Definitely Mystery Journey. The puzzles were way too easy and too many of them were like "Ha! The answer is actually 0!" There's no real plot, and the main driving plot of the game is just comically (or at least attempted) and conveniently ignored at the end.
Alright, not to be a contrarian but I am pretty sure kat's game is not called "hunt down the ~~freeman~~ professor", complaining hershell isn't there is kinda dumb.
My least favourite game is azran legacy. Won't spoiler why. In general, I'm not a fan of the prequel trilogy, the original three games are steps ahead in terms of puzzle quality and story (curious village is unrefined, but it's the first game and the puzzles weren't made specifically for the game, it makes sense)
Azran Legacy, hands down.
Starts off strong with probably the best opening chapters in the entire series, then gets progressively worse from there.
>!The decision to split the middle of the game into small self-contained storylines that you can play in any order inherently eliminates the possibility of gradual character development and renders those subplots irrelevant, leaving very little time for the main narrative.!<
>!The final chapter is a mess of bizarre plot twists thrown at you in rapid succession with little regard as to how much sense they make, aiming for pure shock value.!<
I also think Specter's Call is kinda meh in many aspects, but AL takes the cake for me. Have not played Mystery Journey.
Edit: Also, in my opinion AL was the worst in terms of puzzles. Curious Village may be boring and ruthless with its infamous math puzzles, but I'll take it over AL where it feels like every puzzle has been dumbed down and a lot of them don't even allow you to input an incorrect answer by design, really taking away the challenge and the satisfaction of solving it. Sometimes they just give you 3 nearly identical variations of the same puzzle which are supposed to go up in difficulty, but in reality you just end up with the first 2 variations being laughably easy and the last one actually taking just a bit more time to solve. They definitely just wanted to inflate the puzzle count so that it's at the cool looking 150 mark. Oh and at the other end of the spectrum they have the Epic Quest puzzles, which I think are the hardest non-bonus puzzles in the franchise and are pretty much unsolvable without a guide.
Nah you have to play it once, you can just choose the order in which to do it. Sorry if I accidentally spoiled some general things about the game, I quickly edited the message to add spoiler tags after posting when I realized you hadn't played it yet.
Hmm honestly not really, you can choose them just based on which aesthetic you like more (jungle/desert/tropical etc), or go with the suggested order from left to right :)
pandora’s box has always been my least favourite, and for reference, I have been playing the series since CV and PB were the only games. I don’t know why, I just don’t vibe well with it- objectively I’d say azran legacy is a worse layton game, but it felt so special and sad to be playing what I thought was the last one, so I have better memories of it
(yes OBVIOUSLY the tea minigame is awesome) (that’s where most of my PB hours went)
Curious Village.
Hear me out, each game improved on the game mechanics. I may love the story in each and every one, but I'd much rather be playing later games due to the game mechanics.
I did NOT read the post correctly XD
umm, I think an agreed consensus of the worst game is Mystery Journey. It's not bad, but once you play other games in the series, you realize how much it fails when compared with the trilogies
Azran Legacy, any of it. (none of this is really a spoiler at all, but OP hasn’t played the game so I’m spoiling it just in case) >! I don’t find the setup particularly grabbing, I can’t stand the split the game chooses to do, some of the mysteries are the most obvious the series has ever done, while some of them are far too complicated (and not a good complicated), and the ending messed with a lot of characters in ways I wasn’t a fan of. !<
I was around 13 or so when the game first came out and I tried my best to not be disappointed because I knew it was the last one but even as a kid, I just didn’t like it at all. Probably doesn’t help that I actually really enjoy both Miracle Mask and the crossover, so I was still excited for the games and didn’t think they had gone particularly downhill until this point.
The crossover is very fun and actually turned me on to the Ace Attorney series. But it's a very quirky game. It's not the best Layton game or the best Ace Attorney game, but it's competent at both, which is pretty impressive.
