Part 29: False Sense

One True Sword
hey you! yes you! watch this

A Disquieting Atmosphere





2. An intricately decorated sword is too ornate to be of much practical use.
3. No sword on the wall could belong to a true warrior. After all, a blade on the wall can't be considered "in hand." Study the picture. Does anyone in the picture have a sword in the hand? ...Perhaps one of those suits of armor knows the answer.

This is the only puzzle solution we'll be going with right now.






So why was this a video exactly? Well...

Pandora's Box
it actually does skip the first ~40 seconds here hence why this link is a bit different



Because it immediately leads into the best scene in the game.



Layton and a vampire having a duel is just kind of awesome, in part because it comes out of nowhere and in part because seriously.


_{seriously this is the best thing}

So, of course, the commercial and all marketing for this game spoiled this moment IMMEDIATELY.



...Wait did Layton's hat pop off for a moment there?



Alas, his head is kept off-screen the entire time his hat is just off. Someday...



Anton has an impressive high jump though. Him dropping in here is the landing after he leapt to dodge earlier. Dude jumps like a Metal Gear Solid character.



He also has an actual aura and everything. He really is a vampire!



Hm?













Everything was going so well and then the kids turned up to intervene. Had to happen eventually I guess.





I just need to catch my breath.

It's been like a minute and a half by this point. Anton, man, you can't possibly be gassed already. It's exposing the business.



Please, just stop!

Silence



What's happened to me?
Are you all right?







I don't understand.
Sophia, dear...



You really don't know...



Unfulfilled Feelings



I thought your name was Katia.

Don't be ridiculous. Look at me! I'm to young to be anyone's grandfather.



Your youth is part of that illusion. The truth is, well...
Allow me, please.



But something terrible slept deep within that rich gold deposit.



The gas made those who breathed it extremely susceptible to mental suggestion of all types.

Okay so this is the start of the explanation of the game's big twist and it already sounds really stupid. Somehow even stupider than Curious Village's twist, which as you may recall was "everyone is robots." The difference is this one has been hinted at reasonably well to the point where the place's name itself is a clue! Don't get it right now? Don't worry, you will.

Tales of the nightmarish visions seen in Folsense then spread, as did the town's sinister reputation.



This is all a creation of our minds.
How did you work it all out, Professor?
The images of Folsense we saw are 50 years old, yet they show a town identical to the Folsense of today.
No town can remain unchanged for 50 long years.



The Folsense of 50 years ago...



None of it's real, Grandfather. This town is just a thin shadow. An illusion born of greed.
You and Sophia... Everything you knew changes 50 years ago.

End

I could make this entire update one giant video but I decided to split it up for watchability purposes. Because it's like half an hour total.





Anton and Sophia



This whole town is cursed. If we remain here, all those dear to me will die.
Am I not dear to you, Sophia? Stay with me and we'll rebuild Folsense together.



Is that the real reason you want to go? Because there's someone else?



You've got it all wrong, Grandfather! She never betrayed you.
What?
The other she was talking about was the little life growing inside her.



N-no, that can't be!



I never knew. Sophia was...



She kept the baby a secret to avoid causing you more pain.
I've been so wrong.



She never stopped loving you.

End

Silence



False Sense
should almost certainly watch this one too.



Y'know, I think he's taking it rather well.

Also, uh, Anton has the best faces. Dude emotes super well!







I'm sure this won't prove to be a problem.







...Oh, well then. Looks like the chandelier is about to come down.



Someone else has noticed this pretty important detail as well, I see.





The whole place is starting to crumble!
Come with me!



What's happening?



At this point, the castle is shaking very quickly and constantly because it is falling apart. Anton being already exhausted can barely keep standing himself.

Come on, Grandfather!



Be careful!











Even from the outside, the castle is totally just exploding from the looks of things. Jeez, if a single chandelier can do all this...



It's a small detail, but I like how even here Anton is barely able to keep up. It makes sense with everything that just happened, but it would've been very easy to ignore that.



Seems like the foundation of what remains of Herzen Castle sits in.... where the miners lived? Maybe?



Either way, the rest of Herzen Castle is going to be joining it soon enough.

The Real Folsense



Well, Folsense became very derelict over the past 50 years I see.





Also we can see what Anton really looks like now too.



Oddly, even Anton is surprised to see himself as an old man. Seems like the reason everything looked like it was 50 years ago was because that was his delusion. No one would have intentionally set that up as an illusion for any visitors after all, and placing any old pictures of Folsense would've lead to obvious issues, and Anton seemed to believe that he was still a young man so he clearly didn't set it up either...



The game doesn't explicitly explain why we can see the real situation now, but with the reality of the situation explained and the castle having fallen apart there's nothing else keeping Anton's belief intact and so as everyone knows the truth, the illusion just fades away. It's even at sunrise just for maximum symbolism.

Unfulfilled Feelings



Thank you.



No, Luke, there's no curse to be found here.
But if I were to guess, I suspect you'd find traces of that gas in the ore used to make this box.

And the reason it only had an effect upon being opening isn't spelt out, but it should be obvious. The trace amounts on the outside would've dissipated decades ago. Why it had an effect upon being opened on everyone except Layton and Luke however...

The same fumes that drove the town to ruin were released upon each person who opened the box.



Honestly, the premise is pretty silly and out there but it's also remarkably grounded all things considered. Sure, an illusion of an entire town is ludicrous but this aspects does seem relatively realistic.

