Express: also
your tumblr
about layton
am confused
i thought he was nice middleaged man
now he seems creepy

So the end of Unwound Future was incredibly upsetting, Jesus Christ; I was not expecting that.

I find Layton fascinating—that he seems so approachable, but has these strict affectations and boundaries, and such strange relationships: he keeps the world at a distance, physically concealing himself, micromanaging his presentation and social role; his best friend is, apparently, a little kid, but their relationship is built on similar affectations and modes of proper behavior and self-expression; he appears perturbed and/or deceptively defensive when the behavior of others defies those boundaries, and yet continues a close relationship with someone still too young to always abide by them. It shouldn’t surprise me that he has a lot of unrestrained emotion bubbling underneath the surface, and that those affectations are all a way of coping with it. And it doesn’t surprise me, not really—what surprises me is how effective it is to see that emotion.

It works, it really does: all the tricks of character design (his hat, how very important to plot and characterization and, more and more, the humor, his hat is) and the game’s social atmosphere of gentlemen and tea, they’re adorable and silly and stylized but, when it comes down to it, brutally effective. They create expectations, and imply deviations, and the glimpse of something that defies them is…

Well, incredibly upsetting, I suppose. Layton’s wibbly face seems like it ought to be a little foolish, and normally I couldn’t care less about the sort of relationship he has with Claire, but instead I’m crying right along with him, the poor creature. It’s exploitative, I feel exploited; I also don’t care because oh, you precious thing.

Two London gentlemen in the party and all we have on us is a broken lady’s pocket watch? Come now boys, where are your manners; I expected watches on chains tucked into pockets in abundance.

“The difficult part is having confidence that you’ve found the correct answer!”

It feels to me like Unwound Future ramps the puzzle difficulty up just a notch—slightly higher than Diabolical Box, but safely out of Curious Village’s danger zone of oh come on, now you’re just being mean. It’s a good change, because as much as Diabolical Box was a relief after the first game’s brutality, its difficulty level was a bit unfulfilling.

But having the ground shift below me as the difficulty curve adjusts once again has one major side effect, and that side effect is that I’m never quite sure if what seems like the obvious solution is actually wrong because it’s a trick question or I’m underestimating the difficulty or I’m just an idiot, nor am I quite sure if what seems like the hard-won answer is actually the right one because what if I’m missing something or making it too complex or am just an idiot.

So yeah, basically: what you said, game.

And then the rabbit gave me a track for my toy car.

And then I was accosted by a criminal rabbit.

egbert replied to your post: Please tell me that I can convince myself it’s for…

Maybe this is why there was no ill will leaving her be in a barn somewhere in the other game…

I would not be surprised.

Hey any arch nemeses out there looking for some evil shenanigans to get up to because do I have some shenangians for you; her name is Flora please take her away.