Professor Layton and the Disappointing Daughter

[@OmarAlikaj]

A moment of silence for Layton's stepdaughter, Flora, whom Katrielle is replacing in this game for no reason.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Because apparently passing the torch only relates to people who have the Layton family name

[@Bluesharky38]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I’m pretty sure the torch was stolen, not passed

[@shaken_thesaurus2001]

Flora canonically died before LMJ

[@OmarAlikaj]

@@shaken_thesaurus2001 Yeah, I believe I also learned that she got changed in a few spin-offs. For someone who invested in the original trilogy, that rubbed me the wrong way.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@shaken_thesaurus2001 this makes me sad

[@amberdawn868]

As much as I like Katrielle, her design, and the way she just likes solving mysteries for the sake of mystery, I honestly wish they had just made a game focused on an older Flora trying to find Professor Layton after he goes missing. I mean, why make a brand new daughter of Layton character when you have Layton's adopted daughter from the VERY FIRST GAME just sitting RIGHT THERE waiting for character development?!?!

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Yep, its because they wanted her last name to be "Layton" instead of Reinhart. Well that and they had no idea what to do with her character, which is a shame.

[@amberdawn868]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz You're right but those are still dumb excuses Level 5 made. Flora could have still taken on the Layton name, after all! And why make a character you don't know what to do with?? -_-

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@amberdawn868 Who knows? It is clear they tried to work more on the game mechanics and visuals rather than the characters. It is a shame, I just hope the IP isn't dead forever.

[@spiritualsnail1584]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz It's silly, we would have bought a Flora Reinhart game no problem, there was no need to slap the Layton name on it.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@spiritualsnail1584 Yeah, No faith in Flora as a character on Level5's end... relying only on the Layton name.

[@gferrol118]

"People in England don't walk around wanting to solve puzzles" Hold my tea

[@CatalinaLinal7710]

I think for me one of the main reasons why I just couldnt get behind Katrielle as a protagonist of the Professor Layton franchise is simply because, for her, they threw the entire "real Gentleman/ real Lady" angle out of the window that I just adored about these games. I love that with Professor Layton and Luke you have protagonists who actively teach the (young) players to behave gentleman-y, to be a kind, collected person and how to deal with "weird" seeming and loud people with class and manners without being rude or offensive. But for Katrielle this entire crucial part of this franchise's identity just didnt had to matter and it put me off. Without it felt like..we are not approaching this world the same way anymore. We are supposedly standing in the same universe but the entire feeling of our POV got uprooted and half-heartedly put back from a different angle. _Katrielle_ feels like one of the weird, loud people we formerly met or dealt with and therefore the interesting world around her - the interesting game world these games' SOUL is mostly MADE OF! - had to be tamed and mellowed down. And that ruined everything for me. They tried so hard to put her in the spotlight and show how great, lively and strong of a character Katrielle is that they ended up sacrificing the entire world- and story structure for it so everything fell apart around her. And yeah, all because Katrielle supposedly wouldnt have been "strong" enough of a role model for girls if she were a Lady :/ Thanks Level5, its not like people have been BEGGING for Flora content for YEARS! Because she is _a great and interesting LADY CHARACTER to explore and follow in a Professor Layton game!_ If they already refuse to give us Flora then Katrielle at least should have had been created to give a prime example of what a real lady is supposed to be and that its something girls can very much concider aspiring to be as well. They could have make Katrielle break the prejudice that lady-like is an inherently misogynistic concept to keep women down by highlighting that lady-like simply means intelligent, well-mannered woman who is clear headed, ready to help people in need and well dressed. Professor Layton is all of that too, so I dont understand why Katrielle wasnt allowed to teach girls to be a real Lady.

[@tomatosoup1304]

That's such an interesting view and point! No one else has brought up what good examples Layton and Luke are too young boys by expressing healthy masculinity and good behaviour. If anything this should be even more reason why the game should've followed Flora as she is a good Lady and have her learn to be less impulsive and more self-confident (as seen in previous games where she doesn't like being left alone and runs along with our main characters to danger with no prep) and develop into a more wise and curious woman.

[@zekrom403]

It's honestly so sad man. I loved professor Layton so much. I hope they give it another chance

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I hope so too, but doesn't look likely unless Level-5 get purchased by someone else or sell the IPs. :/

[@spy2859]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz They destroyed the whole series by turning it into an anime.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@spy2859 you aren't wrong my friend.

[@sashimi879]

Akira tago is dead. Will not happen.

[@redhood7650]

@@spy2859 not really,the anime is actually decent,Luke and Layton return,katrielle got revealed to be another adopted daughter for Layton,no wonder alfendi has DiD

[@blueangel1616]

I feel like they tried to do a quirky character that people would relate to or find cute for Katrielle, but it just does the opposite... She just becomes annoying and makes the player miss even more Luke and Professor Layton. Like, we had Emmy, a strong character who gave a nice fresh touch to Luke'n'Layton duo and who was also interesting (through her personality, but also her backstory that we learn from The Azran Legacy). Hell, we even had Flora! Flora was a cute character, but underexploited: it could have been nice to revisit her through other games and see her follow her step-father's steps. But nope. Katrielle said "Screw all that and gimme food-".

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Emmy is actually a great example I should have drew parallels with, she fits essentially the same mould but is handled much better for a character with a boisterous personality. I can understand why they didn't want the reserved character of Flora as the main attraction, but Emmy did it far better.

[@Buttington_Headerson]

I honestly just find her bland as a character. And I'm only on case 6 or 7 but all of it has been so boring. All of the mysteries are so mundane and inconsequential.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@Buttington_Headerson if the cases are interesting and out there then it would distract from the characters plainness. Or keep them simple and work on character relationships as the centrepiece. One or the other

[@badryaauw-oc9hb]

@@OrangeJuiceJazand yet they did not do any of those

[@Wince_Media]

That title makes it sound like Layton is going to disown his own child, which is Ironically incredibly out of character but also incredibly in character as well. Either way, he should do it.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Maybe there is a reason Layton hasn’t written to her in a few years...

[@redhood7650]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz ironically the anime revealed that Layton and Luke got cryo frozen

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@redhood7650 lol really? thats quite funny actually

[@CandleTora]

What about poor Alfendi? His game was so damn cool: great characters, interesting cases, but of course he was shadowed by Katrielle and her lame games. The majority of people don't even know who the eldest child of Layton is, and in the story he doesn't even seem to matter. It's really sad

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

It’s a case of multiple people getting their hands on the Layton IP and going crazy with it. I don’t know if they will even bother considering the mobile games and anime “canon”.

[@zachanikwano]

Yes I still play those games from time to time. One of the few app games I've every bothered buying

[@nanalove3819]

Yeah poor Alfendi deserved better. And a game that is not on mobile to begin with.

[@danielsimmich1858]

I kept hoping that the whole puzzle fragment thing would lead to a final mission where the ‘puzzle’ consists of components of the previous missions and ties together the whole story. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed when that didn’t happen

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

You and me both, because at least that would in some way make that part work? a little bit thematically. Shame.

[@JokingBiscuite]

I'm happy to know that I'm not the only one who is disappointed by this game.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

We all just want good fun games in the future! Let’s hope Level 5 isn’t dead for good

[@nanalove3819]

I never saw someone enjoying this game, at least not if they knew the other games of the series.

[@pancake6104]

I find "professor layton and the spectre's call" an excellent game tbh. The story was great, the plot was awesome and the puzzles were also really fun. It was also my first "Layton game" and after i completed that one i just wanted more and more. Very sad to see level 5 go...

[@pokemaster374]

I still feel robbed knowing that the game literally sequel baited to finding where her father gone, only to have the anime answer that question with a poor turn out

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I think in general that games should stop tying parts of themselves to Anime or Movies. FFXV, Ratchet and Clank and Katrielle all suffered from it. Nothing was made better by the other part.

