Line #49 YMMV/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth


1	[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' '''YMMV pages'''\
2	[[YMMV/AceAttorney Franchise as a whole]]\
3	Mainline entries:\
4	''YMMV/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' \| ''[[YMMV/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll Justice for All]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations Trials and Tribulations]]'' \| ''YMMV/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' \| ''[[YMMV/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]''\
5	Spin-offs:\
6	'''''Ace Attorney Investigations''''' \| ''YMMV/GyakutenKenji2'' \| ''YMMV/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' \| ''YMMV/TheGreatAceAttorney''\
7	Other media:\
8	[[YMMV/AceAttorney2012 The 2012 film]] \| [[YMMV/AceAttorney2016 The anime]]]]-]]]
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10	----
11	* {{Adorkable}}: Kay approaches her position as "Yatagarasu" with such adorably girlish enthusiasm that you can't ''help'' but find her endearing.
12	* AngstWhatAngst: Detective Badd doesn't emote much over Byrne Faraday's death, and is even willing to openly discuss the possibility that Faraday might have murdered Rell before being killed. That said, this can be attributed to Badd's professionalism, since he warns Gumshoe not to bring emotions to the job. He does have a mild but significant reaction if you present Faraday’s fountain pen to him, from which Edgeworth deduces how close the two men were, and he becomes offended when Manfred von Karma [[SpeakIllOfTheDead calls Faraday incompetent just after the latter's murder]].
13	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
14	** Kay Faraday, the new sidekick girl. On one hand, she has a healthy fan following that loves her energetic personality and the way it sharply contrasts with Edgeworth's professional, focused behaviour, as well as her years-long journey to [[spoiler:track down her father's killer, which gives her a direct parallel with Edgeworth himself.]] Her heartwarming friendship with Detective Gumshoe is also widely appreciated. On the other, she receives a considerable degree of criticism for pushing Gumshoe out of focus from his usual role as Edgeworth's investigative partner in favor of what is often considered a retread of the familiar Maya archetype for an assistant character, as well as for her "thief" design gimmick rarely if ever factoring into her characterization or behavior on anything more than a superficial level. A common question shared between both camps is of why she even exists in the first place, when the ever-popular Ema Skye also appears in both games, already bringing with her an established history with Edgeworth.
15	** Edgeworth himself, to some extent. Many fans of his adore the chance for him to take up a full-time protagonist role following his brief stint as player character in part of the final case in ''Trials & Tribulations,'' and appreciate the analytical, logic-driven approach he brings to the role, setting him apart from the more emotional Phoenix or Apollo. On the other hand, a large camp criticizes his portrayal, viewing him as a comparatively bland protagonist lacking his predecessors' wide variety of character relationships and emotional connections. Another common criticism accuses him of showing considerably less emotional range than he had in the earlier titles, and derides the considerable deal of CharacterShilling he is given by members of the supporting cast.
16	** Zinc [=LaBlanc=] can fall into two categories. The more positive view of him is that he's a challenging and amusing WarmUpBoss who is a surprisingly astute opponent despite being an unsympathetic HateSink. The less forgiving interpretation of him is that he's an overly unlikable and obnoxious character who is too obstructive for someone who has little importance to the case as a whole.
17	* BestBossEver:
18	** [[spoiler:The Judge is an unexpected and interesting opponent. Ill informed about the events that have recently transpired, it shows a glimpse into his personality when he is a participant in a trial rather than a spectator. It's a short and easy battle, yet an incredibly welcome one due to being so different than most confrontations. It takes a fantastic concept and executes it perfectly.]]
19	** [[spoiler:Calisto Yew/Shin-na is the only boss who isn't seen as being mixed to negative in quality. She's a cunning and shrewd liar who is good at keeping in character and her testimonies are challenging without relying on unnecessary length to be climatic. While it's not originally clear they're the same person, Shin-na retroactively becomes even more interesting when compared to Calisto as it shows just how much more dangerous she has become now that she can manage her outbursts. Ironically despite being TheDragon, her fight is far more well received than Quercus Alba's, who is a mix of TheScappy and ThatOneBoss.]]
