It took me a long time to finish this game and it has been more than a week since I finished it. What kept me from writing this review is having a clear image of what I want to write. But I feel like "I need to" so here we are.
Is it the best game in the franchise so far? Probably so. The puzzles are a lot more fun and "easy" than the previous games. More logic based and less math bs and goofy ahh moving blocks. The story is also a lot more interesting than ever and the first minutes really pulls you in.
Almost everything here feels like a upgrade from previous entries and I see why this is a fan favorite. But I feel like I had more fun in the older ones, I had a fire that made me want to solve puzzles every free time I had and I couldn't stop thinking about them even when I was working.
I realized I was getting burnout when I was through 1/3 of the game and slowed my pace, but still forced a little to play every now and then and picked up the pace at the end. I think that I expected too much about this game and while it's really good, it wasn't as good as I expected.
The game feels longer than it should be and more dragged on. The previous one when we hadn't a clear plot and were there just for the adventure it was easier to feel the moment. But here you want to know what happens next, you really want to know the mysteries and when this is being blocked by a lot of walking, talking and puzzles, that should be the most fun part of the game, it gave me a weird feeling.
I think it's the first time that a better plot had a worse effect on me? I don't know how to put this into words.
And while the story is good, the plot twist is dumb, really really dumb. Every Layton game must have a plot twist or the game collapses in itself, I think. Curious Village had a hard to believe twist because the technoloy feels out of place but you can accept it. Diabolical Box pushed the boundary of what is acceptacle by a lot but I still could forgive it. In Unwound Future I really couldn't, I had to throw every logic out of the window in a game where it's kinda the main thing.
I didn't talk about the minigames in previous reviews because almost every one of them are dumb and not fun. But I really love the Toy Car one, it's so good and made me happy to complete it without looking anything up. The same can't be said about the bird minigame. God how I hate parabolas.
Maybe it feels weird that I gave such a high rating on a game that I'm mostly bashing but I still feels it deserves it. Most of my impression is probably because of the burnout and my job taking a lot of my energy recently. But the reason I can end it in a high note is the ending.
Emotional trauma does wonders for someone's perspective. Seeing the stoic Hershel Layton breaking down at the end feels almost out of character but is so good, I feel like I can finally see him as human being and not a robot programmed to solve puzzles and being a gentleman. Luke going to the USA at the end also made me feel things.
But the thing that hits me the most is seeing the trailer for the recently announced New World of Steam. Where it pickups where Unwound Future left off when Luke promised us a great adventure. I'm not a old fan of the series but I can imagine what Layton fans felt. After 15 years finally the series is going forward. In a game about time travel it almost feels ironic.
Maybe I can feel something close to that when Capcom remember the Ace Attorney series was left in a cliffhanger. It has been 7 years, maybe I still have to wait double that.
My next move should be playing the prequel triology but I will give some time to that. I need to find that fire again. For now I will put my top hat down and await what the futures hold for me.
Is it the best game in the franchise so far? Probably so. The puzzles are a lot more fun and "easy" than the previous games. More logic based and less math bs and goofy ahh moving blocks. The story is also a lot more interesting than ever and the first minutes really pulls you in.
Almost everything here feels like a upgrade from previous entries and I see why this is a fan favorite. But I feel like I had more fun in the older ones, I had a fire that made me want to solve puzzles every free time I had and I couldn't stop thinking about them even when I was working.
I realized I was getting burnout when I was through 1/3 of the game and slowed my pace, but still forced a little to play every now and then and picked up the pace at the end. I think that I expected too much about this game and while it's really good, it wasn't as good as I expected.
The game feels longer than it should be and more dragged on. The previous one when we hadn't a clear plot and were there just for the adventure it was easier to feel the moment. But here you want to know what happens next, you really want to know the mysteries and when this is being blocked by a lot of walking, talking and puzzles, that should be the most fun part of the game, it gave me a weird feeling.
I think it's the first time that a better plot had a worse effect on me? I don't know how to put this into words.
And while the story is good, the plot twist is dumb, really really dumb. Every Layton game must have a plot twist or the game collapses in itself, I think. Curious Village had a hard to believe twist because the technoloy feels out of place but you can accept it. Diabolical Box pushed the boundary of what is acceptacle by a lot but I still could forgive it. In Unwound Future I really couldn't, I had to throw every logic out of the window in a game where it's kinda the main thing.
I didn't talk about the minigames in previous reviews because almost every one of them are dumb and not fun. But I really love the Toy Car one, it's so good and made me happy to complete it without looking anything up. The same can't be said about the bird minigame. God how I hate parabolas.
Maybe it feels weird that I gave such a high rating on a game that I'm mostly bashing but I still feels it deserves it. Most of my impression is probably because of the burnout and my job taking a lot of my energy recently. But the reason I can end it in a high note is the ending.
Emotional trauma does wonders for someone's perspective. Seeing the stoic Hershel Layton breaking down at the end feels almost out of character but is so good, I feel like I can finally see him as human being and not a robot programmed to solve puzzles and being a gentleman. Luke going to the USA at the end also made me feel things.
But the thing that hits me the most is seeing the trailer for the recently announced New World of Steam. Where it pickups where Unwound Future left off when Luke promised us a great adventure. I'm not a old fan of the series but I can imagine what Layton fans felt. After 15 years finally the series is going forward. In a game about time travel it almost feels ironic.
Maybe I can feel something close to that when Capcom remember the Ace Attorney series was left in a cliffhanger. It has been 7 years, maybe I still have to wait double that.
My next move should be playing the prequel triology but I will give some time to that. I need to find that fire again. For now I will put my top hat down and await what the futures hold for me.