[@pokemaster374]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz the anime expanded what the game already covered and basically held the episodes looking for Hershel hostage by the show's weird pacing, so disappointing

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@pokemaster374 another reason not to watch it... shame :(

[@stilloslachen6519]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I suggest you try it under a different aspect. I think its a beautiful little series and the small stories Katrielle is involved in are great. Get some cookies and a cup of tea and just enjoy it for what it is. I havent watched any of the episodes that explain what happened to Professor Layton yet, so I cant say anything about them. But the other episodes stand nicely on their own feet. View it as a different pair of shoes and you might be able to like it. It was easy for me, since I was never THAT invested in Layton, I only played two of the games some years ago.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@stilloslachen6519 the only way I would play it again would be if I watch the Anime and it recontextualises the story and characters. But even so, the pacing, lacklustre gameplay and dull puzzles will still be there... I still want people to have fun rather than me tear things down, but I would still play another game in the series

[@honorm.2992]

I was a newbie to the Layton series when Katrielles’ game came out on the DS and I loved the characters and puzzles. The story arc was absolutely confusing and awfully written, but everything else was enjoyable to me. I went back and played through the first game and now I’m finishing the Diabolical Box. These earlier games are definitely incredible compared to Katrielles game, but that one was definitely good enough to make me interested in the rest of the series! :)

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

This is a great perspective. I always wonder how someone new to a series will think about it playing this for the first time. Similar if you started with the latest Pokemon, the latest Final Fantasy or something, so I cannot fault something for inspiring more people to discover the series! That is a good thing that has happened :)

[@luigi8525]

I remember back then when I played Curious Village and Unwound Future how intriguing and exciting the story unfolded. It had that not too cheerful/ oppressive atmosphere, the cutscenes were great, the sound track was great and the endings were always this huge thing. Then you have Katrielle who is quirky, her idiotic side kick and her speaking dog. There is no real mystery when even the dog can just speak from the start, there might also be wizards somewhere around. They could've just made another epic layton game with the professor or Luke as the protagonist, after all Luke was always "Laytons apprentice", destined to step into his own adventure. Just a huge bruh moment. PS: They could've just made a Layton collection instead of an entire new cast of characters no one knew before. So now it's just professor Layton without the professor layton.

[@MaryArts]

An adult Luke (similar looking like Clive would have been the cherry on the top) who goes on his own adventures. Maybe having some character development, other than in the Katrielle Anime, in which he is like a deadserious, robotlike archeologist that you not actually know. Anyway, what I just wanted to add: I loved the investigations and settings in the old games. I wanted to unlock areas so badly. Everytime you go forward, it is a delight for the eye.

[@moon4236]

In the Katrielle anime adult Luke appears and he has a wife and she says that they both went mystery solving together in america. I think a game about them with Luke as the main character would have been pretty cool ngl and his wife like a nice person too I mean if they were gonna make a game about Layton without Layton but still have a main character connected to Layton in some way then Luke is kind of the obvious choice right?

[@gamerfred3]

This just makes me sad. I grew up with Layton. I played and finished every Layton game at least once. I still remember that every time i had problems with a puzzle i waited until we visited my grandparents and then i would solve all the puzzle together with my grandfather. He always helped me out. My granddad sadly past away a few years ago. Layton alao was a tole model for me as a kid and i tried to be and become a gentleman like him. So he and the games mean a lot to me. And its just awful to see what they made out of the layton series. I havent played this game and i think i wil never.

[@yorelyoung6407]

I don't even think that she's actually related to Professor Layton. In fact, I don't think her last name is actually Layton. She's a fraud, but not in the way you would think. Let me explain. Haven't you noticed that this game is all over the place? Not much has rhyme or reason. It's also super simple. *It's almost as if these mysteries were set up by a child.* That's because it was. This whole game is a make-believe detective game between Katrielle and her friends. They even got the parents and grandparents of the kids to join in. Her parents bought her a 4 piece puzzle. The pieces were scattered about and finding them represents finding a clue. If you think about it under this context, everything starts to make sense.

[@ryuuseiSoul]

It's so sad that the game itself was so disappointing, because the overall visual presentation of this game is absolutely GORGEOUS.

[@MrSukram777]

Another BIG downer for me was that there was NO GOOD VILLAIN. There was no villain on the level of Bronev, Don Paolo or Descole. The previous games had villains like: * Don Paolo, a master of disguise, evil rival scientist and thief with a giant moustache * Clive, who build a giant robot to destroy London and rebuild it in his image to get revenge for the death of his parents * Bronev, leader of the evil organization Targent who wanted to find the legacy of the Aslanti and take over the world * Descole, a phantom of the opera-themed villain who wanted to get the secrets of the Aslanti before Targent In this game, we had villains like: * Ernest who was no real villain in the end and everyone forgave him, also the entire premise of that case was just a bad ripoff of the beginning of The Eternal Diva. * A crew conspiring for a heist in the ship case * the evil inspector who framed Katrielle in the murder case (the only exciting one IMO because it wasn't so small-scaled) and, frankly, still was on the same level as Chief Jakes, the second villain in The Last Spectre. The game had no true threatening villain like Don Paolo, Descole, Clive, Bronev or Anthony Herzen were. Katrielle had a rival, who was more of a friendly competitor, but no true enemies like her father had.

[@inciniumz4671]

This is really just sad. I know Professor Layton isn't the most well known, or the most popular, but surely, after these years, he would be treated with much more respect in in his predecessors. I remember playing Diabolical Box. I loved it, even if I never got past the train until years later. It was amazing! I love it's charm, difficulty, music, characters and great story. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box will always hold a special place in my heart. So this, this *Mystery Journey*, about 10 years later, is what we get as a part of the same series that game was from. I am depressed once again. After seeing all that, it's sad to see how quickly and how hard Layton has fallen. Layton used to be very good. It used to be very good. But now? "pff, let's just forget everything that made the other games good and just do something else! Who cares! As long as there's puzzles and "Layton" in the name, those suckers'l buy it faster than HeartGold fakes on Amazon! Why put effort into it when someone else already did?"

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Yep. I can’t hold a grudge against the Devs as I don’t know the circumstances. It is almost always execs decisions in the companies that make things like this. Bizarrely there is a 4 year gap between this and Azran Legacy, so I can only assume that Mobile games and the crossovers filled that time. My guess is inexperienced directors and conflicting interests in whether to put it as mobile only and how it should be made.

[@inciniumz4671]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I bet you're right. I shouldn't hold the devs against anything. It does seem like a dev thing to do, seeing as how drastic the change was. And all the presumably new people (at least the new puzzle master) would want changes in the formula as well. Um, speaking of crossovers...I got the Layton vs Wright crossover for Christmas this year, and I was wondering, is it good as a Layton game? I personally seem to think it's ok so far. I guess my complaint is that the puzzles are too easy so far. I haven't played a Wright game, but I am enjoying those parts.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@inciniumz4671 I believe so. From the interviews pre-release them making a more down to earth game after the world ending Azran legacy and a female protragonist are both great changes for the series. I don't know. Mobile and Anime tie-ins sound like trying to launch another franchise and that it didn't get as popular as they wanted. I haven't played it actually, always have wanted too as I only played one Phoenix wright game. I genuinely may order and play it if I can find my 3DS.

[@inciniumz4671]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz heh heh, cool, guess we'll both find out if it's good in the end!

[@mai9396]

i thought it was just me 😭 thank you for making and sharing this video. professor layton is one of my favourite series ever and it's disappointing that it won't have another chance to redeem itself in an English game

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

It seems that way for sure which is really sad. Yokai watch, inazuma 11 and NiNo Kuni make bank for them, so I think that’s where their priority will be unfortunately

[@shan7179]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz Inazuma 11 has gotten a lot worse too, the newest series is rushed and cut short, the new game is delayed again and won’t be getting an anime adaptation. And of course, all other series suffer with no more Western releases. Honestly though, no matter what happens to Level 5 from now, the old Professor Layton games will always reserve a special spot in my heart 👌and Katrielle, to me she ain’t canon haha

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@shan7179 Is that so? that is a shame as I always liked the idea of a Football RPG in some ways but never got around to playing the series. It seems that way with Level 5 at the moment, which is a real shame. I totally agree I will never forget Curious Village, Diabolical Box or Unwound Future and certainly think they should regard Katrielle as a weird spin off.

