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With a new Layton game, let's vote for the stupidest Layton twist (marked spoilers)

M

Miker

Member
A Professor Layton game is a known quantity. Professor Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke. Ambiguously worded riddles that turn out to be trick questions. Goddamn sliding puzzles. And of course, the absolute stupidest plot twists in gaming. So let's rank those plot twists!

I've described them below, in the most reductive way possible, without an ounce of context, because these twists are so stupid they deserve none. I'll fill out my OP with short descriptions of the first three games and PL vs AA, because they're the ones I'm most familiar with and I'm short on time (I've only played 1 and 3 myself). Please post your (funniest) descriptions of the prequel trilogy and I'll edit them in if I get a chance.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Layton and Luke visit a mysterious village called St. Mystere (wow) in search of a treasure called the Golden Apple. Turns out everybody in the damn town is obsessed with puzzles, and that's because all the citizens of the village are robots. Yeah. The Golden Apple is revealed to be a young girl with a birthmark of an apple, but whatever, everybody in the village is a goddamn robot.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
I haven't actually played this one through, but as I understand it, L&L look for a box that kills whoever opens it, but everything that happened was a hallucination from mysterious gas coming from a mine underneath the town. Yes, the hallucinogenic gas was in the box that kills people.

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Layton and Luke travel to ruined future steampunk London, only to find out that they're actually just in a fucking underground city built to look like future steampunk London, and the people of fake future London were paid to act as such. Then future steampunk london sprouts legs to become a giant mech fortress and Layton flies after it in a plane and it's cool, I think? And at the end, it's revealed that time travel is indeed real because Layton's long-dead lover actually did travel from the past, but has to return to the past to die in the explosion that originally claimed her life. Goddamn that was the saddest cutscene ever. I cried.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Not75Drops said:
Spectre's Call/Last Specter's twist was
that the spectre was actually the result of a battle between Descole, using an excavation machine trying to locate some lost ruins, and some large manatee thing. The sound of the spectre was Luke's friend playing a flute to try and calm the manatee down
.
Click to expand...

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
Nocturnowl said:
Layton's presumed dead childhood friend dons a mask and performs all manner of nonsense trickery to fuck with his former friends and girlfriend, I can't remember his motivation but he was misguided and in the end gets off scot free if I recall.
Click to expand...

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
Nocturnowl said:
Here we go, Hershel Layton isn't actually Hershel Layton, Descole is Hershel Layton but let his bro be adopted in his place for a better life and then proceeded to spend the next decade or two being a thorn in his side anyway before face turning.
The big bad of the prequel trilogy is Layton's actual dad who attempts some sob story justification for his actions because his dead wife, Layton has no fucks to give him.
Emmy heel turns because she was a double agent, then Laputa Castle in the Sky starts firing out its Ghibli Golems and WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!
Click to expand...


Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Holy shit this one. The cast is magically transported to the medieval city of Labyrinthia, where magic is real and townspeople are terrorized by witches and everything seems to follow the script written by a mysterious figure known as the Storyteller. In any other series this would be a goofy spinoff, but lol layton.

Turns out the city was designed by a chemicals company called Labrelum Inc. that was meant to research the effects of a substance found in the water. People who drank this water would fall unconscious at the sound of a special bell ringing. The bell was rung many years ago and a fire got out of control and set up the events of the present somehow. Oh and magic in the world isn't real, and instead it's operated by a bunch of invisible cranes and shit? No, really: https://youtu.be/nrbk3Z_VC5o?t=2018. God I don't even remember it was so stupid.

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
I watched this, and don't remember anything extremely stupid. There was a machine that implanted a dead girl's memories in other girls, and a guy was kidnapping girls to keep his daughter alive through them. Or something. Tame by Layton standards. Also features another fun giant mech vs Layton in an aircraft scene.


I've got to hand it to Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright for what has to be one of the stupidest, most contrived twists of all time. I mean,
mind control chemicals in the water
? Unforgivable.
 
L

LewieP

Member
Not played every entry, but I think Pandora's Box was the dumbest twist.

