#i really like luke in spectres call

[justewil]

i lied! boy !

[ym-loreposting]

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Timeline Placement

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a crossover between two mystery gaming series... Professor Layton and Ace Attorney. Officially, this game is set in its own parallel world separate from the canons of either series, as stated by Shu Takumi (the creator of Ace Attorney and a writer for the crossover itself):

4Gamer: Did you decide on a particular point in the timeline of the Gyakuten Saiban series where the Naruhodo and Mayoi in Layton Kyōju VS Gyakuten Saiban come from? Takumi:  Not really. In the Gyakuten Saiban series, there is a clearly defined timeline, but this is just a game for fun, so it is set in a parallel world that is unique to Layton Kyōju VS Gyakuken Saiban.

Despite this, there are several clues in the crossover that allow it to be placed in the timeline of both series. It is a fun exercise which I will be going over here. Spoilers for both series and the crossover follow.

The crossover in the Professor Layton Timeline

The timeline of Professor Layton consists of the six original games featuring Hershel Layton as the protagonist (Curious Village, Pandora's Box, Lost Future, Spectre's Call, Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy), the movie Eternal Diva and the titles Layton Brothers: Mystery Room and Lady Layton: Katrielle & The Millionaire's Conspiracy. These last two are set several decades after the original titles and feature Hershel's adoptive children. New World of Steam, which is set to release in 2025, is set a year after Lost Future, the original game that is set latest in the timeline.

There are no exact dates or years given for the games in the Layton series, but the time between each is more or less known. Relevant for the crossover is that Luke, Hershel Layton's apprentice, uses his design from the original three games, which are all roughly set within the same year. Layton also has the university office he has in these first three games, as opposed to the office he has in Spectre's Call, Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy (which are all set before the original three games).

Left: Luke's design in the first three Layton games and in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Right: Layton's office in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (top) and Layton's office in Lost Future.

Left: Luke's designs in Spectre's Call, Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy. Right: Layton's office in Azran Legacy.

A fun fact here is that in original versions of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Luke used his design from Spectre's Call. But nonetheless, these details place the crossover somewhere between Curious Village (the first game chronologically where Luke has his original design) and Lost Future (where Luke leaves Layton's side to go live in America). We can get more specific however.

In the crossover, Layton and Inspector Chelmey of Scotland Yard know each other. This detail places the game between Pandora's Box and Lost Future, as Layton and Chelmey meet each other for the first time in Diabolical Box. Chelmey supposedly also appears in Curious Village, but is later revealed to actually be Don Paolo in disguise.

So in conclusion, a hypothetical placement of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in the Professor Layton timeline would look like this:

The crossover in the Ace Attorney Timeline

The Ace Attorney timeline consists of two main trilogies and two duologies of spin-offs. The first trilogy is set in the latter half of the 2010s and consists of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Justice For All and Trials and Tribulations. The second trilogy is set seven years later in the mid 2020s and consists of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice. The two spin-off duologies are the Great Ace Attorney and Investigations series, the former of which is set about 100 years ago in the late 19th century and the latter of which takes place a month after Trials and Tribulations.

The timeline of Ace Attorney is more rigidly defined, as each case in each game specified the dates it takes place and each year is known (aside from those of the two Great Ace Attorney games, but those do not really factor into the placement of the crossover as they are set in the distant past).

There are a few references to events in the Ace Attorney timeline in Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney. The first turnabout of the game, the English Turnabout, features a character called the PC Badger, the mascot of the Metropolitan Police. He is based on the Blue Badger, which received the design the PC Badger is based on in Rise from the Ashes (the final case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney), placing the crossover after.

Later, during the Golden Court, Phoenix Wright cross-examines the parrot Cracker. He comments that the situation feels oddly familiar, referencing the events of Turnabout Goodbyes (the fourth case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney), where he cross-examined the parrot Polly. But given Rise from the Ashes is after Turnabout Goodbyes chronologically, this doesn't say much.

The crossover also has references to Trials and Tribulations. Maya Fey says the catchphrase 'Zvarri' a few times, which she picked up from detective Luke Atmey in the Stolen Turnabout (the third case of Trials and Tribulations). And when they are exploring ruins under Labyrinthia, Maya can comment that some of the statues there look similar to a statue of Ami Fey at Hazakura Temple. This is a reference to Bridge to the Turnabout, the final case of Trials and Tribulations, and so would place the crossover after Trials and Tribulations. While the statue also appears in the Stolen Turnabout, Hazakura Temple is never mentioned in that case.

But this makes things complicated, as Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney can only be set during a pretty small window of the timeline. Bridge to the Turnabout takes place from February 7th to February 10th of 2019. Meanwhile, in Apollo Justice, it is shown in the flashback portion of Turnabout Succession that Phoenix lost his defense attorney's badge on April 19th of 2019. During the events of the crossover, he is still a defense attorney.