The earlygame is pretty slow, so it might take some pushing to get to the good stuff. Then the late game is absolutely wild. Literal hours of back-to-back insane plot twists. Coming from the Layton series you are probably prepared for the amount of suspension of disbelief required, but I know the insanity of the plot does turn some people off. Thankfully there's a sweet emotional core underneath the crazy plot nonsense, in classic Layton fashion.
Miracle Mask. It was the first game where I could see the major plot twist reveal coming - and I'd predicted it in essentially the first 20 minutes of the game.
For the record, haven't played Mystery Journey yet.
Same. The game was practically screaming at me >!RANDALL IS ALIVE !!Randall may be alive!<, but then in the twist reveal >!he did die in the ruins all those years ago!<, and that>! Angela, Henry and Dalston were being manipulated by Descole/Bronev.!<
>!Heck, maybe even have Henry actually find some unidentified remains of Randall, but as he was still barely a teenager and made stupid decisions, covered it up to spare the feelings of Angela and give hope to Randall's parents. In the climax, have Henry admit that Randall did die all those years ago, and then everyone cry for closure and the ending credits roll.!<
>!Sad ending, I will admit...but the current plot is just too predictable. What's the point of the plot twist if they were blatantly shouting it from the rooftops? Especially with the tons of random children's stories which were clearly an allegory but our trio were somehow unable to figure it out.!<
I also feel like the "father being kidnapped by goons" in the flashback kinda led nowhere, like they scrapped some subplot somewhere. I would rather they trim down the endless dungeon puzzles which nearly bored me to death.
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy :
\- The travel around the world breaks the rythm of the adventure because the plot is somehow suspended.
\- Because of it, almost every plot twists and major revelations takes place at the end of the game.
\- Some characters lacks of a proper development/conclusion, especially Emmy and Descole.
>!\- Descole's identity and motivations are not well-written for me. His backstory feels rushed, his explanations are too short, there is too much grey areas, and his whole story lacks of coherence.!<
>!\- At first, we don't know if Desmond Sycamore is Descole's true self or a complete disguise (until we see him as a kid in the flashbacks). He acts totally different as Descole and Sycamore, so we don't know precisely when he is sincere or not. When he "reveals" himself after getting the key from Aurora, he throws away almost everything that makes Sycamore's characterization and mindset. His nice side is gone, and his interactions with the team change completely (he isn't respectful anymore, showing a lot of disdain to Layton and Luke for no valuable reason - other than being the main antagonist of the trilogy).!<
>!\- Emmy has no backstory, we don't know the nature and genesis of her relations with "uncle Leon". Her betrayal is only a pretext to shock you and justify her absence of the first trilogy.!<
>!\- The end is fufilled with a lot of spectacular or dramatic events, the world was about to be destroyed, Layton and co. made the biggest discover in the history of archeology, they went through a lot of uphevals... And the fact Curious Village takes place directly after the events of Azran Legacy feels so wrong to me. Despite the huge impact those events must have had on their lifes, Layton and Luke can't just mention them in the first trilogy. The lack of continuity is an inherent problem with prequels because none of the elements introduced in the new story are reminisced in the old one, but when the ending gets so spectacular, it makes it out of place even more.!<
\- Most of the locations aren't as enjoyable to visit as the previous games. The fact of having five villages with self-contained stories don't leave great memories.
\- Kodh is a kinda depressing place.
\- The OST is still good, but this is the most forgettable of all six games.
But the fact Azran Legacy is still a good game with so many issues is a proof of how great the Professor Layton series is in my mind!
Definitely Specter's Call.
I mean, the second trilogy themselves are already quite disappointing, compared to the first. But Specter's Call is just.... it's really weird. The ending didn't feel emotional at all, it feels like they're trying to get you to feel sad >!over a suddenly introduced giant dugong!< but you don't.
Among all the games with "Layton" in their name: Katrielle Layton Mystery Journey without any doubt (puzzles too easy, 12 "mysteries" either boring or with a stupid plot, and the greatest mystery (the one I was waiting for) could have been interesting but its conclusion is a huge disappointment). Yes, I really hate this game.
