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!

[Curious Villager]

Smash Ultimate newcomer speculation threads will be closing soon, so here are some alternative link's where you can find us if you wish to continue discussing Professor Layton, Level-5 and/or the Smash series!

Professor Layton sub Reddit
Layton Discord
Level-5 Discussion thread

Thank you for your support of Layton in Smash, we hope to continue seeing you around!
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Professor Hershel Layton.

First appearance: Professor Layton and the Curious Village for Nintendo DS.

Who is Layton?​

Professor Layton is the original protagonist of the Layton puzzle adventure series. He is an archaeologist who travels all over the world solving various mysteries from specter's to ancient civilizations and even time itself. Accompanied by his self proclaimed apprentice Luke Triton as well as his talented puzzle solving skills. Layton has been through numerous fun, dangerous, sad and epic adventures.

Despite being mainly known for his high intellect and puzzle solving skills. Layton is no stranger to combat either, whether it is him facing a single opponent in a one to one battle, or crafting up various contraptions to help him along the way!

While Layton himself isn't the main protagonist in the new Layton's Mystery Journey series, the main premise of the games does still revolve on him being the final goal of the new protagonist. And despite the series moving forward without him as the main protagonist, it is clear that Hershel is still the main face of the Layton franchise. Constantly referenced in them and still showing up from time to time in the new Layton anime!

The Layton Series official outlets e.g. Twitter also continue to feature Professor Layton himself prominently and Level-5 are still pushing the series very hard indeed, including re-releasing the classic Professor Layton games.

Layton's History and Legacy​

As of 2018, the Layton series has sold over 17 million copies which is very impressive for a relatively young series that was born in 2007. The second, third and fourth best selling third party DS games of all time have all been games in the Layton series too, only being beaten out by Dragon Quest IX, which ironically was another game developed by Level-5.

The series has had a huge impact during the DS era, especially in Japan and Europe and it helped spark Level-5 into high prominence as the first franchise they published. This success also didn't go unnoticed by the games industry and especially Nintendo themselves. As Shigeru Miyamoto himself praised the series along with Animal Crossing for bringing in a large female demographic into gaming, it was also a series that was held in high regard by the late Satoru Iwata and Satoru Shibata, the latter of whom even helped further promote the series in Europe and have it featured among various Nintendo characters on their official website.

Akihiro Hino himself even went out to state that the Layton series is his most favourite franchise that Level-5 has developed, especially because it was the first franchise they published and how successful it was. This is even further emphasized by the numerous cameo's, references and guest appearances Professor Layton & Co have made throughout Level-5's other franchises, including the Inazuma Eleven and Yokai Watch games.

Professor Layton is without a doubt a huge icon of the DS era of Nintendo and still going strong to this day, Its safe to say that he is essentially to the DS what Megaman was for the NES and Banjo Kazooie was for the N64.

If you want to learn more about the series origins and how it came to be, then this video made by Thomas Game Docs sums up the whole story quite nicely. Please do check it out!

Moveset.

​

Despite what his initial appearance may look at first glance. Layton is actually a very athletic and resourceful character. He takes advantage of the environment around him and works on to his battle style around that.

Layton's series involves the solving of various puzzles and brainteasers so his main playstyle should revolve around playing mind games and keeping his opponent on their toes, making them think on how to approach him and what he would do next. His moveset should reflect on that as if one where to solve a puzzle, much like how it is in the Layton series.

Spoiler: Curious Villager's moveset idea (Potential spoilers

First off lets look at the general gameplay of the Layton series and how Sakurai tends to design most characters.

F-Zero for example, is a game all about high speed, high risk and high reward, this is reflected onto Captain Falcon's moveset. While he doesn't physically fight himself. His moveset does revolve around getting close to your opponents and dealing lots and heavy damage as fast as possible but with very tight windows. He is also one of the fastest runners in the game (behind Sonic of course) which also reflects his series high speed nature.

Animal Crossing is all about collecting as Sakurai stated back when Villager was first revealed. Thus his moveset reflects upon the various tools they can collect and use in their game. But most notably their neutral special. Which allows them to pocket all kinds of items and projectiles that come their way.

Duck Hunt was a game all about the Zapper peripheral that came along with the game, and being able to shoot various objects straight at the screen. Their moveset is reflected upon that, along with two other games that where compatible with the Nintendo Zapper.

These are just a few examples, for more in depth analysis on these characters plus more and how their designed, I think the best place to look for that would be the Know your Moves series done by RelaxAlax over at his youtube channel.

But back to Layton.

The Professor Layton series main core mechanics are the puzzles and brain teasers. Their often designed in such a way to make the players think close and hard about what the questions or tasks given is actually asking for. For example, the infamous mouse puzzle from Curious Village gives you a general overview of how mice breed but then tells you that you bought one mouse and then proceeds to ask you how many you would end up having after a certain amount of time has passed. The answer would be one as at the end of the day, you only bought one mouse. These sort of puzzles that are designed to make the player make quick assumptions without reading the question given carefully is a prevalent part of the Layton series.

So how would this reflect upon Layton's moveset? It should mostly revolve around mind games and making your opponent have to think ahead in terms of what you would do next. Making quick assumptions of what the Prof would do next will mostly lead to getting thrown off into a disadvantage.

So back to Layton's moveset, here are a few examples of attacks the Prof can use.

Side Smash
These two puzzles "The winning Arrow" and "One true Sword" are about you having to figure out the one real object among the number of fake ones.
One move Layton could have (Possibly most suitable for his side Smash attack) is him shooting three arrows at his opponent. However, only one of them is real and cause damage, the other two are fake and will just disappear with a poof with no damage or knockback given.
You are able to choose which of these three arrows are the real one. This would be a particularly handy tool to use for edge guarding and syking out your opponents who are trying to recover back to the stage.

Side Special
This puzzle involved you having to roll a sleep bomb through a panel maze in order to reach an open vent. One of Layton's moves can involve him shooting out a sleep bomb that can put your opponents to sleep. You will be able to navigate the bomb at 90 degree angles about 5 or 6 times each (Much like Snake's side special or Ness's up special) This way you can change its course quickly and have it hit your opponent from above, under, or the back instead of the front. This would most likely be useful against counter/reflect users, Most particularly characters like that absorb or reflect projectiles at a close window.


This are the main examples of puzzles Layton can use that reflect closely around the gameplay of his series. I'm sure there are more throughout the series history that Sakurai can use that expand further around this idea.

Other puzzles they can use are as follows.

Tether
The Grand Hall Rescue puzzle could be used as a tether recovery. Layton will swing with a candle and rope towards the ledge.

throws
His throws could have him solve a quick slide puzzle, as the opponent would then be thrown at whatever direction is open once the puzzle is complete. The picture could be the opponents Stock Icon, just like Mr. Game & Watch's throws.

Forward aerial Back aerial
Layton will launch off the fish from Last Specter. He will be able to control its angle too. It will bounce off any walls it hits

Down air
Layton would throw down the toy car from Lost Future, and will then move forward after landing. Hitting any opponents who get in the way, you can even stand on top of it momentarily. (Basically a mix between Pac Man's Fire Hydrant and the Pokeball Pokemon gogoat.)

Dash Attack
Slippery Trip is a puzzle where you have to navigate through a maze with Banana peels spread all over the place. If you walk over one, you will slip quickly towards the wall. Two ways this can be incorporated is through a dash attack where Layton will momentarily slide over a banana peel for a short bit. Might be the longest dash attack in the game too. Otherwise, this can also be a effect exclusive to Layton whenever he walks over the actual banana peel item itself.

Jab Rapid Jab
The Magnifying glass can be used as a Jab and Rapid Jab attack. Once the rapid jab finished a big red exclamation mark will show up to launch the opponent away. This is in reference to many players tapping around on the screen when looking for hidden hint coins and puzzles especially in the DS games.

Side tilt
Layton would throw an apple as the Hamster will then run after it. If any character picks up the apple or is so much as near it, the Hamster will proceed to hit the opponent with a barrage of attacks. Much like the Sable Prince Assist Trophy.

Down Tilt
The toy robot from Miracle Mask will briefly spring up. May potentially trip up the opponent too.

!
Up tilt Up Smash
His up tilt can be him finding a hint coin, whereas his up smash will spring up a red exclamation mark.

Down Smash
Layton will use the Squirrel from Azran Legacy to roll a giant nut down across the stage. The longer you hold on the attack, the faster it will go.

Layton's hand made gadgets

Down Special
The Town Catapult from Last Specter. It might be downscaled a little. But I can see it working a bit like Zelda's Phantom, to where it gets build up over time and then shoots a barrage of Rocks directly towards the direction you've set it up. Perhaps you could have Luke standing next to it and shooting it out once its ready.

Neutral Special
The Slot Machine gun from Unwound/Lost Future, can be charged up and then shoot a barrage of hint coins towards your opponent. Or it could work like Ivysaur's Neutral special but sideways.

Up Special
The handmade Flying Contraption from Eternal Diva could work very well as an up special move for Layton. If for any reason he can't have any content from the movie. Then the Hang Gliders from Curious Village and Azran Legacy can work too.

Final Smash

His Final Smash would obviously be his famous "The Culprit is you!" finger pointing scene. Its an iconic staple of the Layton series after all. For some added fanservice and hype, they can include other Layton characters to point towards the opponent alongside him such as Luke, Flora, Emmy, Katrielle, maybe even Alfendi.


This is only the tip of the iceberg and I'm sure that there is a lot more Sakurai & co can pull from for the Prof. Other examples are the Fish minigame, Toy Robot and the Squirrel. I'll update this as I find more new idea's they could use.