So the crossover has to take place somewhere in that two-month window, but we can narrow it down further. During the credits of the crossover, it shows Phoenix defending a case back in America and standing in court against his rival, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

This is notable because during Trials and Tribulations and afterwards, Edgeworth is abroad studying foreign judicial systems. He only returns briefly to America during Bridge of the Turnabout to help Phoenix during the case. In the first Ace Attorney Investigations, which is set in March of 2019, it is revealed that Edgeworth went back to traveling abroad after Bridge to the Turnabout. He only returns to America during the events of Investigations and mentions he spent the previous month away from his office.

Investigations takes place from March 12th to March 17th and its sequel, Prosecutor's Gambit, takes place from March 25th to April 8th. Given how busy Edgeworth is during these days and the fact Phoenix and Maya can be seen in the background doing their own things in both games (The Kidnapped Turnabout in Investigations and Turnabout for the Ages in Prosecutor's Gambit), it seems rather infeasible the crossover takes place in these time frames. That leaves the 8 days between the two Investigations games and the 11 days between Prosecutor's Gambit and Turnabout Succession as possibilities.

The crossover takes place over the course of six days (including the prologue in London). Phoenix and Maya arrive in England per plane and it takes 10 hours to go from Los Angeles to London (and about 14 to 15 from Japan if one wants to take the Japanese versions of Ace Attorney into account). So an extra day can be tacked onto that, coming out at a total of 7, as Phoenix and Maya arrive in London during the first day the game takes place on. The crossover thus most likely would take place between Prosecutor's Gambit and Turnabout Succession, as that gives a few days to spare, tough a placement between the two Investigations games is possible if one assumes that Phoenix and Maya travel to London during one of the last days of the first Investigations game.

[aquamarineglow]

Things I'd love to see in the Future of the Layton Series:

Some of these are unlikely, borderline impossible. But here's hoping Apollo may grant me the gift of prophesy on just one thing:

1. The rest of the Layton Games get a HD release on mobile.

This just makes sense! The original trilogy got a HD release, time for the prequels! And what if we get new cutscenes and content like Curious Village did? That would be amazing!

2. The entire series gets released on Switch.

This also makes sense. Since NWOS is releasing on the Switch, it makes sense to add the original games so new fans can play all of them! Especially since the Nintendo DS is dead. Rest in Peace. 💕

3. London Life gets a sequel/reboot and is available for all regions.

I've been playing London Life on an Emulator and it is so fun! It's a shame my region never got it!

My hope for the future is that if Spectre's Call gets a HD release, it will include London Life for everyone! But this version will include characters from Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy!

And here's a fun idea: what if befriending Dimitri Allen unlocks the ability to use his time machine! Unfortunately, it doesn't work perfectly; it can only take you twenty years into the future. So you can meet and befriend characters from Mystery Journey and Mystery Room!

4. Layton Brothers Mystery Room Sequel

It's been ten years since the mobile game was released and it's been largely ignored by Level 5. Until recently, with Alfendi's cameo in the anime, and then the manga series. It's clear that there's still love for this game. I think it's perfect time for Alfendi and Lucy to get the sequel they deserve! I'd love to see how they are doing!

5. Layton's Mystery Room Sequel/ Layton Mystery Detective Agency Season 2

I know Katrielle's game and anime wasn't the best received, but I think the series has a lot to offer! With the return of Layton and possibly an appearance from Alfendi, I believe the best is yet to come! Also, we still don't know the backstory of Sherl.

6. Lost Media gets found:

What is Professor Layton and the Phantom Thieves? What is Professor Layton Battle Royale? What is Professor Layton and the Deathly Mirror? I have no idea. But I'd like to know.

7. Roid Artwork

I don't know much about it, but I believe Level 5 had some kind of mobile app where, amongst other things, you received really cute artwork of various characters. Most of if the ones I've seen are poor quality, so I think it would be great if the Level 5 Twitter said, "check these out" and released HD images, including ones we've never seen before.

8. More Games

So, the original series was a trilogy. And the prequels were a trilogy. So what if NWOS is the first entry in a new trilogy, starring Luke in America! The Detective Triton Trilogy!

Also, it's been a while since Professor Layton's first and only crossover game. What about another? I don't know much about the Phoenix Wright series, but a crossover between Apollo Justice and Alfendi/Katrielle could be fun?

9. Rook and Bishop

This message is for Akihiro Hino's eyes only. If you are not Akihiro Hino, please skip.

Hey, Akihiro Hino. I know you read my blog. I will give you £29 and my ham sandwich if you put Rook and Bishop in the new game. They don't even have to do anything, just stand awkwardly in the background. It would be hilarious because nobody would care. Everyone wants to see characters like Flora, Emmy and Descole. You put Benny in LMJ and nobody cared about him. Do this for me.🥺

10. Flora

Just.... Acknowledge her existence in some way. Let her appear in NWOS. Give her something to do.

