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

[fogbadge]

Oh boy, Layton's RTC, bet that won't be filled with a lot of misconceptions such as him being "just another sword user" and whatnot....

Oh well, don't feel too confident on his chances myself but I'll try my best to give a good analysis for him too.

as will i, though i too am pessimistic about his odds

 

[BluePikmin11]

I have done my part on rating Layton's chances.

Honestly with the ballot and Europe likely ranking Layton high, I think we will finally see the negotiations of Level-5 and Sakurai come to place.

Erureido , your analysis of Layton is down-right phenomenal in writing. The only points I would add is Layton’s ballot popularity likely being very high in Europe for Sakurai to note him for consideration.

 

[fogbadge]

I have done my part on rating Layton's chances.

Honestly with the ballot and Europe likely ranking Layton high, I think we will finally see the negotiations of Level-5 and Sakurai come to place.

Erureido , your analysis of Layton is down-right phenomenal in writing. The only points I would add is Layton’s ballot popularity likely being very high in Europe for Sakurai to note him for consideration.

well what with the ballot being unmoderated he may have been knocked down from the position he would have had if people didnt have infinite votes

 

[BluePikmin11]

I wanna ask you guys a question, do you think 10+ years worth of Layton games is enough to consider Layton an icon in gaming?

Not that it really matters, because I thought the character carried enough game history to warrant playability way back in Smash 4 speculation. But, I am curious.

 

[Erureido]

I wanna ask you guys a question, do you think 10+ years worth of Layton games is enough to consider Layton an icon in gaming?

Not that it really matters, because I thought the character carried enough game history to warrant playability way back in Smash 4 speculation. But, I am curious.

Yeah, I'd say 10+ years of Layton games is enough for Layton to be considered a gaming icon. That is a pretty good amount of time of existing to gain recognition.

 

[BluePikmin11]

So far, the ratings for Layton are generally low. I understand that Layton not having the same 'game history' as Megaman and Pac-Man, but man sometimes I have to wonder if the year time span really matters, as long as the large impact is made in the gaming industry. There are people that are betting on Steve, yet Minecraft begun at a much later date than Layton. I suppose it all comes down to how global the impact is, but still, Layton shares his own gaming history. The 'iconic' 'lasting over 20-30 years' argument feels like something that fans misinterpret from Sakurai.

I wish more people rated Layton with further research. :/

 

[Curious Villager]

People consider Bayonetta a "gaming icon" despite that her games have historically struggled to the point that Nintendo had to step in and help her franchise find its footing. Whereas the Layton series has been more the opposite, it got some assistance from Nintendo initially to get its name out there, but nowadays the branding has become so huge that Level-5 feels confident enough that they can carry the torch on their own now.

Even Layton Brother's Mystery room was initially meant to be It's own IP before Level-5 decided to rebrand it into the Layton name because they felt that the game would do better under the Layton series name.

 

[ErenJager]

I don't know if Smash Switch will include western video game company owned IP's or not.

I think if Smash Switch continues to only have Japanese video game company owned third party characters... The possibilities of companies such as Level 5 will stand a greater chance of getting a representative in Smash.

I would personally enjoy seeing smaller companies like Tecmo Koei, Level 5, and Natsume get a character in smash. Unfortunately if the flood gates open up to the west this time around, I doubt it'll ever happen.

 

[PK Bash]

I wanna ask you guys a question, do you think 10+ years worth of Layton games is enough to consider Layton an icon in gaming?

Not that it really matters, because I thought the character carried enough game history to warrant playability way back in Smash 4 speculation. But, I am curious.

Outside of the "core" gamer group, if you show a picture of Layton and a picture of, say, Simon Belmont to people, more people would recognise the former.
Those who don't consider him iconic in fact feel that he isn't iconic to them. In reality - and many of us will remember - Professor Layton was one of the headline acts for the Nintendo DS and a whole genre for a very long time.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Good news! Asenshi Subs (The ones responsible for fan-subbing Little Witch Academia 2017 and VIolet Evergarden I believe) are currently considering fansubbing the Layton anime that aired a few days ago. I have known the group and talked to a few of the members several times, and they are very faithful translators! The better the sub, the better for Layton fans.