Although now I kind of expect it from these games now. A logical ending would probably be a disappointment.

Edit: Pandora's Box was the EU name for Diabolical Box.
 
J

JTripper

Member
Still haven't played Layton/Wright but the second game's twist was kinda ridiculous. I don't really care for "dream" or "hallucination" twists so that was the least effective one. I actually love the twist in Unwound Future though.
 
B

Blackquill

Member
I only did the first trilogy and Layton X Ace Attorney and it was the later who takes the cake.

Don't forget
the storyteller got a incurable disease but two lines later, it's actually cured
, too bad, I think it's probably one of the funniest ace attorney in the series
 
F

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
Lady Layton is revealed to be old Professor Layton who travelled through time but had to transfer his consciousness into a robot woman's body to some gas from an underground city full of witches. Also Luke is the bad guy. And a monkey in disguise.

Edit: Oh, I missread the thread title. I thought this was about guessing the dumb twist in the new one, my bad.
 
Aldric

Aldric

Member
l've only played the Ace Attorney spinoff, but this was legitimately one of the stupidest plot twists l've ever seen in any game. lt's one of these instances where the pseudo rational explanation is so preposterous it makes the supernatural alternative feel far more reasonable. lt completely discouraged me to check other episodes of the Layton series despite enjoying the puzzle gameplay.
 
G

georly

Member
Badoink said:
A bit offtopic, but how about a Layton GO game, in which you find puzzles while exploring the world?
Click to expand...

a *bit* off topic? You mean a complete thread derail attempt, on the very first reply?


For me, it's 3, simply due to
the amount of money it would take to coordinate that.
1 seemed plausible by comparison. 5 was nothing special, iirc, and I haven't finished 6 yet. The movie was also nothing insane, either, IIRC. Layton V PW wasn't *that* bad, but it assumed
you bought into hyponsis like that.
 
J

JazzmanZ

Member
If it weren't for the fun puzzles and fine mystery story until it's conclusion I'd almost be convinced all the explanations were ghost written by Normura
 
B

Baliis

Member
Has to be the second game for dumbest twist, unwound future for the best twist even if it's completely insane and ridiculous because everything about that game was amazing.

Isn't the twist in the fourth game something like
the phantom is actually a robot and sea monster going at it throughout the town or something?
I remember it being really silly but still enjoyable at least.

I can't remember what the twist in 5 was, but I remember it being really obvious and easy to see coming which probably makes it the worst twist, out of character for the series even.

Also, this thread just reminds me I still need to play the sixth game before I somehow spoil myself on it.
 
C

Coffee Dog

Banned
Diabolical Box is an actual shitty Layton twist because the explanation just isn't entertaining. It's just boring.

PLvAA is a great one, comparatively, because of the absolute insane lengths that it has to go to walk back its own premise. Layton twists are more tolerable to me depending on how convoluted the science involved is.
 
M

Miker

Member
Badoink said:
A bit offtopic, but how about a Layton GO game, in which you find puzzles while exploring the world?
Click to expand...

tumblr_mxx24a7wMc1qa3pfso1_400.gif
Click to expand...

Fantastapotamus said:
Lady Layton is revealed to be old Professor Layton who travelled through time but had to transfer his consciousness into a robot woman's body to some gas from an underground city full of witches. Also Luke is the bad guy. And a monkey in disguise.

Edit: Oh, I missread the thread title. I thought this was about guessing the dumb twist in the new one, my bad.
Click to expand...

Nah, this is a quality post.
 
M

maxcriden

Member
My least stupid vote is for the first game. I thought it was remarkably well done and I was so pleased to have predicted it.

BTW: I think the twist in Diabolical was a bit less just that "everything is a hallucination" and more "most everything is a weird shared hallucination but some of the central machinations are real or have thoughtful story purpose." BTW, please play the game. The first two are the best of the three I've played...the puzzles in Diabolical Box are incredibly good.
 
M

manueldelalas

Time Traveler
I've played 1, 2, 4, 5 and vs; and I'll have to hand it to the construction of an underground replica of the city; it actually completely blew my mind about the stupidity of it.