[@tailsofpearls]

One of the most frustrating things for me was that on switch they removed the memo feature. It made it really hard to solve things when you either had to solve them in your head or whip out a piece of paper to figure out the question. That the water island puzzle you mentioned. Its super easy to visualize the answer when you're able to scribble on the picture. Or any of the ones that involve basic math its completely stupid that I have to whip out another device to write down my thought process when I already have a device in front of me. Its not like the switch doesn't have a touch screen! On the everything else it felt like this was honestly designed as a mobile game that they suddenly ported to console. There was so little thought put into it and the episodic nature made is come off as terribly cheap and something that was only in development for a short amount of time.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

You're right. It was clearly conceived and designed as a Mobile game... then perhaps after the scope of their idea they changed to be a 3DS then Switch game. Since they didnt know if you were gonna be in handheld or on TV they didn't think enough about the Memo and how to implement. It's things like that that point to the game not being fully thought through or cared about enough...

[@aoki556]

It does have the memo feature ! the only problem is the placement often didn’t cover what you actually needed to see and it was hard to fit it accurately with no stylus :/ also if memory serve me correctly you may be right in that the memo feature wasn’t even on all of the puzzles, only some..

[@xlife.lightx]

I started playing Katrielle recently and am currently watching a let's play of The Curious Village to discover the series. One aspect that particularly struck me with Kat is that, except the characters relationships, there's no correlation between all the cases. Like, Layton is called to find a Golden Apple to retrieve the inheritance of a deceased baron, cases keep topping each other on between a murder and disappearances but you will always go back to the Baron inheritance which also leads to the other cases in some way like his two wives being identical but aren't related whatsoever. Kat on the other hand, has to find Sherl's identity as he doesn't remember who or what he is but it is cut short by the disappearance of one of Big Ben's hour-hand. I'm on case 7 and still haven't heard of helping Sherl since the beginning. With the title of "the Millionaire Conspiracy" I was expecting something about a group rich mercenary that stole money from people like Sherl and turn them into animal, one of the victim being the lady's stupid iguana pet, it's cliché but at least it makes Sherl more important than just being "the cute mascot". I know the Layton series has a lot of sciency and tricky antagonists, it's just disappointing that in the end the 'villain' is just the fricking side-kick who never meant harm from the beginning.

[@sabrinaking1873]

Here's an idea, if you're going to do a sequel without Prof. Layton, why not have a grownup Luke Triton be the one solving cases with Flora as his assistant? You could have him open up a detective agency named Layton Investigations in honor of his mentor, where he solves puzzles and mysteries in order to help people. It would be a good progression of Luke's character from the previous games. It would also be a good opportunity to expand on Flora and have her do more, maybe help solve the puzzles and gather information for a case.

[@akarikazi]

i've been yelling into the void about how much i hate the katrielle arc for years. the anime was trash too and criminally underdeveloped the arc of layton and luke (luke is an adult in the anime and we learn literally nothing about him other than that he has a wife and now wears a fedora and i hate it). the series had so much potential to be good again with a direct sequel to unwound future and they just absolutely ruined it. they replaced everything that made professor layton good with Kawaii Quirky Anime Girl (we didnt NEED kat, flora is RIGHT THERE) and it has endlessly infuriated me. hino's an idiot. like i don't know what the hell happened to make the series take such a bad route. so glad people are finally talking about this

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Yeah, honestly there was no fanfare at all to the game, no discourse just, “oh another game”. But the quality is so vastly inferior and the studio shut down the North American branch very soon after... I am surprised it wasn’t a bigger story?

[@stilloslachen6519]

The anime wasnt trash at all! At least I dont think so...of course I love Layton and the harder puzzles that he is confronted with and it is all more clever. But the anime series has such warmth and quirk to it, its really enjoyable. The stories are nicely developed and you can see its more about the characters than the puzzles. The series also manages a few cool twists.

[@poou4460]

@@stilloslachen6519 i think it becomes harder to like when its built on the foundation that is katrielle (coming from what im assuming is the majority of layton fans that just dont really like her). youre not as invested as you would be and then when the characters you actually cared about return they do barely anything. on top of that it still leaves something to be desired when stuff like eternal diva exists: giving both great character beats On Top of great puzzle integration into the anime medium. not saying you cant like it, but, going off what theyve given us before, it really could have been so much better -- the game And the anime -- and that thought for this series' last entries in general is lamentable

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@stilloslachen6519 that is certainly the tone. There is no city destroying plot at the end. I just personally didn’t find Katrielle and Co very relatable or enjoyable to spend time with, I don’t know if they do a better job in the anime however

[@atoth62]

@@stilloslachen6519 I haven't watched all of the anime, but I've watched the first 20 episodes and Layton and Luke arc. What bothered me, is there a strong lack of narrative tension. There are hardly any stakes, and more often than not, the whole situation in the episode bends itself over backwards to make the whole thing a horrible misunderstanding. Its just made the setting so light and fluffy, when we know that's not the case from the earlier Layton games and Mystery Room. Then there's Katrielle, who seems to just guess at the solution to the whatever mystery is going on, and it justs so happens to be the right one. The only time I was ever impressed with Katrielle's detective work was during the case with the Twin sisters, where Kat actually explains her reasons. I could go on. The zombie episode and time travel episodes in particular didn't have characters whose motivations made a lick of sense, but I'll stop for now.

[@StrawberryBunnyBoba]

This was my first Layton game, actually. I appreciate it for introducing me to the series, I haven’t been able to play the others yet but I’m looking into it. I liked a couple of the characters, and the unique art style, but something about most of the characters and the mysteries felt.. off. Just how none of the crimes committed were actually crimes, but rather misunderstandings or little mistakes. And the one time there’s an actual murder it turns out it was an accident. It always felt odd how apathetic Kat felt at times, especially towards Ernest. Although he isn’t the greatest character, her coldness towards him, treating him more like a pest/object, made me dislike her. And me as the player not actually being able to find clues to solve the “mystery” always sucked. I’d just do a couple basic math puzzles and then Kat would say something and suddenly knows how everything happened? It just never felt like I was a detective, it felt more like I was a 5th grade student doing math games. It wasn’t incredibly enjoyable to say the least.

[@StrawberryBunnyBoba]

I mean, maybe I’m remembering this wrong, but besides that one corrupt detective and Ernest (kind of) there are no criminals? Like that sucks I don’t feel any satisfaction just finding out the bank’s safe fan just blew the money away, and not getting to find a bank robber. That would’ve been a lot cooler

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Completely agree, this is where the whole “Detective Roleplay” part of the game falls flat. Games like Return of the Obra Dinn or Outer Wilds respect your intelligence and any discoveries you make, you do yourself and you feel super smart. Shame really :/

[@wyattiverson8230]

idk if you're still looking into it but the original trilogy is on mobile now

[@Alex-jr5xy]

1:54 Don't know why, but this part with "Structure" on the front, the garbage on the back and the main Layton's theme made me wheeze

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Thank you very much, I try to put as many trash jokes as I can!

[@jamesbarnousky1270]

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright really was the franchise's last great hurrah, huh? It's such a shame they never made any games after that.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Everything looked like it was going well after that. I remember a lot of hype around the game even though it was dragging its feet in being localised. Massive Shame

[@honigfuchs111]

Another problem I noticed is the translation into other languages in the puzzles. I once could not solve one because they've translated the task wrong :(

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

No way??? That’s unforgivable. I know some of the explanations were worded poorly in English but that is genuinely a shocking oversight.