 

[sman3579]

I like the Layton games a lot. While he wouldn’t be a first choice for a new third party pick for me, (Rayman, Banjo-Kazooie) I would still like to see his character included. Seeing him use puzzle based moves would be pretty cool.

 

[BluePikmin11]

The new Professor Layton anime was pretty good with Episode 1. It is kinda like a friendlier version of Detective Conan, interesting mysteries with episodic storytelling. I enjoy how energetic Katrielle is in the anime compared to the games. It is not really amazing, but definitely a good time. I could do without the fourth-wall breaking, but I can understand somewhat given the demographic of this anime. Maybe there will be an anime adaptation of the seven original Layton games one day. I am crossing my fingers that this anime helps boosts the sales of Layton's Mystery Journey so that more animated Layton content can be made in the future, much like with Yo-kai Watch.

 

[Curious Villager]

I wouldn't mind if they used the whole bitesized cases thing for the anime while having a more focused plot again for the main games. It feels a bit more suited for that imo.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Big news regarding the anime:

Spoiler: Layton

🎩BIG NEWS!🧢
So, according to Akihiro Hino (Level-5 CEO) interview, Professor Layton is going to appear in the Layton Mystery Detective Agency anime sooner than fans expect! and Luke's return is gonna be amazing (handsome?cool? whatever the actual translation is!)!😭😭😭💕🙏✨ pic.twitter.com/XIPULzO2Mr

— Nippo!! (is more active on 🦋) (@NippoisAlien) April 9, 2018

 

[Curious Villager]

Big news regarding the anime:

Spoiler: Layton

🎩BIG NEWS!🧢
So, according to Akihiro Hino (Level-5 CEO) interview, Professor Layton is going to appear in the Layton Mystery Detective Agency anime sooner than fans expect! and Luke's return is gonna be amazing (handsome?cool? whatever the actual translation is!)!😭😭😭💕🙏✨ pic.twitter.com/XIPULzO2Mr

— Nippo!! (is more active on 🦋) (@NippoisAlien) April 9, 2018

That's great to hear. I don't know if this is considered spoilers since I haven't watched the anime yet but I saw this at the Professor Layton reddit page.

Spoiler

Nice to know they didn't blatantly copy "Future Luke's" design for Luke. And good to know they will be playing a larger role sooner rather than later too. Here's hoping that Flora, Emmy, Chelmey etc will show up soon too....

 

[BluePikmin11]

After watching episode 2, I think I am ok with the episodic cases. The two cases shown so far are pretty well-done, with the mysteries having enough complexity and boldness in getting into dark territory to keep me interested. (Especially for a kids anime.) I legit nearly cried in Episode 2. If the anime maintains this quality and keeps rising, this might just become one of my favorite anime of 2018.

 

[So_many_mails]

I really hope this Anime does well, could really help Layton's chances for both Smash inclusion and a new Layton/Luke game.

That's great to hear. I don't know if this is considered spoilers since I haven't watched the anime yet but I saw this at the Professor Layton reddit page.

Spoiler

Nice to know they didn't blatantly copy "Future Luke's" design for Luke. And good to know they will be playing a larger role sooner rather than later too. Here's hoping that Flora, Emmy, Chelmey etc will show up soon too....

That image is amazing, wow

 

[Curious Villager]

Well one thing's for certain, Hershel is still relevant to the LMJ series eitherway regardless of wether or not he's the main protagonist so that's always a big plus.

It's nice to see the series expand onto larger territories now, it would certainly help build the franchise to a larger audience than before.

 

[GWTCN]

Can anyone tell me how they are watching the Layton anime? I can't find any good links online anywhere.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Well right now, there's only fan-subs. So you would have look at websites like KissAnime to watch it.

Edit: Actually, I just found out that you can actually watch it officially on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGna5A6RFDw

It legit has English subtitles.