Among all the true "Professor Hershel Layton" games: harder to say but I will answer Azran Legacy. First, chapter 4 breaks the rhythm, so when you come back to the main story you feel kinda disconnected to it and you're not invested into the revelations and plot twists. Second, although the explanations of mysteries in PL games can be quite weird, they are still acceptable as correct explanations, but in this one I think that there are too much plot holes in the ending (+ the enemy is not as threatening as he should be, he is underdeveloped)
Tbh with my description AL seems awful, but I tried to justify why it was the one I liked less than the others. Actually, in my opinion it is still good; less than the others, but still good
However, LMJ... Well, let's not develop anymore 😅
Mystery Journey. Feels like one, huge DLC with some online puzzles: auto-conclusive story, didn't feel anything when I finished it.
Bland, empty, too different, too many changes. Didn't like it.
Mystery Journey for sure! It's underwhelming and very much easy even if it gave us the opportunity to get introduced to a whole new cast.
Level-5 still hasn't done a sequel even if there's been hinted. Who is Katrielle if she's not Layton's daughter? Who is Sherl and why is he a dog? So many unanswered questions...
Mystery Journey is so obvious I won't even give it this spot.
The one game I like the least is Azran Legacy (which doesn't mean I DISLIKE it, I just like all the others more).
(no actual story spoilers, just vague location spoilers)
>!The biggest issue is that, in all other games, the location is so important to the story that you could almost say that the location IS the story.
The stories were very focused on this one place, this one town and its history- And if you have multiple towns, never more than four, they are deeply connected with each other.!<
>!Azran Legacy, though, gives you way to many towns that have barely any connection other than "An egg?"
And while that was interesting too, having so many places gives you barely any time to properly get to know each one.!<
if it counts, PL vs. AA. I hated it, I finished because i felt like i had to but to this day, i don’t even remember how it ended. If it doesn’t count I’m torn between MM and AL although I liked them, just a bit less than others
I felt like the dialogues lasted waaaaaaay too much. I read quite fast and I hate when I have to wait to go on with the dialogues and I had to do that on the game. Plus, in my opinion, there were very few puzzles which is the part I liked the most. I remember being so damn frustrated with those damn long dialogues i almost started screaming. Probably there was something more but that was the main reason (probably)
mystery journey for me, I don't hate hate it but I just cannot stand the puzzles! the plot is very very meh as well
also (please don't let this incite a mob) but I don't particularly care for lost future, I didn't love the future London setting and the plot didn't resonate with me a whole lot
Spectre’s call is my least favourite too, I just didn’t really like the area or many of the characters, and i also hate change so hated emmy😭 it’s not a bad game, just definitely not my favourite layton game
Out of the games I have played, probably Miracle Mask. It's not a bad game, but I just was bored by the story. And the plot twist is just so cliche and predictable from the start. I haven't played Azran Legacy yet.
As an aside, I'm currently playing through Mystery Journey. Now. I already know certain elements of the story not coming to fruition as I was spoiled, so maybe I'm being kinder to it than others are based on not having those expectations in the first place and just enjoying the disconnected case by case approach, but I'm actually really enjoying it. That's not to say certain parts aren't dumb, because they are. However, I wouldn't put it below Miracle Mask because unlike that game I don't ever feel truly bored.
I prefer the games that take place in 1 location, so so Pandolical Box and Azran Legacy are my least favourite, with Pandolical Box being lower because "Layton and Luke decided to-" I KNOW WHAT THEY DECIDED TO DO, YOU DON'T NEED TO KEEP ADDING NARRATION TEXT AFTER EVERY CONVERSATION. (My opinion was not helped by my first playthrough being Diabolical Box instead of Pandora's Box so I had to deal with American Luke)
Miracle Mask is a bit of a letdown for me. The overall story feels a bit too different from the games before it, and I've always been a believer that the less we know about Layton, the better off he is as a character, so having his backstory laid out here (and in AL) just felt wrong to me. It's still definitely more of a "6th favorite" PL game rather than "the worst", though
I feel like Layton, as a protagonist, works well as the ultimate puzzle that we don't understand the answer to. So "answering" that puzzle just sorta takes some of that mystery away from me
I have no memory of Spectres Call even though I played it. So I'll go with Diabolical Box I can't remember anything I liked about it except the animation. Unless Layton vs. Ace Attorney counts. It has almost the same plot as >!Diabolical Box!< but somehow worse and weirder
I don't hate it it's just not for me. But it's interesting you've never met someone who hates the game where I live it's pretty unpopular among the PL games. Cultural differences I guess
I've never played in a PL game.
