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!

[BluePikmin11]

Hopefully, Nintendo was grateful enough to note Layton as a high priority for their selection.

 

[Klimax]

At least, it means that we're not getting a out of nowhere pick by Sakurai.

 

[GoodGrief741]

At least, it means that we're not getting a out of nowhere pick by Sakurai.

Well, not another one.

 

[Eremitaviola]

It was my favorite series growing up and I still consider it in my top 5. Count me in

 

[Curious Villager]

So Sakurai just announced on Twitter that Nintendo actually picked the potential characters while he saw if he could make them work.
Do you think that this will affect our dear Professor's chances in anyway ?

Its kind of hard to tell, it might depend on who at Nintendo where involved at picking the DLC characters and if they referred to the ballot for the selection process.

I think this might reduce the chances of getting another third party like Cloud as Nintendo themselves would probably rather have a third party that their own audience are more familiar with and that they themselves can promote, they might also pick one that has a more global appeal. Or one that can bring in a wider audience.

I feel like this might favor Layton over Jibanyan as he's overall more popular globally and his series also has a larger female audience that Nintendo might want to bring over for Smash.

I know he tends to get a lot of hate these days from the Nintendo community, but I'd imagine Miyamoto being one of the few people suggesting Layton to Sakurai as he has stated to be a fan and appreciating the series influence in the past. He was also the one who requested Pac-Man to Sakurai.
Satoru Shibata was also a huge fan of the Layton series too, so I could see him suggesting the Prof too if it was up to him. Plus he was the president of Nintendo of Europe so I'd imagine he'd know better than anyone else how highly beloved the Layton series is in Europe.

I don't know who the new President of NoJ would suggest though.... But at least Nintendo themselves have been big buds with Level-5 ever since the Layton series was born.

It was my favorite series growing up and I still consider it in my top 5. Count me in

Hey welcome to Smashboards Eremitaviola, I've added you tot he supporters list, welcome on board!

 

[Eremitaviola]

Its kind of hard to tell, it might depend on who at Nintendo where involved at picking the DLC characters and if they referred to the ballot for the selection process.

At the very least, I think this might reduce the chances of getting another third party like Cloud as Nintendo themselves would probably rather have a third party that their own audience are more familiar with and that they themselves can promote, they might also pick one that has a more global appeal. Or one that can bring in a wider audience.

I feel like this might favor Layton over Jibanyan as he's overall more popular globally and his series also has a larger female audience that Nintendo might want to bring over for Smash.

I know he tends to get a lot of hate these days from the Nintendo community, but I'd imagine Miyamoto being one of the few people suggesting Layton to Sakurai as he has stated to be a fan and appreciating the series influence in the past. He was also the one who requested Pac-Man to Sakurai.
Satoru Shibata was also a huge fan of the Layton series too, so I could see him suggesting the Prof too if it was up to him. Plus he was the president of Nintendo of Europe so I'd imagine he'd know better than anyone else how highly beloved the Layton series is in Europe.

I don't know who the new President of NoJ would suggest though....


Hey welcome to Smashboards Eremitaviola, I've added you tot he supporters list, welcome on board!

Thanks! I wanted to know if I can only support one character, because those five series I mentioned are Layton, Ace Attorney, Rayman, Castlevania and Bravely Default tough now that last one got swapped with Octopath since it's a spiritual successor that does everything except interactions better. And as you can see only Castlevania's in

 

[Curious Villager]

Thanks! I wanted to know if I can only support one character, because those five series I mentioned are Layton, Ace Attorney, Rayman, Castlevania and Bravely Default tough now that last one got swapped with Octopath since it's a spiritual successor that does everything except interactions better. And as you can see only Castlevania's in

You can support as many characters as you want, there is no limit as far as I'm aware.

 

[fogbadge]

im not sure if nintendo being the ones who chose the dlc characters helps us, i get the feeling theyd want to promote switch games or just add in their own favourites

 

[PK Bash]

Aw dang I stopped getting alerts for this thread
Well with DLC decided it really depends on
a) who at Nintendo is actually making these decisions
b) what the priorities are. I don't think it will be third parties specifically unless they're trying to sell a game like Resident Evil on Switch or something, it will be popular switch games and upcoming switch games (you already know there's a character from an unannounced game sitting in line for DLC). If it is Third Parties however, it would be great to see more companies represented such as Ubisoft, perhaps an Indie like Team Cherry, and of course, Level-5.