11. Mangas Series

I was so happy when it was revealed that Level 5 was making a manga series about Mystery Room. I can't read Japanese, but I just love the artwork. So expressive and fun! Completely different from the original 2d sprites.

So I was thinking, what if they made a manga about each of the original games? I don't mean like the Cheerful Mystery Manga, but with beautiful artwork that followed the original stories, maybe with new scenes? I'd like that.

Feel free to add what you'd love to see for the Layton Series! No matter how impossible it sounds! If the list is long enough, at least one thing has to come true, right?

[journalsouppe]

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call!! I actually discovered ordering the game from the UK with shipping was actually cheaper than ordering the American version of the game, there were no major differences that I could tell as they still had the original English voice actors.

I enjoyed this game!! Not my top favorite installment but I still had a great time and loved the new characters. The puzzles were well designed and had nice scaled difficulty and the mini games were really neat too. The Eternal Diva references were so blatant lmfao but I’m excited for Miracle Mask! I was also super exhausted when writing the summary so sorry there’s so many errors and I use the word fun a million times ToT

The Descole and Tea sticker are from JordyDrawsMerch! All other stickers are from Daiso. Writing typed below!

Rating: 8.3

Played: Sp 2024

Port: DS on 3DS

Favorite? Y

Replayable? Y

Recommend? Y

Series: Professor Layton

Comments

Emmy and BABY LUKE!!

OH THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTOPHER ROBIN MILLER

Ngl im so excited to watch the anime, I love the animation sm

Oh Layton is not taking Claire’s death well at all

I love how animated the background now is!!

Beautiful music as always

Does Clark have the same VA as Dmitri lol

THE WORLD WILL END? Damn Luke

The specter looks like one of those little kingdom hearts guys

Luke’s been a LaytonMobile hater since day one lmao

Luke is especially funny in this game

Layton taking Luke to the black market is so wild

THE PUPPET PLAY IS ADORABLE

I’m going to fight aunt taffy

Ooo we get to play as Emmy

Holy shit Emmy

GIRL FROG

Emmy asking if Layton always pokes lamps he sees is making me think he physically touches everything the player taps

The convo with the meowing man???

CHELMEY AND BARTON

Based anti-cop npc

THE DYNAMITE WORKS LMAO

Is Hershel gonna get a cask of amantillado’d T^T

The canals are so pretty i like the design of misthallery

Oh i do not like the police chief

I LOVE YOU EMMYYY

Grosky is very funny

Omg the cliff death police cover up reminds me of killer frequency which i just watched a playthrough of

FUCK JAKES

Where’s phoenix when you need him

JAIL BREAK JAIL BREAK!!!

I love descole’s voice

YAAA LADDER VS STEP LADDER

NESSIE???

The story book stories and animations are so CUTE!!

I wonder if Naiya was added to the game to hit at the Eternal Diva

This kinda reminds me of a pokemon movie but I don’t remember which one it was

^^ it was pokemon heroes when latias and latios were caught ^^;

AN OCARINA!!!

Creepy fucking factory music ToT

Oh dear. I seem to have stepped on a hexagonal spanner

Descole always serving massive cunt

Woah the golden garden is beautiful

Ohh so that’s why Luke was fork life certified in plvspw

ZAMN T^T

THE WAY THE SPRITES WALK KILLS ME LOL

I really like these little episodes from others POVS! ^_^

Summary

This was such a fun origin story for Luke and Layton. Very much a classic Layton game with world ending machinery and gorgeous environment design. I really liked both Emmy and Descole, there’s a more serious undertone than with Don Paolo as the main villain (even though I do love Don Paolo). Emmy is amazing!! I was afraid she would be sidelined like Flora was but I’m glad to she stands her ground and does what she wants to do. I alos like how we got to go on our own adventure as her to London, she’s a character that doesn’t need to rely on Hershel to solve everything. Meeting Luke was great, loved his blank stare. It was fun seeing his origins and how Clark and Hershel knew each other. I’m curious how the prequels will play into the New World of Steam, especially now that Luke’s family have stories and sprites (unlike in the original trilogy). Loved the ACAB story, v nice to play while I’m still so mad at what’s happening to university students currently. Descole was so fun, I am obsessed with his outfit and personality. Unfortunately I was spoiled on who he is but I’m very excited to learn more. I think similar to Ace Attorney, the fourth installment is that last game in the classic 2D style, which is sad but PLvsPW makes me very hopeful about 3D Layton. The overall story was fun, I really liked the sub plot about the Ravens - that was really fun (i was so tired writing this omfg). I wish we got a little more backstory on the rich guy who died, I feel like there’s more to the story. OO I loved the little episodes, especially the one about Chelmey. They added a lot of fun context and gave more life to the NPCs. Such a fun and classic Layton game, I can’t wait to play Miracle Mask! (And read the light novels). This wasn’t my favorite Layton game but I still really loved it and had a great time and loved the puzzles — that’s all I want from PL!