In terms of Layton using a weapon like a Sword or Lead Pipe. While it is an iconic part of the Prof and some of the most hype moments in his series is him going toe to toe with a fencing match with his opponents throughout the series. I feel that making him use a Sword would be a bit of a disservice towards the character and the series that he hails from as it only represents a small part of the franchise. At the very least if he does use one, it should be used very sparingly.
An alternative way this can be used as a compromise is giving Layton a Lead Pipe as an equippable item that he can use. You know how is able to choose which of the three starters he uses first at the Character Select Screen? Layton could have a Lead Pipe item next to his character portrait and you will be able to toggle the item on or off if you so wish. This would be useful for those who don't wish to play with items on, but still want Layton to use a battering weapon in battle

The way the Lead Pipe would work is essentially like how you would use any other item such as the Beam Sword or Lip's Stick. However, Layton would have the ability to use a few more moves whenever he holds any battering item rather than just for jabs, Smash attacks, forward Jabs. But also as an additional aerials, up smash and down smash. Layton would be able to throw the Lead Pipe away like any other item, if he loses it, it will respawn somewhere near him for him to pick up. Like with K.Rool's crown.

I think the reason of opting for Lead Pipe to be an equippable item is that Hershel himself, doesn't own an Sword or Lead Pipe of his own, but rather he picks up whatever battering item he finds lying around and uses it to his advantage. So making it an item feels like the most appropriate thing to do as that's essentially how items work in smash too.

Spoiler: Koolooc's moveset idea

Spoiler: Erureido's moveset idea

Basic Animations:

Walk: Layton would walk normally like he does in the games.

Run: A basic running animation. Visually, it resembles the scenes when he chased the Black Raven in Last Specter and the moment the Giant Float is about to collapse on him in Miracle Mask. He has the same running speed as Snake.

Jump: He lunges upward in the first jump. With his second jump, he curls his body, but it doesn't give him too much vertical distance. It is very similar to Snake's jumps, but Layton's up special makes up for it.

Fall: Layton holds onto his hat with one hand while his other arm is held out, slightly bent. He has relatively fast falling speed as he is a bit of a heavy weight.

Crouch: Layton bends with one knee while one arm rests on it.

Crawl: A basic crawling animation where Layton crawls with his knees and hands.

Shield: Layton grabs his hat with one hand, while his other arm is bent and hovers over his chest.

Roll: Instead of rolling, Layton slides to the outside of the stage. When returning back, he has one hand on the ground as he bends his body forward.

Side-step: Layton grabs his hat with one hand and moves toward the back of the stage with a surprised expression while his other arm extends far to the side.

Dizzy: Layton grabs his hat with one hand and stumbles from left to right.

Sleep: Layton sits down with his legs crossed while resting his head on one of his arms.

Swimming: Layton moves his arms similar to a breast-stroke pull.

Drowning: He lowers his hat over his eyes with one of his hands, while the other arm and his legs float helplessly in the water.

Idle Animations:

-Animation 1: Layton adjusts his hat.
-Animation 2: Layton holds his hand to his chin, taking a thinking position.
-Animation 3: Layton pouts his arms and slightly nods his head.

Launching scream: Layton screams, "Uuwaaahhh." It sounds similar to the scene when he tumbles with Luke through the forest in Azran Legacy.

KO scream: Layton screams, "Huaghh." It sounds exactly like his scream when Emmy crossed his path at the beginning of Last Specter.

Star KO scream: Sounds exactly like his scream from Azran Legacy when the beam of light was killing him.

Basic attacks:

Jab: Layton delivers a small slap with his right hand while raising his pinky (supposed to be a gentleman's slap).

Double Jab: The second jab is another gentleman's slap, but he uses his left hand instead.

Triple Jab: Layton pulls out a fencing sword and uses it like he's in a fencing match. It can lead into a repetitive jab, and the final blow is the finishing fencing move that touches the opponent.

Dash Attack: Layton pulls out a metallic pipe and slashes from left tor right. The attack manner is similar to Marth's dash attack.

Tilt Attacks:

Forward Tilt: Layton holds out his magnifying glass, and the tool gives the same orange tint just like it does in the games when you find something of interest (even producing the same sound effect). The moment when the magnifying glass turns orange is when damage is delivered.

Up Tilt: Layton takes an "a-ha" stance as the iconic red exclamation mark from the games appears above his head. This exclamation mark is what deals the damage, and it is his strongest tilt attack.

Down Tilt: Layton uses an archaeological hand pick and does a hammering animation using it.

Aerial Attacks:

Neutral Aerial: Layton grabs a camera by its strap and swings it around himself.

Forward Aerial: Layton uses the same metallic pipe and moves the pipe downward. Visually, the attack resembles Layton's first strike on Descole when Layton released himself from the Fossil Glider in Azran Legacy.

Back Aerial: Keats the Puzzle Cat emerges from Layton's coat, and the cat slashes foes from behind Layton's back before returning to his coat. During this animation, Layton watches Keats with a surprised expression and quickly helps Keats return back into his coat.

Up Aerial: Layton pulls out the toy robot from Miracle Mask and holds it above his head. The toy robot then does a small, upward jump from Layton's hand while moving its arms up. This attack has a dual-damaging effect where it can potentially deal two blows to the opponent. There is a sweet-spot at the robot's arms.

Down Aerial: Layton takes a shovel and stabs it toward the ground. The attack heavily resembles Link's down aerial, even having the same meteor spike if the opponent is hit by the sweet-spot.

Grabs:

Pummel: Layton knees his opponent.

Each of Layton's throws reference various puzzles throughout the series. In each throw, he releases his opponent and changes into a thinking position. Upon releasing his opponent, the throw takes place. After the throw finishes, he looks up with a grin on his face, just like when a puzzle is correctly solved. Think of it as if Layton uses his intellectual thoughts to attack the foe. It's like Layton is playing "mind-games" with his opponents!

Forward Throw: A small toy train (as seen from a bird's eye view) appears above Layton, moves toward the opponent, and latches onto him/her. The train quickly moves slightly forward then diagonally upward before disappearing and releasing the opponent. It mimics those "drag the line" puzzles where you need to get a chain to another side, usually involving trains of some sort.

Back Throw: Three pitchers appear in front of Layton. The opponent is then thrown between the pitchers as if he/she is being poured like milk. It mimics the milk puzzle from Curious Village.

Up Throw: Three rectangular blocks push the opponent upwards, with the final block releasing the opponent high. It's a weak attack with high knockback, mimicking those "drag the blocks to get a certain piece to the other side" puzzles that are very common throughout the series.

Down Throw: A tetris-shaped block pushes the opponent downward. A second one pushes the opponent in a direction behind Layton. The last piece pushes the opponent upward. This ultimately creates a rigid U-shaped throw. It mimics those "fix the pictures" puzzles that is akin to assembling a jigsaw puzzle, but the pieces are more tetris-shaped.

Smash Attacks:

Each of these attacks involve the Azran Keystone from Azran Legacy.

Forward Smash: Layton pulls out the Azran Keystone casually holding it to the side for the charging animation. Once he finishes charging, he extends his arm holding the Keystone in front of himself. The Keystone then delivers a shockwave-like blast that deals tremendous damage to foes. The blast looks exactly the same as the one that was produced from the device in the games.

Up Smash: It plays out almost identically to the forward smash. The only difference is that Layton holds the Keystone above his head for the finishing blow, and the blast deals vertical knockback.

Down Smash: Unlike the forward and up smashes, Layton puts the Azran Keystone on the ground and holds it there for the charging animation. Once fully charged, the Keystone emits the the same blast, only this time, it covers a 360 degree radius surrounding Layton.

Specials:

Standard Special - Coin-Slot Machine Gun: Layton pulls out the same gun of the same name he created in Unwound Future. He charges it then and fires a barrage of coins. The length of time it takes to fire the coins depends on your charge time. Layton can move left and right while firing his gun, but he cannot turn around while doing so. The barrage of coins has the same effect as firing multiple, small shots from the Super Scope, but unlike the Super Scope, you can combo into a grab by moving toward the foe as you fire coins to keep him/her stunned. The gun can fire for up to five seconds at most. You can't use it right away after the gun finishes firing because the next Layton uses the attack, he will dump a bag of coins to prepare for the next attack. It takes about one second for Layton to dump coins. Once he finishes doing so, you can charge and fire again.

Side Special - Hamster Attack: Layton throws an apple, and if it hits someone, it does a small amount of damage. If he uses the side special again, he will throw the hamster this time, and it will quickly run towards the apple. As the hamster runs, it can climb up walls similar to the Bombchu, and it can anyone in its path with small damage. Once it reaches the apple, the hamster eats it. If an opponent is right next to an apple, he/she will be trapped by the hamster as it eats the apple and wrack up damage with each bite. Basically, the hamster is biting the opponent's feet in the process. With the final bite, the opponent is launched with decent knock back.

Up Special - Globe Glider: Layton uses the Globe Glider he built from Curious Village. When utilizing it, he faces towards his front. The glider can travel very high and is easy to maneuver, similar to Snake and ROB's up specials. This attack makes up for Layton's low second jump, repeating a similar deal to Snake's recovery. The glider can also disrupt an opponent's up-special when it makes contact, but in doing so, the glider will lose control for a few seconds before Layton is forced to dislodge himself. This references the scene when the glider slightly touches Don Paolo's helicopter in Curious Village, disrupting it to the point Don Paolo is forced to flee. When his up special finishes, Layton is not rendered helpless.

Down Special - Stone Catapult: Layton pulls out the catapult he uses to take down Descole in Last Specter, but it has been scaled down to closely match his size. He charges the catapult toYou can charge the catapult so that two stones can be launched farther. The farther the stones are launched, the more knock back and damage they deal. The stones deal more damage if they hit a foe that is in the air.

Final Smash:

Deduction: A cinematic Final Smash that references the most iconic cutscene in every Layton game where the Professor identifies who the real culprit behind the crime was.

The Final Smash begins with Layton taking a thinking stance and saying, "Hmmm." A glint appears in front of Layton and covers a small yet decent range in front of him. If anyone is caught within the glint's range, the screen turns white.

The scene then changes to show several people, including the culprit, sitting around a table in an old-fashioned living room, with Layton standing behind them. The people are all shadowed save for the the opponent that was caught by the glint. While taking his classic thinking stance, Layton walks around the room and says, "Someone here was the mastermind behind this awful scheme." He then looks forward the opponent and does his signature point at him/her, telling the foe, "And that person was you!" At that moment, the opponent takes on a funny stunned animation, indicating their shock at being caught. The scene then returns to the battle, only this time, the caught foe is delivered a large amount of damage and knockback. That attack can KO as early as 50%.