[@phiikichi]

Oh, that reminds me- Does any one remember the Park/Dark puzzle ? It was a pretty generic puzzle where you had a mother taking her children to the park, then leaving to go home with them and you had to say why she did so by moving one element of the word "park" on the screen i think. So, obviously, the answer was that she went home because it was getting "dark". Now in english it makes sense, right ? But I played the french version, and for some reason they thought it would be fine to just not translate it at all. I figured it out pretty easily, but I can't help but feel bad for the kids who picked up the game and got stuck on one of the easiest puzzles just because they weren't old enough to have proper english classes.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@phiikichi Jeez... This seems like a nightmare. I always wondered how they got this to work in Japanese especially considering some of the wordplay involved. I do feel for localisers having to make it make sense and also a workable puzzle, how annoying... :/ This sounds like a great idea for a video to be honest.

[@aperson6505]

I quit the game when like 3 of the maths puzzles in the first cases could be answered with 'zero'

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

It is a huge problem with how predictable the puzzles are. I usually look at problems like that and think, ok, it doesn't require me to do huge leaps of logic so it will be a trick. I don't know without alienating the younger audience how they would fix it.

[@aperson6505]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz Yeah, I think that's a fair point. I guess I could say that I just got help from my mum or someone if I got stuck on a harder puzzle when I was younger, but that seems like a bit of a cop out (it'd be like telling someone to just get their older brother to beat a difficult boss as if that actually helps).

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@aperson6505 Yeah, I am trying to write a script for How I would improve Layton and the puzzles and I am struggling with anything that doesn't require just more general knowledge and intelligence. Maybe doing something completely entirely different with the puzzles is what is warrented.

[@hanasong685]

I'm still mad about that Failing Scales puzzle which had multiple solutions but only one was correct ingame

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@hanasong685 yep, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth for sure.

[@bridgetmoran7343]

Please come back and give us a lengthy review or Mystery Room. It’s really underrated.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

If I ever play it I will, I promise :)

[@wickedwhisper4568]

It's so good! I really loved it and I'm glad you like it too!

[@btb4122]

That island time puzzle has already been done in the series before. In Dropstone from Diabolical/Pandora's Box there is a puzzle with a fountain that has the exact same gimmick.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I knew it. I goshdarn knew it. I couldn't be arsed to look through every puzzle in the series again, but dang it that is lazy. WHY NOT MAKE THE ANSWER GOLF DANG IT.

[@btb4122]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz Yeah, at least the one in Dropstone has plot relevance as it reveals the town's founding date if I remember correctly.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@btb4122 That stuff is why I love context specific puzzles, it integrates gameplay, setting and story together naturally.

[@eluxia8994]

I played the game for the first time a few months ago because some friends bought ir for my birthday. As someone that has basically grown with the whole Layton series, I was really excited to get new content related to the franchise. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement, the fact that the main character was someone that we have not ever seen in the series was an odd choice taking in consideration that they could have used Flora as the adoptive daughter of Layton, which fulfills completely the role given to Katrielle and makes the game more appealing to old fans. This saddens me to no end, the whole plot was a predictable mess, there was no bigger mystery or whatsoever, the characters get really annoying, specially Katrielle, whose only personalities traits seem to be liking food and dressing up, and the puzzles were poorly thought to say the least. There's also another thing. In the Spanish version I played, there were a few puzzles that required to solve mysteries that included words written in English. For example, in one of the puzzles the answer required was to write ''dark". To an English speaker the puzzle would be really easy to solve, but I can just imagine the people or young children that have no knowledge of English trying to come up with the answer. I though it was unfair for non-english speaking players, and quite lazy from the company overall. As a big fan of Hershel Layton, I was truly dissapointed and saddened, I felt like they had destroyed the whole series in just a game.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Yeah I can imagine the disappointment. My cynical game industry brain is thinking "Rebranding" where they want a fresh start and expected the anime to take off and it to become a big franchise they can make mobile games from. But it clearly didn't I have always imagined how tough some of the puzzles must be to play through in different languages as there is word play for sure... I would love to look into how this is done as this isn't the first comment on it.

[@GwynethRoseCliff]

Me I want a retcon or remake so badly but I had no choice but to accept half-heartedly.

[@CatalinaLinal7710]

Damn, that's _badly handled!_ Especially because former Layton games DID have alternative solutions for non-english versions, so no long-time player from another culture and native language would think in that direction either.

[@Wince_Media]

Whelp, looks like layton disowned his disappointing daughter after all!

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I mean. It could be... we will have to wait and see!

[@josequiles7430]

The worst part by far is that Katrielle doesn't have a big hat

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Agreed. If he hat was aggressively big I’d maybe have given it a better review. Like it gets in the way of her puzzle solving

[@the13lordsofgaming16]

Absolutely brilliant. Great presentation and excellent points raised. Not enough support for your channel given the quality of a video like this. I’d love to see a similar approach with the prequel and original trilogies.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I’d love to do such a thing and replay all of the games, I just would have to use an emulator as I have misplaced my DS. Maybe if there is a rerelease at some point I could do my analysis! Thanks for the compliment I hope my videos keep you entertained!

[@emliu5000]

One of the most disappointing things to me is Katrielle's personality, or rather, her lack thereof. I played through the entire game without noticing a hint of actual personality from Katrielle. So she likes food and solves mysteries - what else? How does she feel about starting a detective agency all by herself? Why did she help Ernest anyway (as far as I can tell, she was at Scotland Yard for no reason and took his case just because the game needed her to)? How does she react during an unexpected conflict? Even when it comes to her dad, she _still_ doesn't show a personality. The anime shows Katrielle actually going to search for Hershel - a perfect opportunity to show us a different side of her. Does she act cheerful and oblivious on a daily basis to hide how worried she is about her father? Does she feel afraid of the truth she'll learn (that Layton died, abandoned her, etc.)? Maybe she starts out very nonchalant and clearheaded, and grows increasingly frantic and desperate as she keeps looking without any success? No. Nothing at all. For the most part, she acts the same as she does during any other case. The only time she really breaks character is when she finds her father cryogenically frozen, and looks horrified for about two seconds. But even that didn't make sense to me, because she gets horrified even though she's just discovered the best possible outcome. Hershel isn't dead. Hershel had never abandoned her - he'd gone on the journey specifically to figure out who her real parents were (which he felt would help him be a true father to her). Hershel hasn't even aged, meaning she doesn't have to get reacquainted with an older, less familiar guardian. Sure, he's trapped in ice and she hasn't seen him in years, but... I dunno. Maybe it's just me. But I felt like that was the only time when the writers attempted to have her show genuine emotions, and they didn't do it right. It was a huge letdown, because between the game and anime, I felt like I could see bits and pieces of characters, plots, etc. that could have turned out much better had they been fleshed out properly. But they weren't, and the entire thing about Hershel being cryogenically frozen doesn't feel like a creative storyline as much as it feels like a contrived way to make Hershel stay the same age, but magically have a 20-ish-year-old daughter even though we never saw her in the main series. I love Professor Layton, so I really wanted to like this game even if he didn't appear in it, but... sadly, not much to like about it IMO.

[@Tempe_]

Using a dunpster to represent the game's setting was brilliant. It's exactly what comes to mind when I think "London"

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Me too. I live there and I think I was still too nice on it

[@Blackcrowsfrost]

I find what hurts the most is that when they were drip feeding us teasers about this game, it could have been good and so many fan theories were more interesting than what came to be. There was potential that they just didn't try and find :(

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

That is always the worst... Like they know people will be hype and want to pick apart any details, but it's just a marketing ploy to sell more copies... Really bad all around from Level 5 Imo.

[@Andrew53670]

I think at the same time it was meant to appeal to a new generation of gamers

[@firesnakex8]

still pissed that luke wasn't actually kat's father. Would have been so perfect

[@atoth62]

@@firesnakex8 Being Luke's daughter would've made a lot of sense, as she has his appetite and ability to speak to animals, or at least just Sharl.

[@firesnakex8]

@@atoth62 exactly. Not to mention they also look related as well.

[@thomasflanagan8754]

just bring back Layton and Luke but as older people or something.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Funnily enough I had the same idea...