[multiversal-madness]

Professor Layton Au - Pandora's Call

((I have made an intro post for this au before but it's been a while and things have changed so here we go))

The Pandora's Call Au follows the idea of pairing the games (+ the movie and crossover) and merging them together, combining the stories and mysteries while changing some other story details to fill the gaps left behind.

The namesake of this Au (and the first combination to be created), Pandora's Call is the combination of Pandora's Box and Spectre's Call.

It follows the Professor and his new assistant Emmy as they investigate the Elysian box. They follow its trail to the ghost town Folsense where they must uncover the secrets behind the spectres — two large and formless entities that fight in the streets — the Spirit — a figure commanding the animals of the town into harassing visitors — and the Golden Kingdom — a castle rumoured to be buried beneath Folsense originating from the Azran.

The Black Ravens are instead the Raven's Guild located in Dropstone and while they do participate in the market, they're more so 'adventurers' that oversee most of the travel to the ghost town.

Arianna isn't sick, Tony doesn't dress up as Seamus and Evan Barde doesn't die, they live in Dropstone together peacefully.

Instead of the manatee like creature she is in canon, Loosha is instead a Quetzalcoatlus that flew out of the Golden Kingdom when she was small enough for Luke to hold.

And Luke Triton is instead Lord Luke Herzen, the grandson of Duke Anton Herzen, raised by his grandfather in Folsense with his only contact with the world outside Folsense being when he uses the animals of Folsense to scare away outsiders.

The other game pairings in this Au are as follows:

Eternal Diva + Curious Village — Eternal Village

St Mystere exists on the island of Ambrosia, the looming tower is mixed with Descole's castle and the Whistler and Reinhold families are combined. Flora and Melina are sisters and Melina's consciousness is put into a robot after she dies.

Miracle Mask + PLvsAA — Mysterious Mask

Labyrinthia is its own world accessible through the Akbadain ruins which is where Randall ended up when he fell, the magic is real (but bound to that one area) and the one behind the Masked Gentleman is the Storyteller (Descole isn't in this one due to Dahlia related injuries).

Lost Future + Azran Legacy — Lost Legacy

Mostly follows the plot of Azran Legacy, but Bill Hawks has disappeared in a time machine related incident and someone claiming to be Luke from the future joins them on their journey. Targent makes it to each location first so they have to use a rudimentary time machine that can only go back a few days to let them collect the eggs first. Also Clive is Luke's half brother, though he has to wear a purple wig to cover his blonde hair.

I do have some extra details for what happens outside the main 'games' as well, though this post is getting long so I'll put them under the cut for anyone who's interested (sorry it's also pretty long):

Clark and Brenda have been dead for around 10 years by the time Pandora's Call starts (though Brenda isn't quite gone), though Clark's death was confirmed while Brenda went missing on her own accord and was presumed dead

Losing Clark and then Brenda in short succession then only a few years later losing Claire left Hershel in a very bad place, he withdrew more so than before and became more reckless in the cases he'd pursue

After being beaten up by the government, Lucille and Roland were worried about him only having them and his mentor Dr Schrader to support him so Lucille called the Ledore household and asked if they would be willing to check in on Hershel, which they agreed and Henry went to go check on him

It was rocky at first, but Henry reaching out really helped Hershel and the two became friends again, Angela joining them too, though with Monte d'Or they couldn't be there all the time

During Hershel's 'reckless era' Henry would often be the one to come over and make sure he's eating enough and looking after his injuries (both from the government incident and injuries he gets while being reckless)

He has two major injuries around this time, one from before the Government beat down and one that ended his 'reckless era' and made him realise he couldn't keep doing this

The first happened the day Claire died. A young boy ran into the burning building next door to the lab to look for his parents and Hershel ran after him, burning his hands in the process of saving the kid

The second was when he was in a particularly bad place mentally, when he decided to look into the case of Claire's death a second time. He got further with his investigation, but then he was jumped and beat up worse than the first time, severely damaging one of his legs in the process and needing it to be amputated from the knee down (When it heals enough he gets a prosthetic, but he also carries a foldable cane and crutches in case he needs them)

On a brighter note, his reckless era did bring about one good change and that was running into his old 'friend' Paul who had also gotten involved in some shady dealings. After escaping the people Hershel was investigating/Paul was getting even with, they ended up reconnecting (things were a bit more complicated than that but this post is already too long-)

This Au's Hershel is a lot tidier than his canon counterpart, he also tends to collect odd souvenirs from his travels (traits he's picked up from Clark and Brenda, *gestures to 'guy who's nothing but the people he's lost' post*)

He's also a bit quicker to go against law enforcement when they're interfering with his investigations (nothing extreme of course, but he's definitely hidden evidence he hasn't had a chance to observe properly before an inspector could take it away)

And that's all I'll share for now. I have a lot planned for this Au and eventually I want to write a few fics for it too (a multichapter fic for each 'game' and a few oneshots too, though it is a very ambitious project) so we'll see what happens.