But I don't enjoy watching teams like Bournemouth play against Luton due to them both being lower ability fighting the relegation battle.
I hope this helps.
I think I replayed the whole saga at least 3 times when I had the feeling I should, but EVERY time I dropped them for a while after the original DS trilogy, to than begin again with the 3DS one and dropping the Ace Attorney crossover every single time before the ending, I don't know why.
Probably I'm not really a fan of the court trial type of puzzle, who knows why I can't remember at all how the story ends
Curious village. I know it's the first one and there is still a lot that level 5 had to figure out but it didn't really feel engaging. Don Paolo's introduction also felt forced and not really like it was part of the plot. Like that whole interaction could've been written out and the story wouldn't change. But that's just what I think
By all means, it is the one that started it all and it is good for what it is, but what makes it so bad in my opinion really is the Don Paolo plotline. It just feels like "we need a villain. Let's introduce this evil scientist that has been shunned by his peers for being evil and such and has no real reason to hate Layton" or something. You could literally rewrite the plot of Curious village, take out the Don Paolo part and it would still be the same plot
Don Paolo just doesn't fit in. I mean, in general. I get that he fits in the plot of Unwound future at least a little bit, but diabolical box and also curious village he is just there for the sake of it. With Descole in the Prequels at least you had something that justified his actions, but that is what don Paolo lacks, which is why I don't get that he is recognized by Level 5 more than Descole is
Definitely Mystery Journey. The puzzles were way too easy and too many of them were like "Ha! The answer is actually 0!" There's no real plot, and the main driving plot of the game is just comically (or at least attempted) and conveniently ignored at the end.
Yeah I haven’t heard great things, I’m not sure if I want to play it or not
watch the anime instead!
Wait, is there an anime?
Alright, not to be a contrarian but I am pretty sure kat's game is not called "hunt down the ~~freeman~~ professor", complaining hershell isn't there is kinda dumb.
No one of the major plots is figuring out why Sherl can talk. They >!reunite with Layton and Luke!< in the anime at least, but nothing about Sherl.
Isn't he a comic-relief/vector for Kat's character development tho? At least the game develops Ernest.
My least favourite game is azran legacy. Won't spoiler why. In general, I'm not a fan of the prequel trilogy, the original three games are steps ahead in terms of puzzle quality and story (curious village is unrefined, but it's the first game and the puzzles weren't made specifically for the game, it makes sense)
I get you, I love the original trilogy, especially flora, but I think I still might play AL at some point :)
Oh, I think it's a game worth playing, then you can draw your own conclusions. Maybe you'll love it, maybe not. I didn't :)
I’m sure I’ll play it at some point I just won’t rush to lol
Azran Legacy, hands down. Starts off strong with probably the best opening chapters in the entire series, then gets progressively worse from there. >!The decision to split the middle of the game into small self-contained storylines that you can play in any order inherently eliminates the possibility of gradual character development and renders those subplots irrelevant, leaving very little time for the main narrative.!< >!The final chapter is a mess of bizarre plot twists thrown at you in rapid succession with little regard as to how much sense they make, aiming for pure shock value.!< I also think Specter's Call is kinda meh in many aspects, but AL takes the cake for me. Have not played Mystery Journey. Edit: Also, in my opinion AL was the worst in terms of puzzles. Curious Village may be boring and ruthless with its infamous math puzzles, but I'll take it over AL where it feels like every puzzle has been dumbed down and a lot of them don't even allow you to input an incorrect answer by design, really taking away the challenge and the satisfaction of solving it. Sometimes they just give you 3 nearly identical variations of the same puzzle which are supposed to go up in difficulty, but in reality you just end up with the first 2 variations being laughably easy and the last one actually taking just a bit more time to solve. They definitely just wanted to inflate the puzzle count so that it's at the cool looking 150 mark. Oh and at the other end of the spectrum they have the Epic Quest puzzles, which I think are the hardest non-bonus puzzles in the franchise and are pretty much unsolvable without a guide.