But I have to say, this series of games have consistently had stupid twists; and I completely love it.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
I find the twists fun for the most part, but I agree that Pandora's Box was the weakest (in terms of surprising me), with PLvsAA being mind-boggingly stupid, holy shit I can't believe how much BS they had to come up with lol

It was pretty clear that the development hell of PLvsAA contributed to its story and explanation being such a clusterfuck.
 
C

Coffee Dog

Banned
Nyoro SF said:
I find the twists fun for the most part, but I agree that Pandora's Box was the weakest, with PLvsAA being mind-boggingly dumb.

It was pretty clear that the development hell of PLvsAA contributed to its story and explanation being such a clusterfuck.
Click to expand...

I find it hard to blame the development of that specific title when Unwound Future has an extremely similar and just as bafflingly dumb twist. It's just Layton being Layton
 
Davey Cakes

Davey Cakes

Member
maxcriden said:
My least stupid vote is for the first game. I thought it was remarkably well done and I was so pleased to have predicted it.

BTW: I think the twist in Diabolical was a bit less just that "everything is a hallucination" and more "most everything is a weird shared hallucination but some of the central machinations are real or have thoughtful story purpose." BTW, please play the game. The first two are the best of the three I've played...the puzzles in Diabolical Box are incredibly good.
Click to expand...
Good on recommending Diabolical Box. I still prefer the first game but DB was a real satisfying challenge. 100% of puzzles solved. It was a personal achievement.

The entire first trilogy is well worth it. Layton 4 and 5 didn't grab me in the same way. Then again, that could've just been due to the aging formula. The puzzles are still fun.

Worst twist goes to DB though. Hah. I actually enjoyed the ending of the game but the explanation was the worst part.

That said, Lost Future's twist was REALLY improbable, even in the game's universe. Still a good one though.
 
M

Miker

Member
I can't believe how hyped I was for PL vs AA. The crossover I've always wanted! Shu Takumi was working on it! Then...then...that twist.
 
M

maxcriden

Member
Rash said:
Good on recommending Diabolical Box. I still prefer the first game but DB was a real satisfying challenge. 100% of puzzles solved. It was a personal achievement.
Click to expand...

Even the bonus final titular puzzle? I spent hours on that one probably and couldn't swing it. Kudos big time.
 
E

El Odio

Banned
Rash said:
Good on recommending Diabolical Box. I still prefer the first game but DB was a real satisfying challenge. 100% of puzzles solved. It was a personal achievement.

The entire first trilogy is well worth it. Layton 4 and 5 didn't grab me in the same way. Then again, that could've just been due to the aging formula. The puzzles are still fun.

Worst twist goes to DB though. Hah. I actually enjoyed the ending of the game but the explanation was the worst part.
Click to expand...
I liked DB over the first mainly because I felt it really improved on the it. The plot twist is its own thing but the story felt grander and a bit more interesting while also adding more variety to the puzzles and expanding the memo feature. If they'd have explained the twist better I'd probably rank it higher on my list.
 
M

maxcriden

Member
Rash said:
The final FINAL sliding puzzle in the game? If that's it, then yeah I did it but it absolutely took hours.
Click to expand...

Yep, this terror:

PL2153T.gif


PL2153B.gif


I'd like to beat it the right way one day. Again, major kudos. This thing is brutal.

BTW, I wonder if there's any way to get the DLC puzzles still. I guess they're all on the cart?
 
N

Neoleo2143

Member
Unwound Future is simultaneously one of the most insane twists in a puzzle game and idiotic in so many ways, yet I absolutely adore the personal and emotional weight to it all.

Stupidest is definitely PvW. The game is not served well by subverting expectations in that way.
 
M

matrix-cat

Member
Someone will have to fill in the blanks, but I believe the twist in Azran Legacy was:

Descole (the villain of the trilogy) and Layton are brothers. Bronev (the villain of that particular game) is their father. Descole's real name is Hershel Bronev, and Layton's name is Theodore Bronev, and for some reason I don't remember he was given his brother's first name as a baby and was adopted by the Layton family.

