In which the title couldn't be anymore obvious; Let's Play Professor Layton and the Curious Village!

Why the PW vs PL trailer, whaaaaaiii o<-< /waiting for the english release to come out/

And I know Mycroft from the book; he does more legwork than his brother, it seems :D Mark Gatiss potrayed him so well <3

Even a minor character from a ubiquitous book should have more "fame" than a major character in a relatively obscure TV show, to be honest. At least to the point that you shouldn't assume that people are going to know him from the show instead of the book. But I shall stop belabouring the point so as not to derail this LP further. :)

(At the very least this has reminded me that I really need to start watching Sherlock; I've been meaning to forever.)

Layton, as a Professor of Archaeology, amateur detective, and avid puzzle fan you should know darn well that nothing good comes from Golden Apples. For shame, man. For shame.

Maybe it's just my regional bias, but I'd hardly call Sherlock an obscure TV show. And unless they get, well, internet famous for some reason people generally wont know a minor character from a book series unless they actually read the series. Personally, I only knew about Mycroft Holmes before the existence of Sherlock because of the 1984 TV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

I'd agree with all this. (Sherlock is not obscure. At all.) Even if people had read Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft only appears in one story. There are a ton of stories, so it's possible to have missed the one he's in. I'd consider myself a fan of the original stories and I still haven't read all of them. That said, I'm not trying to suggest that everyone who knows about him would know him from Sherlock, I did say that some people would get the Mycroft joke without Sherlock, I just don't think there'd be nearly as many, since it relies on Mycroft's dislike of legwork, which you'd only know if you had some familiarity with his character.

I'm well aware of the popularity of Sherlock, I'm just saying that it's not as well known compared to the original stories. But I can see your point about the joke.

I had no idea Sherlock had a brother. Then again, I've neither seen the show or read the books.
But I have played the first three Professor Layton games and solved all the puzzles except the math ones and I'm really excited because yay Professor Layton!
Also I'm like half awake and need to go to bed but I just wanted to pop in real quick because Professor Layton.

haha okay bye

Oh gosh, Layton~! I'm actually re-getting the third one for Christmas because just as we were getting close to beating it, I lost the cartridge. ;A; So, I'm hoping to finish it this time (And plow through what I did before with a walkthrough because I ALREADY SOLVED THOSE MYSELF ONCE GAME :T)

Also, are we supposed to solve the puzzle, or no? :U

Actually, yes... ='))

UPPERLEFT MOST VILLAGE

has to be that one
look at how creepy it is.

That one.

Top left, with the little cluster of houses. It's also the only one that actually looks like a village.

can we vote to turn around and just go back home

Are we going to have to solve all the puzzles? Because this game has like fifty billion 125. It'd make for a pretty slow LP.

Sorry for the late update, I just got back to my hometown... with all the rains and thunders. And sadly there's no option for turning back for he is the gentleman Hershel Layton. Even though some of thing he does were very un-gentleman.

And no, I'll keep some of the puzzles which require to move things around and some that are not interesting (in my opinion) :'D don't worry!


And yay we got the puzzle right :D

Moving on!

Our dear professor then laughed at how Luke succeeded in solving the puzzle, and told him that he already knew which way is it to the mysterious village. Yes, of course, Layton. Puzzle for kids and all. *cough*



Luke: Wait, Professor. There's someone at the side of the road near the woods there.

Here enters Mycroft Riddle, looking as confused as ever, and wondering how the hell did he ended up in the woods, when just some moments ago he's walking home from the game center. Ruffling his brown hair in daze, he spot a car approaching and waved a little to catch the driver's attention. Being the gentleman he is, Layton stopped the car.

Layton: Good afternoon, young man. However could I help you?

Riddle: *mouth agape from the formal speech the-man-with-top-hat inside the car use* ... Well, um, apparently I'm a bit lost. Could you help me to the nearby town, good sir?

Looking at the residents of the car, he thought of Layton and Luke as a father and his son who went for a trip. Very very far off, Riddle. Once again; Layton did what any gentleman would do, he let Riddle inside the car's back seat. Being a naive young man he is, he told Layton his name and how he ended up here; bringing a confusion to the Professor's little mind.

Layton: Hmm... What an interesting occurence. Are you sure you're not just imagining things?

