Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Lady Layton Has a New Title and a Partial Release Date

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Apr 172017
 

For a while now, we’ve known the upcoming Professor Layton game as Lady Layton: The Millionaire Ariadone’s Conspiracy.

It now has a new title, Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy.

(Note: I originally made the title seem even longer, since I thought “Ariadone’s” was still included.)

That’s quite a name. Why the change? My guess would be that since every other game in the series has had just “Layton” in the title, they thought “Lady Layton” made it sound like a spin-off, but they still wanted to reference the new protagonist.

The lengthy title might also suggest the start of a new trilogy, since “Layton’s Mystery Journey” followed by a subtitle sounds like we can anticipate more games about this mysterious journey.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy will be out for the 3DS in Japan on July 20, as well as worldwide on iOS and Android.

The worldwide 3DS release will come sometime later.

In other words, everyone outside of Japan can either get the mobile version on July 20 or wait until the 3DS localization is ready.

Oddly, the mobile version includes in-app purchases that won’t be necessary to buy to complete the game. I can’t imagine what sort of optional in-app purchases a Layton game could have (extra hint coins?), but maybe they’re included in the 3DS version from the start.

What do you think of Lady Layton’s new title? Will you get Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy on July 20, or wait for the worldwide 3DS release?

Lady Layton Will Have Comedy Elements

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Mar 202017
 

The Professor Layton games always involve some comedy and humorous situations, but it sounds like the upcoming Lady Layton: The Millionaire Ariadone’s Conspiracy might take it a step further.

A little over a week ago, Famitsu featured an interview with Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino about the upcoming game. While he didn’t reveal a lot, we now know a bit more about Lady Layton from Nintendo Everything’s translation of the information.

(I’m late with the news–I missed the translation when it came out.)

As we discussed in the past, Lady Layton will feature smaller mysteries for the protagonist to solve. The interview described it as a “high-speed comical puzzle solving story.”

He then described the relationship between Kato and Sharo (the talking dog) as similar to “boke and tsukkomi,” which refers to a comedy duo that plays off each other.

(It’s similar to the funny man/straight man comedy used by duos like Abbott and Costello. World of Final Fantasy is an example of a recent game that used boke and tsukkomi character types. Didn’t this come up with Spirit of Justice, too?)

Kat will be the funny character, while Sharo is the more serious character who will explain what she said. This will lead to the story feeling like a comedy.

Curiously, there are a few details Hino refused to give, including its place in the timeline and Luke’s relationship with Kat and Sharo.

We still don’t know a lot about Lady Layton, but I’m looking forward to it! Although I still wish they’d clarify how Kat has a talking dog…

Take an Affordable Space Adventure Today!

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with:
Sep 262016
 

affordable-space-adventuresIf you have a Wii U, enjoy puzzle games, and haven’t played Affordable Space Adventures yet, you’re missing out.

Affordable Space Adventures was part of the last Nintendo Humble Bundle, and I’m glad I picked it up.

The game begins with an advertisement from UExplore encouraging you to take an affordable trip into space to explore the 100% safe planet known as Spectaculon. It then cuts to the first level, where you’re stranded on Spectaculon in a damaged spacecraft.

This sort of dark humor is present throughout the game. It’s often subtle, just the contrast between UExplore’s cheerful promotion of its safe space adventures while you desperately search for a way to contact them and request evacuation.

It is a 2D puzzle game, and one of the best things about it is how well it integrates the Wii U GamePad.

While the TV screen displays the world and your ship, the GamePad screen is essentially your ship’s dashboard. It displays all the systems you control: engines, landing gear, the scanner, etc.

New systems open up as your ship repairs itself, introduced at a gradual enough pace so that you never feel overwhelmed. You’ll need to carefully manage them to solve puzzles and proceed through each environment…

…and keep from being blown to bits by deadly robots.

Yeah, Spectaculon isn’t nearly as safe as UExplore thinks, and since they’d never outfit your ship with defensive measures for such a peaceful journey, you can’t let the alien “artifacts” detect you.

First you need to scan them to see their detection radius and what alerts them , and then you adjust your systems accordingly. For example, if a robot in your path detects heat, switch to your electric engine. Your sound, heat, and electricity outputs are displayed on the GamePad, and while it starts out simple, it becomes truly challenging by the end.

You can also play with friends in local co-op, where each of you has control of different systems and you must work together to survive. Many players describe it as feeling like you’re on the bridge of a Star Trek ship.

Affordable Space Adventures has a nice degree of difficulty, challenging enough to make you think without being unfair. In later levels, puzzle-solving can get pretty tense, but you’ll always feel a rush of relief and satisfaction when you finally get through.

Click for Affordable Space Adventures spoiler
I also have to praise how its gameplay design circles back on itself. Near the end of the game, your ship is damaged. One by one, systems fall offline until you’re left with only the few you started the game with.

The game never breaks the fourth wall, either. Messages on your GamePad explain new systems, but always in the context of teaching the pilot more about the ship. Puzzles are left for you to figure out on your own. Overall, the GamePad behaves like the ship’s console would, with nice little touches that increase the immersion.

Whether you play alone or with friends, Affordable Space Adventures is a challenging and immersive puzzle game that I highly recommend to anyone with a Wii U.

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