[@OmarAlikaj]

We had "Layton Brothers: Mystery Room." Luke, although not mentioned by name, was in that game all along. You just have to pay attention to that hair, and phone conversation with Layton to figure him out. Although, I don't think that game's getting a sequel.

[@TrainsTer-91]

The addition of Katrielle was just... Nonsensical? I ledgit expected for the next game in the franchise to be about luke specificly as an adult. But nope. Get this quirky character we never seen before!

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@TrainsTer-91 it was framed as a soft reboot almost... but not when you look at the game and how it’s structured. A bizarre mess

[@spiritualsnail1584]

@@TrainsTer-91 That would have been SO obvious ! I'd pay for an adult Luke game.

[@amenrva2208]

I loved playing the layton games as a kid, so when i saw this game, I was so hyped. But by the second case I was bored to tears and i couldnt play any more. It felt like there was no driving force or heart. And the characters weren’t interesting or fun. I felt no real mystery or uniqueness

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Unfortunately it’s repetitive in how each case and even room goes. Nothing interesting just: Tap for coins and puzzles > speak to people > puzzle > move to next room > repeat. Unfortunately without creativity it is a grind. :/ shame

[@robertbrookes2000]

Alfrendi Layton is starting to look pretty good now.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

He is from Mystery Room right? I never played them, what are they like?

[@bicycle4206]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz They're good. Don't expect a fully-fledged Layton game because you're not going to get it (it feels more like Ace Attorney than Layton gameplay-wise - there are no classic Layton puzzles which makes sense since I believe it wasn't originally conceived as a Layton game), but I find it very enjoyable for a relatively inexpensive mobile game. It has multiple small cases, but it's not trying to be a classic Layton game like LMJ so I enjoy the format. The characters, artwork and music are excellent (music is different from the other games, but I love it). One of the end twists is slightly non-sensical but the rest of the story is a fun ride. Overall, the tone doesn't feel childish like LMJ does. I'd recommend it.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@bicycle4206 very interesting... sounds like a good contrast to Katrielle... I would be interested in taking a look

[@OmarAlikaj]

I liked this game. I just think he should've been Flora's son, not Layton.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@OmarAlikaj Yeah, I mean as far as I’m concerned Layton never had children because he couldn’t love again after his tragic loss, but could foster and adopt young children, so Katrielle at least makes sense in that regard. Poor Flora

[@benjaminclasper9355]

I think they should have had a spin off series to Layton or to carry on the professor Layton series but games about Flora and what happened to her and whether she went onto solving puzzles or doing detective work and investigating.

[@Hugelag]

He has a daughter? But seriously, something about focusing on the offspring of a title character has always been a red flag for me.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Well he actually doesn’t, he adopted her, which is weird? But sort of implies he didn’t get over his ex wife? Either way, yeah absolutely, if the game is good I don’t care but it felt like the B team got this one.

[@joeyplaysviolin]

So.... he sort of has a daughter. I think Luke was friends with Katrielle’s mother and then her mother died when Katrielle was a baby, so Luke took care of Katrielle for a bit and then was like, “Professor, I can’t take care of a child, you take her” so Professor Layton started taking care of her instead. And.... yeah, Professor Layton and Luke disappeared and that’s why they’re not in this game at all. That’s my biggest problem with this game. I feel like they should’ve focused on Katrielle finding Luke and the Professor instead.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@joeyplaysviolin yeah I can see that, felt like that was gonna come into the story as a whole but never did. Either be completely upfront how she is doing it for herself and don’t bring them up or put them in. Very weird how they handled it

[@joeyplaysviolin]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz , yeah, and I’m not a huge fan of the anime, but I was glad they included the plot with their disappearance.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@joeyplaysviolin I didn’t bother watching as that wasn’t what drew me to the game, like how I didn’t watch the FFXV movie or whatever before the game... but maybe that is a prerequisite before the game? Either way I only reviewed it as a game nothing else! Oh well better luck next time

[@meeskollenhof]

I hated the katrielle sequal... felt really out of place. I’m a big fan of lost future since that’s just my childhood, makes me sad that it didn’t get much attention (like merchandise, sequels)

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Unwound future was really the culmination of everything learned in the series. Lightning in a bottle. Return of the King, Mother 3, Link to the Past, Stardust Crusaders. Polishes the formula to what I believe to be the ultimate version of a Professor Layton game. It is a classic that has a whole series fallen to the wayside in terms of public opinion, don't know why!

[@meeskollenhof]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz yes man ur goddamn right, lost future was one of the best game ever existing together with Mario galaxy

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@meeskollenhof What a glorious time it was with the Wii and DS.

[@cypher838]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz all 3 of the original trilogy has a unique flavor to them. A quality that I simply love about those games. The prequels were good too, maybe not as good but still solid.

[@HannahCharlesworth98]

I didn't mind Hastings' voice acting, but reading his text where they've obviously tried to make his speech sound like cockney ryhming slang was PAINFUL. And I'm British, and know people who genuinely speak like that. I cannot imagine how anyone outside the UK got on reading his lines. It gave me a headache 😂

[@NgaMarsters]

One way they could've made Puzzles more immersive in London could've been like- The reason why there are so many puzzles is because it's all in her head. Like a sort of relaxing or even coping mechanism. Or simply that's her way of thinking. Could even have characters pick up on her habit since she'll just be standing there for five whole minutes-

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

That sounds like both a fun and contextual story, character and Mechanical merger... Bit too much for Level 5 to implement currently ;)

[@koryhawkins1499]

The Wife Here. Idk I loved all these games I read the books and the movies. The movie goes with this game

[@m.l.7558]

The Japanese books? Illusion, phanthim deity, etc?

[@kikilovely9100]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO Since Katrielle appeared, I knew there was something off, I do share something with her name (Cat but without a K), but I was happy anyway. Then, I played the Katrielle game on the 3ds, and oh my gosh, at the end I was disappointed, I was even disappointed in certain parts with the anime. Now, I do think that I still haven't seen a better new protagonist done by a fan, but if someone is going to do a fan game or something that resembles a Layton game, I would suggest ignoring Katrielle's existence. I only think about other games than Katrielle's ones, in my opinion, they should've ended at the last 3DS game, but if I were in them at the time, they should have done something with Descole, I think still today, that, Descole life or a Descole sequel could have been a perfect game. Speaking of the soundtrack, at least I liked that, Kana Nishino does such awesome songs, so I won't speak. I'm sorry for this long comment, but the Katrielle game disappointed me and it disappoints me still today, unfortunately, I'm not surprised that Level-5 is in this situation, but unfortunately, you have to make a reason for it, Probably if level-5 had chosen they're move well after the Layton saga, probably the saga would still live today, but as I know, fans like me are still in the fandom and still doing content, so I'm glad to be part of this fandom.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Thank you for the comment! I do agree, I am making a video on a hypothetical sequel to the Layton series and I think ignoring the Katrielle game is for the best. I think the core idea of smaller cases with a different Layton isn't inherently bad, but it was poorly executed and I haven't watched the anime... but I don't feel the need too after playing the game. The soundtrack is still excellent and "Girls" is a good little song! It certainly does feel like a fan game... I never realised that fits how it felt! I hope there could be a good Layton game in the future, but it would need some overhauls in design philosophy I think especially now that Akira Tago has passed, but we will see what happens!

[@kikilovely9100]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I agree with everything you said, I hope somewhere in the world there's someone who will succeed in replacing the now defunct puzzle master

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@kikilovely9100 that would be a nice dream, we can only hope!

[@Bluesharky38]

So it seems like this girl ended up being a franchise killer. No wait, after what happened to the English localizers, that makes her a company killer ! 😳

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I would hate to say that game and character were the sole reason for it, but I mean the poor sales outside of Japan did affect a lot of their decision. It seemed to me they didn't put too much marketing effort into it as it just sort of spurted out with no fanfare. They at least designed new puzzles for the switch and western release, so its something? But I think maybe it was the final nail in the coffin :(

[@Bluesharky38]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I think some of the other nails for the coffin were from the recent Yo-kai watch games. They were great games, but they came to America when the switch was coming out so most people didn’t really want them that much on the 3ds. Kind of the same that killed alpha dream now that I think about it?