Riddle shakes his head. Luke stares at him like he just told them he saw a cow went to a flying saucer.

Layton: Very well then, under these circumstances, I see no problem in taking you to the village. *tips his hat* Is that acceptable for you, Riddle?

Riddle nods like a finches.

Luke: Huh? Are you for real, Professor?!

Layton: Hahaha, Luke, there's no reason for us not believing this young man until he was proven wrong. Look, we've arrived.


Not pictured: Riddle slamming his fingers in the car's door. And cursed using every kind of animals in the zoo while trying to keep his voice inside his head.


You don't say, Layton.


Anyway, apparently they're stuck in front of the entrance of the town, Layton Mobile parked dangerously on the edge of the road. And there's a gigantic man on the other side of the river, it seems. Well, no harm in asking!

Although Riddle very much wants to just jump and knocks the man over. The bridge didn't look very safe to him.


So much for asking politely like a gentleman... And HEY THAT'S YOUR JOB, BUDDY. and somehow the emulator made a cencory bar for his chin, I have no idea

Layton then tells the grumpy man that he was invited by Lady Dahlia, and Riddle starts to wonder if following a man and a kid to an isolated village called St. Mystere was a good idea at all. He then decides to lower the good part to disturbing. And creepy. And hey curiosity kills the cat let's follow them! =D Surely nothing worse than this cencored-chin man can happen!


And he didn't know which crank to use, for there were many of them and only one can be fitted. Frustated, Riddle shouted to the man to let them see the cranks and-- WAIT HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT THE HOLE D=

Being a fancypants he is, Layton asks the cencored-chin man to draw the cranks and the hole from every angle and throws it to them (after having a rock crumpled with the paper). Well, time to show off our kindergarten skill!

This is a good moment to drop Pennyarcade's comic about this game:

wait.
you could tap the crank to change the angle?!

Option one. I think.

UH....
Uh.
Option 3?
I'm probably blind but none of those options look right to me.

I'll probably use this a lot on this thread.

Ah poop. I thought had this watched already. Well, I fixed it now! And... I don't remember this puzzle well, but I'm pretty sure it's 1.

Okay, I was going to update it this afternoon... 'till I saw that the nearest cinema to my home is still showing Rise of the Guardians. So.

BE RIGHT BACK GUYS, I PROMISE I'LL UPDATE IT TONIGHT /lightning speed of running/ (my timezone is GMT+7 btw :'D)

I'm back! Jack Frost is still handsome and I still fangirling liek... a fangirl. Even though most of the watchers are children. Moving on.

I choose option 3, and it was apparently wrong... *reloads* And I forgot to include the cutscene where they got off the car, so here you go!





After we very surely helped him in solving the puzz-- matching the crank with the hole, he very nicely dropped the bridge for us. Because we're Lady Dahlia's guests (except for Riddle), of course. Huh, seems like she's got a reputation in this isolated village... Riddle silently adding this new informations inside him. Maybe he should buy a notebook later, for the sake of staying informated.



Luke is, of course, very excited about what will they witness and do inside, and the very calm Layton tries to calm him down with a reason.


Got it, Professor~!

And this is where the craziness starts.


What.


What is a stylus. What is touch-screen. Professor are you high. Poor Riddle here is very confused about your explanation about... how to move.


Professor Hershel Layton are you listening to me


Screw it, I'm with weirdoes. Who were my only hope to get out of here and back to my lovely home. Fate, you suck. Badly. Poor Riddle argues within his poor mind.



Entering the village, it was lovely. Many warm-looking houses and there's an inn right over there and--


ARGH BURN IT WITH FIRE-- I'm sorry, who are you and have you failed your math class? There were three of us. Unless you counted that little boy with blue hat... Two and a half I'mnotsorry.


Okay Mr. Stach-I-can-never-pronounced-that, I hope whatever advice you're going to give is actually useful.

Frustated, Riddle sighs and said to Luke who tries to waddles to the barrel. "I'll do it." The faster we deal with this, the faster all of this ridiculousness will end, he thinks. Poor Riddle didn't know that we're not even near the end of the first chapter. Tapping the barrel, he blinks when the lid flipped open and reveals..


Riddle: ... Huh. A coin.