Layton's got about as much chance as anyone else to be honest. Certainly as much as someone like Rayman for example. Guess we'll see.

Those Spirit ideas are fun! I think they'd put Luke over Ness' 7th colour though!

As for Classic mode, it would probably be to do with a battle of brains. So strategists like Robin and Pokemon Trainer, Doctor Mario, Zelda (Triforce of Wisdom innit), Mewtwo, maaaaybe Shulk?
I'm not sure how many characters we need but that seems about right.

 

[Curious Villager]

Aw dang I stopped getting alerts for this thread
Well with DLC decided it really depends on
a) who at Nintendo is actually making these decisions
b) what the priorities are. I don't think it will be third parties specifically unless they're trying to sell a game like Resident Evil on Switch or something, it will be popular switch games and upcoming switch games (you already know there's a character from an unannounced game sitting in line for DLC). If it is Third Parties however, it would be great to see more companies represented such as Ubisoft, perhaps an Indie like Team Cherry, and of course, Level-5.

Layton's got about as much chance as anyone else to be honest. Certainly as much as someone like Rayman for example. Guess we'll see.

Those Spirit ideas are fun! I think they'd put Luke over Ness' 7th colour though!

As for Classic mode, it would probably be to do with a battle of brains. So strategists like Robin and Pokemon Trainer, Doctor Mario, Zelda (Triforce of Wisdom innit), Mewtwo, maaaaybe Shulk?
I'm not sure how many characters we need but that seems about right.

Yeah, it overall remains to be seen how Nintendo will be handling things and who they had in their list, and if Layton was in it. If Sakurai picked him out as one of the five characters for DLC (Here's hoping)

Yeah I was a bit torn between Ness or Lucas for Luke initially but when I thought a bit further about it, I felt like Luke had overall more in common with Lucas than Ness. While both Ness and Lucas have the ability to talk to animals, I felt that Lucas overall had a deeper connection with them, what with Boney, Salsa, the Save Frog's, Draco's and the Rope Snake (Though granted that one was more Duster's buddy in Mother 3)
There was also the fact that they both were also more sheltered initially due to the prolonged absence of their mothers (Though granted Brenda Triton only went missing) and though this one might be a bit of a stretch, they also have similar sounding names. Luke, Luc-as. But yeah...

Now that you mention it, I can totally see Layton's classic mode involving him fighting a bunch of characters known for their smarts. Yeah.

Anyway, here's a few more Spirits idea's I came up with. Let me know what you think and I'll see if I'll make more.

Don Paolo (Over a giant as Ludwig von Koopa, or if you can fight Assist Trophies, Dr.Wily might be a closer option)
Stage: If St.Mystere is a traveling stage, otherwise Delfino Plaza or New Donk City hall.
Music (Don Paolo's theme)
Defeat him before the platform reaches the top of the tower, he will also continuously attack with his ball and chain moves.

Anton (If Assist Trophy battles are a thing, then Alucard, otherwise or might do)
Stage: Dracula's Castle
Music: Elysian Box main theme
Your opponent will first wait for you to pick up a sword like item such as a Beam Sword, Fire Bar, or Star Rod before they show up and fight you, after they have been defeated, Dracula will appear and challenge you instead. You can only beat this challenge with the items in hand.

Masked Gentleman (Over , or

in a white alt)
Stage: New Pork City
Music: Masked Gentleman's theme
The opponent will continuously evade you while a Vince Assist Trophy is there making the statue drawings that continually fall on you, the ground the masked gentleman walks on will also get on fire for a short period of time. The physic's here might also be a bit more floatier.

 

[PK Bash]

Love the ideas!

How about the Azran Golems over Pit? The stage would probably be Skyworld and the special rule would be that there is a swarm of them.

