The Professor Layton for Smash Ultimate support thread! See OP for where to meet us next after the boards close. Thank you for all your support!

[fogbadge]

It was, but it is only accessible via the Extras menu, so can't blame you for missing it.

i did spend most of my time re watching cutscenes

 

[Curious Villager]

I'm glad everyone has been enjoying LMJ for what it is! I do like how the case system allows you to play things in different orders...

I've been aware with the nuances that people have with this game for a long time now, at least in terms of story structure, which probably helps in playing the game on its own terms rather than what could have been.

Where's the Flora outfit though....

Hopefully they will give us a more focused plot next time though.

 

[amageish]

I've been aware with the nuances that people have with this game for a long time now, at least in terms of story structure, which probably helps in playing the game on its own terms rather than what could have been.

Where's the Flora outfit though....

Hopefully they will give us a more focused plot next time though.

Very true! It's good to have realistic expectations.

Watch as the Flora outfit is an award for completing all of the daily puzzles...

Hopefully! I don't think they should throw out all of the LMJ additions (I better be able to dress Hershel up in a lot of silly outfits next game), but would like more of an overarching story...

 

[Curious Villager]

Very true! It's good to have realistic expectations.

Watch as the Flora outfit is an award for completing all of the daily puzzles...

Hopefully! I don't think they should throw out all of the LMJ additions (I better be able to dress Hershel up in a lot of silly outfits next game), but would like more of an overarching story...

Yeah it might help if they where being a bit more transparent in regards to the main plot of the game, rather than hyping up the dog or Layton's disappearance....

You unlock Flora's outfit after you've 100% beaten the main game, found all the puzzles, hint coins (without spending any of them) and bonus items, bought all the costumes and office decorations and solved every daily puzzles and unlocked all the Layton museum images. So in other words, as soon as you have no more reason to play the game anymore...

Yeah that sounds like the best option, I feel like the game was mostly designed for mobile gaming and that specific audience in mind, if the next entry focuses more on the Switch, then we should hopefully get something more suited for that type of audience. They should definitely keep the customization feature yes, probably streamline it a bit more though.

 

[amageish]

Yeah it might help if they where being a bit more transparent in regards to the main plot of the game, rather than hyping up the dog or Layton's disappearance....

You unlock Flora's outfit after you've 100% beaten the main game, found all the puzzles, hint coins (without spending any of them) and bonus items, bought all the costumes and office decorations and solved every daily puzzles and unlocked all the Layton museum images. So in other words, as soon as you have no more reason to play the game anymore...

Yeah that sounds like the best option, I feel like the game was mostly designed for mobile gaming and that specific audience in mind, if the next entry focuses more on the Switch, then we should hopefully get something more suited for that type of audience. They should definitely keep the customization feature yes, probably streamline it a bit more though.

True, though that implies they have a "main plot" to hype up haha...

The real puzzle is modding the game to include the Flora outfit!

Yeah, definitely. It's very pick-and-up-and-play in comparison to other games. I don't think they should keep the "you get some points for checking in every day" mechanic, but I do like the core concept of customizing characters.

 

[Curious Villager]

True, though that implies they have a "main plot" to hype up haha...

The real puzzle is modding the game to include the Flora outfit!

Yeah, definitely. It's very pick-and-up-and-play in comparison to other games. I don't think they should keep the "you get some points for checking in every day" mechanic, but I do like the core concept of customizing characters.

Yeah, well... as close of a "plot" as this game has...

If its actually removed, I'd be pretty annoyed, but not surprised considering Level-5 and their history with Flora...
Is she one of the most neglected vidya characters of all time?

Yeah that's one mechanic that kind of bothers me with the game, the whole wait 24 irl hours to get more costumes to buy, why not make the costumes gradually more available as you complete more cases? Apparently the whole daily red coins thing was because you could apparently run out of them in the original before you could get all the outfits, but in that case, why not hide more throughout the overworld? Seems like unnecessary padding to force the player to wait whole day's for the chance to see a costume they may actually want to buy....

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Yeah, well... as close of a "plot" as this game has...

If its actually removed, I'd be pretty annoyed, but not surprised considering Level-5 and their history with Flora...
Is she one of the most neglected vidya characters of all time?

Well, there are some Crash Bandicoot characters that had been severely underused until now, so Flora's only slightly less ignored, I'd say.

 

[Curious Villager]

Well, there are some Crash Bandicoot characters that had been severely underused until now, so Flora's only slightly less ignored, I'd say.

Remember Chunky Kong?

Spoiler

The irony when the Layton reddit page got like three theory threads up about Flora being dead the past few days....

 

[amageish]

Yeah, well... as close of a "plot" as this game has...

If its actually removed, I'd be pretty annoyed, but not surprised considering Level-5 and their history with Flora...
Is she one of the most neglected vidya characters of all time?