If Layton caught two or more foes, the scene plays out like it normally does. The only difference is that Layton uses plural nouns at the respective moments. While walking around and thinking, he says "some people" instead of "someone," and when deducing the culprit, he says "those people" instead of "that person."

I can also imagine a nice Easter Egg where all the shadowed people are individuals that appeared in past Layton games.

Taunts:

Up Taunt: Layton adjusts his hat, then pouts his arms. As he pouts his arms, he says, "Every puzzle has an answer."

Side Taunt: Layton tips his hat forward and says, "A remarkable move!"

Down Taunt: Layton pulls out a cup of tea and drinks it.

Victory Animations:

The victory melody would be a more melodic version of the "Puzzle Solved" soundbite, heard in the video brought up with the first animation.

Animation 1: Layton puts his hand on his chin, closes his eyes and looks down, then looks back up at the camera. He follows with his signature point and says, "I've found the solution!" This entire animation plays out exactly like the "Puzzle Solved "bit after solving a puzzle. Here's a video for reference:

Remove the black stills that interrupt at the different intervals to make the whole animation more fluid, and that's how it would likely play out in Smash.

Animation 2: Layton adjusts his hat and says "A true gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved." He finishes with a pout while smiling at the camera.

Animation 3: Layton brushes both arms of his coat as if he is removing dust. As he does so, he states, "That was quite the riveting match!" He then adjusts his coat by putting both hands on the zipper sides to tuck his coat up.

Losing Animation: A basic losing animation that involves Layton clapping towards his left side while holding a smile on his face.

Spoiler: fogbadge's moveset idea

Jab: swings sword
Forward tilt: throws magnifying glass
Up tilt: overhead swipe with sword
Down tilt: sweeping movement with sword

Forward smash: points (what else)
Up smash: puzzle found ! appears over head
Down smash: drops metal spheres, from those puzzles

Neutral air: circle forms like when circling an answer
Forward air: swings sword down
Back air: thrusts sword behind
Up air: throws bucket of paint from colour puzzles
Down air: throws cards from card puzzles

Dash: pushes a sliding block

Pummel: strikes with hilt of sword
Forward throw: throws into submit answer button
Back throw: throws behind a throws random pitcher of liquid from pitcher puzzles
Up throw: throws a number from a number puzzle
Down throw: drops blocks from hatgram

Neutral special: summons a striking force in from of him, based on selecting an answer
Side special: throws pencil icon, path can be moved by joy stick creating lines in the air similar to drawing/writing answers on the touch screen, icon and path deal damage
Up special: leaps up with knight chess piece
Down special: drops a submit answer button and an incorrect answer, characters who attack the button are damaged

Final smash: The true culprit, ball of light appears in front of him, trapped foes are transported to a cut scene based on the games the professor says “the true culprit is you there!” he points dealing damage, goes back to stage foes are launched

On screen entrance: arrives in the Layton mobile

Up taunt: strokes chin in thought, says “hmm”
Side taunt: folds arms, says “how vexing”
Down taunt: tosses hint coin in air, says “come now”

Victory 1: strikes poses based on the puzzle solves animations, says “every puzzle has an answer”
Victory 2: sniffs the aroma of a cup of tea, says “even a true gentleman needs exercise” drinks tea.
Victory 3: straightens hat while luke cheers, they say “great job professor” “thank you my boy”

Spoiler: AmphabulouSnake's moveset idea + Luke echo fighter, music and more doc

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19dso6fzSBB4b2DFQt_48BrYe6PkbVNHAXC53Z2aRmj0/edit

Spoiler: moveset idea by theguysayhi, gamefaqs link

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/633202-super-smash-bros-for-wii-u/72404400

Spoiler: Matthjas moveset idea + more

https://smashboards.com/threads/lay...e-support-thread.446339/page-24#post-23403100

Spoiler: Layton4Smash's moveset idea

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uo1jD1y83Z2GattANWETQMGwnT0NLy4_WQJ4GMItXds/edit

Spoiler: amazonevan19 moveset idea doc for Katrielle Layton

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ASfwRikI4RCDlLdEuZbEdt8t6Lgd5sDJDSDNVffNvj8/edit

Home stage.

St.Mystere: The first location explored in the Layton series. I can see this stage working in two way's.

One. Since the size of St.Mystere is roughly the same as that of Delfino Plaza and Skyloft, the stage can work much the same as those stages, where a platform will carry you to various different locations from the game. Such as Reinhold Manor, the Ferris Wheel and the Tower itself.

Another way to implement this stage is a bit more unique and that's involving the main battle taking place on top of three houses. As the battle carries on, Don Paolo's flying contraption will come along and destroy one of the three buildings at random with his ball and chain weapon, leaving you only two buildings to fight on for a while until the destroyed building gets repaired through a puzzle animation and gets restored to its former state.

Sakurai and Hino's history with Layton and Smash.

​

The first time the idea of Layton in Smash was brought to Sakurai and Hino's attention was during the 2008 panel talk show that they both attended to, where a moderator gave their two cents and requested Layton for Smash to both Sakurai and Hino to which they both laughed. Hino did state that he does want to see Layton join the roster and that Sakurai is free to decide on his moveset for that.

I want Professor Layton to be included in the sequel. How about attacking with fencing? I'll leave it all to Mr. Sakurai.

In a 2009 interview, Hino was once again asked about his thoughts on seeing Layton join Smash (or Mario Kart) being once again very open to the idea.

That would certainly be a wonderful opportunity!

Layton's request for Smash has also been acknowledged in the official World of Professor Layton fanbook when asked about what other IP's fans wanted to see the Layton series collaborate with.
Hino was once again asked about Layton and Smash most recently during a 2017 interview where he once again confirmed to be open for more collaborations with the series:

If it looks like it’s fun and entertaining for both us and consumers, then we’re definitely open to more collaborations. But, there’s nothing in particular going on right now. I have a good relationship with Capcom right now, which was what lead to the Phoenix Wright crossover.

One interesting tidbit with Sakurai and the Layton series is that the main theme from the Layton series was featured at the Press Start -Symphony of Games concert. Another game song that was present there during the 5th anniversary was a song from the Persona series, which is now also present in Smash Ultimate years later.

This was a series of Japanese game music concerts that started in 2006. It was started by several professionals in the industry, such as Nobuo Uemastu, Kazushige Nojima, Taizo Takemoto, Shogo Sakai, as well as Masahiro Sakurai himself.

During an Iwata Asks interview in regards to the concert, Sakurai told the late Satoru Iwata that he was able to meet up with several composers who went on to compose a number of songs in the Smash series itself thanks to this concert.

Iwata:
I suspect the fact you got to know several distinguished video game musicians by working as producer for the Press Start –Symphony of Games- concert for the last several years also had a considerable impact.
Sakurai:
It did. I was able to talk to my colleagues on the set and ask for some help.

Pros:​

* Level-5 themselves are aware of Layton's demand for Smash, having acknowledged his desire to be in the game through various interviews as well as in the official World of Professor Layton fanbook.

* The Professor Layton series is Akihiro Hino's most favourite franchise that Level-5 produced as It was the first series they published and It's success and popularity means a lot to him and his company.

* As of 2018, the Layton series has sold 17 million copies, that on top of the fact that the series has spawned various spin off games, merchandise, a movie, manga's, novels and now even an anime, there is no doubt that the series has a high profile to the general public.

* Has the potential for a very unique puzzle based moveset in Smash, with only Dr.Mario in the game, there is a lot of room for exploration in the puzzle solving genre for Smash.

* Layton has an immense casual appeal as well as appeal in more serious videogame circles - just like Isabelle. He'd certainly sell as DLC, particularly in Japan and Europe where his games have found much favour amongst gamers and non-gamers alike.

Cons:​

* Potential competition with other popular Level-5 characters, most particular Jibanyan from Yokai Watch.

Kirby Hat.​

Spoiler

Thread for general Layton series talk. Thanks Erureido​

https://smashboards.com/threads/pro...as-well-as-potential-lady-layton-news.448280/

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Feel free to use this in your signature to show your support for Layton in Smash Ultimate!

Supporters list.

Everyone who want, like or don't mind Layton joining Smash Ultimate. Please do comment in the thread if you want to be added to the supporters list, or just drop the OP a like. Thank you so much for your support!

We currently have 178 supporters on board.​

Spoiler

* 1. Curious Villager 2. Lucidthought 3. Davidreamcatcha 4. AetherEch0s 5. Smash Daddy 6. GiantBreadbug 7. gothrax 8. D-idara
9. VictoryIsMudkipz