[quantomeno]

My ranking of the 'And that person is you!' scenes from Professor Layton

Ah, the iconic 'finger point' scene. They are Layton's trademark and it's so much fun when you know it's about to happen. You can feel the tension build.

But these moments are not all equal. Which scene will reign supreme?

Because these scenes involve big revelations and plot twists, this list will be rife with spoilers for both trilogies and the movie.

7. Azran Legacy

Firstly, the audience already knows who it is and no one else in the room could be it even if we didn't know. The other issue is that it's just got no build-up: Layton gives his spiel and then does the point. The room is cramped and there's not much drama or flair. By far the greatest problem though is that this felt like a side story. Bloom himself felt like wasted potential in some respects, but this whole mystery didn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of things. I honestly don't remember it that well and I am pretty sure he only stole a few artefacts that weren't plot relevant. It feels like they just wanted a pointing scene and this was the only logical place to put it.

6. Lost Future/Unwound Future

It is far too short, but the reveal has much more heft than Azran Legacy's. It is somewhat obvious that it's Future Luke once you realise what's happening, because only Don Paulo could be the other option, but the Clive revelation is still a massive twist. I give this scene bonus points because I like Clive's reaction to the accusation too.

5. Eternal Diva

I like this one, but it also feels a bit tacked on. The 'who has the key?' thing feels like it doesn't need deduction because they could just check everyone's pockets (and she's literally just holding it), but what saves it is that it ties into the bigger mystery and the revelation of Janice/Melina's identity. It feels impactful by the end, even if the initial tension feels overblown.

4. Miracle Mask

This one feels a fraction lacking in drama, but it makes up for it with its position/significance in the story. The wind blowing at the pivotal moment adds some nice flair. I would say it's also quite a shocking twist. It is what I would consider the baseline 'finger point' scene because it contains all the key features that make a good one, but I just don't think it has the same sensation of suspense that it needs to rank higher. Its execution is not as great as some.

3. Curious Village

This one lacks the trademark phrase, and it is also obvious who's the 'criminal element', but it makes up for it with the atmosphere of the room: it gives a classic murder mystery vibe, where all the key players have been gathered to learn the truth. It is scenes like this that makes me wish CV was a more traditional murder mystery because it has all the hallmarks of it. I am tempted to put this one below MM, but I feel this one is a touch more elegant and I value that.

2. Spectre's Call/Last Specter

This is one of the few times the game manages to surprise you with the revelation and has actively worked to make it seem like it was someone else. The foreshadowing of Doland, out of focus, standing behind Clarke, and Luke staring at his father, fully believing his own dad has been terrorising the town... and then how the camera pans from Clarke to Doland. It is a cleverly laid out scene and it has a great feeling of drama.

Pandora's Box/Diabolical Box

I could watch this scene on repeat forever. It is gorgeous. It also gives classic murder mystery vibes which I love. The suave coolness of Layton stirring his tea and calmly telling Chelmey he's go thee wrong man: perfect. Everyone's shocked reactions are fun and add to the tension. The pause after Layton's reasoning, and the shots of those involved leaves us with a delectable moment of suspense. Every shot is framed perfectly. And the revelation: it is not really surprising given we see Flora get kidnapped and she just made the comment that gave Layton the proof he needed, but it is still such an outrageous idea that Flora killed Dr Schrader and stole the box. The shots of everyone during the aforementioned pause at least try to create the illusion that it could be someone else. It also resolves one of the earliest mysteries of the game. The cherry on the cake is Luke's reaction (I love him so much). It is moments like this that make me want to put PB as my favourite game, but alas... I love LF too much.

[angelbellelc2]

I tried out the hidden door in Last Specter/ Spectre's Call and I was expecting a puzzle like how you got the Pandora's Box reopened in Unwound/Lost Future's hidden door. I was surprised to find out we got concept art from the movie instead. It's cool to see art from the movie here. I wanted to start off with Luke's concept art first as I know these are just expressions but they're really well made. He's very expressive in each of these.

[ultra-puzzlemaster]

A bit late but for the @layton-npc-appreciation-week, I wanted to talk about Beth from The Last Specter:

Mostly because I've only now realized how important she's for the plot, years after playing LS for the first time.

Spoilers for Last Specter/Spectre's Call ahead!

So Beth worked as a maid for the Barde family, but got fired shortly before Evan's death, then started working in the Triton household. Which means she's the one who can tell you the most about both families and how things changed when the Specter appeared. And she does so!