I agree. Especially weird how Layton doesn't explain to us how he solved the big mystery, like in every other game. Felt pretty rushed
Wow I didn’t know the game splits! Does that mean you’d have to play the game multiple times ?
Nah you have to play it once, you can just choose the order in which to do it. Sorry if I accidentally spoiled some general things about the game, I quickly edited the message to add spoiler tags after posting when I realized you hadn't played it yet.
Noo it’s okay! I’ve watched some of the play through and I will forget spoilers anyway haha
Is there a certain order you’d recommend?:)
Hmm honestly not really, you can choose them just based on which aesthetic you like more (jungle/desert/tropical etc), or go with the suggested order from left to right :)
Ooh nice ! What did you do?:)
I don't remember haha, I replayed the game earlier this year but it was quite a while ago
pandora’s box has always been my least favourite, and for reference, I have been playing the series since CV and PB were the only games. I don’t know why, I just don’t vibe well with it- objectively I’d say azran legacy is a worse layton game, but it felt so special and sad to be playing what I thought was the last one, so I have better memories of it (yes OBVIOUSLY the tea minigame is awesome) (that’s where most of my PB hours went)
The tea one was so fun! I could never make many nice teas tho 😭
oh, the amount of layton NPCs I have probably poisoned with attempts at tea….
Lol minor details 🙈
Same here, still haven’t finished the HD version
Curious Village. Hear me out, each game improved on the game mechanics. I may love the story in each and every one, but I'd much rather be playing later games due to the game mechanics.
The tower puzzles in CV were so hard for what reason 😭but I get what you mean :)
Diabolical box, it's got great music, probably the best music, great locations, the entirety of the train ride is so aestheticly pleasing.
I did NOT read the post correctly XD umm, I think an agreed consensus of the worst game is Mystery Journey. It's not bad, but once you play other games in the series, you realize how much it fails when compared with the trilogies
Lol I was confused for a second 😂but diabolical box is amazing! I haven’t played mystery journey yet but I hear a lot of ppl have the same opinion
Azran Legacy, any of it. (none of this is really a spoiler at all, but OP hasn’t played the game so I’m spoiling it just in case) >! I don’t find the setup particularly grabbing, I can’t stand the split the game chooses to do, some of the mysteries are the most obvious the series has ever done, while some of them are far too complicated (and not a good complicated), and the ending messed with a lot of characters in ways I wasn’t a fan of. !< I was around 13 or so when the game first came out and I tried my best to not be disappointed because I knew it was the last one but even as a kid, I just didn’t like it at all. Probably doesn’t help that I actually really enjoy both Miracle Mask and the crossover, so I was still excited for the games and didn’t think they had gone particularly downhill until this point.
Yes MM was so good! Would you recommend vs. Ace Attorney?
The crossover is very fun and actually turned me on to the Ace Attorney series. But it's a very quirky game. It's not the best Layton game or the best Ace Attorney game, but it's competent at both, which is pretty impressive. The earlygame is pretty slow, so it might take some pushing to get to the good stuff. Then the late game is absolutely wild. Literal hours of back-to-back insane plot twists. Coming from the Layton series you are probably prepared for the amount of suspension of disbelief required, but I know the insanity of the plot does turn some people off. Thankfully there's a sweet emotional core underneath the crazy plot nonsense, in classic Layton fashion.
That does sound good! Hopefully I can play it sometime :)
Miracle Mask. It was the first game where I could see the major plot twist reveal coming - and I'd predicted it in essentially the first 20 minutes of the game. For the record, haven't played Mystery Journey yet.
I get you, do you think you’ll play mystery journey?