Yeah that's one mechanic that kind of bothers me with the game, the whole wait 24 irl hours to get more costumes to buy, why not make the costumes gradually more available as you complete more cases? Apparently the whole daily red coins thing was because you could apparently run out of them in the original before you could get all the outfits, but in that case, why not hide more throughout the overworld? Seems like unnecessary padding to force the player to wait whole day's for the chance to see a costume they may actually want to buy....

Advertising it as a series of loosely-connected stories would have been a good approach...

I mean, some characters just don't get games anymore, but Flora is uniquely impressive in how it seems like Level-5 is actively trying to avoid anyone remembering her existence...

Ahhhhhh. I was wondering why they did it, as I agree. They definitely should have have just hidden more of the red coins and then tied the available costume lists to, like, total picarats or something... Forcing the player to check in on a Switch game daily is just a very mobile game design decision, especially as they have anti-time-travel tech too. It's like Mr Resetti has invaded Layton...

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Remember Chunky Kong?



The irony when the Layton reddit page got like three theory threads up about Flora being dead the past few days....

I sure do. I was happy that he got a spirit, at least. Chunky is too big for anything (just kidding).

 

[Curious Villager]

Advertising it as a series of loosely-connected stories would have been a good approach...

I mean, some characters just don't get games anymore, but Flora is uniquely impressive in how it seems like Level-5 is actively trying to avoid anyone remembering her existence...

Ahhhhhh. I was wondering why they did it, as I agree. They definitely should have have just hidden more of the red coins and then tied the available costume lists to, like, total picarats or something... Forcing the player to check in on a Switch game daily is just a very mobile game design decision, especially as they have anti-time-travel tech too. It's like Mr Resetti has invaded Layton...

More or less, yes. Advertise it as a slice of life type game I suppose that might work.

Flora's treatment reminds me a lot of how Leaf got treated pre Smash Ultimate. Fans where equally annoyed with how Gamefreak ignored her existence for many years until Sakurai brought her back in Ultimate, then all of a sudden she started to appear more regularly then. If Layton makes it in, hopefully the same could happen for Flora if she gets a cameo appearance on his stage or something, I could even see him commenting on how she has been missing in action for a long time before Ultimate.

I found it pretty funny when they blatantly tell you to forget about changing the Switch internal clock, talk about being self aware about what players would probably do...

I sure do. I was happy that he got a spirit, at least. Chunky is too big for anything (just kidding).

I suppose its something for the chunkster at least, I wonder what other long neglected videogame characters got revived after so long, I suppose Pauline and Wart are notable ones in recent memory.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

More or less, yes. Advertise it as a slice of life type game I suppose that might work.

Flora's treatment reminds me a lot of how Leaf got treated pre Smash Ultimate. Fans where equally annoyed with how Gamefreak ignored her existence for many years until Sakurai brought her back in Ultimate, then all of a sudden she started to appear more regularly then. If Layton makes it in, hopefully the same could happen for Flora if she gets a cameo appearance on his stage or something, I could even see him commenting on how she has been missing in action for a long time before Ultimate.

I found it pretty funny when they blatantly tell you to forget about changing the Switch internal clock, talk about being self aware about what players would probably do...


I suppose its something for the chunkster at least, I wonder what other long neglected videogame characters got revived after so long, I suppose Pauline and Wart are notable ones in recent memory.

The Smash Effect is pretty strong. Even the got this by having their very own 3DS theme.

In regards to the Crash Bandicoot example...

Spoiler

Pasadena and Von Clutch among others have come back recently, and datamines suggest that some even more obscure ones are coming back next month.

Kirby Star Allies also brought back a ton, especially Shimomura's characters like Adeleine, Rick, Kine and Coo.

 

[Curious Villager]

The Smash Effect is pretty strong. Even the got this by having their very own 3DS theme.

In regards to the Crash Bandicoot example...

Spoiler

Pasadena and Von Clutch among others have come back recently, and datamines suggest that some even more obscure ones are coming back next month.

Kirby Star Allies also brought back a ton, especially Shimomura's characters like Adeleine, Rick, Kine and Coo.

Oh that's right, I think Sonic Mania also brought back some old characters as well right?

Of course we also can't forget about King.K.Rool and Banjo & Kazooie for Smash.

Smash in particular has been pretty great when it comes to bringing back old and forgotten characters, playable or otherwise, and breathe new life into them and revitalize new interest for them, but I suppose that goes without saying.

I can't help but feel like we're missing another game that revived some forgotten characters as well....

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Oh that's right, I think Sonic Mania also brought back some old characters as well right?

Of course we also can't also forget about King.K.Rool and Banjo & Kazooie for Smash.

Smash in particular has been pretty great when it comes to bringing back old and forgotten characters, playable or otherwise, and breathe new life into them and revitalize new interest for them, but I suppose that goes without saying.

I can't help but feel like we're missing another game that revived some forgotten characters as well....

Yup, none other than Mighty and Ray! In regards to Kirby, I forgot that Kirby Team Clash Deluxe did bring back Nightmare.