Her first and perhaps most important action was actually before the game started. If you remember what Luke says…

That's right, she's the one who let Luke know about the flute being sold at the black market! She may not be aware of it but it's thanks to her that Layton and the other get to meet the Black Ravens and learn about Barde, and ultimately

In fact, if you think about it, perhaps she could have told them even more about this flute if they had asked her, since:

She already knew Arianna was the one playing it all along.

But that's not all! She has a role that might be less important for the professor but crucial for us players.

Indeed, she's the one giving us the biggest clues about Doland being an impostor:

In game, Layton realizes and proves he's the mastermind thanks to Luke's notes, which we sadly can't see.

But if we listen to Beth and help her, she'll tell us how Doland suddenly changed after the Specter appeared: his beautiful penmanship became nearly impossible to read, he started going out who-knows-where a lot, didn't gave her clear instructions like he used to, and got mean to her.

Another character, Jasmine, notices and mentions Doland's change in character but she doesn't say much except "he ignored me and my puzzle do you want to solve it?" while Beth gives us an entire puzzle based on Descole's awful handwriting.

And it makes sense: since they work together, she's the most likely to see the cracks in his act, and since he doesn't really care about her, she didn't get kidnapped nor blackmailed.

Other notable things she can tell us include:

Mentioning the oracle and that Doland knows about it.

Another clue that there's something hidden in the cellar, and that when Emmy thought she heard voices it wasn't just her imagination. (also the poor woman started to doubt her own sanity because of Descole)

She confirmed (although was there any doubt about it?) that Barde's death and his will are very strange, even if they were confirmed by the famous police officer Third-Eyed Jakes. She doesn't say it in front of Luke but she suspects that Clark killed Barde and now his ghost is haunting the house.

Speaking of Jakes, she informs you later that Clark left with him.

If you go see her before going to save Arianna she'll tell you that both Clark and Doland left without a word. Layton knows what's going on.

Not a hint but she also has this line:

Poor Beth struggles with Fake Doland's instructions and bad temper to the point she has to repeatedly ask Layton to help, she gives him puzzles (which he likes) and then feels guilty about it. This woman deserves a break. And someone to tell her it's not her fault Doland was so rude to her.

There's a lot more to talk about: how working under a manipulator's supervision affected her self-esteem, how her role in the story was overlooked, how the game treated her character… (I could probably make a whole post about sexism, working classes and the devaluation of social work… but not today)

I'll end with this picture from the credits where we can see Beth regained her place in the Barde's family:

If you've read to the end, thank you very much!

And remember: whoever you are, whatever you do, you matter, and you're more important than you may think.

[jessicas-pi]

📖

OOOOOH okay excuse me while I go off about a crossover inspired by one of my childhood favorite books, aka Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan.

I call this the Surviving the Spectres AU!

So, the premise is that Kanan and Hera, along with their respective siblings, Ahsoka and Zeb, run a sort-of-homeschool for their kids. Said kids are Ezra (kanera's 17-year-old adopted son), Jacen (kanera's 4-year-old biological son), and Luke and Leia (ahsoka's 17-year-old niece and nephew, who she has custody of.) They have a mostly peaceful, serene life (they do admittedly have an evil goat named chopper who likes to attack everyone, but… besides that it's very peaceful and serene!!), until.....

Enter Sabine.

Sabine is a Bad Kid. She has lots of piercings and spiky green hair and possibly a tattoo, nobody really knows for certain, and there isn't a school left in the state who will accept her.

Except, of course, for the Spectre Academy.

They take her in as kind of a lost-cause-project. She's standoffish and unpleasant at first, but gradually warms up to them--she joins Luke's ballet class (it seemed like the least exhausting PE program of the Spectre Academy... BOY, was she wrong!), helps Ezra with his Wildlife Photography project, learns from Leia how to make bouquets that are actually insults in flower language, and unintentionally makes Jacen want green hair.

And then there's this whole sideplot with a musical--in the original book it was The Sound Of Music, but I think it would be pretty fitting if it was Aladdin in this AU. Basically, the dad in the story—Kanan in this AU—is the director of a local musical in the nearest town. He’s struggling to cast the musical; there’s one character who he just can’t figure out. In the original book, it’s a side character, but in this AU, it’s the main character. And Kanan is like, “WHO COULD POSSIBLY PLAY THE MAIN CHARACTER?! I’d cast Ezra, he looks the part, but sadly he just can’t sing…” and Ezra gives Sabine this look like don’t you DARE and Sabine is like “actually :) kanan :) when ezra and i were working on the Wildlife Photography project :) we spent a lot of time wandering around in the woods :) and we sang a lot to pass the time :) so he’s pretty good now :)” and ezra is like “i hate you”

Anyway ezra ends up playing aladdin and eventually the rest of the family pitches in and it ends with them putting on the play in their barn!

Also, Yoda is there and he cooks really spicy food.

