No, I'm not talking about Ocarina of Time, have no fear.
I have never shied away from my love for the Professor Layton series. In the years since the catchily titled Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy - Deluxe Edition launched on Switch, I have longed for another mainline game, feeling the pang of a top hat-shaped hole in my heart whenever I look back at the bookended original and prequel trilogies, which take pride of place on my shelf.
With Level-5 announcing that it was shutting up shop overseas a few years back, I had resigned myself to the idea that another Layton was never going to happen. It was to forever be my nostalgic series. There was no chance we'd ever get, I don't know, a continuation of the main story or an opportunity to revisit the game that started it all on modern hardware, was there?
All these years on, and we are mere months away from exactly that. Professor Layton and The New World of Steam finally has a release date (10th December, for those wondering), and Level-5 has announced that it's working on a Curious Village remake, set to launch at some point next year.
Now, I played the Layton games in order at release, so The Curious Village holds a very special place in my heart. Not only was this the game that introduced me to one of my most beloved series, but it's also perhaps the tightest of the bunch. It can't quite match the emotional damage of The Lost Future in my personal ranking, but there isn't an ounce of fat on that brilliant first game. Simply put, I love it.
In any other timeline, the release news would have me ecstatic; instead, I get an icky, sinking feeling whenever I think about the prospect of these upcoming projects, particularly the remake. Why? Because Level-5 isn't what it used to be, and it's putting me off playing its game in the process.
It all stems from every corporation's favourite buzzword: AI. You don't need me to tell you just how much the technology has already shaken the industry, but it is worth noting just how whole-hog Level-5 has gone for it.
There's no doubt in my mind that a huge portion of big-budget modern games use AI somewhere in their development. Steam now has a disclaimer section where the dev is required to flag it, and we've seen several high-profile studios confess to using it somewhere along the line — Crazy Taxi: World Tour is an example that springs to mind.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/opinion-one-of-my-favourite-games-is-being-remade-so-why-do-i-feel-so-down-about-it