Perhaps for a more out-there nod, the Storyteller could feature? The character would be Ganondorf (now that he's back in his OoT sorcerer design!), stage could be Fourside, and the gimmick could be "the supernatural", e.g. Ashley and Skull Kid Assist Trophies.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Completely caught up with the Katrielle Layton anime. The anime thus far has aired 31 episodes I believe in Japan with 30 of them being English subbed as of current. I can say, in the time I spent with this series for a month, it is a pretty enjoyable experience. The anime has gotten me to love Katrielle even more. So much so that now I personally think that she is nearly as likable as the original professor. She stole the show for me. The only criticism I have honestly has only been episodes 29/30's execution of its episodic mysteries. The motivations behind the suspects in those episode just felt way too obvious from the start. The second half of Katrielle Layton anime started out really strong with 26, 27, and 28, but the recent direction of mythological mysteries is kind of sour. I am hoping it moves away from that direction, or at the very least does not make the conclusions so easy to deduct.

Other than that, I have no other criticisms. You all need to watch it. Also, the two episodes I seen that focus on Hershel Layton's mystery have been an extremely enjoyable ride so far and pretty darn interesting.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Completely caught up with the Katrielle Layton anime. The anime thus far has aired 31 episodes I believe in Japan with 30 of them being English subbed as of current. I can say, in the time I spent with this series for a month, it is a pretty enjoyable experience. The anime has gotten me to love Katrielle even more. So much so that now I personally think that she is nearly as likable as the original professor. She stole the show for me. The only criticism I have honestly has only been episodes 29/30's execution of its episodic mysteries. The motivations behind the suspects in those episode just felt way too obvious from the start. The second half of Katrielle Layton anime started out really strong with 26, 27, and 28, but the recent direction of mythological mysteries is kind of sour. I am hoping it moves away from that direction, or at the very least does not make the conclusions so easy to deduct.

Other than that, I have no other criticisms. You all need to watch it. Also, the two episodes I seen that focus on Hershel Layton's mystery have been an extremely enjoyable ride so far and pretty darn interesting.

If I didn’t like the game’s plot structure and characterizations, would you still recommend I watch the anime?

 

[BluePikmin11]

Definitely. The episodic mystery structure works better as an anime rather than the game medium IMO.

Katrielle's anime characterization is different from the game. The way she solves mysteries in the anime is super entertaining.

Kana Hanazawa (Katrielle's JP voice actor) sold the character for me.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Might give it a watch, then.

 

[CardiganBoy]

Can i mention that Layton games have such an amazing atmosphere? like it's hard to explain but it has this mysterious yet comfy European town at night feel (well at least playing the first two games have given me that feeling lol) but having a stage like that in Smash would be pretty amazing!

 

[GoodGrief741]

Can i mention that Layton games have such an amazing atmosphere? like it's hard to explain but it has this mysterious yet comfy European town at night feel (well at least playing the first two games have given me that feeling lol) but having a stage like that in Smash would be pretty amazing!

I always felt like there was something incredibly mysterious about the ambience that Layton games create. Even being in London at the beginning of Diabolical Box made me feel like I was in a town of mystery.

 

[Eremitaviola]

Can i mention that Layton games have such an amazing atmosphere? like it's hard to explain but it has this mysterious yet comfy European town at night feel (well at least playing the first two games have given me that feeling lol) but having a stage like that in Smash would be pretty amazing!

Yes, definitely, even though my city should feel close to someplace like St. Mystere it always had an otherworldly vibe while still feeling relatable. It still felt like people were living there and sure the ossession with puzzles was weird but everything felt like it could be real. Maybe you have played Bravely Default, I know the game is completely different but when I got out of the initial tavern and saw Caldisla I almost cried, with that music it had the same feeling, just without the occasional creepy alley.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

Can i mention that Layton games have such an amazing atmosphere? like it's hard to explain but it has this mysterious yet comfy European town at night feel (well at least playing the first two games have given me that feeling lol) but having a stage like that in Smash would be pretty amazing!

The atmosphere of Layton games are unmatched in my eyes. No game has quite got me that comfy yet mysterious feel, man I’d love to see any location from the Layton games as a playable stage in Smash.

