History VideoGame / PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyConflictOfInterest

* ForWantOfANail: Nick's decision from the last day of ''Turnabout Consequences'' has a big impact on the next case. Choosing not to [[spoiler: accuse Pearl Fey]] initiates a chain of events where [[spoiler: both the defendant and culprit die at the end of ''Turnabout into the Unknown'' and Obadiah Williamson uses a forged piece of evidence which gets him removed from the case]]. It is however crossed with InSpiteOfANail because in both routes the final mastermind and his scheme are exposed.

* ChekhovsGun: TheReveal at the end of ''[[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'' that [[spoiler:Apollo and Trucy are half-siblings]]? It allows Trucy to [[spoiler:use Apollo's bracelet to search witnesses for "tells" in their testimonies]] during the events of ''Turnabout into the Unknown''. [[spoiler:[[IgnoredEpiphany Of course, she still has no idea]] ''[[IgnoredEpiphany why]]'' [[IgnoredEpiphany she's able to do it.]]]]

* BaitAndSwitch: After Finnegan Hood sets himself up as a ShadowArchetype of Phoenix, being an AmoralAttorney who was disbarred for forging evidence, you'd expect to see him as the defense attorney against Williamson in the MN-6 trial {{flashback}}. Instead, it turns out to be [[spoiler:[[Kristoph Gavin]]]].

* BaitAndSwitch: After Finnegan Hood sets himself up as a ShadowArchetype of Phoenix, being an AmoralAttorney who was disbarred for forging evidence, you'd expect to see him as the defense attorney against Williamson in the MN-6 trial {{flashback}}. Instead, it turns out to be [[spoiler:[[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Kristoph Gavin]]]].

* UnwinnableByMistake: During the first trial of Turnabout Consequences, you are supposed to present a bullet and Maya's injury report gotten from talking to Dr. Eldoon. It is possible to go to court without the injury report if the player doesn't talk to the doctor.

* CourtroomAntics: As expected from a ''Phoenix Wright'' game.

** [[spoiler:[[UnfortunateName Victor Timmons]] was a member of the Rivales Family who ensured that everybody would drop charges against Kylie Washington.]]

* RealityEnsues: Applied to a character's mental state: [[spoiler:whereas Pearl [[AngstWhatAngst seems to be fine in the canon games]], ''Conflict of Interest'' prefers to take an another route, as one would definitely not remain unscathed from discovering they had been used their entire life by their own mother and was a central piece in a murder plot. ''Conflict of Interest'' decides to run with the idea that Pearl has been traumatized by her childhood's events, and to follow one of the worst possible scenario to its logical end.]]

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Deconstructed with Pearl in Turnabout Consequences. After being used as a pawn by her mother at the end of Bridge to the Turnabout, she disappears to protect Maya from herself.]]

* NonStandardGameOver: Happens in ''Turnabout into the Unknown'' if in you fail to conclusively prove the true identity of the killer in the final testimony. [[spoiler:Carlo Luciano disappears without a trace after Francisco Mendirez is executed, and it's heavily implied that he goes on to murder Phoenix, Obadiah and the rest of the heroes after Mendirez is dead.]]
* OutOfOrder: Case 1 (called also Case 0) was released AFTER Case 2 and 3. WordOfGod says that this case had been initially cut off, as it had almost nothing to do with the main plot. However, while working on Case 3, the author decided that it might be a good idea to [[ArcWelding throw it back in and rewrite some parts of the plot]], so now it fits with the other cases. It also gave Trucy some screen time in the courtroom.

* BigBad: Francisco Mendirez. An interesting example as, unlike many Ace Attorney villains, his name, role and motives are always clear, but he still manages to be a HiddenVillain, as neither the audience nor the in-universe characters have seen what he really looks like. His name is one of the few things we ''do'' know about him. [[spoiler: Turns out it's not so simple: the man we've known as "Mendirez" for the entire game was an imposter willing to ruin the reputation of the real Francisco Mendirez.]]

** Likewise this is true for the game's actual BigBad. What is the identity of Francisco Mendirez, the man responsible for most of the game's events? [[spoiler: Well... this is where it gets muddy. The mastermind's identity is the unassuming coroner, Morton Dreisan. As it's revealed however, he's only using the identity of the real Francisco Mendirez to ruin him in the eyes of his fellow mobsters.]]

* ForWantOfANail: Nick's decission from the last day of ''Turnabout Consequences'' has a big impact on the next case. Choosing not to [[spoiler: accuse Pearl Fey]] initiates a chain of events where [[spoiler: both the defendant and culprit die at the end of ''Turnabout into the Unknown'' and Obadiah Williamson uses a forged piece of evidence which gets him removed from the case]]. It is however crossed with InSpiteOfANail because in both routes the final mastermind and his scheme are exposed.

* BigGood: [[spoiler:Steven Jameson, also known as "Jimmy"]] seems to be this, having gathered both [[spoiler: Gladys Porter]] and [[spoiler: Walter Webb]] in order to bring Francisco Mendirez down. [[spoiler:The fake Mendirez, that is. When he finds out that Carlo Luciano has been the one pulling the strings, he tries to help clear the real Mendirez's name and put a stop to Luciano. It costs both his and Gladys' lives, but by the end Luciano is unmasked and either [[AssholeVictim killed by Mendirez]], or arrested.]]

* BigBad: Francisco Mendirez. An interesting example as, unlike many Ace Attorney villains, his name, role and motives are always clear, but he still manages to be a HiddenVillain, as neither the audience nor the in-universe characters have seen what he really looks like. His name is one of the few things we ''do'' know about him. [[spoiler: Turns out it's not so simple: the man we've known as "Mendirez" for the entire game was an imposter willing to ruin the reputation of real Francisco Mendirez.]]
* BigGood: So far [[spoiler: Steven Jameson]] seems to be this. For unknown reasons, he gathered both [[spoiler: Gladys Porter]] and [[spoiler: Walter Webb]] in order to bring Francisco Mendirez down.

* ContinuityNod: The crumpled photo of Phoenix, Maya and Pearl on a boat has been evidently taken in Gaterwater Land, during the events of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth''. One can even spot little Miles' figure in the background.

* LeftHanging: Case 1 intentionaly ends with some plot threads waiting to be resolved in the next cases.

* PlayingThePlayer:
** Turnabout Consequences does it's best to make you confused as to who the real culprit is. [[spoiler:Raphael got an early bird cameo right before the case came out in the prologue case as one of the Rivales thugs talking with Timmons, so people would be suspicious of him, Meredith outright says she did it at the end of the second investigation. By the end of the case, you will be slapping yourself at how simple the solution is and depressed at the outcome.]]
** Turns out, another one has been going on all game. [[spoiler: You thought Mendirez was the BigBad? Well, you thought wrong.]]

* LoggingOntoTheFourthWall: Link that [=PureMadness=] posted on Ace Fanclub leads to a really unsettling image of Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog (formerly it led to an equally distorted picture of [[MassEffect Commander Shepard]] but the old link has expired).

* BittersweetEnding: The ending of ''Turnabout Consequences'' won't leave you indifferent: [[spoiler:you, as Phoenix, has to piece it all together and bring down one of the characters whose Phoenix helds most dear: Pearl herself. The final choice is yours to make, but should you go all the way through, you will have to deduce the awful truth: that Pearl is thoroughly broken inside, that she convinced herself to be a danger to Maya, and that her first solution to avoid putting Maya in danger was to attempt suicide.]]