Stach: A hint coin. It will help ya through all of the puzzles by purchasing hints, but yadda yadda it's not unlimited blah blah you'll be very sorry if you misused it blablablargh some hints we didn't need to know but Layton cs obviously did.

And then the Russian-look-alike-man disappeared. Okay.

Moving on to the kind grandma, who very kindly informs us about the local commodity.


....


Basically, riddles solved = cash. Okay, that's acceptable. And the harder the riddle is, the more cash we got. Kaching!


Whose hat--


Layton's, obviously.

The mysteries so far:


And hey, Layton told Riddle to help bringing his journal with him, which means we're not totally blinded! And that also means we're the 2nd assistant in this little journey. I'll post the journal in the next!

I thiiiink it's C. Emphasis on "think".

I'm going to go with A but I'm probably horribly wrong :l

Um...A. I think. This puzzle trips me up every time I load up my game.

If I remember this puzzle correctly, the answer is C

Ironically, I'm playing the Unwound/Lost Future right now.

A.

Sorry for the late update, I got hooked to Apollo Justice and TokiMemo GS orz. Posted this as a reminder to myself Q~Q

And it was apparently wrong for me to went to Kinokuniya. Now all I feel is angst from La Petit Prince o<-<

So, after some excuses of watching tv series I just bought (Friends, Merlin, Two and A Half Men (I know I'm so late)) and finding that my save file had just apparated somewhere I couldn't find (maybe the recycle bin?), I'm ready to continue the awesomeness that is this game. I'm sorry for the laziness that is me.

Happy belated Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year by the way! =D

Okay, where were we? Right, the puzzle. Apparently the answer is A. Includes the optical illusion, it said. It got me once.



So far, 35 picarats and 11 hint coins. I feel richer already.



Following the Professor to the intersection, suddenly Luke wonders about keeping track of their adventures together (in a journal, obviously). Layton then proceeds to say the creepiest thing; according to Riddle.



Save? Game? Professor, please lay off the tea for a while. You're getting from high straight to crazy.

Opening his trunk, Riddle take a peek into the inside. A thick book titled The Puzzle Index, a brown-leather covered book. That's all. It's a wonder where the hell does Layton tucked his tea sets in.

And then, a new chapter of their adventure together begins...



Putting the hint coins bag inside the trunk, he proceed to follow the two gentlemans who were approaching a person who identifies himself as Percy.


Don't make Harry Potter jokes, don't make Percy Jackson jokes, I'm failing miserably here


And then he told us the way to go. So kind, without any kind of payme--


SCRATCH THAT.

He wants us to guess where his home is now. Like Dora. I swear, the residents of this village likes to confuse the newcomers. Although it fits the name. Perfectly.


... Thanks?

Gesturing Riddle to answer the puzzle (much to his dismay), he finally nods after a roll of his eyes, to get this over with.



...Uh, guys. I'm BAD with direction puzzles. Riddle is so screwed.

Unless I'm mistaken somewhere, it should be the house in the middle with the blue roof.

I love direction puzzles...so long as I'm able to walk around in circles and twist my head a few times. Anyway, I am pretty sure it's that blue house in the middle.

Blue roof. I think. I'm kind of bad with directions in real life, so direction puzzles are a little...

I really want to finish this game, but the entire "people throwing random puzzles at the MC" it's kinda annoying. At least I can read an LP!

The Greek Interpreter it's one of the famous ones however, because Mycroft it's in it, just like A Scandal in Belgrade it's famous because of Irene Adler.
...then again, I thought that the "seven percent solution" was also common knowledge, so I'm probably wrong.

I think that lately Sherlock is more famous than the original stories however, at least on the internet. I'm not sure if there is a similiar line in the RDJ movies because I still have to watch the second one.

Okay, guys. Here's the thing: With more than 100 puzzles and my super-snail-speed in updating, It'll take more than 100 pages to get this done. Maybe. Or worse (...)

So I'll do a poll to ease things: Do you want this LP to stay as it is, or we'll just do the plot-based one, or no puzzle at all a.k.a following the story without thinking much of the puzzles?

I'd say only show the really plot-relevant puzzles and occasionally throw in one that you think is particularly interesting/difficult/WTF-inducing. The main allure of these games is the puzzles, but 100+ is definitely a little ridiculous for an LP with audience participation.