• 10. Hoots 11. fogbadge 12. Mulecc 13 MaskO'Gears 14. DeAuTh 15. Carolus Rex 16. colder_than_ice 17. Jeck 18. Vintage Creep 19. Ariand/AEM
• 20 Gingerbread Man 21. FalKoopa 22. BluePikmin11 23. Maffewt 24. Legendofrob1 25. blazeth 26. Popsydoodles 27. Sly Fox 28. FireEmblemnier 29. loganhogan
• 30. Groose 31. MonK4 32. TopHattedTroopa 33. Crap-Zapper 34. Kikaru 35. Keybladeguy 36. ToothiestAura 37. Pacack 38. Azule07 39. Rasumii
• 40. SuperBrawler 41. SmashBro99 42. Lolo Lolo 43. MrAmaboKcorb 44. Mega Bidoof 45. Shaking/very 46. StaffofSmashing 47. SpiderJerusalem 48. Controlled_Chaos 49. King Sonn DedeDoo
• 50. False Sense 51. Mari 52. Américo Santos 53. R_Trigger 54. TitanTeaTime 55. Nonno Umby 56. Stalwartguardian 57. Turmalinium 58. candyissweet 59. SmilingMad
• 60. GM_3826 61. Thebluecomet 62. CaptainQuestion 63. WishOn 64. Squishifrog 65. Ekazumon 66. Propeller Toad 67. MegaMarioMan9 68. Anorak 69. Erureido
• 70. Sonsa 71. Starlol9 72. Someguyyoulikelydontknow 73. Martingale 74. TheLastLugia 75. LIQUID12A 76. Captain Hotcakes 77. Laytonite 78. Fraserlazer 79. Sol0ke
• 80. Wyzill 81. Still-Wolf 82. Lyngstud 83. Hockeyfan44 84. danbrysmi 85. So_many_mails 86. Mnaterap 87. Equestrian Flyer 88. GWTCN 89. Moffe
• 90 Reila 91. Strider_Bond00J 92 Hippopotasauce 93. Someguyyoulikelydontknow 94. RandomNickname 95. Azure Warrior 96. SSBCandidates 97. RamOne 98. rockerpikmin 99. Niki
• 100. Nintenzilla 101. The Light Music Club 102. Prof. OboroTa-don Layton 103. Jason the Yoshi 104. Ivander 105. Pazzo+ 106. Professor Pumpkaboo 107. Moydow 108. DRs. Falkoopa 109. PK Bash
• 110. SmashKeks 111. DukeNapoleon 112. Auroxen [sbvpXVII] 113. GoodGrief741 114. SEGAGameBoy 115. amageish 116. ThoughtfulWanderer 117. NintenJen 118. The 6r 119. Galaxeon
• 120. TriMaxTime 121. Flynn.Scifo 122. Smash Puffle 123. Celever 124. PreedReve 125. THE 6r 126. CooleTeeps 127. Nonno Umby 128. GreenSpirit 129. Ex2c
• 130. Vingag 131. RedDragon64 132. rockerpikmin 133. EXE-Acua 134. PKFiRE_ 135. RainbowMario 136. Flyboy 137. Klimax 138. Eremitaviola 139. Fren62
• 140. Folax 141. ToasterBrains 142. DigiTAG 143. Ornl 144. Smashing Ramen 145. mullet 146. KirbyMonadoBoy 147. RetrogamerMax 148. Ornl 149. Theguysayhi
• 150. Looma * 151. Orlando BCN 152. Jerry98 153. FelFlick 154. Gameboi834 155. amazonevan19 156. Sonsa 157. aaronarium 158. Matthjass 159. MattX20
• 160. Brindor * 161. DutchPichu * 162. JDCabrera * 163. TheGuv * 164. AmphabulouSnake * 165. Azcorban * 166. Korar * 167. Supergeno * 168. Mushroomguy12 * 169. Gyrom8
• 170. veeflames * 171. Night Gale * 172. OnyanRings * 173. toonito * 174. Layton4Smash * 175. CornOnTheCob * 176. MichealChristle560 * 177. Safyre_Rose * CheeseAnton *

​

 

[Jason the Yoshi]

Even though I don't expect it in any way, shape, or form, I wouldn't mind seeing Layton in Smash.

 

[Erureido]

Profesor Layton is still my most wanted character for Smash to this day. He's one of my top favorite video game characters of all time, and there is so much that can be done about his moveset thanks to all the puzzles he solved and the inventions he created thanks to his powerful intellect. You could throw in some references to his fencing prowess in his moveset, and let's not forget about the various archeological tools and artifacts he could use (such as the Azran objects).

I'd say Layton no longer has the relevancy issue know that the series will live on thanks to Lady Layton, and I'm sure he'd be picked over his daughter due to his mascot-like role. I mean, the current description about the upcoming Lady Layton game hints the Professor will play a huge role at some point. Competition with JIbanyan and his third-party status are definitely his biggest issues right now.

Will you update the OP with moveset and stage ideas from other supporters? I'd be interested in sharing my moveset and stage ideas once again. I even plan on revising my initial moveset with some new ideas.

 

[fogbadge]

you may recall im a huge supporter of layton for smash

 

[AEMehr]

The answer to this puzzle should be obvious.

I would love to see the good professor partake in an event like this.

 

[Curious Villager]

Profesor Layton is still my most wanted character for Smash to this day. He's one of my top favorite video game characters of all time, and there is so much that can be done about his moveset thanks to all the puzzles he solved and the inventions he created thanks to his powerful intellect. You could throw in some references to his fencing prowess in his moveset, and let's not forget about the various archeological tools and artifacts he could use (such as the Azran objects).

I'd say Layton no longer has the relevancy issue know that the series will live on thanks to Lady Layton, and I'm sure he'd be picked over his daughter due to his mascot-like role. I mean, the current description about the upcoming Lady Layton game hints the Professor will play a huge role at some point. Competition with JIbanyan and his third-party status are definitely his biggest issues right now.

Will you update the OP with moveset and stage ideas from other supporters? I'd be interested in sharing my moveset and stage ideas once again. I even plan on revising my initial moveset with some new ideas.

Yes, due to the nature of the series, Layton is a very flexible character with lots of possibilities to work with for him. You can also include the trunk minigames as well for his moveset, such as the animal buddies that accompany him too.

Yeah now that I think about it, him not being the main protagonist despite the series carrying on isn't that much of a con for him considering the fact that he's pretty much the face and mascot of the Layton franchise. Much like Marth is to Fire Emblem. Hershel will remain relevant so long as the Layton series itself remains relevant.

It's really just Jibanyan and his third party position that are really that much of a con for him.

Oh and yes, I'll be happy to do that too. I've also included everyone into the supporters list too. If you know of any other Layton supporters here in Smashboards, feel free to let them know about this thread.

 

[Erureido]

Yes, due to the nature of the series, Layton is a very flexible character with lots of possibilities to work with for him. You can also include the trunk minigames as well for his moveset, such as the animal buddies that accompany him too.

Yeah now that I think about it, him not being the main protagonist despite the series carrying on isn't that much of a con for him considering the fact that he's pretty much the face and mascot of the Layton franchise. Much like Marth is to Fire Emblem. Hershel will remain relevant so long as the Layton series itself remains relevant.

It's really just Jibanyan and his third party position that are really that much of a con for him.

Oh and yes, I'll be happy to do that too. I've also included everyone into the supporters list too. If you know of any other Layton supporters here in Smashboards, feel free to let them know about this thread.

I can definitely help bringing supporters here. I remember hearing Pazzo. , @Professor Pumpkaboo, Ivander , and @Moydow expressed interest in seeing Layton over at the Nintenzone, so I tagged the four to let them know about this thread if they are interested.

I can also make a post on the Professor Layton Social Group to inform the other members of that group about this thread. That should help create a good number of Layton supporters from the get-go.

 

[Ivander]

Layton is easily in my Top 5 for Smash. He would fit in so well. I'd like to see him next to Ness and Lucas.

 

[MegaMarioMan9]

It seems as though it's speculation time yet again. You can count me in for support as always. Just remember, all you lovely ladies and gents; keep your expectations low and your hopes high. Very excited to get back into this, and hopefully we'll get even more supporters with Lady Layton on the horizon.

 

[Curious Villager]

I can definitely help bringing supporters here. I remember hearing Pazzo. , @Professor Pumpkaboo, Ivander , and @Moydow expressed interest in seeing Layton over at the Nintenzone, so I tagged the four to let them know about this thread if they are interested.

I can also make a post on the Professor Layton Social Group to inform the other members of that group about this thread. That should help create a good number of Layton supporters from the get-go.

I guess I'll also notify @King Sonnn DeDeDoo @Martingale @Lyngstud GWTCN @Laytonite since I know that they where also very active at the old Professor Layton support thread. I don't know if any of them still frequent this site, but I suppose most of them will probably come back when/if Smash Switch gets announced.

Anyway, to get things on track and get the discussion ball rolling. Lets discuss Hershel's hypothetical moveset.

I liked the Know Your Moves series made by Relax Alax which delves deeper on the various characters in Smash and speculating on the thought process on how and why certain characters where designed the way they where in the Super Smash Bros series.

So lets delve in first on who exactly Hershel is and what his series is all about and what it offers, and lets see how we can work around a fitting moveset for him based around that.

 

[Pazzo.]

Professor Layton for Smash? What a idea! Such thinking will earn you top marks.

Count me in. When did we decide to open the next Smash speculation anyway?

 

[FalKoopa]

I'll be happy to see Layton as well.

 

[RamOne]

Nobody tagged me. ;(
But even though I think my Layton Mii Fighter looks like the real deal, it's just not the same. I do think his moveset could be a potential problem, because how are you going to implement puzzles into a moveset? I know he's a skilled fencer, but that shouldn't be his main moveset focus, if you ask me.

 

[Curious Villager]

Professor Layton for Smash? What a idea! Such thinking will earn you top marks.

Count me in. When did we decide to open the next Smash speculation anyway?

I'm happy to see more people joining in on the Layton support.

We opened up not too long ago, like a few days ago or so.

Nobody tagged me. ;(
But even though I think my Layton Mii Fighter looks like the real deal, it's just not the same. I do think his moveset could be a potential problem, because how are you going to implement puzzles into a moveset? I know he's a skilled fencer, but that shouldn't be his main moveset focus, if you ask me.

My apologies, I'm pretty sure there where a lot more active supporters I've forgot to include, I'll have another look through the thread and tag any members I've missed.

Never underestimate the great minds of Sakurai and his team, they managed to make unique movesets for various characters people drew a blank on. If anything, I don't think its so much as there not being much for Hershel to pull from, but moreso the opposite, there is too much to pull from that it's a little difficult to see on where to start. There are the animal buddies, trunk minigames, the magnifying glass, the things he did in various animated cutscenes and not to mention the plethora of puzzles to work with.

I do agree that his fencing skills shouldn't be the main focus on his moveset, if anything, I feel like they should probably do like what they did with Ganondorf and have his fencing skills shown off whenever he gets a hold of a battering item such as the Beam Sword and Lip's Stick. After all, Hershel doesn't really have any defining sword of his own, he usually just picks up whatever battering weapon he can find and defends himself from there throughout the series itself.

By the way, this idea just hit me and could potentially be a unique feature for Hershel himself. You know how in various moments throughout the series, Hershel collects up whatever objects he finds around and builds up a contraption based on that, such as the famous slotmachine gun build from slotmachines, a glider build from home furniture and catapult build from town objects.

