Layla’s blood is type O negative, which is how you know her goth phase is never going to end. And given that knowledge, it’s no surprise her telekinetic powers should manifest the way they do. Her personal shield is an umbrella of the kind Jenna Ortega carries in posters for Addams Family reboot Wednesday. And her traversal skill is a spooky, spectral elevator – the type you might take to visit David S Pumpkins, or Leo’s dead wife in Inception. Then there’s the vampire ex-boyfriend: both Layla’s ultimate ability and the ultimate tribute to Twilight.
It’s the trademark ‘ding!’ of the elevator that’s stuck in my head, though, even after finishing my Redfall review and finding Arkane’s latest FPS wanting. Layla’s lift is a leftfield, bizarre and truly memorable way to get around.
It works thus: at any time, cooldown permitting, Layla can pick a flat surface at short-to-midrange and summon a translucent, pink-purple rectangle that is, unmistakably, an elevator. It’s got one of those Bostwick gates you see in creepy old hotels, with the metal lattice that slides across to let you in or out. Not that Layla uses the door: this being a ghostly elevator, she walks straight through the shimmering membrane and is fired, suddenly, high into the air.