 

[fogbadge]

i dont like the idea of layton and luke coming back in the anime before the games

 

[Curious Villager]

So Level-5 apparently confirmed a Deluxe port of Layton's Mystery Journey for the Nintendo Switch.

Level-5 is bringing Layton’s Mystery Journey to Switch, according to the latest issue of Famitsu. It’ll be released as Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy DX.

When it was originally made for 3DS and mobile, the game featured touchscreen controls. For the Switch version, Level-5 is changing things to standard controls. Takara Tomy will have a Nazotoki toy ready that is compatible via NFC as well.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy DX is heading to Switch in Japan on August 9.

https://nintendoeverything.com/leve...nd-the-millionaires-conspiracy-dx-for-switch/

I'm not exactly sure what to feel about this. On one hand, I suppose It's good for someone like me as I didn't exactly get to play the mobile or 3DS version, but on the other hand, I heard the game was pretty poorly received so I kind of wish they did an HD collection of some sort for the original trilogy instead.

Oh well, guess we'll see what will come of this.

 

[fogbadge]

has there ever been a console with more ports? im all for layton on the switch but id have rather had a new one

oh well

 

[BluePikmin11]

Seeing a mainline Layton game on console is unreal.

 

[Curious Villager]

has there ever been a console with more ports? im all for layton on the switch but id have rather had a new one

oh well

Yeah I'm getting a bit tired of all these ports on Switch too. The only non port game that I have so far is Mario Odyssey. Hopefully we'll get the new Layton game soon though, and hopefully they'l fix some of the issues people had with the original Layton's Mystery Journey.

 

[Erureido]

I'm guessing this Switch port of LMJ was that game Level 5 previously brought up as "a new Layton game that would come out in the summer of 2018," seeing as this Switch port releases on August 9. I guess this might be how I will finally play LMJ for myself.

Something tells me that the LMJ Switch port is Level 5's ticket to releasing all the upcoming Layton games on the Switch.

 

[Curious Villager]

Now that I think about it, I suppose this deluxe port is probably Level-5's way of testing the waters on how a Layton game would work on the Switch (Much like how Wind Waker was used to test things out for Breath of the Wild during the Wii U) since Level-5 stated that they had some difficulties getting a traditional Layton game to work there and I suppose LMJ was probably the easiest game to test things out and see what works and whatnot.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Huge fan of Layton, didn’t want to drop by until I finished Layton’s Mystery Journey (y’know, in case of spoilers). Now that I have, I’ve got to state how much of an important character Layton is for Nintendo, particularly for the DS era. He is a bona fide gaming icon and deserves to be in Smash.

That said, I wish Level-5 would test the waters on Switch with a port of the original Layton trilogy rather than LMJ. I really can’t see the latter selling very well.

 

[Curious Villager]

So here are the scan's in question.

So I guess these charms will be this game's "amiibo" that you can scan in and unlock additional outfits for Kat. Not sure what the one with Flora down below means but I'm assuming her outfit is probably being used as a preorder/eShop download bonus again. Hopefully they will let you purchase her outfit independently this time though.

Secretly I'd hope that they would make proper amiibo for the older Layton cast to unlock their outfits though I'm not sure how well they'd sell for Level-5 to be worth doing that...

 

[BluePikmin11]

Upon researching company locations in Japan lately, I learned that Level-5 was located in Fukuoka, Japan.

After researching the company locations of Konami, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Sora LTD., Game Arts and SEGA, I learned that they all located within the same location, Tokyo.

The trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka is quite a big gap.

Do you think Sakurai would go so far to travel from Bandai Namco to Fukuoka to negotiate Layton? Perhaps Sakurai is just more comfortable negotiating in the same location. Or would that not really matter? Maybe it’s not a third party being in Japan that would make things easier, maybe it is about being nearby in Tokyo that makes the negotiations for Cloud, Mega Man, and Snake smooth sailing.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

People consider Bayonetta a "gaming icon" despite that her games have historically struggled to the point that Nintendo had to step in and help her franchise find its footing. Whereas the Layton series has been more the opposite, it got some assistance from Nintendo initially to get its name out there, but nowadays the branding has become so huge that Level-5 feels confident enough that they can carry the torch on their own now.