20	* BestLevelEver: "Turnabout Reminiscence" is the most liked cases from this game. It has [[spoiler:Calisto Yew]] who has a fun (if, admittedly, slightly annoying) gimmick, a fun personality, a very clever plan, and is by far the best villain in the game. It also features Detective Badd, who is regarded as one of the most badass characters in the franchise and is a widely beloved character in general. It also shows how Edgeworth and Gumshoe first meet, shows Franziska and Edgeworth’s sibling-like relationship, has a small but nice cameo from Manfred von Karma, and it has a cross-examination with the judge, which is as fun as it sounds.
21	* CatharsisFactor: Due to Larry's sheer unhelpfulness in ''Turnabout Ablaze'', if the player presents any evidence to him that doesn't result in a specific reaction from him, it leads to a conversation in which Franziska whips him until he's knocked out, while Edgeworth approves of it. The best news? It isn't during an argument, this means you can repeat it as much as you want.
22	* CommonKnowledge: [[spoiler: Thanks to the Infamous [[MemeticMutation "My extraterritorial rights are too powerful to let this game end!"]] joke by {{Webcomic/Hiimdaisy}}, many people think the final part of the game is just trying to find a way around Ambassador Quercus Alba's diplomatic immunity. He actually loses his immunity during the interrogation thanks to Lang's intervention but the case still keeps going for quite a while after that point, since Edgeworth needs to prove Alba committed a murder outside of Allebahst's side of the embassy]].
23	* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[AssInAmbassador Quercus Alba]], while initially seeming like a [[ObfuscatingDisability frail]], kind [[EvilOldFolks old man]], turns out to be the hardened, cold-hearted boss of [[TheSyndicate a large and powerful smuggling ring]]. Thanks to him putting many highly-convincing counterfeit bills into circulation, the country of Zheng Fa has been thrown into economic chaos due to [[TheChessmaster his machinations]]. He also ordered the deaths of Cece Yew, Deid Mann, and Byrne Faraday due to their efforts in trying to expose his role in the smuggling ring, and personally murdered Mask*[=DeMasque=] II and his subordinate Manny Coachen: [=DeMasque=] II for stealing the fake statue that contained the plates used for creating counterfeit bills, and Coachen due to him seeking to steal power of the smuggling ring from under Alba's nose. Ruthless and rotten to the core, Alba will kill anyone without so much as a second thought for the sake of keeping his criminal empire running]].
24	* DifficultySpike: The last third of the final case has parts that are harder than almost anything else in the game. The last part of the third case is also unusually difficult.
25	* DisappointingLastLevel: "Turnabout Ablaze" is one of the least liked cases in the entire series. The case suffers from both {{Arc\|Fatigue}} and EndingFatigue, taking about 8-10 hours to play through. The pacing even gets worse during the final confrontation against [[spoiler:Quercus Alba]] (a weak, underdeveloped, and much less interesting villain than [[spoiler:Shih-na or Cammy Meele]]).
26	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
27	** Cammy Meele is a surprisingly popular character for a character who only appears in a single, short case, owing to her [[MsFanservice very attractive]] design and [[spoiler:being a surprisingly competent and intelligent killer, putting together a solid plan to cover a spur killing in minutes after committing it, and only failing because of something she couldn't have planned for. That she desperately pleads that she didn't mean to commit the murder also earns her a decent amount of sympathy from fans, especially in a game criticized for its killers lacking depth]].
28	** Colias Palaeno is rather well-liked due to being genuinely helpful and cooperative to Edgeworth's investigation, as well just being a NiceGuy. It can be said his presence in "Turnabout Ablaze" helped the case from being ''too'' contentious (though obviously not entirely, if you look at the tropes here)
29	* EscapistCharacter: Kay Faraday is what many Edgeworth {{fan girl}}s dream of being. She's a cute "modern-day Robin Hood" and gets to play assistant to Edgey, who feels a deep connection to her because of [[spoiler:the parallels between her father's death and his]]. She's also Gumshoe's very best friend.
30	* FanNickname:
31	** ''Ace Attorney Investigations'', before that title was bestowed, was called ''[[AlliterativeTitle Perfect Prosecutor]]'' by the fandom (though early announcements in Nintendo Power magazine also used that name).
32	** Detective Badd is usually referred to as "Detective Baddass", simply because of how much of a Badass he is.
33	* HarsherInHindsight:
34	** Many people considered the reveal in the ''Apollo Justice'' game that Ema failed her exam and thus didn't achieve her dream quite harsh. With that knowledge, play these games, where she appears as the same highly ambitious GenkiGirl she was in the first game. Lessened by ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'' showing she eventually got the job, but you know she's still setting up for temporary disappointment here.