Layton vs. Wright beats it through sheer contrivance, though.
A waterborne virus that makes people allergic to the sound of silver bells being rung, and hypnotism on the entire town to make them all blind to a particular colour.
 
N

Not75Drops

Member
The worst is probably Pandora's Box. At least for the others, the fantasy/sci-fi aspects of Layton can kind of justify some of the others, PB's twist is just boring in comparison but it still wouldn't make sense in real life.

Miker said:
I can't believe how hyped I was for PL vs AA. The crossover I've always wanted! Shu Takumi was working on it! Then...then...that twist.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was weird that even though Takumi was the writer, he still made the ending extremely Layton-esque, instead of having a mix of themes from both series.
 
X

Xenoboy

Member
I love Layton games story so much, a lot of charm and insanity. Just like I want.

I'd say Miracle Mask with the whole
a city under a city twist
as a surprise.
Randall was super obvious though.
 
L

Loptous

Member
The "twist" in Miracle Mask was so obvious that it actually surprised me that they went with it. Worst one from the main series IMO.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
Going from my memory thus leading to even sillier interpretations than they actually were...

Curious Village:
Everyone was a riddle spouting robot so Flora wouldn't be lonely

Pandora's Box:
Hallucinogenic gas pouring out of some mineshaft manages to create a mining town out of sheer mindfuckery and that some senile old geezer on death's door is some swag vampire

Lost Future:
Time travel is too far-fetched so instead future London was just an underground metropolis built by some rich dick and populated by...deadbeats? did they get paid to be part of this charade or what? anyway it turns out that time travel was in fact possible however briefly and Layton's waifu is dead, man tears are shed

Spectre's Call:
Oh crumbs, something about a big mecha cloaked in mist that torments a town because reasons I can't remember.

Miracle Mask:
Layton's presumed dead childhood friend dons a mask and performs all manner of nonsense trickery to fuck with his former friends and girlfriend, I can't remember his motivation but he was misguided and in the end gets off scot free if I recall.

Azran Legacy:
Here we go, Hershel Layton isn't actually Hershel Layton, Descole is Hershel Layton but let his bro be adopted in his place for a better life and then proceeded to spend the next decade or two being a thorn in his side anyway before face turning.
The big bad of the prequel trilogy is Layton's actual dad who attempts some sob story justification for his actions because his dead wife, Layton has no fucks to give him.
Emmy heel turns because she was a double agent, then Laputa Castle in the Sky starts firing out its Ghibli Golems and WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!

Wright vs Layton:
People whose lives were at rock bottom started anew in a faux medieval land that pulled off witch magic trickery using cranes painted in a special coating making them invisible to the naked eye, fortunately no one ever bumped into them.
Also drugs in the water.

So in conclusion, I have a soft spot for Pandora's Box because it means Layton was having an "epic" fencing match with a geriatric old man while inhaling mad fumes.
HM to Azran Legacy for the never ending swerves for the sake of swerves.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
The worst by far was Layton VS Wright, because rather than continuing the story, it completely derailed it, created a bunch of plot holes and was obviously a last-minute rewrite because
they changed their minds about magic being real
. It's also the stupidest twist.
Magic isn't real but the actual solution is so stupid and convoluted that it'd be easier to swallow the idea of magic being real.

Nocturnowl said:
Spectre's Call:
Oh crumbs, something about a big mecha cloaked in mist that torments a town because reasons I can't remember.
Click to expand...

If I remember right, it's way dumber.
The spectre is a giant manatee fighting a giant mecha
 
N

Not75Drops

Member
Spectre's Call/Last Specter's twist was
that the spectre was actually the result of a battle between Descole, using an excavation machine trying to locate some lost ruins, and some large manatee thing. The sound of the spectre was Luke's friend playing a flute to try and calm the manatee down
.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
Loptous said:
The "twist" in Miracle Mask was so obvious that it actually surprised me that they went with it. Worst one from the main series IMO.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that one gets low marks from me for being predictable.