Even Layton Brother's Mystery room was initially meant to be It's own IP before Level-5 decided to rebrand it into the Layton name because they felt that the game would do better under the Layton series name.

Geno was a character that was considered and wanted by Sakurai. The idea that icon status is a requirement for Sakurai is just a fan assumption that has already been broken and people's willingness to cling on to numerous fan assumptions is how people will be wrong with Smash Switch's newcomers just like the way they were with Smash 4. The top ten characters according to the Rate Their Chance thread at this point?

1. Rex and Pyra (64.69%)
2. Decidueye (57.87%)
3. Takamaru (57.56%)
4. Dixie Kong (57.51%)
5. Bandana Dee (56.64%)
6. Captain Toad (48.60%)
7. King K. Rool (48.49%)
8. Rayman (48.29%)
9. Isabelle (46.09%)
10. Elma (42.60%)

I wouldn't be surprised if only 1 or 2 of these guys made it in.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Yeesh, that’s a long trip. I really hope they FaceTime these kinds of discussions.

 

[BluePikmin11]

They should be able to do Skype and stuff to communicate if the travelling is difficult. But I guess Sakurai would prefer travelling there to get a taste of what the third-party company's working experience is like.

 

[Curious Villager]

Upon researching company locations in Japan lately, I learned that Level-5 was located in Fukuoka, Japan.

After researching the company locations of Konami, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Sora LTD., Game Arts and SEGA, I learned that they all located within the same location, Tokyo.

The trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka is quite a big gap.

Do you think Sakurai would go so far to travel from Bandai Namco to Fukuoka to negotiate Layton? Perhaps Sakurai is just more comfortable negotiating in the same location. Or would that not really matter? Maybe it’s not a third party being in Japan that would make things easier, maybe it is about being nearby in Tokyo that makes the negotiations for Cloud, Mega Man, and Snake smooth sailing.

I'd imagine that if Sakurai and Hino really wanted to include Layton in Smash (Or any other Level-5 character such as Jibanyan and whatnot) and had to do the negotiations face to face, they'd arrange the time and meeting place that would work out for both of them. Didn't Sakurai stay at a hotel when he was working on Smash Wii U & 3DS? The guy already seems to be flexible enough to move from one place to another when he needs to.

But then again, I don't really fully know how these negotiation's work so I could be way off...

 

[PK Bash]

I'd love to see the original trilogy remastered for Switch, though they're probably put off by the idea of porting all the puzzles over and adapting them for that device.
Then again... we could get new puzzles instead... as long as they are up to par of the originals. Layton has never been better than the first three games imo (much as I love them all) and the quality of the puzzles is a huge reason why. (Yet to play LMJ, but I gather the puzzles on the whole are a massive letdown compared to classic Layton?)

Oh and with regards to this "icon" stuff and who gets into Smash... well in the past, I feel a lot of it has come down to picking characters that can offer some unique gameplay or other novelty. The idea of "slots" or who "deserves" to be in is not as important as fresh twists. That's how it should be - quality gameplay first. (The lines can, and do, blur - Greninja is a good example.) In recent years though there has definitely been much more commercialisation of Smash, and marketing and business has certainly influenced what gets into Smash even pre-DLC. Much as it pains me to say it I can see this being Layton's best shot at getting in the game, either promoting the new games or to appeal to a broader audience - although that said, I definitely feel there is a lot of potential for unique and fresh gameplay with the series.

 

[GoodGrief741]

(Yet to play LMJ, but I gather the puzzles on the whole are a massive letdown compared to classic Layton?)

This is just one man’s opinion, but everything from LMJ was a letdown compared to classic Layton. The puzzles were actually the better aspect, they start getting good about halfway through though and even then they’re hit-or-miss.

 

[Curious Villager]

This is just one man’s opinion, but everything from LMJ was a letdown compared to classic Layton. The puzzles were actually the better aspect, they start getting good about halfway through though and even then they’re hit-or-miss.