Completely caught up with the Katrielle Layton anime. The anime thus far has aired 31 episodes I believe in Japan with 30 of them being English subbed as of current. I can say, in the time I spent with this series for a month, it is a pretty enjoyable experience. The anime has gotten me to love Katrielle even more. So much so that now I personally think that she is nearly as likable as the original professor. She stole the show for me. The only criticism I have honestly has only been episodes 29/30's execution of its episodic mysteries. The motivations behind the suspects in those episode just felt way too obvious from the start. The second half of Katrielle Layton anime started out really strong with 26, 27, and 28, but the recent direction of mythological mysteries is kind of sour. I am hoping it moves away from that direction, or at the very least does not make the conclusions so easy to deduct.

Other than that, I have no other criticisms. You all need to watch it. Also, the two episodes I seen that focus on Hershel Layton's mystery have been an extremely enjoyable ride so far and pretty darn interesting.

Hey Blue I want to start watching Katrielle’s show but I’m not too well versed in anime, where would be the best place to watch it?

 

[BluePikmin11]

I watched the anime in KissAnime personally, but I heard masterani.me and gogoanime are better sites to watch anime.

 

[CardiganBoy]

Yes, definitely, even though my city should feel close to someplace like St. Mystere it always had an otherworldly vibe while still feeling relatable. It still felt like people were living there and sure the ossession with puzzles was weird but everything felt like it could be real. Maybe you have played Bravely Default, I know the game is completely different but when I got out of the initial tavern and saw Caldisla I almost cried, with that music it had the same feeling, just without the occasional creepy alley.

Oh man don't get me started on Bravely Default and Second, every town in those games just oozes charm with those hand drawn backgrounds, i feel like there's no better way to show you how whimsical and beautiful a world can be.

 

[Eremitaviola]

Oh man don't get me started on Bravely Default and Second, every town in that games just oozes charm with those hand drawn backgounds, i feel like there's no better way to show you how whimsical and beautiful a world can be.

Yeah I wasn't sure if you only played Second so I asked about Default specifically, but that was definitely the most memorable part of the game, but the music played a big part. I didn't really like Second because the story lightly retconning everything from the previous game rubbed me the wrong way and changing the music like that felt wrong, and just starting with the first city appearing out of nowhere broke the magic, but the environments looked as good as ever, as did the Ba'als.

 

[GoodGrief741]

What I’m getting from all this is that I should get to playing the Bravely games.

 

[Eremitaviola]

Or

What I’m getting from all this is that I should get to playing the Bravely games.

Also Octopath. I love Octopath. It's Bravely but better in ALMOST everything. Almost. The party was better in Default but I like the characters more in Octopath and as for the cities depends on what you want. Also I love the artstyle but it may be less interesting than Bravely for some. The music's completely different but still great and they still have the personal character themes which I adore. That alone sells a soundtrack to me. The party still interacts and it's just fine for me but they couldn't bother with changing important cutscenes which is a bit of a bummer. The combat system is still great but it's on you which type of BP using you prefer

 

[fogbadge]

hang on somethings gone wrong i thought this was the layton thread but it seems to be the SE thread

 

[Curious Villager]

hang on somethings gone wrong i thought this was the layton thread but it seems to be the SE thread

Well Level-5 has worked with SE a good number of times.....

But yeah, back to Layton.
So I take it we're probably not going to be hearing much in regards to the Layton series from Level-5 until next year. They have been pretty quiet lately.
Do you think we will be hearing about the next Layton game next year?

 

[Eremitaviola]

Well Level-5 has worked with SE a good number of times.....

But yeah, back to Layton.
So I take it we're probably not going to be hearing much in regards to the Layton series from Level-5 until next year. They have been pretty quiet lately.
Do you think we will be hearing about the next Layton game next year?

If by next year you mean 2019 I do think that they'll probably announce something. But if Layton does end up in smash they'd probably wait for that like for animal crossing. Also I just realized Katrielle could be an Echo but she's probably too short so that's a nope

 

[fogbadge]

Well Level-5 has worked with SE a good number of times.....