I suppose it was just an ordinary box, then.



What do you mean?



Many years ago, I asked a traveller passing through town to deliver it to her.
Unfortunately, the box's value made it a target to those hungry for wealth.
And so it was stolen again and again, thus perpetuating the whole chain of sad events.
But we checked the box. It was empty as could be.





These old words are the key to understanding this box and what it means. Do you follow, boy?
I... think so. Let me give it a shot!
"The sun rises when you and I meet, and when the wind blows, you will know my heart."
Hmm...

Puzzle Remix





1. "When you and I meet..." The two figures set into the box are facing away from each other. Perhaps there's some way to turn them around.
2. "The sun rises..." The sun here is located very low on the box. Once those two figures face each other, you should be able to raise it high into the sky.
3. "And when the wind blows..." As you've probably seen, when the sun is raised high, a small hole appears. It seems the next thing you need to do is get a breeze to pass through that opening. Don't bother using your stylus for this one. Instead, use your own breath to summon up a gust strong enough to make the sun shake.

So, the final puzzle of the game. And the only one to date to require a completely different kind of interaction to solve. It's pretty simple at least and I'm sure you can quickly figure out the solution.



Rotate the two figures so that they're facing...



Raise the sun high into the air...

And then notice that the audio gets quieter. Whenever I've heard this happen in any other DS game it's an indicator that you need to use the DS microphone. We want wind, so we blow into the mic...






Silence







Wh-What's the matter?
This isn't the letter I wrote! This is Sophia's handwriting!
The box must have made it to her after all!

Iris (Music Box vers.)



Though I'd like nothing more than to see you again, I'm afraid I no longer have the strength to do so.

You don't know how many times I've thought about you over the years.

I often wonder if you hate me for what I did. Do you?



I couldn't bear exposing that tiny life to such danger.

I knew your father's position, and understood you didn't have the option to leave with me.

Even though I did the only thing I could, I'll always regret leaving you that way.



My depature all those years ago has given you the chance to meet.



She reminds me of you every time she smiles.

With her around, I could never forget about you, even if I wanted to.



And now, though my time here is drawing to a close, I like to think we'll meet again on the other side.

The thought of seeing your face warms my heart.





End



Pandora's Ending

Iris (Music Box vers.)





It has a nice ring to it.





My dear granddaughter.
You don't know how much this means to me.





So very long, in fact, that I had forgotten what love even felt like.



and that anger completely blinded me.
But now I can see the world clearly again.









I'll have to put off returning to your side for a while.



Will you forgive me for making you wait just a little longer, my dear?







Silence



Goodbye, Folsense. You turned out to be an illusion and did not hold up as well as I remembered. Still better than the first half though.













Iris



And with that, we're done with the main game. There's a few bonus things in the credits that we never got to see before for obvious reasons.



The top-screen is the only one that matters here naturally. Like in Curious Village, they include snippets of things in a roughly chronological order.



Oh right, and in case it wasn't already super obvious, yes, Anton was the author of the Old Diary we were collecting.



It pretty quickly became obvious long before we ever even met him, mind.



Some of the scenes we get here are things we saw during the game, but they're the exception here and not the rule.



It is at least kind enough to also show things that we only heard about. So now we get to see Chelmey run away from a dog in a diaper.



And then chase Don Paolo, all the while Barton is having a snack and relaxing.

Speaking of Don Paolo, he uh... he really didn't add anything this time did he? He was the closest thing Curious Village had to an antagonist but here he was functionally relegated to one scene.



And now we get something that is still set before the credits, chronologically. This'd be during that fade before we were on the train. It's so weird seeing a happy Beluga.



After that, we're now in the credits themselves chronologically (you'll see). At least Luke seems to appreciate Sammy's singing.... talent...?



Everthing we did with Hamtaro has now gone to waste. Thanks, Macaroon. Made me waste me time, y'did.



Oh, remember Flora? Because she was actually in the game briefly. The real one at that!

At least she's finally been rescued but this can't help those abandonment issues she was clearly developing.



Speaking of Flora, Luke kept the mask of her as well. So he's 2-for-2 in keeping Don Paolo's masks as a souvenir I see.



So at some point, everyone from Dropstone comes up to Folsense. Also Stachenscarfen is there too. It's worth noting that Nigel is here as well, so at least he was real.



One last shot of the box, and with that we're almost done.

Silence



There is one last little detail left to explain.

And, no, it's not how Parcelle can manage to include Folsense in his delivery routes. That whole thing kind of got quietly dropped...

Huh?




They call it a miracle resuce and a resurrection, but... I think the implication here is that the gas never actually killed anyone? It just kind of knocked them out or something? But then again, Layton did check Schrader's pulse and was pretty certain he was dead.



You could write that off as like the gas still being in the air and Layton convinced himself Schrader died. That's the big problem with that twist, really. You can just brush almost anything under the rug with "hallucination!"



Oh, but that might conflict



Well then, I'll simply have to cancel.
Huh?
After all, Luke.









And with that, as we cross a bridge leading back to London...



Except, it's only the end of the main game. We still have the rest of the DLC to finish off and then what is functionally the postgame for good measure!





If nothing else, there are 2/5ths of that section that explicitly ARE post-game content. This one, for example, is opened just from beating the game.

So, next time we'll do the sensible thing and work on the DLC first.