I heard the puzzles relied a bit too much on the "gotcha!" type ones, but not in a good way. I recall games like Curious Village had some puzzles too that where designed to throw the player off (Such as the mouse and how many offspring it would get over time) but those where spread out very well and weren't too common.

The puzzles in LMJ may have to do due to the passing of the former puzzle master, Akira Tago, who did all the puzzles in the previous games, whereas the ones in LMJ where being done by some other guy now. Which makes me a bit concerned about the future of the series, I know the franchise is often praised for its story, visual style and characters, especially among fans, but I don't think it can rely on that alone to carry the series forward forever while not improving on the gameplay aspect of the series, or at least, stepping them up to the former quality, even if they have to do it without Akira Tago's help (Heck, even the story was a step down compared to older entries from what I've seen and heard) it is a videogame franchise first and foremost, after all

I think, if their going to remake the older games for Switch, they may have to revamp a number of the puzzles that no longer work due to different hardware and controls, especially if they are really ditching the touch screen as that interview apparently claims to do for LMJ. That said, I'd hope that they will replace them with new puzzles that are designed in a similar fashion as the former ones, just more suited for Switch controls.

 

[GoodGrief741]

I heard the puzzles relied a bit too much on the "gotcha!" type ones, but not in a good way. I recall games like Curious Village had some puzzles too that where designed to throw the player off (Such as the mouse and how many offspring it would get over time) but those where spread out very well and weren't too common.

The puzzles in LMJ may have to do due to the passing of the former puzzle master, Akira Tago, who did all the puzzles in the previous games, whereas the ones in LMJ where being done by some other guy now. Which makes me a bit concerned about the future of the series, I know the franchise is often praised for its story, visual style and characters, especially among fans, but I don't think it can rely on that alone to carry the series forward forever while not improving on the gameplay aspect of the series, or at least, stepping them up to the former quality, even if they have to do it without Akira Tago's help (Heck, even the story was a step down compared to older entries from what I've seen and heard) it is a videogame franchise first and foremost, after all

I think, if their going to remake the older games for Switch, they may have to revamp a number of the puzzles that no longer work due to different hardware and controls, especially if they are really ditching the touch screen as that interview apparently claims to do for LMJ. That said, I'd hope that they will replace them with new puzzles that are designed in a similar fashion as the former ones, just more suited for Switch controls.

Yeah, the puzzles certainly rely more on twists, the point of absurdity. They’re also more disconnected from the story, as a consequence of them ditching the more adventurous plots of classic Layton. The story is a huge letdown, if you can even call it a story. They’re really going to need to get a new team on the games, otherwise they’re going to break the fanbase big time.

 

[Curious Villager]

Yeah, the puzzles certainly rely more on twists, the point of absurdity. They’re also more disconnected from the story, as a consequence of them ditching the more adventurous plots of classic Layton. The story is a huge letdown, if you can even call it a story. They’re really going to need to get a new team on the games, otherwise they’re going to break the fanbase big time.

Definitely, even as a huge fan of the franchise myself and the one running the Layton support thread during both the Smash 4 day's and now. I never felt so conflicted with a Layton game before as this one. And I know I'm not the only one with that feeling. I've been wanting to give the game a shot for a while, but due to poor reception as well as other games such as Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild etc taking my priority, I just haven't come around for this game in all honesty.

Here's hoping that Level-5 will take the criticisms this game got into account and use it to improve upon the next entry (Maybe even fix some of them up now with the Switch version) as I do still want to support this franchise.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Honestly, the biggest problem with the supposed "third-parties must be icons" rule is that Sakurai's perception of how iconic or significant a character is may not match that of the fans. Sakurai always personally felt that the Original 8 of Smash were all the greatest Nintendo characters people would think of back during Smash 64, even though I know some people would disagree on Fox. Sakurai also felt Bayonetta was pretty significant, so it's not a stretch to think that Professor Layton could be included because of how significant Sakurai may feel he is. Professor Layton was a defining third-party franchise of the DS and 3DS era with 15 million copies sold as of 2013, which is impressive for a game that was 6 years old at the time the linked article was published.