play these minigames, the plot must have progressed far enough to have unlocked each of them, and more difficult levels require the completion of puzzles in the main game.

Lately, a monster who is believed by the town's population to be this specter has been attacking the village during the middle of the night, destroying homes and buildings.

[20] By these canals, the town is divided into five distinct regions: the Crossroads, the Market, the East District, Ely Street, and Highyard Hill.

The town market is a shady place controlled by a mysterious entity known as the Black Raven,[21] the East District contains an abandoned warehouse,[22] and Ely Street as well as Highyard Hill are primarily residential areas.

[24] As the story begins, a woman named Emmy Altava is hired to be Professor Layton's assistant at the fictional Gressenheller University.

After winning the trust of the Black Raven, a group of children who run the market,[21] Layton learns that the flute was auctioned to the now-deceased Evan Barde, once the richest man in Misthallery, soon before the Specter started attacking the town.

The three then head to Barde Manor to visit his daughter, Arianna, a girl who was once close friends with Luke, but is now suffering from a terminal illness and is believed by the townspeople to be a witch.

[23] Arianna refuses to talk to anyone, however, so Layton and Luke continue to question the townspeople while Emmy goes to the Scotland Yard for information regarding Evan Barde's death.

With the aid of Inspectors Chelmey and Grosky, she uncovers the records for the case before heading back to Misthallery to reunite with Layton and Luke.

Regardless, Chief Jakes remains adamantly opposed to the investigation of Barde's death, and demands that Layton and company leave the town within 24 hours.

Chief Jakes then appears at the lake, revealing that he had followed the Professor, and takes Arianna and Loosha into police custody, claiming them to be behind the Specter attacks.

[22] As Arianna and Loosha are being formally accused in front of the townspeople, Layton appears and exposes the true identity of the Specter: an excavation machine destroying the town in search of the "Golden Garden", ancient ruins believed to be beneath Misthallery.

[27] With Descole's plan revealed, he combines his machines into a giant mecha in a final attempt to level the town in search of the Golden Garden.

With the combined efforts of Layton, Luke, Emmy, Loosha, and the Black Ravens, the mecha is eventually defeated and Descole is forced to retreat.

Despite Loosha having been fatally wounded during the fight, she proceeds to destroy the floodgates of the town's dam, drying the lake and revealing the entrance to the Golden Garden.

[28] She fully recovers from her illness a year later, and the Golden Garden's discovery is then made public, marking the beginning of Layton's fame in the field of archaeology.

[19] Within Little London, the player can create and decorate their own room and perform errands for the townspeople, who consist of many characters from all four games in the Professor Layton series at the time of its creation.

[19] The game also includes characters from the animated movie released later the same year, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, such as singer Janice Quatlane as well as Melina and Oswald Whistler.

[40] The second season of the series was also scheduled to have animated movies that take place between the games, starting with Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, which was announced alongside Last Specter.

Square Enix Music Online rated the soundtrack an eight out of ten,[46] stating that it "goes a little step further compared to its ancestors", and praised the quality of the orchestral renditions, calling them "superior to Professor Layton and the [Unwound Future], which already had fantastic arrangements.

"[46] RPGfan likewise praised the orchestral songs, and also spoke highly of the rest of the soundtrack, particularly "The Last Specter's Theme", stating that it was "sure to win over most any video game music fan.

[50] At the end of May 2011, Level-5 filed a trademark in the United States for Professor Layton and the Last Specter,[51] and the game was officially unveiled internationally following E3 2011.

[55] In the United Kingdom, it was the seventh-highest selling game on its week of release, and the third-highest on a single console following both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

[60] Many critics noted that although the game feels similar to past titles, the series had found a working formula and did not need to change.

[16][78] Neon Kelly of VideoGamer.com stated: "This will please the Professor's long-term supporters, but it's clear that the next instalment needs to bring in a fresh idea or two.

"[72] The Escapist gave Last Specter a score of four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "Another Professor Layton game, another bit of puzzling brilliance.