[bespectacled-bookwyrm]

Hi again! :-D

For the second game, I’d like 6, 15, 17, and 24, please!

Hello, hello again! :D

Thank you for the ask!

Number 6: Favourite puzzle type?

I love the ones that are like jigsaws - such as the one in Spectre's Call where you helped a lady (I think her name was Jasmine?) put her belongings securely in her cart.

Number 15: Plot twist that most made you go "What"?

Probably the reveal of the hallucinogenic gas in Pandora's Box, especially since it made EVERYONE hallucinate the same thing. I know Layton always has a bit of whimsy and nonsense, but that one was just. . . What.

Number 17: Your favourite friendship in the game?

I really liked Luke and Maya's friendship in the crossover! They were so sweet, and were practically like siblings!

Number 24: Got a fun headcanon?

Luke really wants to steal Descole's hat. Despite the man's - usually destructive - theatrics, he does admit he has a pretty sweet hat. (It's not because he can never try on the Professor's hat! Honest!)

[samthecookielord]

Sam where do I play the Layton games they look so sillay and fun

the entire HD mobile ports of all 3 original trilogy games are available to purchase on android and ios.

If you really want, the spinoff Layton Brothers Mystery Room is available for free/cheap on mobile but it is very different from regular gameplay and does not feature the actual professor layton ever lol (but i love it <3)

alternatively, if you'd like to play the original ds titles on your pc or something heres what i did:

step 1: get your very real ds. for 2ds titles here's desmume and here's melonds you can pick whichever one you want.

i personally use desmume more but melonds is the more frequently updated one.

for 3ds titles here's citra (no longer receives updates but you can still download the latest version)

step 2: laytong roms. i got curious village, diabolical/pandora's box, lost future, and spectre's call/last specter (all 2ds titles) from this site. miracle mask, azran legacy, and the Ace Attorney crossover (3ds titles) are available on this site (as well as 2ds titles but i didnt notice until just now lol). just search layton and pick the region version you want.

EU and NA versions are both english but may differ slightly in dialogue wording, specific puzzles, and also they have different VAs for Luke. and sometimes they will give NPCs different names for some reason.

Here is a full list of games so you know what to look for.

I feel the best ones to start with are either Curious Village or Spectre's Call/Last Specter depending on what you prefer

Curious Village is the first in release order so you can gradually get more used to the gameplay & artstyle and see more qol functions and improvements as the games go on. (to avoid a jarring quality drop when you finish up the prequel trilogy and move onto curious vilage lol)

but if you'd rather experience the story in chronological timeline order, then Specter's cool to start with 👍they also got descole thats awesome.

or you can do a secret other thing and play lost future first for some reason if you wanna meet my favourite character

step 3: have fun yay!

[m00npaw]

Okay, so I recently started playing the Professor Layton games again and I noticed a mistake. I know there are a lot of things that don't really make sense in the games, but this is about Inspector Chelmey. He appears in the very first Layton game (Curious Village) and also appears in the next two games (Diabolical/Pandora's Box & Lost/Unwound Future). However, he also appears in Azran Legacy, which was the last game to be released. He really introduces himself in Diabolical/Pandora's Box, so the Professor and Luke know him personally from then on. All well and good, but they should have known him since Azran Legacy at the latest. Because although this game was the last to be released, it takes place before Curious Village. As an illustration, here is the timeline with the approximate years of release:

- Last Spectre/Spectre's Call (2011)

- Eternal Diva (2011) (Movie)

- Miracle Mask (2012)

- Azran Legacy (2013)

- Curious Village (2008)

- Diabolical/Pandora's Box (2009)

- Lost/Unwound Future (2010)

So do the Professor, Luke, the Inspector etc. all suffer from amnesia or why don't they remember each other? I realize it has to do with the first game not playing first, but why didn't the developers just leave him out of the newer parts? Like Flora, for example?

What are your thoughts on this? Have you noticed any other continuity errors? Or am I mabye wrong?

[invisibleraven]

Oooh, scooby doo au with the combo of your choice!

Luke grinned as the Phantom-Mobile pulled up in front of the abandoned looking club. "Alright gang, we've got to see if we can find this ghost that is driving away all of nice Mr. Covington's customers."

"If you ask me," Alex said, as he triple checked their supplies, "Mr. Covington did not seem all that nice."

"Nu-uh," chorused Willie. "Totally not nice."

"It's like chill man," Reggie said, tossing a few more snacks into Alex's bag when he wasn't looking. "We don't have to like the dude to help him out or accept his money."

"Reggie's right," Julie said with a nod. "We get in, we find out what's really happening, we get out, we get paid-"

"We fund our demo!" Luke finished. "Let's go Phantoms!"

Look, it wasn't their fault that Mr. Covington thought their band was a group of exorcist's, given their name, but money was money when gigs had dried up and jobs were slow. None of them really believed in ghosts, so they figured it was just some disgruntled employee out to stop the business in it's tracks.