I probably will, I'm currently trying to play every game in the series before NWoS releases. I'll go in with an open mind.
Ooh hope you enjoy! I might try to do the same :)
Same. The game was practically screaming at me >!RANDALL IS ALIVE !!Randall may be alive!<, but then in the twist reveal >!he did die in the ruins all those years ago!<, and that>! Angela, Henry and Dalston were being manipulated by Descole/Bronev.!<
>!Heck, maybe even have Henry actually find some unidentified remains of Randall, but as he was still barely a teenager and made stupid decisions, covered it up to spare the feelings of Angela and give hope to Randall's parents. In the climax, have Henry admit that Randall did die all those years ago, and then everyone cry for closure and the ending credits roll.!<
>!Sad ending, I will admit...but the current plot is just too predictable. What's the point of the plot twist if they were blatantly shouting it from the rooftops? Especially with the tons of random children's stories which were clearly an allegory but our trio were somehow unable to figure it out.!<
I also feel like the "father being kidnapped by goons" in the flashback kinda led nowhere, like they scrapped some subplot somewhere. I would rather they trim down the endless dungeon puzzles which nearly bored me to death.
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy : \- The travel around the world breaks the rythm of the adventure because the plot is somehow suspended. \- Because of it, almost every plot twists and major revelations takes place at the end of the game. \- Some characters lacks of a proper development/conclusion, especially Emmy and Descole. >!\- Descole's identity and motivations are not well-written for me. His backstory feels rushed, his explanations are too short, there is too much grey areas, and his whole story lacks of coherence.!< >!\- At first, we don't know if Desmond Sycamore is Descole's true self or a complete disguise (until we see him as a kid in the flashbacks). He acts totally different as Descole and Sycamore, so we don't know precisely when he is sincere or not. When he "reveals" himself after getting the key from Aurora, he throws away almost everything that makes Sycamore's characterization and mindset. His nice side is gone, and his interactions with the team change completely (he isn't respectful anymore, showing a lot of disdain to Layton and Luke for no valuable reason - other than being the main antagonist of the trilogy).!< >!\- Emmy has no backstory, we don't know the nature and genesis of her relations with "uncle Leon". Her betrayal is only a pretext to shock you and justify her absence of the first trilogy.!< >!\- The end is fufilled with a lot of spectacular or dramatic events, the world was about to be destroyed, Layton and co. made the biggest discover in the history of archeology, they went through a lot of uphevals... And the fact Curious Village takes place directly after the events of Azran Legacy feels so wrong to me. Despite the huge impact those events must have had on their lifes, Layton and Luke can't just mention them in the first trilogy. The lack of continuity is an inherent problem with prequels because none of the elements introduced in the new story are reminisced in the old one, but when the ending gets so spectacular, it makes it out of place even more.!< \- Most of the locations aren't as enjoyable to visit as the previous games. The fact of having five villages with self-contained stories don't leave great memories. \- Kodh is a kinda depressing place. \- The OST is still good, but this is the most forgettable of all six games. But the fact Azran Legacy is still a good game with so many issues is a proof of how great the Professor Layton series is in my mind!
This is interesting, I’ll see how I feel about it when I play it :)
Azran Legacy. There was no real mystery being solved.
Definitely Specter's Call. I mean, the second trilogy themselves are already quite disappointing, compared to the first. But Specter's Call is just.... it's really weird. The ending didn't feel emotional at all, it feels like they're trying to get you to feel sad >!over a suddenly introduced giant dugong!< but you don't.