What if Hershel's main unique feature would be him having the ability to pick up two items through a move and build them together into one stronger item?
Of course since there are a plethora of items throughout the Smash Bros series, it would take way too much work to create unique items from every combination, so it would be moreso that, say, if Hershel where to pick up two explosive items such as the bombs of Link and Toon Link, he'd be able to build a stronger explosive item to throw back at them.

It probably wouldn't be that useful in matches that don't involve items, characters that use items for some attacks or team battle though, (Unless you also involve projectiles such as Yoshi's Egg throw) but it seems like a unique feature that Hershel can take advantage of....

 

[GWTCN]

I guess I'll also notify @King Sonnn DeDeDoo @Martingale @Lyngstud GWTCN @Laytonite since I know that they where also very active at the old Professor Layton support thread. I don't know if any of them still frequent this site, but I suppose most of them will probably come back when/if Smash Switch gets announced.

Anyway, to get things on track and get the discussion ball rolling. Lets discuss Hershel's hypothetical moveset.

I liked the Know Your Moves series made by Relax Alax which delves deeper on the various characters in Smash and speculating on the thought process on how and why certain characters where designed the way they where in the Super Smash Bros series.

So lets delve in first on who exactly Hershel is and what his series is all about and what it offers, and lets see how we can work around a fitting moveset for him based around that.

Thanks for tagging me here. It's actually a huge coincidence that I'm back on this site, but I'm glad I am now.

Now, I made a post on the old page a while back detailing a potential (or partial) moveset for Layton, so I guess I'll go over it again here.

The main mechanic I came up with was that when he's charging up a smash attack, it's direction (side, up or down) can be changed with no visual clues to the opponents. This way he can literally puzzle his opponents...

I see a lot of people saying that the Slot Machine Gun from Unwound Future should be one of his moves, but I think it would be more fitting as an item that deals spread damage like a Gatling gun. Layton's a badass and everything, but he used a gun once, and it wouldn't seem appropriate to his character to have a gun as one of his moves.

The bulk of his moveset would obviously revolve around his skills as a fencer, since it's a form of swordfighting that hasn't really been explored in Smash. If you want to separate him from the other sword users, you could instead give him the staff he used in that one cutscene in the Ace Attorney crossover, but it seems more appropriate for him to have a fencer's sword (I don't know what the technical term is).

Neutral Special: Investigation: While holding down the B button, you can move a magnifying glass around the screen. While hovering over an opponent, the glass will turn orange, and if the B button is released while in this state, one of three things will happen. 1) A hint coin appears and deals minimal damage. 2) Those white lines that appear when you talk to someone show up and they deal moderate damage. 3) The red exclamation mark appears and deals maximum damage.

Side Special: Accusation: The professor turns and points fiercely, sending out shockwaves that deal high knockback damage to those he accuses. This move can be charged for more damage.

Up Special: Homemade Glider: The professor quickly produces the glider from the end of Curious Village, and swiftly rises into the air, then slowly floats to the ground with high horizontal movement. While on the rise, any foes this hits will be dealt damage.

Down Special: Block Puzzle: The professor reveals a sliding block from the infamous sliding block puzzles that have peppered the Layton franchise since the beginning. Using Down-B again will toss the block in front of him, dealing damage to anyone it hits. The damage is determined by the type of block the professor pulls.

Final Smash: Puzzle Solved: When this move is used, a cursor in the shape of the Layton logo appears on screen. The idea is to activate the button again when it is hovering over an opponent, similar to the Dragoon. If the move hits, the professor 'solves the puzzle', trapping the opponent and launching the 4 frames that appear when you solve a puzzle in the game, ending with the point, which transfers 60 picarats into the opponent's percentage total and dealing huge knockback. If the move misses, the professor fails to solve the puzzle and 10 picarats are deducted from the puzzle. He then gets to try again, and if it fails a second time another 10 are deducted. If it misses a final time, the move fails.

Let me know what you think of this moveset. I'm not a game designer, but I am a Layton fan.

 

[Kirbeh]

Support. Layton as Level-5's rep over Jibanyan any day.

 

[Erureido]

It's been a while since this thread was last active, but I want to revive it because there's some exciting things I want to share.

First, I have created a general Professor Layton series thread over at the Nintenzone part of the forums. This will be thread to talk all about Layton news and games, so if you're a Layton fan yourself, that thread is just for you.

Second, like I promised from earlier, here is my updated Professor Layton moveset. A lot of the moves are the same from before, although a good number have been changed completely:

• New Tilt Attacks
• New Up Aerial and Down Aerial attacks
• New Smash Attacks
• A more elaborated-on explanation on the Standard Special
• A new Final Smash
• New Taunts
• New Victory Animations

Spoiler: My Updated moveset idea

Basic Animations:

Walk: Layton would walk normally like he does in the games.

Run: A basic running animation. Visually, it resembles the scenes when he chased the Black Raven in Last Specter and the moment the Giant Float is about to collapse on him in Miracle Mask. He has the same running speed as Snake.

Jump: He lunges upward in the first jump. With his second jump, he curls his body, but it doesn't give him too much vertical distance. It is very similar to Snake's jumps, but Layton's up special makes up for it.

Fall: Layton holds onto his hat with one hand while his other arm is held out, slightly bent. He has relatively fast falling speed as he is a bit of a heavy weight.

Crouch: Layton bends with one knee while one arm rests on it.

Crawl: A basic crawling animation where Layton crawls with his knees and hands.

Shield: Layton grabs his hat with one hand, while his other arm is bent and hovers over his chest.

Roll: Instead of rolling, Layton slides to the outside of the stage. When returning back, he has one hand on the ground as he bends his body forward.

Side-step: Layton grabs his hat with one hand and moves toward the back of the stage with a surprised expression while his other arm extends far to the side.

Dizzy: Layton grabs his hat with one hand and stumbles from left to right.

Sleep: Layton sits down with his legs crossed while resting his head on one of his arms.

Swimming: Layton moves his arms similar to a breast-stroke pull.

Drowning: He lowers his hat over his eyes with one of his hands, while the other arm and his legs float helplessly in the water.

Idle Animations:

-Animation 1: Layton adjusts his hat.
-Animation 2: Layton holds his hand to his chin, taking a thinking position.
-Animation 3: Layton pouts his arms and slightly nods his head.

Launching scream: Layton screams, "Uuwaaahhh." It sounds similar to the scene when he tumbles with Luke through the forest in Azran Legacy.

KO scream: Layton screams, "Huaghh." It sounds exactly like his scream when Emmy crossed his path at the beginning of Last Specter.

Star KO scream: Sounds exactly like his scream from Azran Legacy when the beam of light was killing him.

Basic attacks:

Jab: Layton delivers a small slap with his right hand while raising his pinky (supposed to be a gentleman's slap).

Double Jab: The second jab is another gentleman's slap, but he uses his left hand instead.

Triple Jab: Layton pulls out a fencing sword and uses it like he's in a fencing match. It can lead into a repetitive jab, and the final blow is the finishing fencing move that touches the opponent.

Dash Attack: Layton pulls out a metallic pipe and slashes from left tor right. The attack manner is similar to Marth's dash attack.

Tilt Attacks:

Forward Tilt: Layton holds out his magnifying glass, and the tool gives the same orange tint just like it does in the games when you find something of interest (even producing the same sound effect). The moment when the magnifying glass turns orange is when damage is delivered.

Up Tilt: Layton takes an "a-ha" stance as the iconic red exclamation mark from the games appears above his head. This exclamation mark is what deals the damage, and it is his strongest tilt attack.

Down Tilt: Layton uses an archaeological hand pick and does a hammering animation using it.

Aerial Attacks:

Neutral Aerial: Layton grabs a camera by its strap and swings it around himself.

Forward Aerial: Layton uses the same metallic pipe and moves the pipe downward. Visually, the attack resembles Layton's first strike on Descole when Layton released himself from the Fossil Glider in Azran Legacy.

Back Aerial: Keats the Puzzle Cat emerges from Layton's coat, and the cat slashes foes from behind Layton's back before returning to his coat. During this animation, Layton watches Keats with a surprised expression and quickly helps Keats return back into his coat.

Up Aerial: Layton pulls out the toy robot from Miracle Mask and holds it above his head. The toy robot then does a small, upward jump from Layton's hand while moving its arms up. This attack has a dual-damaging effect where it can potentially deal two blows to the opponent. There is a sweet-spot at the robot's arms.

Down Aerial: Layton takes a shovel and stabs it toward the ground. The attack heavily resembles Link's down aerial, even having the same meteor spike if the opponent is hit by the sweet-spot.

Grabs:

Pummel: Layton knees his opponent.

Each of Layton's throws reference various puzzles throughout the series. In each throw, he releases his opponent and changes into a thinking position. Upon releasing his opponent, the throw takes place. After the throw finishes, he looks up with a grin on his face, just like when a puzzle is correctly solved. Think of it as if Layton uses his intellectual thoughts to attack the foe. It's like Layton is playing "mind-games" with his opponents!

Forward Throw: A small toy train (as seen from a bird's eye view) appears above Layton, moves toward the opponent, and latches onto him/her. The train quickly moves slightly forward then diagonally upward before disappearing and releasing the opponent. It mimics those "drag the line" puzzles where you need to get a chain to another side, usually involving trains of some sort.

Back Throw: Three pitchers appear in front of Layton. The opponent is then thrown between the pitchers as if he/she is being poured like milk. It mimics the milk puzzle from Curious Village.

Up Throw: Three rectangular blocks push the opponent upwards, with the final block releasing the opponent high. It's a weak attack with high knockback, mimicking those "drag the blocks to get a certain piece to the other side" puzzles that are very common throughout the series.

Down Throw: A tetris-shaped block pushes the opponent downward. A second one pushes the opponent in a direction behind Layton. The last piece pushes the opponent upward. This ultimately creates a rigid U-shaped throw. It mimics those "fix the pictures" puzzles that is akin to assembling a jigsaw puzzle, but the pieces are more tetris-shaped.