35	** From the few times he's shown interacting with Manfred, we can tell Badd is not on very good terms with him. Come ''VisualNovel/GyakutenKenji2'', which has a flashback case of its own, we learn ''exactly'' why that is, and it's not pretty: [[spoiler:realizing that Manfred wouldn't let there be a fair, honest investigation, Badd chose to team up with Gregory. This caused the detective and the prosecutor to clash and eventually, Manfred straight up fired him. [[ForegoneConclusion As the audience already knows]], the case went on to result in both a MiscarriageOfJustice and the DL-6 incident]].
36	* HilariousInHindsight:
37	** Players often questioned the fact you get a penalty in the Logic menu if you try to connect two prompts that don't match, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation asking how Edgeworth could possibly get penalized for something that happens entirely inside his mind]]. ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' introduces revisualization segments at the end of trials, which also take place inside the player character's mind, but this time around, there are absolutely no consequences for choosing a wrong answer.
38	** Zinc [=LeBlanc=]'s damage animation has him appear as if he's in a wind tunnel. Come [[Anime/AceAttorney2016 the anime]], where this happens a lot when either side of the court makes a point and blast the opposition or the witness with wind through the power of logic.
39	%%** Edgeworth's knowledgeable defense of ''The Steel Samurai'' sounds a lot like the way adult fans of a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic certain other kids' show]] (which debuted in 2010, a year after this game) justify their love. There's something priceless about the realization that, in his world, Miles Edgeworth is essentially a brony.
40	%%--->'''Edgeworth''': It's a show geared towards kids... however its high production values and riveting plot draws in a number of adults as well.
41	* HoYay:
42	** Gumshoe declaring that he'll show Edgeworth how much a man he is, and Edgeworth responds by asking if he should prepare a 21 gun salute now or later.
43	** If not FoeRomanceSubtext, quite a lot of Lang's behaviour and remarks towards Edgeworth can come across as being pretty [[TsunDere tsundere]].
44	---> '''Lang: (in response to accidentally giving up information for Kay's Little Thief''' Tch! Fine! See if I care!\
45	''(during '''Turnabout Ablaze''' when Edgeworth thanks Lang for helping earlier)''\
46	'''Edgeworth: (bows)''' Agent Lang, I would just like to thank you for your assistance earlier.\
47	'''Lang:''' Make no mistake, it's not like I was trying to help you with what I'm doing.
48	** Hell, by the finale of the fifth case, it can actually be interpreted as Lang ''finally'' no longer being so tsun to Edgeworth considering how he tells him he can't wait to see him in action in the courtroom.
49	* MagnificentBastard: Years before the events of the game, [[spoiler:the nameless [[TheMole spy for the Cohdopian smuggling ring]] created the fake identity of a playful defense attorney named Calisto Yew, pretending to be the sister of a woman murdered by the smuggling ring. She acted as one of the three members of the group, Yatagarasu, who were investigating the smuggling ring, with intentions to sabotage the group from the inside. She sets up prosecutor Byrne Faraday to be accused of being the Yatagarasu by criminal, Mack Rell, before murdering them both, quickly placing suspicion on Detective Gumshoe when deduced that the two couldn’t have killed each other. Even when Edgeworth reveals that she’s the true murderer, the spy manages to trick Edgeworth into giving her the Yatagarasu’s key, her true objective, before escaping arrest. Later creating the persona of Shih-na, an enigmatic right hand woman to Shi-Long Lang, the spy acted as a mole within Interpol, and leaked information to the smuggling ring. When [[BigBad Quercus Alba]] murders the traitorous Manny Coachen, the spy creates a fire in order for the two to move the corpse between embassies to create confusion of where the crime scene occured. After Shi-Long Lang saves her life from Tyrell Badd, the spy [[GracefulLoser gracefully accepts defeat]] and out of gratitude, gives information to Edgeworth to help him discover the truth about the case.]]
50	%%* MemeticBadass: Detective Badd. He might as well be the Chuck Norris of Ace Attorney.
51	* MemeticLoser: Deid Mann, for both his hilariously unsubtle MeaningfulName even by victim standards and his complete lack of other discernable characteristics.