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@Bluesharky38 you’re absolutely right, seems like the popularity isn’t what they hoped and so didn’t want to bother localising them. Real shame. Alpha dream I did a video on the Mario and Luigi series and it is a real shame as the remake of Superstar saga for the 3DS at the end of its life was a deathblow for that company after some slipping sales of the previous entries. Another sad tale

[@germin9784]

What hurt me the most about this game was how the game box promised a search for her father, who vanished mysteriously. Yet we get 12 unconnected chapters, nothing of the promised story and a twist without any foreshadowing or logic. All this featuring the most unlikeable protagonist

[@Valery0p5]

I love the title of this video

[@alessapisiconeri]

I always thought she was actually Descole’s daughter, which would explain her resemblance to Layton and kinda malevolent true nature. I also think she’s just solving these cases to blackmail all those rich peeps.

[@kameksapprentice9416]

20:53 Wait a second, isn't this just the Dropstone fountain puzzle from Pandora's Box?

[@QueSeraSeraaaa]

You’re right, it is a copied and pasted puzzle from Diabolical Box.

[@synacist925]

I fully agree on all of this! I actually ended up turning to the anime they made which had actual plot progression every few episodes (the cases in the game between these plot episodes) with kat looking for the professor I hated it a lot less than the game and though Kat’s character isn’t much different, at least there’s a half decent story I suggest giving it a chance :)

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

That is interesting and covers the points I wondered about. The game feels more like an extension of the anime with less plot progression. So that is piquing my curiousity... I was hoping Kats character would have more humanity or justification in the anime which is a shame. Thanks!

[@redhood7650]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz also in the anime Katrielle was adopted by the professor after her mum died on a shipwreck and Luke is older and now has a wife. Though I am curious flora wasn't in it

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@redhood7650 hmmm... Very bizarre... It's very much like they didn't know how to incorporate Flora into future narratives after being the plot device in curious village... shame :/

[@redhood7650]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz hell dearest Hershel was able to redo mystery journal with flora as the lead

[@stilloslachen6519]

Yeah maybe they should have just done the anime and scrapped the game. The anime is nice :)

[@nanalove3819]

And the sadder part is : after a whole anime dedicated to her, she still failed to have character development. And despite this anime including six episodes dedicated to why Layton was missing, we still don't know what happened to Flora. They didn't even use the anime to fix the problem of the game about lack of links between the different parts ! I even think that the last case was better executed in the game than in the anime, that didn't fix Ernest to give him some depth instead of being a simp.

[@princey_bees3822]

Honestly, katrielles game was the first and only one I've played. But I was always completely confused at the solutions to the puzzles. The graphics and characters I loved, especially Ernest and Liza(solely because of their designs) but the plot was all over the place

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

This is interesting as I find someone entering the series at that point must be different from starting at Curious Village. If you can go back and play the first 3, they will be entirely worth it and a lot of disinterest in this game does come from how great previous games were.

[@scarykayhost_incubo2274]

I am still angry. The third explained why Layton can not have a daughter... and then... what is this?!

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I mean Layton adopting would be the logical next step for his character growth, but it’s because there was already Flora to fill that void that it just seems like a weird Reboot.

[@scarykayhost_incubo2274]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz ... Yeah... I agree. Still, adopting... I don't know. With Flora was reasonable, after all they went trough together... but this stupid child no.

[@aeksie]

I was happy to pick up another Layton game, as I didn't have a 3DS to continue the 2nd trilogy, but was so disappointed by this one. As you said, puzzles are too easy or not well explained enough. Additionally, I felt like there weren't enough of them. In the older games you really had to explore each site and were rewarded with a nice puzzle for that. In this game I tried looking for hidden puzzles alot, but only got yet another 20 coins :( Lastly I was hoping alot on the "Hershel Layton went missing" plot, but eventually lost interest, as the game is so bad...

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Yep I agree, the hidden puzzles and end game puzzles in previous games were great rewards. It is the rigid routine of all of sections that make it so tedious. We can only hope for an indie studio to fill the gap in the market like so many other... A shame

[@hanshe4474]

Your breakdown of the game was very interesting. I also noticed how Katrielle's puzzles had the same format as the other Professor Layton puzzles. I did enjoy the game, but I felt it was lacking compared to Professor Layton. What irked me the most is I never found out how Layton even became Katrirlle's dad to begin with. An old trailer of Lary Layton gave a hint but it was never expanded on. And most of the mysteries were either misunderstandings or something underwhelming.

[@elenagalerafernandez8641]

YES YES YES to everything you said! Being a Professor Layton fan since I was a kid I got so excited when I got this game on my birthday... Well lol jokes on me. It took me TWO years to finish it as I didn't even feel like playing it. So disappointing. I can't even remember a character I found great (except for maybe the twins? who where quite funny dubbed in spanish), but Katrielle is absolutely unlikable. She's mad selfish and impertinent, I just can't believe she was brought up by the man, the myth, the legend LAYTON himself. And the way she talks about him in the game????? Girl. The several plots are boring and the game overall is just bad. It saddens me so much. Thank god I don't remember much of the game, I guess my brain gets rid of traumatic experiences. A 73 is WAY higher than I expected, but I suppose it is because I am comparing this game to the Layton saga? And to me everything pales in comparison to it. I just wish we would get another proper Layton game... they were SO good.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Absolutely, I don’t know if they meant it but it did feel disrespectful to Layton? It’s weird like more standard Anime writing than dialogue for the purpose of the game. I wonder how many reviewers had this as their first Layton game? I don’t know

[@kuroneco-j4n]

I think it's 73 because many of the players are not familiar with the PL series since that was what Level-5 was aiming for. If this was aimed at players who were already familiar with PL, and nothing changed in the game, then this game would have a MUCH lower rating.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@kuroneco-j4n You're not wrong at all... a weird rebranding almost.

[@ctpp64]

yeah this is my first PL game and i liked it a lot. tho i also played it on my phone so my standards mighta been lower lol

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@ctpp64 try the DS games, you won’t be disappointed :)

[@SwedePotato314]

I’ll never ever understand why they went through so many games spending so much time making the professor out to be a man or high moral character, supportive and helpful and under of children, and always doing right by “a lady” just to have him walk out on his daughter?!? No. If they wanted a young female lead they had Flora RIGHT THERE. I’ll never understand. I bought for Switch and ended up trying it on mobile as I replayed the first trilogy on my tablet but omg it is just not good. The puzzles. Dialogue and pacing is all bad. I do not enjoy it whatsoever. But once I played on my tablet I fully realized why I hated it on switch and 3ds so much. It was genuinely designed for mobile gameplay and mobile audience. Maybe some of the older fan base but they were relying on the series name to get a new audience in the mobile app game space. It’s a different type of gaming that I am used to and I have only seen some great series go down the drain because they went the mobile game route. Look what happened to cooking mama. The DS games were awesome. The mobile ones are like a gacha ADHD pink nightmare.

[@QueSeraSeraaaa]

Flora had more potential, and she was the adoptive daughter of the professor, so creating a new adoptive daughter, unlikable adoptive daughter, was a terrible idea. Thanksfully, Katrielle won’t appear in the new Professor Layton game, the game will be a sequel to Unwound Future.

[@Wince_Media]

When I was consdiring professor layton games, I actually considered buying this one, so I asked about it on reddit. Literally everyone gathered around in unison saying NO! DONT! BUY IT! YOU KNOW YOUR DISAPOINTMENT IN DUAL DESTINIES AND SOJ? TAKE THAT BY TENFOLD. AT LEAST THOSE OTHER GAMES HAD SOME GOOD ELEMENTS

[@shaken_thesaurus2001]

Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice are fantastic games, and I'm sick of pretending they're not. Why do people hate them so much?!