Smash Attacks:

Each of these attacks involve the Azran Keystone from Azran Legacy.

Forward Smash: Layton pulls out the Azran Keystone casually holding it to the side for the charging animation. Once he finishes charging, he extends his arm holding the Keystone in front of himself. The Keystone then delivers a shockwave-like blast that deals tremendous damage to foes. The blast looks exactly the same as the one that was produced from the device in the games.

Up Smash: It plays out almost identically to the forward smash. The only difference is that Layton holds the Keystone above his head for the finishing blow, and the blast deals vertical knockback.

Down Smash: Unlike the forward and up smashes, Layton puts the Azran Keystone on the ground and holds it there for the charging animation. Once fully charged, the Keystone emits the the same blast, only this time, it covers a 360 degree radius surrounding Layton.

Specials:

Standard Special - Coin-Slot Machine Gun: Layton pulls out the same gun of the same name he created in Unwound Future. He charges it then and fires a barrage of coins. The length of time it takes to fire the coins depends on your charge time. Layton can move left and right while firing his gun, but he cannot turn around while doing so. The barrage of coins has the same effect as firing multiple, small shots from the Super Scope, but unlike the Super Scope, you can combo into a grab by moving toward the foe as you fire coins to keep him/her stunned. The gun can fire for up to five seconds at most. You can't use it right away after the gun finishes firing because the next Layton uses the attack, he will dump a bag of coins to prepare for the next attack. It takes about one second for Layton to dump coins. Once he finishes doing so, you can charge and fire again.

Side Special - Hamster Attack: Layton throws an apple, and if it hits someone, it does a small amount of damage. If he uses the side special again, he will throw the hamster this time, and it will quickly run towards the apple. As the hamster runs, it can climb up walls similar to the Bombchu, and it can anyone in its path with small damage. Once it reaches the apple, the hamster eats it. If an opponent is right next to an apple, he/she will be trapped by the hamster as it eats the apple and wrack up damage with each bite. Basically, the hamster is biting the opponent's feet in the process. With the final bite, the opponent is launched with decent knock back.

Up Special - Globe Glider: Layton uses the Globe Glider he built from Curious Village. When utilizing it, he faces towards his front. The glider can travel very high and is easy to maneuver, similar to Snake and ROB's up specials. This attack makes up for Layton's low second jump, repeating a similar deal to Snake's recovery. The glider can also disrupt an opponent's up-special when it makes contact, but in doing so, the glider will lose control for a few seconds before Layton is forced to dislodge himself. This references the scene when the glider slightly touches Don Paolo's helicopter in Curious Village, disrupting it to the point Don Paolo is forced to flee. When his up special finishes, Layton is not rendered helpless.

Down Special - Stone Catapult: Layton pulls out the catapult he uses to take down Descole in Last Specter, but it has been scaled down to closely match his size. He charges the catapult toYou can charge the catapult so that two stones can be launched farther. The farther the stones are launched, the more knock back and damage they deal. The stones deal more damage if they hit a foe that is in the air.

Final Smash:

Deduction: A cinematic Final Smash that references the most iconic cutscene in every Layton game where the Professor identifies who the real culprit behind the crime was.

The Final Smash begins with Layton taking a thinking stance and saying, "Hmmm." A glint appears in front of Layton and covers a small yet decent range in front of him. If anyone is caught within the glint's range, the screen turns white.

The scene then changes to show several people, including the culprit, sitting around a table in an old-fashioned living room, with Layton standing behind them. The people are all shadowed save for the the opponent that was caught by the glint. While taking his classic thinking stance, Layton walks around the room and says, "Someone here was the mastermind behind this awful scheme." He then looks forward the opponent and does his signature point at him/her, telling the foe, "And that person was you!" At that moment, the opponent takes on a funny stunned animation, indicating their shock at being caught. The scene then returns to the battle, only this time, the caught foe is delivered a large amount of damage and knockback. That attack can KO as early as 50%.

If Layton caught two or more foes, the scene plays out like it normally does. The only difference is that Layton uses plural nouns at the respective moments. While walking around and thinking, he says "some people" instead of "someone," and when deducing the culprit, he says "those people" instead of "that person."

I can also imagine a nice Easter Egg where all the shadowed people are individuals that appeared in past Layton games.

Taunts:

Up Taunt: Layton adjusts his hat, then pouts his arms. As he pouts his arms, he says, "Every puzzle has an answer."

Side Taunt: Layton tips his hat forward and says, "A remarkable move!"

Down Taunt: Layton pulls out a cup of tea and drinks it.

Victory Animations:

The victory melody would be a more melodic version of the "Puzzle Solved" soundbite, heard in the video brought up with the first animation.

Animation 1: Layton puts his hand on his chin, closes his eyes and looks down, then looks back up at the camera. He follows with his signature point and says, "I've found the solution!" This entire animation plays out exactly like the "Puzzle Solved "bit after solving a puzzle. Here's a video for reference:

Remove the black stills that interrupt at the different intervals to make the whole animation more fluid, and that's how it would likely play out in Smash.

Animation 2: Layton adjusts his hat and says "A true gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved." He finishes with a pout while smiling at the camera.

Animation 3: Layton brushes both arms of his coat as if he is removing dust. As he does so, he states, "That was quite the riveting match!" He then adjusts his coat by putting both hands on the zipper sides to tuck his coat up.

Losing Animation: A basic losing animation that involves Layton clapping towards his left side while holding a smile on his face.

Fill free to add this moveset to the OP!

 

[Curious Villager]

Thanks for reviving this thread Erureido

Great to see a general Layton series discussion thread, it should come in good handy once the new Layton game comes out. ^^
I've added your thread and moveset to the OP!

To get the thread moving along a little more. Why not talk a bit more about stage idea's. We have St. Mystere, what other potential locations would you guys like to see?

 

[fogbadge]

im not sure what id like to see as a laytons stage perhaps the university

 

[Erureido]

I think London would be a very fitting stage for Professor Layton considering that it is the most recurring location in the series. The Professor was shown in London at some point in each game aside from Curious Village. One way they could make London work as a stage is a style where you experience all of the major city landmarks shown in the series, and I think that can be achieved either with a Delfino Plaza/Wuhu Island/Skyloft style, or a transition style similar to Castle Siege. Below is my idea how London could play out as a Castle Siege-like stage:

Spoiler: London stage idea

In this stage, you fight on various landmarks in London that appeared throughout the series, particularly from Last Specter, Eternal Diva, Azran Legacy, Diabolical Box, and Unwound Future. The stage would transition in a manner making to Castle Siege. I could picture the magnifying glass appearing and moving to the top right of the stage towards the end of a phase. The magnifying glass would change to a blue color. In the games, the blue color means you can zoom in on a specific location. The moment the glass turns blue, the entire background of the stage changes to a "zoom-in" effect.

You first fight on top of Big Ben, or really, the clock tower's balcony, where Eternal Diva opens. Nothing much to say here. You can see the top half of the clock below you as you fight; during this phase of the stage, Big Ben will ring, a nice detail added to make the stage come to life more. The clock on the tower will also follow your Switch's internal clock, so the sky will change accordingly depending on the real life time and day.

The stage will transition into two of the following locations, one after another for about 40 seconds each, and then it will return to Big Ben. The entire stage loops again starting from Big Ben, and repeats the pattern of one London location after another. Which London location that you fight in is randomized, but you will have experienced all four London locations after two loops.

The first potential location you could fight at is Gressenheller University. For a visual of how this phase of the stage would look like, here's a picture:

Like Big Ben's top, it would be a flat stage with no platforms, but slightly scaled down so that it isn't too big. At this point, you will start seeing various characters from the series appear in the background. In this phase of the entire stage, Dean Delmona, Rosa Grimes (Layton's housekeeper in Last Specter), and Dr. Schrader can be seen watching the fight from a distance. All three of them work for the University in some way, so its fitting for them to make cameos at this phase of the battle.

The second potential location you could fight at the front of Scotland Yard. Here's a visual:

This time, however, rather than fighting on the street, the stage is slightly elevated so that you can get KOd by falling below The stage would also be slightly zoomed in at the building but still visible enough to see the building's top. There are two smaller platforms set up in a way like Spear Pillar, except they aren't moving. You can see Inspector Chelmey, Barton, Grosky, Carmichael (from Azran Legacy), and Leonard Bloom watching the fight through various windows. Its obviously fitting for those three to appear as cameos because they work for Scotland Yard.

The third potential location you could fight at is Kensington Street as it appears in Azran Legacy. Here's a visual:

Yet again, the stage is slightly elevated so that you are not fighting on the street itself, and you can be KOd by falling into the lower boundary line. There are also three smaller platforms set up in a Battlefield fashion. Now, you can see the background of the stage rotating around you, giving you a glimpse of every side of the street. It is also evening at this point. Clark and Brenda Triton, Luke's parents, can be seen watching the battle in the distance. There cameos might seem out of place, but they do appear in London in Azran Legacy.

The last potential location you could fight at is the London Alleyways where Professor Layton says goodbye to Claire in Unwound Future. It is now nighttime, and although I can't find a picture as to how to the stage would look like, I can describe it. It would take place on the tops of two houses. In the middle of the two houses is a gap where you can fall through for a KO, and that's supposed to be the empty street. Additionally, there is a platform above the gap. On the roofs of other houses in the background, Clair, Clive, and Dmitri (all from Unwound Future) are watching the battle in the distance.

The Omega version for this stage would simply take place on top of Big Ben since it is a flat structure with gaps on the left and right sides.

There's another location that would make a really great Smash stage for Layton. It's more of a personal wishlist of mine since you don't hear this as a Smash stage suggestion very often. It also contains Azran Legacy spoilers:

Spoiler: A location from Azran Legacy (warning: contains spoilers

I could see the Azran Sanctuary appearing as a potential Smash Bros stage. For those that don't remember the Azran Sanctuary, it was the final location Professor Layton and co. visit in Azran Legacy. At first, it appears to be the ultimate Azran Legacy, but it isn't the case. It is actually there to contain the true Azran Legacy: the Azran Golems.