But yeah, back to Layton.
So I take it we're probably not going to be hearing much in regards to the Layton series from Level-5 until next year. They have been pretty quiet lately.
Do you think we will be hearing about the next Layton game next year?

well they do usually announce them quite in advance (or maybe it just seems that way) so i think its very possible

 

[Curious Villager]

If by next year you mean 2019 I do think that they'll probably announce something. But if Layton does end up in smash they'd probably wait for that like for animal crossing. Also I just realized Katrielle could be an Echo but she's probably too short so that's a nope

If they where to tie in Layton's inclusion with a game. Perhaps an HD collection of the original trilogy for the Switch could work as that can help bring in newcomers to the series and see how it all began, though I don't know if they will wait until they made an HD remaster of the other two games for IOS first before doing that.
Another possibility could perhaps have Hershel back in the next LMJ game, but more like Miracle Mask where there are two separate adventures between the past (Hershel's case) and present (Katrielle's case) the LMJ anime does seem to be hinting at this as the Hershel focused episodes are treated more like flashbacks in regards to the events of before Layton went missing, so the next game might end up doing something like that.

But that's a big if though, Sakurai would probably want to reveal Layton on his own time while Level-5 may have to wait until Sakurai is ready if they are planning to do something like that.

 

[Eremitaviola]

If they where to tie in Layton's inclusion with a game. Perhaps an HD collection of the original trilogy for the Switch could work as that can help bring in newcomers to the series and see how it all began, though I don't know if they will wait until they made an HD remaster of the other two games for IOS first before doing that.
Another possibility could perhaps have Hershel back in the next LMJ game, but more like Miracle Mask where there are two separate adventures between the past (Hershel's case) and present (Katrielle's case) the LMJ anime does seem to be hinting at this as the Hershel focused episodes are treated more like flashbacks in regards to the events of before Layton went missing, so the next game might end up doing something like that.

But that's a big if though, Sakurai would probably want to reveal Layton on his own time while Level-5 may have to wait until Sakurai is ready if they are planning to do something like that.

I agree, I just hoped that they were just waiting for the free publicity before announcing the next game because I think enough time has passed to have the announcement for the next game be close. I think that now that they have introduced Katrielle they'll explain where the Professor is in the sequel. When talking about what I liked about the atmosphere of the Layton series and the other fantasy SE games I really remembered how mysterious the older games were. I liked Lady Layton and everything seemed still there but something felt off. I thought it was just the shorter episodes but it was the general air of mystery not being that present. My favourite part of Octopath is the eight different stories with a similar structure to LMJ but for some reason the same concept applied to the Layton series just ruined the feeling of the mystery being hard to solve. But mystery room was fun and didn't have that problem while still being episodic. I think it was because the mysteries being as PG as ever and not being that connected couldn't make a shorter story interesting.

 

[Curious Villager]

I agree, I just hoped that they were just waiting for the free publicity before announcing the next game because I think enough time has passed to have the announcement for the next game be close. I think that now that they have introduced Katrielle they'll explain where the Professor is in the sequel. When talking about what I liked about the atmosphere of the Layton series and the other fantasy SE games I really remembered how mysterious the older games were. I liked Lady Layton and everything seemed still there but something felt off. I thought it was just the shorter episodes but it was the general air of mystery not being that present. My favourite part of Octopath is the eight different stories with a similar structure to LMJ but for some reason the same concept applied to the Layton series just ruined the feeling of the mystery being hard to solve. But mystery room was fun and didn't have that problem while still being episodic. I think it was because the mysteries being as PG as ever and not being that connected couldn't make a shorter story interesting.

I have still yet to play LMJ myself but from what I've heard, the episodic nature of that game lends itself better for an anime than a proper game. (Which is probably why the anime handled things better) I think another part of it may be that Level-5 was trying to appeal more to the mobile market since I believe each case in the IOS version is sold separately so they can't be too connected. Hopefully the release of Curious Village HD on mobile did well so that it may encourage them to make the stories a bit more interconnected rather than a lot of separate plotlines. Even if they have to release the game on mobile again.

I believe the next game is going to be developed more with the Switch in mind though so here's hoping the next entry will have a more focused plot.

 

[Flyboy]

Layton HD Collection with UK and US selectable voice acting and Layton Brothers 2 for Switch.

Make it happen.

 

[Eremitaviola]

Layton HD Collection with UK and US selectable voice acting and Layton Brothers 2 for Switch.

Make it happen.

Plus Level 5 thankfully isn't Capcom and actually cares about not forcing half of their playerbase to read in another language so I don't think I'd have to worry about them discarding the PAL translation. I'm still salty about the Ace Attorney collection being English only. I can understand not translating the new games but not caring about the old ones that already have an official translation?! It's great that they have the switch in mind for the next game but then the puzzles will need to be solvable without a touchscreen which might be limiting.

 

[Curious Villager]

Plus Level 5 thankfully isn't Capcom and actually cares about not forcing half of their playerbase to read in another language so I don't think I'd have worry about them discarding the PAL translation. I'm still salty about the AA collection being English only. I can understand not translating the new games but not caring about the old ones that already have an official translation?! It's great that they have the switch in mind for the next game but then the puzzles will need to be solvable without a touchscreen which might be limiting.

They did do a Switch port for LMJ, I don't know what the gameplay is like there, but that's partly why I think the next game may be more focused on the Switch since Level-5 stated that they have been doing some experimenting for the next Layton game to work on the Switch.

If worse comes to worse, they might do some gameplay revamps for the Switch entry, which remains to be seen how that will turn out.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Layton HD Collection with UK and US selectable voice acting and Layton Brothers 2 for Switch.

Make it happen.

My man.

 

[Curious Villager]

So apparently the full game has gotten in the hands of many game journalists and reviewers and more footage is being shown.
If anyone spots a spirit of Layton (or of any Level-5 character) please do let me know, I've heard there are a ton of spirits in the game now.

Wether or not they "disconfirm" a potential fighter for DLC is up for debate. But seeing Layton be included in the game at all would still be a small achievement for us in seeing the series finally receive at least somewhat of an acknowledgement in the game, no matter how minor it is, especially if Layton doesn't show up as one of the five potential DLC fighters.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I seen more spirits of Western third-parties like Rayman and Shantae today, but not spirits of third-party characters from Japanese gaming franchises that are currently not represented via character.

I think we might be good, but who knows.

 

[Curious Villager]

I seen more spirits of Western third-parties like Rayman and Shantae today, but not spirits of third-party characters from Japanese gaming franchises that are currently not represented via character.

I think we might be good, but who knows.

You'd think those would be easier to get ahold of for Sakurai...
I'd expect at least a spirit of Japanese third parties that already have content but not its franchise represented, like Puyo Pop, Tales of series or Monster Hunter (Besides Rathalos) or something...

 

[Eremitaviola]

I was reading the old comments here and from what I've seen Level 5 hasn't done their usual October announcements yet?

Also I've watched the anime and it's fun, but that's because I expected the characters to act like that, I hope it's not the same in the next game tough.
So the anime's fine but here's my rant on why the game should be different. In the game it felt like they're set up for character development or at least explaining why they act like they do but they had to leave it to the next game because you can take the cases in any order. So they end up feeling like caricatures by the end, because at the start when trying to follow the train of thought they're really interesting, but by the end nothing's happened and you just feel drained and start taking everything at face value.

Kat likes eating, nothing wrong with that. Stops at shops in the middle of an investigation. Not as fine. It would be fine if it was as an excuse to question someone there without having to explain why she wants to go there and most of the time you do get more information so it feels fine, but since she doesn't tell that that's the reason even to the only two people who have to endure the trip every time you start to question if it is just luck. Ernest seems to think that she knows what she's doing but then half the time he looks as confused as everyone else.

She says she uses instinct and that makes an interesting dynamic with her adversary who uses pure logic. Instinct is just using logic but filling the blanks which would explain why she wins against someone who expects a proof to explain every step of the mystery when it's just not possible. But we can't see her tought process and the only times when she actively goes to the most likely place to have clues are when Ernest or Sherl suggest it. So it does feel like Emiliana's right and it's just luck.

Ernest is my favorite character but I like him most when he's not just showering Kat with praise every second. He doesn't do it that often but still enough that after the third time any time is too much. It would be fine if it was left for the really impressive parts. Plus he doesn't get to solve anything in the main story so all the bonus puzzles where he gets praised back (no really it happens) are lost because everyone skipped puzzles because of the lower quality, so it feels like Kat low key hates him or likes the praise because she's a Narcissist but doesn't care otherwise. And I really don't think that's the case.