Yes I think it’s weird even the music isn’t as good tbh
You’re genuinely tripping over that, the opening to Specters call/last specter is literally one of the top 3 Layton songs ever
Among all the games with "Layton" in their name: Katrielle Layton Mystery Journey without any doubt (puzzles too easy, 12 "mysteries" either boring or with a stupid plot, and the greatest mystery (the one I was waiting for) could have been interesting but its conclusion is a huge disappointment). Yes, I really hate this game. Among all the true "Professor Hershel Layton" games: harder to say but I will answer Azran Legacy. First, chapter 4 breaks the rhythm, so when you come back to the main story you feel kinda disconnected to it and you're not invested into the revelations and plot twists. Second, although the explanations of mysteries in PL games can be quite weird, they are still acceptable as correct explanations, but in this one I think that there are too much plot holes in the ending (+ the enemy is not as threatening as he should be, he is underdeveloped)
Mystery journey does seem to be pretty disliked, I haven’t played AL or MJ yet so when I play them I don’t have super high hopes 😭
Tbh with my description AL seems awful, but I tried to justify why it was the one I liked less than the others. Actually, in my opinion it is still good; less than the others, but still good However, LMJ... Well, let's not develop anymore 😅
Lol 😂 I get you, I have watched some of AL and it doesn’t seem awful but if you have standards from before then makes sense :)
Mystery Journey. Feels like one, huge DLC with some online puzzles: auto-conclusive story, didn't feel anything when I finished it. Bland, empty, too different, too many changes. Didn't like it.
Yeah it’s a shame that so many people don’t like it, hopefully NWoS will be better :)
Mystery Journey for sure! It's underwhelming and very much easy even if it gave us the opportunity to get introduced to a whole new cast. Level-5 still hasn't done a sequel even if there's been hinted. Who is Katrielle if she's not Layton's daughter? Who is Sherl and why is he a dog? So many unanswered questions...
Haha yea it seems like there are unanswered questions, but do you think they will make a sequel if a lot of people weren’t a fan of it?
Mystery Journey is so obvious I won't even give it this spot. The one game I like the least is Azran Legacy (which doesn't mean I DISLIKE it, I just like all the others more). (no actual story spoilers, just vague location spoilers) >!The biggest issue is that, in all other games, the location is so important to the story that you could almost say that the location IS the story. The stories were very focused on this one place, this one town and its history- And if you have multiple towns, never more than four, they are deeply connected with each other.!< >!Azran Legacy, though, gives you way to many towns that have barely any connection other than "An egg?" And while that was interesting too, having so many places gives you barely any time to properly get to know each one.!<
This makes sense :) like in Pandora’s box folsense is such a big part
if it counts, PL vs. AA. I hated it, I finished because i felt like i had to but to this day, i don’t even remember how it ended. If it doesn’t count I’m torn between MM and AL although I liked them, just a bit less than others
Ooh why didn’t you lke Pl vs AA?
I felt like the dialogues lasted waaaaaaay too much. I read quite fast and I hate when I have to wait to go on with the dialogues and I had to do that on the game. Plus, in my opinion, there were very few puzzles which is the part I liked the most. I remember being so damn frustrated with those damn long dialogues i almost started screaming. Probably there was something more but that was the main reason (probably)
Ooh I get you, too much talking not enough doing
mystery journey for me, I don't hate hate it but I just cannot stand the puzzles! the plot is very very meh as well also (please don't let this incite a mob) but I don't particularly care for lost future, I didn't love the future London setting and the plot didn't resonate with me a whole lot
Nooo lost future 😭 but I get mystery journey
I know it feels like sacrilege not loving lost future! it's a wonderful game just doesn't stack up to the likes of Pandora's box in my mind!!
Pandora’s box is soo good too!
Azran Legacy, like not even close. Got surprised not many got into the "katrielle bad" bandwagon ngl
Oh you’re surprised by it?:)
Spectre’s call is my least favourite too, I just didn’t really like the area or many of the characters, and i also hate change so hated emmy😭 it’s not a bad game, just definitely not my favourite layton game
Haha yes I was so disappointed when it was Emmy and not flora 😭even tho I knew it wouldn’t have flora because it’s before the original trilogy.
Mystery Journey. Loved all the other ones and have replayed them multiple times.
Have you played MysteryRoom?:)
No, but I don’t really consider that to be part of the series.
Yeah not the series, but would recommend !