52	* MemeticMutation: When detective Badd [[spoiler:turns himself in after the truth of the Yatagarasu is revealed]], he says: "And one more thing... Detective Gumshoe. I'm entrusting this to you". While he's referring to [[spoiler:the stolen tape from the KG-8 incident, which he finally retrieved from Ernest Amano]], the animation where he takes out his lollipop plays out when he says it, causing fans to joke that he's entrusting the lollipop to Gumshoe.
53	* {{Moe}}: In "Turnabout Reminiscence", we get to see Franziska von Karma... as an absolutely ''adorable'' 13-year old girl, [[LittleMissBadass she still has her whip though]] although it's much, ''much'' smaller and is already ''not'' afraid to [[WhipOfDominance whip Edgeworth]] with her [[WeaponJr riding crop]].
54	* {{Narm}}:
55	** Edgeworth's use of logic as [[BadassNormal his special ability]] causes this a couple of times. First, it's introduced as a rare and little-known concept (even if he's talking to Gumshoe at the time, it's hard to imagine him being totally unfamiliar with it). Then, in the third case, Shi-Long Lang decries the very notion of using logic to determine the perpetrator of a crime, which just makes him look like a dimwitted CowboyCop even though he then proves himself to be an intellectual match for Edgeworth.
56	** What does the BigBad say right before the scene he breaks down in? [[spoiler:''A Scooby-Doo reference.'' Cause nothing is more threatening than a Scooby-Doo villain.]] His objection soundclip is also worth nothing. AHBJEKSHAWN!
57	** During the final case, [[spoiler:a certain cart]] is an important piece of evidence. Except the "wide shot" view of it is a hastily-drawn 2D profile sprite that doesn't quite match the game's art style, with a 3D shadow under it. No wonder it's mostly hidden out of view or under the textboxes.
58	* TheScrappy: One of the game's biggest problems is that the villains, aside from [[spoiler:Shih-na]] and to some extent [[spoiler:Cammy Meele]], are incredibly underwhelming:
59	** [[spoiler:BigBad Quercus Alba, widely considered the ''worst'' main villain in the entire franchise. Besides his infamously overlong final confrontation, many fans consider him a very weak character due to his lack of development. He has very little if any screentime before being revealed as the BigBad of the game (so much so that Edgeworth never has an extended conversation with him), preventing there from being much if any investment in stopping him, and no ties to the backstory or characters other than being the leader of the smuggling ring, making him look like a GenericDoomsdayVillain. His personality is also almost entirely defined by his arrogance, making him very one-note in terms of personality, and he ''constantly'' hides behind his extraterritorial rights throughout the confrontation with him to where it comes off as immensely repetitive and unintimidating. Quite a few fans have been left wishing Yew/Shih-na was the villain instead.]]
60	** [[spoiler:Lance Amano]] is a strong contender for one of the worst villains in the franchise. His plan to defraud his father is insanely stupid, he's a glaringly obvious culprit, and he's a whiny and obnoxious idiot who doesn't even put up that good of a fight.
61	** Jacques Portsman isn't ''as'' disliked as the aforementioned examples but he's still a very weak opponent even by StarterVillain standards. He's yet another AmoralAttorney who has no motives, backstory, or character depth other than just being corrupt for the sake of being corrupt. Add to that his obnoxious gimmick of constantly throwing sports metaphors into his dialogue, his even more obnoxious habit of loudly taking his jacket on and off, and the opening cutscene outright showing him as the murderer (something that ''Trials & Tribulations'', ''Apollo Justice'' and ''The Great Ace Attorney'' duology have avoided doing), he ends up feeling like an annoyance that you just want to get out of the way as soon as possible.
62	** While not a villain, Lauren is another hated character by fans, owing to her gimmick of obsessing over love being incredibly irritating and one-note, her unhelpfulness in the case as a whole, and her continued loyalty to her boyfriend Lance despite it being never explained why on earth she even likes the whiny {{Jerkass}}. [[spoiler:That she [[KarmaHoudini gets off almost completely scot-free]] (although she is implied to have spent time in the detention center) despite actively taking part in a fraud scheme and displaying no guilt over it does not help.]]