The way how I imagine this stage plays out is similar to Halberd from Brawl: the stage starts inside the location, then flies around the it, rests somewhere on top of the location, and then loops back at a phase once again.

The stage begins in the Chamber of Light, the heart of the Azran Sanctuary. Here's a visual:

The main platform would consist of a stone platform with various Azran writings and details on it, along with two smaller platforms on the top: the left being slightly lower than the right. Like the main platform, they also have various Azran details, particularly the drawing that appears in the final puzzle and the game's title screen. Additionally, the main platform is slightly elevated to allow KOs by falling through the bottom boundary line.

Aurora, the Azran Emissary, appears on the center background of the main battlefield, maintaining a distance similar to what Dialga/Palkia/Cresselia do in Spear Pillar. At the start of the battle, she is in a prayerful state. A few seconds into the match, her "Voice of the Azran" self awakens; her eyes startglowing, her arms spread out, and the prism lights up just like in the picture. Pink lights appear beneath the main platform, and the Chamber of Light starts to rumble, indicating the Sanctuary is starting to emerge from underground. Luckily, the main stage where the fighting takes place escapes the Sanctuary quickly by following the central beam of light coming from the prism and escaping from the top. The main battlefield will travel through tons of underground material, but thanks to an energy sphere, the battlefield will break through the ground and emerge from it.

At this point, Aurora uses her Azran powers to pilot the battlefield. When the stage emerges from the ground, the energy sphere disappears. Rising out of the mountaintops, you can see Froenburg in the distance, as well as various Targent tanks. The stage will move towards Froenburg, but then, you will hear a huge earthquake: the Azran Sanctuary has risen out of the ground! Aurora turns the battlefield towards the direction of where the Sanctuary rose. You cannot see the Sanctuary yet because it quickly rose out from the ground. Aurora then forces the battlefield to rise at an accelerating rate until it reaches high above the clouds.

At this point, the entire Azran Sanctuary is visible in the distance:

Aurora then flies the battlefield towards the Sanctuary, moving her arms in a manner of piloting the stage. From there, the battlefield flies around the Sanctuary up-close, akin to how the battlefield flies around the battleship in the Halberd stage.

After flying around the Sanctuary at a decent speed, the stage flies by the bottom of the site. At this point, Aurora moves one of her arms forward and her eyes glow even brighter. Shortly after, all of the Azran Golems fly out. The stage continues flying around the Sanctuary at different points, only now, the Azran Golems are flying everywhere while firing their lasers. They are also the main stage hazards. An Azran Golem can fly by the battlefield at a random point, whether it be from the background, the left side, or the right side. When it does, its stomach glows pink, indicating its about to fire its laser. This is a warning to either get away or dodge it (by rolling or side-stepping). If the laser hits you, its a one hit KO; it sounds OP, so to make it less cheap, it could just deliver a lot of damage. The reason I picture the laser as having OHKO potential is because the games demonstrate the lasers have the ability to obliterate tanks and buildings into pieces. Furthermore, the Golems are indestructible: you can't attack one to get rid of it. There will be about 2-3 Golem attacks during this phase of the battle.

After that, the stage then rests on the top of the Azran Sanctuary, pictured below:

​

Where Layton and the others are standing in the picture is where the fighters would be fighting on.

The two smaller platforms remain as the stage settles on the top. Aurora stays in the background but on a small, elevated structure of her own. Now, she has snapped out of her "Voice of the Azran" self and curiously watches the fighters.

In this phase, the Golems will not be attacking you nor the other fighters, but they are still flying in the sky. Statues, the new stage hazards, emerge the ground. One of two kinds of Azran statues will emerge from the ground in the distance.

The first kind of statues are the same ones that Descole defends Luke from before injuring himself and revealing his true identity to Professor Layton. For this stage, only their heads emerge since their entire bodies are quite large. A total of four statue heads rise: two facing left and right in the distance, and two facing the fighters close to the battlefield on both sides. At one point, the two far statue heads' eyes twinkle. Shortly after, the two closer statue heads fire two brief lasers that deal decent damage if you are in their range. The statues have varying firing patterns: one closer and one farther could have their eyes twinkle, while the other two will fire their lasers, or in other cases, the two closer statues could twinkle their eyes, while the far ones fire lasers. Its random, but the statues fire a total of two lasers. After the statues fire the second set of lasers, the four statue heads sink back into the ground.

The second kind of statues are the ones that fire lasers nonstop while rotating in circles; these statues appear in the second to last puzzle in the game. For this stage, one of these appears appears either on the far left, far center, or far right. It will also start with its back towards the fighters. Shortly after it emerges, its eyes glow and then it will fire lasers from each eye while rotating clockwise. As it rotates, the lasers will move along with it, reaching into the battlefield. They deal more damage and knockback than the first statues' lasers, but they are not as dangerous as the Azran Golems are. The statue will rotate once, pause for a few seconds, and then rotate again before returning into the ground.

The way how I see the statues emerge and lower into the ground would resemble a nuclear weapon emerging from the ground before launching. The Azran are depicted as a highly advanced civilization in both technology and science, so I believe such statue movement could work for this stage.

In the stage's background, five Targent members make cameo appearances: Bronev, Gannet, Plover, and two of three Targent officers that tried to shoot Descole in Miracle Mask's ending (Robin and Macaw don't appear here because they quit Targent at this point in the game, and Swift and Grouse don't appear because they are still in the Nest).

During the phase of the battle when the fighters battle on the Azran Sanctuary's top, the five Targent members run inside, dodging the statues as they go. The hallway in the background leads into the Chamber of Light. Though not seen during the fight, all five of the Targent men sacrifice their life by placing themselves in front of the pedestals to block the light beams that are powering the the Sanctuary and the Golems. At one point during the phase, Aurora will sense that the light beams' disappearance. She then enters a prayerful stage again, praying to the Light of the Azran to reverse time and save the Targent men while sacrificing herself in the process (because she realizes humans are not entirely selfish).

Once she stops praying, she places both arms in front of her, now displaying a sorrowful expression on her face. Before long, the background Golems start falling to the ground. She also burns away into a mystical, yellow fire just like what happens at the end of the Azran Legacy. This is because she is an Azran Golem herself, so she too dies along with the other Golems. Unbeknownst to the fighters, the Sanctuary has started to crumble beneath their feet. Eventually, Aurora completely fades away into midair at a rapid rate, and the main battlefield falls apart. This begins the final phase. The stage splits into two, and as it travels down, many parts of the Sanctuary are already falling down, slowly, in the background.

There comes a point where the prism from the Chamber of Light appears. Once it reaches the same level as the battlefield, it unleashes a blast (the same one from solving the final puzzle in AL), and the stage's background changes to a portal effect; the prism has reversed time. The portal changes into the Chamber of Light where the battle first began, resetting the loop.

The Omega version of this stage would involve a flat, stone platform that will travel around the Azran Sanctuary without going through all phases of the normal version.

I might come up with a few other Layton stage ideas if the ideas hit me.

 

[Curious Villager]

London sounds like a great idea and a good setting to represent the series as a whole.
I wonder if a puzzle based stage could work too, although it might be for the best to mix that up with an existing location too. Such as the tower of St. Mystere or the Towering Pagoda.

 

[GWTCN]

A few stage ideas I had were:

- St. Mystere (Curious Village)
- Sliding Block Puzzle (Any Game)
- Mobile Fortress (Unwound/Lost Future)
- Ambrosia (Eternal Diva)
- Azran Ruins (Miracle Mask)
- Airship Bostonius (Azran Legacy)
- Labyrinthia (vs. Ace Attorney)

 

[PK Bash]

Wanted Layton in Smash ever since I played Curious Village all those years ago. They're some of my favourite games and I would probably make him my competitive main and finally drop Ness after all these years haha.

I don't have long but there are some thoughts I want to put down now and will expand on them in a day or two.

There are two broad "archetypes" I see Layton's character fitting.
-One is "footsies", as a poking and counter-poking character. Think Marth, Peach, Lucas.
-The other would be as a trapper. Think Snake and Pac-Man in particular, though Diddy Kong and Robin are less obvious examples.
Given the nature of Layton, elements of a buffing character (think how Wii Fit Trainer and Lucas in Project M can use a special move to increase the power of their smashes), or an ammunition-based character (Olimar, Robin) could be utilised to add some spin to the basic archetype.
In fact, I could totally see Layton filling the niche Robin could potentially leave behind, with less emphasis on projectiles and grabs than Robin has. (Can you imagine a gentleman constantly looking to grab his opponent like Robin or Ness would? That would not be befitting of the character.)

Anyway here are some very preliminary thoughts on how Layton could roll, with the above specified character archetypes in mind.

As a footsies character, he would need some fast disjointed poke moves, like Marth or Lucas' forward tilt. Layton's forward tilt could be an overhead stab with a rapier (overhead stab as it covers jump - important, as I will explain later when I have more time to collect my thoughts). His down tilt could see a hint coin pop out of the floor, maybe this could cause a hard knockdown or tech situation.

For trapping, the first thing that came to mind was a special move, maybe down special, causing Layton to strike a match and drop it to the floor. Would explode after x amount of time or after coming into contact with a hitbox or hurtbox. The match would have a hitbox as it lies on the floor. Will explain more in-depth later.
An alternative "trapping" move would see Layton summoning a moving block to restrict his opponent's movement.

For power-up, you know when you submit a solution? He'd go through that animation and if he completes it, he gets a buff to his mobility or attack power, or something like that. Maybe both, like Cloud's limit break? Not sure yet. This is preliminary.

For ammo, I have nothing so far, but there is definitely some potential here.

If you want to ask quetions or suggest something while I'm gone, please do!

I will go into more detail when I have more time to hand.

 

[fogbadge]

lady layton coming to 3ds in europe oct 6th

 

[Rasumii]

Glad to see this back. I haven't been here for a while so forgive me, but I of course support Layton for Smash Bros, as I had in the past version of this thread.