Hmm, well, there is Street Fighter V making some deep pulls with Final Fight characters, I think.

 

[Curious Villager]

Yup, none other than Mighty and Ray! In regards to Kirby, I forgot that Kirby Team Clash Deluxe did bring back Nightmare.

Hmm, well, there is Street Fighter V making some deep pulls with Final Fight characters, I think.

Right.

I suppose in terms of Link's Awakening, they also reintroduced Marin to a whole new generation of audience (Even if she appeared in Hyrule Warriors and her song featured in Tri Force Heroes prior)

I guess most people would be more familiar with her successor Malon for the most part due her more recurring appearances as well being a part of Ocarina of Time.

They even included lyrics into the ballad of the Wind Fish theme.

I suppose there was also Brock and Misty as well in the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime, Misty in particular being MIA since the end of Advance Generation.

 

[amageish]

More or less, yes. Advertise it as a slice of life type game I suppose that might work.

Flora's treatment reminds me a lot of how Leaf got treated pre Smash Ultimate. Fans where equally annoyed with how Gamefreak ignored her existence for many years until Sakurai brought her back in Ultimate, then all of a sudden she started to appear more regularly then. If Layton makes it in, hopefully the same could happen for Flora if she gets a cameo appearance on his stage or something, I could even see him commenting on how she has been missing in action for a long time before Ultimate.

I found it pretty funny when they blatantly tell you to forget about changing the Switch internal clock, talk about being self aware about what players would probably do...

Yeah, definitely. It's a decent-ish serial mystery series.

Very fair! I really hope Flora will appear in a game regardless of Layton getting into Smash, but I suppose she won't if the next game is just adapting the Prof's anime arc...

It is good foresight for sure. It would have been kind of mean if it just punished players for doing it without actually warning them though, so it was good to stop everyone.

In terms of other games bringing back forgotten characters, Hyrule Warriors itself probably deserves praise for its varied roster. I mean, I don't think anyone was predicting seeing the Bug Princess again, nevermind her being playable.

 

[Curious Villager]

Yeah, definitely. It's a decent-ish serial mystery series.

Very fair! I really hope Flora will appear in a game regardless of Layton getting into Smash, but I suppose she won't if the next game is just adapting the Prof's anime arc...

It is good foresight for sure. It would have been kind of mean if it just punished players for doing it without actually warning them though, so it was good to stop everyone.

In terms of other games bringing back forgotten characters, Hyrule Warriors itself probably deserves praise for its varied roster. I mean, I don't think anyone was predicting seeing the Bug Princess again, nevermind her being playable.

I hope so too, but I doubt it, especially if they are adapting the events from the anime, like you said, I liked the JusticeforFlora zine collab a number of fans did earlier this month over at Tumblr, that was pretty sweet.

Yeah that makes sense.

Yeah Hyrule Warriors did bring back its fair share of Zelda characters, Agitha and Marin in particular where quite big surprises yes.

Oh right, now I remember the other game I forgot, Pokemon Masters, that game basically skyrocketed Rosa's popularity in particular and brought back some characters MIA as well.

If we really can't bring back fan favourite Layton characters in the main series again for whatever reason, then I really hope they do a spin off game where they bring everyone together (and release it world wide), I think that would be great to see at least....

 

[Hadokeyblade]

The Professor Layton nendoroid figure just came in, and now it's just sitting next to Sora and behind the characters that actually made it into Smash.

It looks like they put a little puzzle inside the box, but I can't solve it since I can't read Japanese all that well.

 

[Curious Villager]

That's nice to hear, I like that they did one for Layton, I wonder if a few other characters would get one eventually too, or at least Luke and Katrielle.

Anyway, I'm nearly done with the main story of LMJ Deluxe, just have the final case to go through and then I'll give my thoughts on the game I guess...

 

[Hadokeyblade]

The figure has Mystery journey branding so I would assume they'll make one for Kat at some point, since she's the protagonist of that specific game.

 

[fogbadge]

That's nice to hear, I like that they did one for Layton, I wonder if a few other characters would get one eventually too, or at least Luke and Katrielle.

Anyway, I'm nearly done with the main story of LMJ Deluxe, just have the final case to go through and then I'll give my thoughts on the game I guess...

i hope you dont mind if i comment on them

 

[Curious Villager]

The figure has Mystery journey branding so I would assume they'll make one for Kat at some point, since she's the protagonist of that specific game.

Oh that is interesting, I suppose we could see a Nendoroid figure for Katrielle too then at some point.
That's nice.

i hope you dont mind if i comment on them

Sure, why not I suppose.

 

[Curious Villager]

So I've more or less completed LMJ Deluxe now so here's my thoughts on the game. spoilers I suppose, not like this game has much of a "plot" to begin with, its more of a slice of life type game more than anything but oh well, better be safe than sorry I suppose....

Spoiler: story

Well first of all, I noticed that the writing in this game is very different than past games, which probably goes without saying since the game was marketed towards having a more comedic take than past entries. With that said, I wasn't really sure to what kind of audience the game was aiming for, the way the story gets told and how each case is resolved makes it feel like the game is aimed towards a much younger audience than the previous games did, but then again, you also have things like murder and characters saying words like "Hell" and Sherl contemplating suicide from time to time which makes things feel a tad jarring I suppose...

In regards to the cases, one thing that kind of bothered me, especially as I went on and solved more cases, is that the story doesn't seem to allow for any villains in the plot, every time you solve a case and Katrielle calls out the main culprit, the story seems to go out of its way to excuse the main culprit for their wrongdoings, which makes everything feel very artificial and safe. Like nevermind that a culprit tried to accuse an innocent woman for murder and get the whole London police force after her just so he could get back at his rival, at least he tried to resuscitate the dead woman so he's off the hook...

And there are more examples like that throughout the game, imagine if they did something like that in any of the previous Layton games....
In fact, that was always something the original series was praised for, it wasn't afraid to make some sacrifices in the end, even if it would end up leading the player to feel sad or empty inside, whether its a death, loss or arrest of a beloved and or/well written character. LMJ on the other hand seems to be very intend to push the whole "and they all lived happily ever after" narrative time and again.

Which I guess probably goes without saying, but the cases as a result are very repetitive since they more or less follow the same structure and formula, if something, it reminds me a lot of the egg fetch quest from Azran Legacy, which admittedly I was never really fond of either.

That's pretty much all I can say about the cases, only the last one is really somewhat relevant I suppose, the other ones mainly revolve around the seven dragons and the semi last few ones were more or less just filler episodes to pad out the game I suppose.

Spoiler: characters and side stuff

Now about the characters themselves, most of them weren't really much to write home about, especially the seven dragons, although I did quite like Emiliana as a character, hopefully we'll get to see more of her in the future and hopefully she doesn't get Flora'd/Grosky'd....

Kat herself is inoffensive I suppose, she kind of feels like a mix between Layton, Luke, Flora, Emmy and Wario in one if that makes any sense...
Ernest reminded me a bit of Pit and how much of a lapdog he is to Kat, hopefully they will tone him down a bit in the future
Sherl was okay I suppose, not much to say about him.
Hastings is just this game's Chelmey/Grosky
Emiliana was the best character and I'll look forward to seeing more of her in the future, hopefully...

I guess the game is mainly just to set up the main crew (Kat, Sherl, Ernest, Hastings and Emiliana) so they'll probably get further development later on.


As for the side content, the outfits in particular are a fun addition to the game, although I don't really like the fact that the game seems to artificially drip feed you this content by an IRL time based limit rather than rewarding you these items as you play through the game. I thought it was just the red coins that where restricted to a 24 hour reward rate (again, why not just make them obtainable in game via the overworld) but the additional outfits themselves seem to be restricted to a weekly basis, at least from what I can tell, especially since they advertised that there would be over 50 outfits but there are still only about 30 or so available in my game, even after completing it.

Such a shame, and I was so looking forward to using the Flora outfit too... Assuming they will let us use it to begin with knowing Level-5 and their unpredictability with that outfit in particular....

All in all, would I recommend this game to newcomers to the series? Eh you guys have phones right...? I'd say go play the HD remaster of Curious Village and Pandora's Box first, as well as Lost Future HD if that ever comes out...

I know Layton's Mystery Journey was designed as a reboot and to make the series more accessible for new players to get into, I still feel that the older games are the best way to go first in order to enjoy the series to the fullest. But that's just me. I don't know if the anime would ever get an English release, though from the looks of it, it may share the same fate as the Layton manga series. There are still subs available though if you do want to experience the world of LMJ though. The anime is probably the best way to go.

Overall though, LMJ was mainly designed with mobile gaming in mind and the way the game is structured really shows that, which isn't too much of a surprise considering that's where the game first released for. Level-5 mainly made a 3DS version, and later a Switch version because they knew that a large portion of Layton fans are Nintendo fans and would love to play the games on their systems, hence why there was more talk for this Switch port than the mobile ports of CV and PB HD on mobile.

Hopefully the game did well enough to encourage them to bring the mobile ports over to the Switch as well, I have no doubt that they would do very well on that system.


As for the future of the series, the next game in particular, If the next game is build with the Nintendo Switch in mind rather than an IOS/Android device, then hopefully there is a good chance that we will be getting a more mature and focused plot again, if they have to do these mini side stories they more or less started with since Azran Legacy and went full on out with in LMJ, make them optional side quests, something that the player isn't forced to go through but can still do if they personally want to with maybe some nice rewards at the end such as additional costumes or office decorations etc.

Remove the daily content limit too, especially don't stall them for a weekly basis, make them available right from the getgo or as you progress through the game, the Layton games aren't long enough to do that, leave that kind of stuff for the daily puzzles at the bonus section.

Some more continuity would be nice too but that's probably too much to ask for with Level-5....

All in all, that's just my two cents on the game, my apologies for the double post and the wall of text...

 

[fogbadge]

well im gonna wait til tomorrow before i read all that

 

[Curious Villager]

well im gonna wait til tomorrow before i read all that

TL;DR Emiliana is best girl

 

[GoodGrief741]

So I've more or less completed LMJ Deluxe now so here's my thoughts on the game. spoilers I suppose, not like this game has much of a "plot" to begin with, its more of a slice of life type game more than anything but oh well, better be safe than sorry I suppose....

Spoiler: story

Well first of all, I noticed that the writing in this game is very different than past games, which probably goes without saying since the game was marketed towards having a more comedic take than past entries. With that said, I wasn't really sure to what kind of audience the game was aiming for, the way the story gets told and how each case is resolved makes it feel like the game is aimed towards a much younger audience than the previous games did, but then again, you also have things like murder and characters saying words like "Hell" and Sherl contemplating suicide from time to time which makes things feel a tad jarring I suppose...

In regards to the cases, one thing that kind of bothered me, especially as I went on and solved more cases, is that the story doesn't seem to allow for any villains in the plot, every time you solve a case and Katrielle calls out the main culprit, the story seems to go out of its way to excuse the main culprit for their wrongdoings, which makes everything feel very artificial and safe. Like nevermind that a culprit tried to accuse an innocent woman for murder and get the whole London police force after her just so he could get back at his rival, at least he tried to resuscitate the dead woman so he's off the hook...

And there are more examples like that throughout the game, imagine if they did something like that in any of the previous Layton games....
In fact, that was always something the original series was praised for, it wasn't afraid to make some sacrifices in the end, even if it would end up leading the player to feel sad or empty inside, whether its a death, loss or arrest of a beloved and or/well written character. LMJ on the other hand seems to be very intend to push the whole "and they all lived happily ever after" narrative time and again.

Which I guess probably goes without saying, but the cases as a result are very repetitive since they more or less follow the same structure and formula, if something, it reminds me a lot of the egg fetch quest from Azran Legacy, which admittedly I was never really fond of either.

That's pretty much all I can say about the cases, only the last one is really somewhat relevant I suppose, the other ones mainly revolve around the seven dragons and the semi last few ones were more or less just filler episodes to pad out the game I suppose.

Spoiler: characters and side stuff

Now about the characters themselves, most of them weren't really much to write home about, especially the seven dragons, although I did quite like Emiliana as a character, hopefully we'll get to see more of her in the future and hopefully she doesn't get Flora'd/Grosky'd....

Kat herself is inoffensive I suppose, she kind of feels like a mix between Layton, Luke, Flora, Emmy and Wario in one if that makes any sense...
Ernest reminded me a bit of Pit and how much of a lapdog he is to Kat, hopefully they will tone him down a bit in the future
Sherl was okay I suppose, not much to say about him.
Hastings is just this game's Chelmey/Grosky
Emiliana was the best character and I'll look forward to seeing more of her in the future, hopefully...

I guess the game is mainly just to set up the main crew (Kat, Sherl, Ernest, Hastings and Emiliana) so they'll probably get further development later on.


As for the side content, the outfits in particular are a fun addition to the game, although I don't really like the fact that the game seems to artificially drip feed you this content by an IRL time based limit rather than rewarding you these items as you play through the game. I thought it was just the red coins that where restricted to a 24 hour reward rate (again, why not just make them obtainable in game via the overworld) but the additional outfits themselves seem to be restricted to a weekly basis, at least from what I can tell, especially since they advertised that there would be over 50 outfits but there are still only about 30 or so available in my game, even after completing it.

Such a shame, and I was so looking forward to using the Flora outfit too... Assuming they will let us use it to begin with knowing Level-5 and their unpredictability with that outfit in particular....

All in all, would I recommend this game to newcomers to the series? Eh you guys have phones right...? I'd say go play the HD remaster of Curious Village and Pandora's Box first, as well as Lost Future HD if that ever comes out...

I know Layton's Mystery Journey was designed as a reboot and to make the series more accessible for new players to get into, I still feel that the older games are the best way to go first in order to enjoy the series to the fullest. But that's just me. I don't know if the anime would ever get an English release, though from the looks of it, it may share the same fate as the Layton manga series. There are still subs available though if you do want to experience the world of LMJ though. The anime is probably the best way to go.

Overall though, LMJ was mainly designed with mobile gaming in mind and the way the game is structured really shows that, which isn't too much of a surprise considering that's where the game first released for. Level-5 mainly made a 3DS version, and later a Switch version because they knew that a large portion of Layton fans are Nintendo fans and would love to play the games on their systems, hence why there was more talk for this Switch port than the mobile ports of CV and PB HD on mobile.

Hopefully the game did well enough to encourage them to bring the mobile ports over to the Switch as well, I have no doubt that they would do very well on that system.


As for the future of the series, the next game in particular, If the next game is build with the Nintendo Switch in mind rather than an IOS/Android device, then hopefully there is a good chance that we will be getting a more mature and focused plot again, if they have to do these mini side stories they more or less started with since Azran Legacy and went full on out with in LMJ, make them optional side quests, something that the player isn't forced to go through but can still do if they personally want to with maybe some nice rewards at the end such as additional costumes or office decorations etc.

Remove the daily content limit too, especially don't stall them for a weekly basis, make them available right from the getgo or as you progress through the game, the Layton games aren't long enough to do that, leave that kind of stuff for the daily puzzles at the bonus section.

Some more continuity would be nice too but that's probably too much to ask for with Level-5....

All in all, that's just my two cents on the game, my apologies for the double post and the wall of text...

Yeah, those are basically my impressions too. Maybe I liked the main cast a bit less (except Emiliana, of course, she's the best), but my thoughts are basically the same. Here's hoping future titles can be more in line with the main series - no reason why we can't have Layton games co-existing with LMJ games and Layton Brothers games!

 

[fogbadge]

So I've more or less completed LMJ Deluxe now so here's my thoughts on the game. spoilers I suppose, not like this game has much of a "plot" to begin with, its more of a slice of life type game more than anything but oh well, better be safe than sorry I suppose....

Spoiler: story

Well first of all, I noticed that the writing in this game is very different than past games, which probably goes without saying since the game was marketed towards having a more comedic take than past entries. With that said, I wasn't really sure to what kind of audience the game was aiming for, the way the story gets told and how each case is resolved makes it feel like the game is aimed towards a much younger audience than the previous games did, but then again, you also have things like murder and characters saying words like "Hell" and Sherl contemplating suicide from time to time which makes things feel a tad jarring I suppose...

In regards to the cases, one thing that kind of bothered me, especially as I went on and solved more cases, is that the story doesn't seem to allow for any villains in the plot, every time you solve a case and Katrielle calls out the main culprit, the story seems to go out of its way to excuse the main culprit for their wrongdoings, which makes everything feel very artificial and safe. Like nevermind that a culprit tried to accuse an innocent woman for murder and get the whole London police force after her just so he could get back at his rival, at least he tried to resuscitate the dead woman so he's off the hook...

And there are more examples like that throughout the game, imagine if they did something like that in any of the previous Layton games....
In fact, that was always something the original series was praised for, it wasn't afraid to make some sacrifices in the end, even if it would end up leading the player to feel sad or empty inside, whether its a death, loss or arrest of a beloved and or/well written character. LMJ on the other hand seems to be very intend to push the whole "and they all lived happily ever after" narrative time and again.

Which I guess probably goes without saying, but the cases as a result are very repetitive since they more or less follow the same structure and formula, if something, it reminds me a lot of the egg fetch quest from Azran Legacy, which admittedly I was never really fond of either.

That's pretty much all I can say about the cases, only the last one is really somewhat relevant I suppose, the other ones mainly revolve around the seven dragons and the semi last few ones were more or less just filler episodes to pad out the game I suppose.

Spoiler: characters and side stuff

Now about the characters themselves, most of them weren't really much to write home about, especially the seven dragons, although I did quite like Emiliana as a character, hopefully we'll get to see more of her in the future and hopefully she doesn't get Flora'd/Grosky'd....

Kat herself is inoffensive I suppose, she kind of feels like a mix between Layton, Luke, Flora, Emmy and Wario in one if that makes any sense...
Ernest reminded me a bit of Pit and how much of a lapdog he is to Kat, hopefully they will tone him down a bit in the future
Sherl was okay I suppose, not much to say about him.
Hastings is just this game's Chelmey/Grosky
Emiliana was the best character and I'll look forward to seeing more of her in the future, hopefully...

I guess the game is mainly just to set up the main crew (Kat, Sherl, Ernest, Hastings and Emiliana) so they'll probably get further development later on.


As for the side content, the outfits in particular are a fun addition to the game, although I don't really like the fact that the game seems to artificially drip feed you this content by an IRL time based limit rather than rewarding you these items as you play through the game. I thought it was just the red coins that where restricted to a 24 hour reward rate (again, why not just make them obtainable in game via the overworld) but the additional outfits themselves seem to be restricted to a weekly basis, at least from what I can tell, especially since they advertised that there would be over 50 outfits but there are still only about 30 or so available in my game, even after completing it.

Such a shame, and I was so looking forward to using the Flora outfit too... Assuming they will let us use it to begin with knowing Level-5 and their unpredictability with that outfit in particular....

Spoiler

i have to agree the story was very different in tone which felt quite unusual, not really one of their best but i agree that it is hard to say what they were going for. though the ratman stuff i found quite amusing for some reason.

as for the characters, kat is ok but she felt a little bland to me and i got tired of hearing her say "the truth is stranger than fiction", i liked sherl, i liked earnest as well though i felt bad for him as kat seemed little indifferent/oblivious to him (hes way smarter than pit to be fair), i cant remember what hastings was like, i remember running around for an anniversary gift for him but i could not tell you what his character was like, i was not fond of emilina her whole "rivalry" with someone she hadnt met before the game was annoying

of course the game is fresher in your mind than mine

 

[Curious Villager]

Yeah, those are basically my impressions too. Maybe I liked the main cast a bit less (except Emiliana, of course, she's the best), but my thoughts are basically the same. Here's hoping future titles can be more in line with the main series - no reason why we can't have Layton games co-existing with LMJ games and Layton Brothers games!

I suppose the original series and LMJ series are quite different enough to be their own separate series.

The main series would be more suited for the Switch as they generally have longer and more focused plotlines whereas the LMJ series can keep its more bite sized and lighthearted storytelling for mobile devices.

Might help to prevent a divide within the Layton fandom too, those who prefer Katrielle or Hershel. But I suppose in the end that's up to Level-5 and how they decide to go with it I suppose....

Spoiler

i have to agree the story was very different in tone which felt quite unusual, not really one of their best but i agree that it is hard to say what they were going for. though the ratman stuff i found quite amusing for some reason.

as for the characters, kat is ok but she felt a little bland to me and i got tired of hearing her say "the truth is stranger than fiction", i liked sherl, i liked earnest as well though i felt bad for him as kat seemed little indifferent/oblivious to him (hes way smarter than pit to be fair), i cant remember what hastings was like, i remember running around for an anniversary gift for him but i could not tell you what his character was like, i was not fond of emilina her whole "rivalry" with someone she hadnt met before the game was annoying

of course the game is fresher in your mind than mine

Spoiler

The Ratman case was alright I suppose, I kind of forgot to save throughout that case so I had to redo it all over again when I closed the game. I guess its good that the cases aren't that long in events like that I suppose...

Yeah, Being fair, I suppose Katrielle might have had a tad more character than Hershel did, although the repetitive nature of the cases didn't really do her much favours I feel, since it causes her to repeat the same lines over and again after every case.

Ernest's problem is that he's a tad one dimensional since he acts a bit too much like a lapdog towards Kat, not really giving him much of a character of his own, and the whole thing just drags on so much that I couldn't really stand to care too much about him by the final case...

Hastings was a tad forgettable, although that tends to run with all the inspectors within the Layton series, Chelmey didn't really start to get properly fleshed out until Last Specter and even then that was mainly through a special episode rather than within the main story itself. Grosky they just abused his running gimmick to the point that you barely see him throughout the prequel trilogy.

I suppose Emiliana did come a tad out of nowhere for her introduction, although the thing I like about her is that she was pretty much the only character out of everyone that gets fleshed out, or at least have more than just a single one dimensional character trait. I suppose the fact that she was also used more sparingly compared to everyone else probably also made her a bit more easy to deal with.

Edit: Also

Did You Know?
'Professor Layton and the Curious Village' was the first game LEVEL-5 released in Japan as a game publisher in 2007.

(And it was re-released in HD on Android and iOS last year!)
Android: https://t.co/GGhL1HlYsx
iOS: https://t.co/VFCwSFk17k pic.twitter.com/npkvzeJykB

— Layton Series (@LaytonSeries) November 20, 2019

Nice piece of history for the series.

 

[fogbadge]

Spoiler

The Ratman case was alright I suppose, I kind of forgot to save throughout that case so I had to redo it all over again when I closed the game. I guess its good that the cases aren't that long in events like that I suppose...

Yeah, Being fair, I suppose Katrielle might have had a tad more character than Hershel did, although the repetitive nature of the cases didn't really do her much favours I feel, since it causes her to repeat the same lines over and again after every case.

Ernest's problem is that he's a tad one dimensional since he acts a bit too much like a lapdog towards Kat, not really giving him much of a character of his own, and the whole thing just drags on so much that I couldn't really stand to care too much about him by the final case...

Hastings was a tad forgettable, although that tends to run with all the inspectors within the Layton series, Chelmey didn't really start to get properly fleshed out until Last Specter and even then that was mainly through a special episode rather than within the main story itself. Grosky they just abused his running gimmick to the point that you barely see him throughout the prequel trilogy.

I suppose Emiliana did come a tad out of nowhere for her introduction, although the thing I like about her is that she was pretty much the only character out of everyone that gets fleshed out, or at least have more than just a single one dimensional character trait. I suppose the fact that she was also used more sparingly compared to everyone else probably also made her a bit more easy to deal with.

Spoiler

yeah all the characters could do with a bit more personality and development. i took to grosky cause of some of the daft stuff he did in the movie. a second game could do them all a bit of good. or back fire horrendously i suppose. i think they just need a bit of a chance to shine but who knows

on a level-5 related note i saw a trailer for snack world nintendo uk posted, out in feb, main question is what was the snack part

 

[Curious Villager]

Spoiler

yeah all the characters could do with a bit more personality and development. i took to grosky cause of some of the daft stuff he did in the movie. a second game could do them all a bit of good. or back fire horrendously i suppose. i think they just need a bit of a chance to shine but who knows

on a level-5 related note i saw a trailer for snack world nintendo uk posted, out in feb, main question is what was the snack part

Spoiler

Yeah Grosky definitely shined the brightest in the movie, I think that really helped show off his character better than the games did where he was mainly just used as a "Now you see him, now you don't" type character. I'd almost swear that his fangirl, Hannah, was more fleshed out than he was in the games...

I do feel that an anime for the original series would do great wonders for characters like Grosky and Flora who didn't get as much of a chance to be fleshed out and developed in the games. Or at least they'd be able to show off Grosky's comic relief side better.

Oh you're right, Snack World is coming soon, that's nice to hear.

SNACK WORLD: The Dungeon Crawl – Gold is coming to #NintendoSwitch on 14/02!

Gear up, crawl through dungeons in search for rare treasure, and battle brutal bosses with up to 3 other players locally or online to become a heroic adventurer in this RPG from LEVEL-5! pic.twitter.com/Yp90ciXHpz

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) November 20, 2019

Great to see Nintendo still supporting Level-5 as much as they can
They can use all the support that they can get...

Speaking of Level-5

Oh Level 5 you cheeky bunch you...

 

[GoodGrief741]

Ngl I can't remember who Hastings is. Maybe it's the fact that it's been two years since I've played LMJ but yikes.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Snack World? Thank fricking god, that took forever.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/11/level-5s_snack_world_is_finally_making_its_way_to_the_west

Thankfully it won't release over here too close to DQXI, the last thing it needs is having its attention taken away.

 

[Curious Villager]

Ngl I can't remember who Hastings is. Maybe it's the fact that it's been two years since I've played LMJ but yikes.

He's this game's Inspector Chelmey and Grosky, I don't blame ya, he was pretty forgettable....
It would be nice if they made the inspectors a bit more competent in the Layton series for once, but I guess its part of the whole incompetent police cliche and making Layton/Katrielle look more exceptional I suppose.

Snack World? Thank fricking god, that took forever.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/11/level-5s_snack_world_is_finally_making_its_way_to_the_west

Thankfully it won't release over here too close to DQXI, the last thing it needs is having its attention taken away.

That's great to hear, hopefully Nintendo will continue to push the game so it doesn't end up falling short like it did in Japan. The game's style and humor seems to suit a more western audience, from what I can tell at least. They should show more gameplay though.

Hopefully they will mention it at the next Direct.

 

[MattX20]

Hey Curious Villager , been playing LMJ Deluxe and was wondering, did you figure out the circuit un-breaker 3 puzzle? I'm stumped on it myself.

 

[Curious Villager]

Hey Curious Villager , been playing LMJ Deluxe and was wondering, did you figure out the circuit un-breaker 3 puzzle? I'm stumped on it myself.

Place the purple wire at the upper left corner
The orange wire at the bottom left corner
The light blue wire should go at the bottom right corner
and the green wire at the upper right corner

I'll let you figure out where the last two wires go for yourself, hope that helps.


Edit:
Oh happy 15th anniversary DS!

Celebrating 15 years of the #NintendoDS! What are some of your favorite #NintendoDS games? pic.twitter.com/o5wwSl1OFI

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 21, 2019

 

[MattX20]

Place the purple wire at the upper left corner
The orange wire at the bottom left corner
The light blue wire should go at the bottom right corner
and the green wire at the upper right corner

I'll let you figure out where the last two wires go for yourself, hope that helps.


Edit:
Oh happy 15th anniversary DS!

You mean like this so far?

 

[fogbadge]

Edit:
Oh happy 15th anniversary DS!

ah yes we didnt get it til the following spring

 

[Curious Villager]

You mean like this so far?

Turn the purple one around so it covers the entire upper left corner, then place the green one as is to the upper right corner.
The light blue one is at the correct spot, just turn it upside down. Nearly there.

ah yes we didnt get it til the following spring

Yeah probably, good thing Nintendo has improved a lot in terms of releases in recent years.

Level-5 also seems to have improved a lot in terms of game releases, well at least as far as the Layton series is concerned. I suppose it makes sense considering how popular the series is outside of Japan, would be nice if they got their other IP's up there though...

 

[MattX20]

Turn the purple one around so it covers the entire upper left corner, then place the green one as is to the upper right corner.
The light blue one is at the correct spot, just turn it upside down. Nearly there.



Yeah probably, good thing Nintendo has improved a lot in terms of releases in recent years.

Level-5 also seems to have improved a lot in terms of game releases, well at least as far as the Layton series is concerned. I suppose it makes sense considering how popular the series is outside of Japan, would be nice if they got their other IP's up there though...

Got it! Thanks

 

[Curious Villager]

Got it! Thanks

No problem, if you need any help with any other puzzles, feel free to let me know.