63	* SequelDifficultyDrop:
64	** In nearly every situation Edgeworth's inner monologue would make it clear even to Gumshoe what you're supposed to do next. When you press the testimony for which you must present evidence, Edgeworth will think -- and sometimes say out loud -- that there is something suspicious about that part, and if you reach the end of the testimony, Edgeworth will make some commentary on the testimony, providing a hint as to the evidence that must be presented (In Case 5, Edgeworth will say once that the relevant evidence was hidden away, and is referring to [[spoiler:the wire inside the clock in Babahl]]). This is probably because many fans mentioned they liked the way he thinks during his brief turn as defense attorney in the third game. Perhaps justified, as Edgeworth is an ExperiencedProtagonist compared to Phoenix, having already been prosecuting for years before Phoenix passed the bar exam and took on his first case.
65	** Penalties in the game always take off 10% of your life bar, thus you have 10 chances before a game over, which is pretty generous compared to the roller coaster of penalties amounts in the previous games. [[spoiler: The penalties are beefed up to 20% when Alba gets annoyed at one point by your constant time wasting with your questioning so you only have 5 chances left]]. Although in the sequel's final case, the final boss [[spoiler: Simon Keyes]] beefs up the penalty to ''50%''.
66	* SoOkayItsAverage: While not considered bad, the game is widely considered a strong contender for the weakest game in the franchise. Common complaints are the thin story that despite attempting to be serialized comes off more as an ExcusePlot and plays up AnachronicOrder to such an extent that it can become difficult to follow, Edgeworth being a PinballProtagonist whose only role is to blindly wander into and solve cases, and the general lack of interesting characters and cases. While there are well liked characters in the games, many of them are considered rather forgettable.
67	* ThatOneBoss: [[spoiler: '''Quercus Alba.''' He is the longest boss in the series (even moreso than Damon Gant who took two days to beat) and far more difficult than anyone who came before him. He's an excellent liar and the human equivelent of a brick wall, being tedious and frustrating rather than satisfying. The only good thing about his fight is his memetic objection soundclip.]]
68	* OneSceneWonder: Manfred Von Karma in the flashback case. He's such a cold and distant mentor to Edgeworth and Franziska that it leads to some hilarious moments, especially when interacting with the more colorful Kay Faraday and Dick Gumshoe.
69	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
70	** Despite being advertised as the new heroine and rival respectively, Kay and Lang don't even appear in the game until the third case of five, and are reduced to a supporting role and a cameo in the WholeEpisodeFlashback, giving them barely half the game to fill their designated roles. Kay especially gets hit with this hard, as despite the Yatagarasu being a central plot arc, she is around for almost none of it [[spoiler:culminating in her doing next to ''nothing'' during the confrontation with Shih-na that concludes the plotline other than getting taken hostage, and then spends the remainder of the game as little more than a minor character.]]
71	** Ema Skye in both games. Everyone's favorite aspiring forensic investigator only appears in small bursts and is effectively only there to introduce the fingerprinting segments. The fact that this is Ema when she was still a cheery student, years before the events that cause her to become her more jaded adult self in ''Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney'' only worsens matters.
72	** [[spoiler: Shin-na/Calisto Yew, the enigmatic and ruthless spy is one of the best villains in the game, as well as being one of the few culprits to have a major role in two chapters. She provides some fantastic twists and turns and both her personas are incredibly interesting and entertaining. The fact that TheScrappy Quercus Alba is the main villain is one of the reasons why Turnabout Ablaze was so disappointing to many.]]
73	** Ernest Amano is [[spoiler:a high-ranking member of the smuggling ring, and a collected and cunning man who will not hesitate to use his money to bail himself or his son out of trouble. He's far more interesting than his son and his main purpose in the chapter is to be arrested. The fact that his arc is so anticlimactic when he was one of the biggest threats Edgeworth could have faced makes his sidelining so much worse.]]
74	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
75	** Allebahst and Babahl used to be one country, Cohdopia, and the final case makes a point of this many times. But what exactly caused Cohdopia to split apart? Have fun with that mystery, because [[NoodleIncident the game never explains why]].
76	** The fourth case takes place at the very beginning of Edgeworth's prosecution career, just months before his appearance in the third game's own flashback case, "Turnabout Beginnings". Combined with the presence of both Manfred and Franziska von Karma, this provides an opportunity for the game to contrast the present-day Edgeworth's post-CharacterDevelopment self with his much more ruthless and dishonest younger self, and yet throughout the episode, Edgeworth's behavior is simply shown as virtually identical to that of his older self, without so much as a hint of the "[[AmoralAttorney Demon Prosecutor]]" on display.

Context YMMV / AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth