Hey guys, Mindez here.
This is my first timed speedrun, I've been working on routing for the last week or so, and this was my first time recording it timed. This is played on console, with facecam pointing at my hands throughout the run to serve as proof.
So this is a slightly awkward game when it comes to timing. I notice that the run on here from Tiki09 calls time when the final puzzle is submitted, but I've timed it slightly differently in that I believe the end of the run should be the final input before the unskippable cutscene and credits, and I count the 'final puzzle' as postgame. I've included a split in the video upon completion of final puzzle (2:15:57) just so this run is comparable to Tiki09's run, but probably won't in future. This decision was made after seeking advice on the SpeedDemosArchive forum, who have told me that time after credits generally isn't counted. Obviously it depends hugely on the game, but that's the timing I'd like to use.
So this run, I think, went horribly. I'm still submitting it because it is the current WR and I'm not sure if I'll be able to record another run for a little while, but I plan on beating it fairly soon. Two puzzles in particular need HUGE improvement - puzzles 94 and 119. With practice I think this time could come down to 2:01:00 or 2:02:00, with my ultimate goal for Layton speedrunning being sub-2 hours.
The game doesn't have much in the way of sequence breaks as far as I've found, but this has been super fun to run through and I look forward to many more runs in the future. I hope this speedrun will inspire some other Layton runners, especially those that could help find sequence breaks or figure out a slightly faster route.