 

[fogbadge]

Curious Villager hey you pay attention to the games when they release in japan right? well is katrielle the only one who solves puzzles or do other do as well? no spoilers please

 

[Curious Villager]

Glad to see this back. I haven't been here for a while so forgive me, but I of course support Layton for Smash Bros, as I had in the past version of this thread.

Hey welcome back! Sure, I'll be happy to add you to the supporters list again. ^^

Curious Villager hey you pay attention to the games when they release in japan right? well is katrielle the only one who solves puzzles or do other do as well? no spoilers please

I haven't played the new game myself yet, (I'm waiting for the 3DS version) but yeah, a few other characters solve puzzles too. Ernest, her assistant for one, I don't know if Sherl does as well though....

 

[fogbadge]

I haven't played the new game myself yet, (I'm waiting for the 3DS version) but yeah, a few other characters solve puzzles too. Ernest, her assistant for one, I don't know if Sherl does as well though....

well thats good to know i guess im just used to multiple characters solving puzzles

it would be different if the dog solved puzzles

 

[AEMehr]

Curious Villager hey you pay attention to the games when they release in japan right? well is katrielle the only one who solves puzzles or do other do as well? no spoilers please

Multiple characters can solve puzzles, not just Katrielle and Ernest.

 

[fogbadge]

Multiple characters can solve puzzles, not just Katrielle and Ernest.

well i look forward to finding out who

 

[Curious Villager]

I'm a little bit concerned about the game though, not to be a party pooper or anything, but I've heard some mixed opinions in regards to the overall game.

Potential spoilers I guess depending on how much everyone's trying to keep things a surprise from the game I suppose, I won't go into much detail of the overall plot of the game though as, like I said, even I haven't played it yet and haven't really seen any of the cutscenes and whatnot, so it's going off the reviews and opinions from those who did play it.

Spoiler

From what I've heard, the puzzles are a bit of a downgrade from previous games where they are either too easy (Although to be fair, I personally didn't feel like the puzzles where all that difficult in later installments in the series since Last Specter) , or the game's trying too hard to trick the player. I suppose it couldn't really be helped since the original puzzle master passed away last year so they had to hire a new one. But I do hope they will improve upon that in later installments.

Also, the overall story doesn't seem to be very focused, the relevant part doesn't seem to happen until the end of the game so in the meantime, you have to do a lot of predictable filler cases. I don't really know how to feel about that, since I personally really did not enjoy the egg fetch quest from Azran Legacy and I really hope that it's nothing like that, I'd prefer a more focused plot line, much like the older games up to Miracle Mask. I wouldn't mind these types of side plots as optional sidequests though, just not as something that gets forced upon you...

Also not sure how to feel about the day one DLC but I guess that's a discussion for another thread, I just hope that the Flora Reinhold costume becomes available for all versions eventually rather than just the 3DS eShop download version.

That's just my overall thought at the moment until the 3DS version comes out I guess....

 

[AEMehr]

The concerns you mentioned are very true on both fronts lol.

 

[Curious Villager]

Well there's a bit of exciting news for us. Thanks Erureido for bringing this to our attention.

The Layton series will finally get its own TV series coming up next year, after Inazuma Eleven and Yokai Watch, It's about time that the Layton series joins in on the fun. All we know at the moment is that it will have 26 episodes though so we don't know much about what we can expect so far.

Also, Level-5 confirmed that a new game is already in development and slated for release (at least in Japan) next year too. Guess the Layton series is back in full swing again.

Plus, for those who are waiting for the 3DS version of LMJ, the game will be coming out this Friday, hope you enjoy.

 

[fogbadge]

Well there's a bit of exciting news for us. Thanks Erureido for bringing this to our attention.

The Layton series will finally get its own TV series coming up next year, after Inazuma Eleven and Yokai Watch, It's about time that the Layton series joins in on the fun. All we know at the moment is that it will have 26 episodes though so we don't know much about what we can expect so far.

Also, Level-5 confirmed that a new game is already in development and slated for release (at least in Japan) next year too. Guess the Layton series is back in full swing again.

Plus, for those who are waiting for the 3DS version of LMJ, the game will be coming out this Friday, hope you enjoy.

well to both of those things i say hot diggidy hint coins!

also my copy of millionaire's conspiracy is on its way

 

[Shair]

Even though Pandora's Box is considered not as good as the others I feel like a good final smash for Layton would be the box.

He opens it and it hits like a rest in front of him.

 

[fogbadge]

my copy of millionaire's conspiracy arrived today and i am loving it

 

[PK Bash]

New game so soon? They're turning them around fast... be cool to see on Switch. Hope it's not mobile exclusive because then people like me with bricks can't play it.
Haven't played LMJ yet and prob won't until next year so I'm going to have some catching up to do. (Especially if it goes to Switch and avoids 3DS...) Getting a TV series is cool I guess, means they're putting their soul into Layton again.

I totally forgot that I promised this thread a Layton moveset a few months ago so perhaps I should rectify that now before I forget again.

First of all, any moveset needs to be relevant to both the Prof and Kat. When they design this character, they need to celebrate the series as a whole, in much the same way that Pac-man is one big love letter to Bandai Namco or that Link draws on inspiration from across many Zelda games. So that means Layton's one-night-stands like the Coin Gun are a no-go. That saw usage in one cutscene of one (ageing) game, and is not indicative of the whole series, it would not make sense on Kat so it therefore shouldn't be a focus of his moveset. The same might apply to Layton's fencing. Stuff like that.

This means that a moveset would have to focus on universal elements. Hint Coins, Investigation Mode, puzzle pieces, moving blocks, lines, arrows, the Prof's Trunk/Kat's equivalent, lots of pointing. Anything you think of as integral parts of the games.
So maybe we could get to work on that?

The action-oriented cutscenes don't have to be completely forgotten. Both Layton and Kat have shown to be quite athletic and brave, so we could have something like a somersault or a roll for their dash attack. Both have shown practicality and resourcefulness (I'm just going on that scene in the trailers of Kat building a sign for the Detective Agency), so some kind of construction mechanic is also not out of the equation as some kind of special move.

One particular element I think deserves a lot of focus is moving blocks. Huge part of any Layton game, when you think of puzzles from the games these probably come to mind - they are quite iconic. So perhaps their neutral special should pop one of these blocks into existence, which the player is able to move somehow (perhaps by attacking it, or holding B, using the left stick and releasing B when it's in place). I suppose it would work like solid ground with all the appropriate collision mechanics, but if you remember my previous post in this thread I said Layton should take some inspiration from the "Trapper" archetype. This fits into that as it effectively gives Layton some control over the stage and introduces an obstacle for the opponent to navigate.
Of course, a block will not last forever so Layton must make good use of the time it is out and the limitations it puts on the opponent/the benefits it gives Layton.

Layton is not going to be an in-your-face Rushdown character like Cpt Falcon, so he needs either a good capacity to play footsies and/or a way to force approaches. To this extent, perhaps Layton is able to "spend" hint coins by casually tossing them as a projectile. They would be small, but to make up for that they would probably be transcendent priority to beat out other hitboxes and start forcing shields or jumps to get around them. or maybe Layton would throw three at a time instead of them being transcendent.

Layton probably has a poor grab game (he is a gentleman, he will not fight like a wrestler) so he needs some good options to combat shielding. Either with powerful poke moves (maybe he could swing his trunk) or some kind of command grab like Lucario's force palm. A command grab could be an accusatory point that "stuns" an opponent in it's area of effect in a similar manner to Pac-man's Bell before launching them away. This also works nicely with how Layton's block and hint coins limit the opponent's movement and perhaps require them to use shield more than they otherwise would.

Another option for a special move is for Layton to go into that classic puzzle solving pose where the screen goes black in the games. If you hold the button long enough, Layton will grin, and this will have some kind of effect like healing or boosting the power of his specials or something like that. This puts the impetus on the opponent to come to Layton instead of vice versa.

I think that will do for now. This is a rough skeleton of what I think Layton in Smash should and could be like. Suggestions, extrapolations, discussion, all that good stuff welcome!

 

[Curious Villager]

PK Bash I do agree that Layton's moveset should generally involve themes that are universal to the series as a whole. I believe I stated sometime ago that the puzzles should be the main meat of his moveset, the sliding puzzles are indeed quite iconic to the series, but I thought they might work better for his throws.

The idea of him using the puzzle solving animation to heal or boost attack does sound very interesting, although doesn't that kind of make it a little too similar to Wii Fit Trainer's deep breathing move?

He can perhaps use the magnifying glass from the 3DS games in conjuncion with the hint coins. If he hits an opponent who holds an item (or just any item on the ground), he can take it away from them with a red exclamation mark showing up, and if they don't, it will show hint coins sparking out of them in form of damage (Kind of like the coins in Mario's up special.)

 

[PK Bash]

I can totally see his throws being a multiple choice puzzle too! Or those arrow puzzles where you guided Layton through a maze.

As for the puzzle solving animation, yeah it is similar to Wii Fit Trainer and maybe there is a way to make it more unique, or I just need more imagination. (I actually had Cloud's Limit Break in mind myself. Forgot Wii Fit was in the game, whoops) Mind you, if we can't jazz it up, we can always point to the variations on Counter in Smash 4

The Magnifying Glass I can def see in the moveset. Though I thought a hint coin popping up could be a good idea for a down tilt attack maybe. The up tilt could be the three white lines that pop from NPC's heads when you tap on them and the forward tilt can be... some other thing that pops up in Investigation Mode. I do love the idea of stealing items but it might suck for characters like Pac-man or R.O.B. who can only spawn one item at a time (and need it to function). I know Rosa can draw items to her and Pikmin take items to Olimar, but not if someone is holding it. Bonus damage if they hold an item though, that is a really interesting concept.

Some cool ideas. I like this.

 

[Curious Villager]

Well Hershel has done various things with all sorts of items he came across. So perhaps having him be able to manipulate them in some way might work, whether it's him mixing up two items to make one stronger item or him stealing items from his opponents, It might work for him since he's a pretty inventive character, though I'm not sure if stealing items is a part of his gentlemanly code of conduct...