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

If you decide to write over all your wealth if you can't solve a puzzle you DESERVE to get scammed

[@kgraves119]

The only reason I played this game was because I thought she would find out what happened to Layton at the end and we’d get to see him again. 😔

[@noosakareal]

Aged like fine wine

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

cannot believe they announced a new laytron. Thought the series was dead. my gosh.

[@lamalamalex]

I am that complete newbie. It was fun at first because I thought it would pick up but when I found out it was all disconnected and in levels. I didn’t like it anymore.

[@klaus.sfc01official30]

The sad thing is they made a case based game that was actually good also for mobile and all the stories made sense but were also suspenseful and most of them had plottwists. it just is sad to see

[@darkbum1510]

I genuinely find it strange how the background puzzles seem to work. Like, "hey, there is a puzzle to solve here" In other Layton games [I recently played Pandora's box and Unwound Future], it's usually "Hey, see this? This reminds me of a nice puzzle", like the banana peels on the floor or the jars in Garland's grocery store

[@limonprincess]

I never understood what was the point of creating Katrielle when Flora was Right There

[@windego999]

I started playing all the Layton games after the new one was announced and I've gotten to Unwound Future. Loved the prior 2 and I further love how each sequel steps the game up further. So like other comments here, I really do NOT understand why we couldn't get a game about Flora. She had like no screen time even when you're wandering around town with her. I really wish they'd let her solve puzzles or become more of a "Look, we have continuity!" character. Instead she's criminally underused. Why?

[@meow4452]

I couldn’t even finish it. I loved the first game and was really disappointed by this one.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Honestly I would have not finished it too most of the time. But it was so bafflingly consistent in its awfulness I needed to see just how deep the rot went!

[@meow4452]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz and we thank you for your tremendous sacrifice 😅 I think the thing that hurts the most is that I remember a lovingly crafted game with hand draw animation and a world of whimsy. This one just feels lazy and cheap. I hated the use of pixel art and 3D character models for the interaction.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@meow4452 I completely agree, if they didn’t do something with the 3D environments or the 3D models then unfortunately it is purely out of the fact that they are easier to animate so the games can be shipped quicker. It’s a shame truly. I wish I mentioned the hand drawn aesthetic in my video really :/

[@AnnaWoods]

1:54 what a visual, couldn't have put it better myself

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Thanks! I love trash most of the time. Not this time though!

[@r.a.2145]

Dude professor layton games are worth more than any Picarats in the world. It still is in my heart! I really do wish they revive this.

[@sepp4815]

I relly liked the twist in the and than Katrilles sidekick is the “main“ villain. But it would be better if they had done more with it. For exemple (Flora as protagonist) after a few story you meet Ernist, help him and he become your friend and sidekick, how longer you play how darker becomes the story (you meet Cliff again who work for police/still in prison and gave you tipps, a rich guy died of heart atack caused of scared, someone got kidnappt, running throw the underground to get a mysteriös villain, etc.), in the end sidekick became a real main villain and got arested but the rich people got too.

[@Andrew53670]

I really wish the Layton series would continue, I had heard a new game was meant to be Layton and Adult Lukes adventure during the Lady Layton anime, I hope we still get it, I really miss this franchise

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I do too. Stranger things have happened. I’m certain we will get a Banjo game in the future and a new Layton in some form or another. Maybe under different names but who knows

[@FriedChickenFilms]

I’ll always think that in this game, this cutscenes are much worse. They’re too overly exaggerated. The original games, while having a bit of fantastical cutscenes, were much more gentlemanly.

[@adarshg3515]

Did anyone else hear the sound effect when you saw Layton in the thumbnail?

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I hear the sound effect whenever my dad looks at me for some reason...

[@laraa739]

The weirdest thing is that I like Katrielle's design and I kinda like that they had her as a new protagonist as after six games it was needed and Flora was too relegated into a background character to feel right for the job but she's just so boring. It's like they wanted to copy Columbo but forgot all the parts that made him likeable like actually showing that he knows what he's doing. And I really liked Earnest at first because I can't hate a genuinely good dude and him just being chill is needed when everyone else is so hyperactive but I do wish he didn't end up as a nice guy and genuinely was just there because he liked the job and maybe developed feelings later if they want to go there (also it feels weird that he's technically kinda young since yeah he's an adult but I think I remember Katrielle's older than she appears) so he didn't come off like a copy of Emmy but way too pushy. And Sherl's just there. A trio sounds great and they did need someone a bit more sarcastic but he's just not funny enough for that. I wouldn't even be bothered by the puzzles if the characters were okay but the only one I liked was Emiliana who yeah deserves to be the main character and to actually be shown as an equal if she's going to be a rival. I think even the super predictable end twist would have been fine if it had actually been built up in any way by making the final case at least half of the game and having Earnest act suspicious sometimes even before that, but it just wasn't. Now that I think about it I think he sounded like he didn't like the dragons but I can't really remember. Basically it's weird because usually something this disappointing had some very big mistake at the start but none of the base ideas actually sound that bad to me even though they're maybe nothing special because like you said some archetypes are there for a reason.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

This is exactly it. No character or plot development. So much time is focused on making each case in its own bubble it doesn’t spend time anything else. That makes the characters feel one note and any “””””story”””” completely unearned and rushed. An afterthought almost with excellently animated cutscenes. A shame

[@fleurtjeh8094]

I completely agree with this. One more thing about the characters that annoyed me was the inconsistency, which pertains particularly to Dean Delmona. In Lost Future, it is stated that he is bald, which is also a bit of a plot point in that game. However, in LMJ, he’s shown wearing a grey wig. And yeah, I know it’s a really small thing but it bothers me that they couldn’t keep that consistency, especially since it was such a big deal in lost future.

[@jamesbrincefield9879]

People always criticize the WiiU for not having any games, but at least the few games it did have were incredible. Meanwhile the Switch is somehow one of the most successful consoles of all-time and every single one of it’s first-party titles are varying levels of lazy, insulting garbage.

[@KatTheLavaGirl]

I love Kat, but I wish they expanded on Flora. They always seem to leave her in the dust. Even if they didn’t want Flora to be a main character because her last name isn’t Layton, they could’ve had Luke marry Flora instead of Marina. Marina only appears in the anime, and even then, she’s just some random woman.

[@kamilleallen9009]

This being my first professor Layton game I'm really glad this video exists. I heard a fair bit about the previous games, saw this one at Walmart and thought it would be a nice dive in point. I enjoyed the puzzles at least but I recognize just how much I zoned out during the plot. I turned off the voice acting and just had fun doing the funny voices myself and enjoyed the animation. Once I realized how there really was no mystery for me to solve I just accepted that not being the point of the game and zoned out entirely during it. Enjoying the puzzles like a daily puzzle app or something. It felt like mindless fun. I don't really remember the characters except for the cute ghost girl.. and the plot just felt so random and out of nowhere i just spent my time there making fun of it while I was playing. I had fun but I wished for more from a franchise I heard so much about a wrote it off. Seeing this and how the previous games addressed so many of the things that bored me in this one im feeling a little more hopeful So thanks for this! I'm hopeful to step into this franchise again if what you say is true! Also do you have any recommendations for which of the games to start with proper for a better proper introduction?

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Thank you very much! That means a lot. I love this series and it deserves more attention than it gets. Personally Curious Village > Diabolical Box > Unwound future. The other 3 games weren’t as good, but they were enjoyable enough, so it’s up to you!

[@warpedwhimsical]

“Sherl O.C. Holmes” oh no “A talking dog” OH NO

[@pinkmonkey328]

I feel like the multiple cases follows the same kind of thing as Layton Brothers: Mystery Room. But at least that game had a bigger story underlying it. And has different scenery from case to case. And the characters are fun. In short, I was never interested in Katrielle and Alfendi’s game was way better

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

I suspect that this is the case as it feels like something that started life as a Layton Mobile game but with just a slightly bigger budget... but a bad game is a bad game

[@pinkmonkey328]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I never played the Katrielle game, but I wasn’t happy about the idea of moving away from the focus being on Professor Layton himself. This video confirmed my worry about it being a bad spin off, so thanks for the review!