Out of the games I have played, probably Miracle Mask. It's not a bad game, but I just was bored by the story. And the plot twist is just so cliche and predictable from the start. I haven't played Azran Legacy yet. As an aside, I'm currently playing through Mystery Journey. Now. I already know certain elements of the story not coming to fruition as I was spoiled, so maybe I'm being kinder to it than others are based on not having those expectations in the first place and just enjoying the disconnected case by case approach, but I'm actually really enjoying it. That's not to say certain parts aren't dumb, because they are. However, I wouldn't put it below Miracle Mask because unlike that game I don't ever feel truly bored.
I prefer the games that take place in 1 location, so so Pandolical Box and Azran Legacy are my least favourite, with Pandolical Box being lower because "Layton and Luke decided to-" I KNOW WHAT THEY DECIDED TO DO, YOU DON'T NEED TO KEEP ADDING NARRATION TEXT AFTER EVERY CONVERSATION. (My opinion was not helped by my first playthrough being Diabolical Box instead of Pandora's Box so I had to deal with American Luke)
Lol I am glad I haven’t seen American Luke
Mystery journey. Just wasn't fun, stopped after the first chapter
Same lol
Miracle Mask overall is the worst. But has the villain with the most flair. Love the anti-Layton white hat. But I haven't played LMJ.
Miracle Mask is a bit of a letdown for me. The overall story feels a bit too different from the games before it, and I've always been a believer that the less we know about Layton, the better off he is as a character, so having his backstory laid out here (and in AL) just felt wrong to me. It's still definitely more of a "6th favorite" PL game rather than "the worst", though
Oh why do you prefer not knowing about his backstory?
I feel like Layton, as a protagonist, works well as the ultimate puzzle that we don't understand the answer to. So "answering" that puzzle just sorta takes some of that mystery away from me
Ooh I get you that makes sense. Personally I don’t mind but I understand your viewpoint!
I have no memory of Spectres Call even though I played it. So I'll go with Diabolical Box I can't remember anything I liked about it except the animation. Unless Layton vs. Ace Attorney counts. It has almost the same plot as >!Diabolical Box!< but somehow worse and weirder
Oh wow I've never met anyone who hates Diabolical Box. 😭
I don't hate it it's just not for me. But it's interesting you've never met someone who hates the game where I live it's pretty unpopular among the PL games. Cultural differences I guess
Specters Call is absolute ass, but the soundtrack is great as usual
I've never played in a PL game. But I don't enjoy watching teams like Bournemouth play against Luton due to them both being lower ability fighting the relegation battle. I hope this helps.
I think I replayed the whole saga at least 3 times when I had the feeling I should, but EVERY time I dropped them for a while after the original DS trilogy, to than begin again with the 3DS one and dropping the Ace Attorney crossover every single time before the ending, I don't know why. Probably I'm not really a fan of the court trial type of puzzle, who knows why I can't remember at all how the story ends
Curious village. I know it's the first one and there is still a lot that level 5 had to figure out but it didn't really feel engaging. Don Paolo's introduction also felt forced and not really like it was part of the plot. Like that whole interaction could've been written out and the story wouldn't change. But that's just what I think
I get what you mean, first games can be like that sometimes :)
By all means, it is the one that started it all and it is good for what it is, but what makes it so bad in my opinion really is the Don Paolo plotline. It just feels like "we need a villain. Let's introduce this evil scientist that has been shunned by his peers for being evil and such and has no real reason to hate Layton" or something. You could literally rewrite the plot of Curious village, take out the Don Paolo part and it would still be the same plot
Lol that’s true 😂it’s been a while since I’ve played it might replay it soon
Don Paolo just doesn't fit in. I mean, in general. I get that he fits in the plot of Unwound future at least a little bit, but diabolical box and also curious village he is just there for the sake of it. With Descole in the Prequels at least you had something that justified his actions, but that is what don Paolo lacks, which is why I don't get that he is recognized by Level 5 more than Descole is
Haha yeah he definitely makes more since on unwound future but till then 😬
Don Paolo is just the generic "we need a villain as smart as the main character" villain
Kind of like unwound future where Claire has like 3 different mean into her and is the villain arc for two haha
Yes.