Basically it feels like Kat solves everything with no effort even though she's running around all the time and that Ernest did all the work when searching for clues but he helped so quietly that he feels useless.
They should be a fun team but their relationship feels wrong from both ends. One while having none of the negative reactions (yet) feels like a nice guy waiting to happen and the other just seems to be using him.

Because he doesn't even get paid. It would make sense if they stated that she hopes he stops helping her but again it's just left like that. If she really is so nice the explanation could be that she wants him to focus on his studies or the agency just isn't big enough to pay him and maybe he gets the living expenses paid for but Sherl just points out that he really should get payed and we're supposed to accept that he's so annoying he deserves this.

You can never tell what she thinks about anyone and the only way to know anything is by her actions.
There's maybe two scenes that save her from feeling like an Ice Queen.

Sherl doesn't help, he always points every unexplained thing out which makes it feel way worse. I think it would be fine if those things didn't happen often since the other games still had stuff like that, but while it's not really that common it feels like it is because Sherl points it out every-single-friggin time!

Plus I think the interface for clues spoils everything even with the red herrings.

So I think what they were going for is this: Katrielle doesn't like to waste time by putting all her reasoning into words, Ernest knows it.
She doesn't like to show emotions all the time because I guess something happened we don't know anything yet.
Ernest is basically a co-founder of the Agency and lives there so he's fine with not getting payed until the affairs really start going.
Kat realises that her methods make her seem untrustworthy so she starts explaining why she does things.
Sherl is our point of view and the reason we know that she does use logic when investigating (he did ask if she goes to eat as an excuse once but it was never mentioned again, now it needs to be answered).
Emiliana realises what instinct really means while showing her how to appear professional so they help each other.
Because right now it feels like a children's story with a title that implies a twist ending that makes it enjoyable for adults, but where the last part is unreadable and you'll have to wait for a reprint to know if the twist ending is really there or the printer had a stroke and tried to print another story onto it.

Basically I hope I explained what I think they were going for and why it could be great but why it doesn't work if they don't explain anything. Just any scene that implies there's something more instead of basing everything on the fact that something feels off and that the writers are supposed to be better than this.

 

[Curious Villager]

From the way you described it Eremitaviola Kat might make a good colleague for Wario, or maybe not...

And yeah, apparently they delayed it because there is a game they aren't ready yet to announce, or something like that. Methinks it's that new Layton game they said they were working on but who knows...

Anyway, now that we know a bit more about Smash Ultimate's Classic mode and how themed matches work, I thought I might as well give my two cent's on what Layton's potential themed matchups would be.

His title would probably be "Brains over Brawn" and will mainly be fighting characters known for their smarts or puzzle solving skills.

1. Has a puzzle solving series himself
2.Is the Tactician in FE
3.Usually does all the thinking work for Pit and has been called things like "Know it all Palutena" or "Professor Palutena" before.
Triforce of Wisdom. the end (Would probably team up with Palutena to keep the 6 match limit)
4. in a team match up, the Link's are no strangers to their fair share of dungeons crawling with sliding block puzzles.
5.Is known for his high intelligence, probably have to fight an entire team of Mewtwo's.
6.Basically the brains over brawn, probably will be giant.

Final boss fight would probably be Galleom unless a more fitting boss is in the game, like Dr. Eggman or something. Maybe Descole or Don Paolo if DLC bosses are a thing.


Also, here's some additional spirits idea's.

Inspector Grosky (Over with a bunny hood on, either that or )
Stage: Bridge of Eldin (Hazards off) or Mario Galaxy
Song: Puzzle Battle
The opponent will constantly dash from one end of the stage to the other and use his dash attack every time they get near you.

Stachenscarfen (Over )
Stage: St.Mystere
Song: Puzzles theme (Maybe a remix or medley)
Mario will constantly spam his up special on you (cause hint coins.) Also easily distracted by the tea food item.

Babette (Over a giant as Wendy teamed up with a tiny )
Stage: Spirit Train
Song: Molentary Express theme
Opponent will stay firmly in the main carriage and will attack you every time you come near them, they will become especially aggressive whenever Duck Hunt is away from them.


By the way, there will apparently be a 30% off Black Friday sale for Curious Village HD, If you're currently thinking of purchasing it, I'd say go for it.