They crept into the club, which was dark, and hitting the light switch did little to illuminate the situation, given the bulbs had gone dead for the most part. "Yeesh, I thought this place was supposed to be swanky," Alex said with a whistle as he lifted a streak of dust with his finger.

"I suppose cleaning isn't high on your priority list when you've got a poltergeist," Julie said with a shrug.

"A whater-geist?" Willie asked.

"Ghost man, keep up," Reggie replied. "Gestalt entity, spectre, spirit. I know all the lingo."

"You hang out with Carlos too much," Julie said with a fond eye roll.

"Not my fault the little dude looks up to me!" Reggie repled.

"And we all love that he does but I think you guys bickering has effectively scared everything but the spiders away!" Luke hissed. "Trying to get paid remember?"

Then they saw it-a white figure off in the distance. The creak and groan of stairs, a moan, a rattle of chains.

"Can we like, make like a tree and leave?" Reggie asked.

"Shush dude," Alex cautioned. "It's probably more afraid of you than you are of it."

"I thought there was no such thing as ghosts," Julie said, a tremble of fear in her voice.

"That's witches," Willie replied.

"So we're not going with witch," Luke nodded resolutely. He nodded towards the figure. "Let's gp."

"Are you crazy?" Alex whispered. "We're not equipped to deal with an actual phantom!"

"It's probably some homeless guy squatting here who's trying to stake his claim," Luke replied.

"I say we let squatter's rights stand then," Reggie said. "We all know how tough it is to sleep rough."

"We don't get paid that way, unfortunately," Julie said, reaching out to squeeze his hand, then nodded to Luke.

"Alright boss, let's go." LUke crept closer, and then tackled the spirit. Only he went through the image, almost landing on the projector that was displaying the image.

"Ha, told you there was nothing to be scared of!" Alex crowed.

"Now we have to find out who turned it on," Willie replied, the rest of them gulping rather audibly.

The rest of their trek was a rather twisty turny maze, including a corridor of rooms that all seemed to lead back to one another, until finally they found a dark figure in the control booth.

Willie and Reggie circled him in rope, while Alex called the cops and Julie looked around to turn off any more projectors and on the lights.

Luke approached the figure, who was wearing a large rubber mask. "Now let's see who's really behind this whole thing." He pulled off the mask to reveal...

"Mr. Covington?" the group chorused.

"I almost had this place as a tax write off you fools!" he scowled. "You weren't supposed to actually come, just take the money. And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

"Well, crime doesn't pay," Luke replied. "But we will be sending you our bill."

Everyone rolled their eyes at that, and laughed. Well, everyone except Mr. Covington that it, who just groaned. But no one could blame him-it was a truly awful joke. Thanks goodness that wasn't Luke's forte.

But hey, maybe if this music thing didn't work out, they could actually go into ghost hunting?

[justewil]

i really like how they switch from emmy's puzzles/pov to luke's (and back) near the end of spectre's call ...

best friends

[impofthegasstation]

14 for the layton ask game ? :3

14 = best outfit?

hmm. i like luke's spectre's call outfit a lot, it's cute. i also like descole's outfit + the masked gentleman's.. both of aurora's outfits are also really nice- i don't. know which one i think is the best..

[caramelcuniculus]

@mouseywousey continued from here!

Fortunately for Mousey, Hershel didn't mind their obvious height difference. It was a little jarring sure, but through a lifetime's worth of puzzles and mysteries, this was the least concerning. What really would attempt to stick out to the professor was their ability to speak. Normally his apprentice, Luke, would translate whatever an animal had to say. Mousey was a separate case, he assumed. Not that it bothered him. In fact, it made things not only convenient, but more interesting.

Hershel was about to question what it meant by not being around for long, but it went along its way with stories that were far more down-to-earth. More personal, more real. The professor wouldn't mind listening to both stories, or any others Mousey could recall, but one was good enough for now. Hershel raised a hand to his chin, rubbing it in deep consideration. This was like a fork in the road; would he choose the grapes or the serpent? He found himself drawn towards the latter, a sentiment he's sure most others would share. At least he was being given this opportunity at all from it, and Mousey seemed overjoyed to even spare the slightest of details. That enthusiasm made him smile warmly.

"Tell me more about this serpent, if you may." It made Hershel recount one of his first investigations. He'd spent some time around a serpent, one could call her. The young being's enthusiasm and love brought joy to two young children, same as his apprentice, assistant, and himself. Loosha… this wouldn't be a relatable story to him, but if Mousey would allow it, he could share the story of the Last Spectre.

Hershel hoped they would, but time would tell. "It sounds rather adventurous. Be sure to not spare any detail. I wish to picture the whole event myself through description. It's… immersive, that way. Does that make sense?"