PLvsAA may have been mind boggingly dumb, but at least it was entertaining with how far they were willing to go with it.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Loptous said:
The "twist" in Miracle Mask was so obvious that it actually surprised me that they went with it. Worst one from the main series IMO.
Click to expand...

What happened to Layton's childhood friend? And who is this mysterious figure wearing the mask that Layton's friend disappeared with?
Hmm, how mysterious.
 
G

gerudoman

Member
I loved how Layton vs Ace Attorney plot twist was basically
a combination of all original trilogy's twists
There's no way that's just a coincidence.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
Let us not forget the ever present twist of a character is actually Don Paulo/Descole in a picture perfect disguise, even down to the voice.

89631cfe570141ae873c3d3db3820819.jpg


MrBadger said:
If I remember right, it's way dumber.
The spectre is a giant manatee fighting a giant mecha
Click to expand...

Sounds a lot better that way.
 
C

Cactus

Banned
The narratives in the second trilogy are all terrible, IMO. I actually liked the twist in Diabolical Box...
 
T

takoyaki

Member
Played them all. I love me some Layton story nonsense but the ending of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright was just too much. Closely followed by the twist in the Lost Future.
 
L

Lord Azrael

Member
The endings to Unwound Future and PLvsAA were by far the worst. Both games would've been much better if they just rolled with their supernatural premises rather than trying to rationalize them in their last moments. By the time I played the latter I was at least desensitized to such nonsense and even predicted aspects of the ending based on past Layton experiences.

Can't believe people are knocking on Miracle Mask for having the most down to earth story, smh
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Never really got into this series but I had no idea there were actual plots to follow, I just thought it was a bunch of random puzzles or something. I love games with ridiculously overdone plot twists so that's pretty interesting.
 
M

M3d10n

Member
matrix-cat said:
Someone will have to fill in the blanks, but I believe the twist in Azran Legacy was:

Descole (the villain of the trilogy) and Layton are brothers. Bronev (the villain of that particular game) is their father. Descole's real name is Hershel Bronev, and Layton's name is Theodore Bronev, and for some reason I don't remember he was given his brother's first name as a baby and was adopted by the Layton family.

Layton vs. Wright beats it through sheer contrivance, though.
A waterborne virus that makes people allergic to the sound of silver bells being rung, and hypnotism on the entire town to make them all blind to a particular colour.
Click to expand...

Azran Legacy has two twists, actually. The other one is the Azran Legacy being
a test to see if mankind should be destroyed by the sentient slave robots that revolted and destroyed the Azran civilization. Oh, and Aurora is actually an ancient robot herself too.

old said:
I'm enjoy the games and the bittersweet endings, but the twists are complete camp.
Click to expand...

Unwound Future was brutal. Took me completely off guard and before I knew it I was crying.
 
M

Miker

Member
M3d10n said:
Azran Legacy has two twists, actually. The other one is the Azran Legacy being
a test to see if mankind should be destroyed by the sentient slave robots that revolted and destroyed the Azran civilization. Oh, and Aurora is actually an ancient robot herself too.



Unwound Future was brutal. Took me completely off guard and before I knew it I was crying.
Click to expand...

The ending theme of Unwound Future seals the deal. Tears flowing freely.
 
C

C.Olimar788

Member
I adore almost every Layton twist - how contrived they become only makes them better. As a result, PLvsAA has probably my favorite twist in the series.
I'm so glad they didn't give up and just let magic be real, that would have been so anticlimactic for a Layton game. The insane leaps of logic that you have to go through to even try to make their explanation make sense only makes it better imo.

With that said, I can't stand the end of Azran Legacy.
Changing Layton's backstory so drastically on top of everything else just cheapened the entire experience to me.
Such a shame that the series was effectively "ended" on that note - hopefully Lady Layton is a return to form.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Belgian Dude said:
I love the whole 'Layton's past' deal in Azran Legacy, but can I point at
egg sidequest
as the dumbest twist?
Click to expand...

I didn't like how that took up most of the game and all the big reveals about
Layton's past
were just relayed one after the other in the final act of the game without any real time for them to sink in
 
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