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@pinkmonkey328 See it's not so much that they can't do a Layton style game without the Professor, but they certainly need a solid character as the centrepiece. The writing and character planning just wasn't very good in this spin off.

[@pinkmonkey328]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I would’ve played it got great reviews. I was willing to give it a chance, but I wasn’t going to be the first to crack at it. Her character not standing up to the expectation the previous games set made me sad.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@pinkmonkey328 yeah that’s fair enough, I didn’t buy it on launch because of the reviews and I’m glad I didn’t get it full price

[@ilosolatica]

Her wearing Anton's outfit is making me mad for some reason

[@Fodimin]

Banger video, banger video, banger video. Talk that talk, king!

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Thanks mate! I am no king, just a guy with too much time on his hands :p

[@antoniav.w.3082]

Thank you for talking about it, I couldn't agree more. This game was one of the biggest disappointments in my life. Professor Layton and the diabolical box was my first video game ever and I played all the seven games (I'm counting the crossover as well) so many times. I'm actually doing a rerun again right now. While some games are a little better than others I enjoyed all seven a lot. So like probably everyone else I was so hyped that a new game came out and the trailers seemed really promising. The professor being gone, his daughter looking for him and the great soundtrack made me so excited. SO WHY DID WE GET THIS GARBAGE!? Literally the only good thing about this game was the soundtrack of the og games. Why did they make the plot seem like a thrilling search for the professor but instead she is looking for a missing pet. Also everyone who played the games knows how dark and sad they actually can get and are actually scary sometimes especially for kids (this one scary sound is still haunting me in my dreams). Every game had people dying, tragic backstories etc. So why did this game seem like it was made for kids. Most cases were ridiculous to begin with but e.g the one case with the "drowned couple" seemed to be interesting. But then we got such a stupid, everything is fine happy ending. I don't know why they thought making this game how it is would be a good idea. Tbh I'm pretending like it doesn't exist.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Yeah, it’s a real disappointment :/ let’s just hope things improve and Level5 release a big one

[@VerchielxKanda]

My brother and I have both come to the conclusion that Katrielle was some high ranking director's daughter's OC that they built a game around. Sad that Flora wasn't given a game. They had to make some random character that completely negates the entire series story. At first, I thought "Oh, Layton's moved on from his feelings for Claire and has started a family and now he's happy." but nope. Apparently Claire doesn't even exist.

[@xiaoowen]

Hey! I'm a pretty new Professor Layton fan, and the first game I played was Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy, and when I first played it, I had so much trouble with every puzzle almost but enjoyed the story. Watching this video made me realize the older games do have a better premise and common sense haha. I was a dunce when I played the game, man was I dumb. My question though, which old Professor Layton game should I try? I know the plot of each of them but never played it myself, and I wanted to see which in general is the 'best' Professor Layton game. Any recommendations?

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Personally the situation you are in is very interesting to me, similar to someone who plays Pokemon Sword and Shield as their first Pokemon. They have more polished mechanics but since they aren't as "New" or fresh as the originals it may not be as good going back. Either Way I think Curious Village > Diabolical Box > Unwound Future are absolutely worth playing! They do excellent jobs of not being "difficult" but still making the player feel smart, which is a wonderful thing! My personal Favourite is Unwound future for the story payoff :)

[@xiaoowen]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz I see! Thank you for your recommendation! I am going to take your recommendation and am very eager. Thank you for your response!!

[@dudemanface2063]

I loved professor Layton and I feel as if I am a veteran I loved them when I was little

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Really don’t get the recognition for how truly unique they are

[@dudemanface2063]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz Yeah

[@dudemanface2063]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz the music is great too

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@dudemanface2063 genuinely happy I edited the videos as that was nice listening to the soundtrack again

[@dudemanface2063]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz That sounds nice, my favorite of the games by far was diabolical box

[@phoenixflamegames1]

You know, I feel like the Phoenix Wright x Professor Layton crossover was a better Professor Layton game than this one is in EVERY. SINGLE. ASPECT. And that is including the trials that normally aren’t even IN the Layton games.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

You know I’ve never played a Phoenix Wright game and I am sure I would like them... also I have always wanted to play the crossover game but thought I need to play the series first. I will need to find a way to play them now...

[@phoenixflamegames1]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz also apologies, it seems I accidentally posted this comment twice.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@phoenixflamegames1 no worries, I have no idea how that KZbin algorithm works but I’m sure that helps ;)

[@antoniav.w.3082]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz Yess, you should play the crossover, it has an amazing soundtrack and both series really work together well while not losing their own charm. The Ace Attorney series is pretty dark as well so it fits the dark narratives of the Layton series. Is it better than the original trilogy? No, but for me personally I like it better than the sequels (I love these too though). It was my introduction to Ace Attorney and now these two series are my favorite video game series. Now that I've played all if the AA games I actually think that it isn't a bad idea to start with the crossover because you get used to how the gameplay works without being thrown into a completely unknown setting. But the original Ace Attorney trilogy is a masterpiece, especially the last game so you should definitely play both. If you would play it I would love to know your opinion on it

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@antoniav.w.3082 in fairness I played about 3 hours of the first ace attourney game and enjoyed it. I’m sure if I went down the rabbit hole I would be sucked it!

[@teabow.]

Praying the new game brings back the Layton legacy

[@DearestHershel]

Agreed with everything you said here. This game was such a disappointment and it's sad to see the fantastic Layton legacy end on such a sour note. I really doubt we'll get anything else in the West again, but here's hoping the Mystery Room manga breathes a bit more life into the series again!

[@AEmeraldEntity]

You summed up my entire issue with this game. The original trilogy and the subsequent sequels were an incredibly large part of my childhood and even at a young age I adored how difficult the puzzles could be. I understand that the original puzzle writer unfortunately passed away but the fact that the “puzzles “ within this one are are the level that you would expect in some knockoff of the series disappointed me immensely. I thought at least the anime may hold some merit since I also have interests in that area but it was as dull as the game. It is clear they can write better purely animated sequences as shown in the eternal diva , and even the puzzles in that are better than the puzzles in this game! I feel the use of Katrielle is some sort of forced feminism as I would have been happy with Luke returning and it would also make more sense story-wise, or even flora! She has slowly been forgotten about and it is a crime especially when it has been shown that she is capable of finding out where Layton is herself, like in Pandora’s box. As I final point they could have ported the Japan only mobile phone games as almost no one in the west knows about it and they were made long enough ago where they would still feel like a Layton game! (Professor Layton and the Mansion of the Deathly Mirror and I cannot remember the name of the other, not find it as it is quite obscure even in Japan but I am sure that it exists)

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Thank you so much :) there is still clear talent within the team who worked on the games, it just needs a fresh direction. There are lots of weird spin offs and Japan exclusives I would be very interested in playing some but fat chance the UK will see many releases :(

[@AEmeraldEntity]

@@OrangeJuiceJaz Yea, it’s a shame that the franchise is relatively small when compared to others hosted by Nintendo or even level 5.

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

@@AEmeraldEntity It really is, I know it sounds horrible, but I kind of hope Level 5 go bust and have to sell their IPs.

[@HannahCharlesworth98]

23:22 I have had PL & Pandoras Box since 2011 and TODAY i realised IT CAME WITH A TICKET?!?

[@honigfuchs111]

Thank god, I thought I was the only one who thought like this. I am still very disappointed in this game :(

[@OrangeJuiceJaz]

Seems to be that it was just swept under the rug really but people are starting to realise that the standard dropped quite a bit :/ real shame

[@AbbiXIII]

Also people forget we already have a detective Layton child, one much better than Katrielle: ALFENDI LAYTON

[@Icheasea_T]

I want an in depth review of all the games like this

[@sif3398]

Personally my biggest problem with this game is that the "stories" are so unbelievably easy to get right without knowing anything about anyone It's just a big Stepdown from things like the time machine or the giant phantom and the fog

[@yallehemee460]

Honestly they said the same thing abt Ace attorney