History YMMV / PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:"[[MasterOfDisguise the phantom]]" is a [[TheSpook mysterious]] international super spy and the other figure responsible for "The Dark Age of the Law". Murdering multiple people to [[KillAndReplace assume their identities]], the phantom has no qualms over the suffering his actions cause, allowing the neighbors of one of his victims to believe she had been killed by her 11-year-old daughter. Sabotaging a rocket, the phantom nearly kills the astronaut aboard and years later [[MadBomber bombs]] an entire space station; he later murdered yet another astronaut, Apollo's best friend, and [[FrameUp framed]] the astronaut's coworker. Attempting to bomb a courtroom to destroy a piece of evidence, the phantom is willing to kill hundreds to get away and tries to frame Athena and her friend for his atrocities.]]

** In Case 5-2, it is stated that the Nine Tailed Fox defeated the Youkai Tenma Taro and sealed him in a locked cave where a mansion is later built. Youkai were supposed to be hundreds if not thousand-year-old folktales from Japan, but in the western version of the game, the series is set somewhere in California. It is stated in the game that Nine-Tails Vale and Tenma Town were founded by Japanese immigrants, and Japanese immigration to the United States began sometime in the 1800's. This would mean that two Japanese Youkai somehow crossed the Pacific Ocean during 1800's and fought an epic battle on California soil.

** TransAudienceInterpretation: A segment of the fanbase has decided that [[spoiler:Robin Newman is actually a trans girl, rather than a crossdressing cis girl]], on the grounds that [[spoiler:her arc makes more sense as a trans girl's ComingOutStory]]. Similarly, some find it easier to believe that [[spoiler:Robin is actually genderfluid, but either in denial or doesn't know how to properly deal with it, resulting in her swinging wildly back and forth between stereotypically masculine and feminine behavior]].

* AssPull: During the final trial, [[spoiler:after giving the possibility of the Phantom killing Metis Cykes, Phoenix proves it by having Edgeworth go back in the security footage, revealing an unidentified figure with an injured hand fleeing the crime scene. Meaning that apparently ''no one'' checked the security footage for seven years.]] While a handwave is given about the footage never being checked [[spoiler:due to Blackquill confessing]], it still feels like an enormous stretch.

** A segment of the fanbase has decided that [[spoiler:Robin Newman is actually a trans girl, rather than a crossdressing cis girl]], on the grounds that [[spoiler:her arc makes more sense as a trans girl's ComingOutStory]]. Similarly, some find it easier to believe that [[spoiler:Robin is actually genderfluid, but either in denial or doesn't know how to properly deal with it, resulting in her swinging wildly back and forth between stereotypically masculine and feminine behavior]].

* AssPull: During the final trial, [[spoiler:after giving the possibility of the Phantom killing Metis Cykes, Phoenix proves it by having Edgeworth go back in the security footage, revealing an unidentified figure with an injured hand fleeing the crime scene. Meaning that apparently ''no one'' checked the security footage for seven years.]] While a handwave is given about the footage never being checked [[spoiler:due to Blackquill confessing]], it still feels like an enormous stretch. However, Yuri Cosmos told Phoenix that [[spoiler:the investigation was rushed by the government so it's very much possible the footage was overlooked on purpose]].

** Hugh O'Conner is an interesting opponent and probably the biggest challenge in Turnabout Academy. His testimonies are concise and need to be attentive to detail to unfold. Plus he's an interesting character which turns out to be more than just an arrogant smartass. His Mood Matrick is also so outright hilarious that you can't help but enjoy it for how over-the-top it is. And clearing it is truly cathartic when it proves to be just what Athena needed to uncover the true culprit of the case and giving him, Juniper and Robin some needed peace of mind.

* AssPull: During the final trial, [[spoiler:after giving the possibility of the Phantom killing Metis Cykes, Phoenix proves it by having Edgeworth go back in the security footage, revealing an unidentified figure with an injured hand fleeing the crime scene. Meaning that apparently ''no one'' checked the security footage for seven years.]] While a handwave is given about the footage never being checked [[spoiler:due to Blackquill confessing]], it still feels like an enormous stretch. However, Yuri Cosmos told Phoenix that [[spoiler:the investigation was rushed by government so it's very much possible the footage was overlooked on purpose]].

* AssPull: During the final trial, [[spoiler:after giving the possibility of the Phantom killing Metis Cykes, Phoenix proves it by having Edgeworth go back in the security footage, revealing an unidentified figure with an injured hand fleeing the crime scene. Meaning that apparently ''no one'' checked the security footage for seven years.]] While a handwave is given about the footage never being checked [[spoiler:due to Blackquill confessing]], it still feels like an enormous stretch.

** Turnabout Academy is generally well-received due to the interesting plot, the whole high-school setting and for having a cast of intriguing and lovable characters, who are much more complex than they seem. It's also the only case to have Athena as playable character, and it's interesting to see how she fares, considering it's her very first trial as the lead defense attorney, using what she learnt from Apollo and Phoenix when she was their co-counsel. The only real weak point is the culprit, who is considered dull and not much of an antagonist but for the rest it's considered a pretty sold case.

** [[spoiler:Simon Blackquill]]'s testimony in Case 5. It manages to combine both Mood Matrix and regular contradiction finding into the one testimony, uses the Mood Matrix in creative ways that haven't been seen before [[spoiler: such as noise levels ''increasing'']] and accumulates in [[spoiler: an overload of ''every emotion at once'']]. It's also a very emotionally-involving moment for the characters.

** While opinions on Turnabout Countdown are divise, people agree that Ted Tonate is a pretty good StarterVillain (arguably even better than L'Belle and [[spoiler:Means]]) that is able to make things work out for himself despite how literally on the spot he has to work, especially at the end when he comes up with a bluff worthy of Phoenix Wright. He works well as the very first challenge the player come across in a game that is particularly bleak.

** While opinions on Turnabout Countdown are divise, people agree that Ted Tonate is a pretty good StarterVillain (arguably even better than L'Belle and [[spoiler:Means]]) that is able to make things work out for himself despite how literally on the spot he has to work, especially at the end when he literally comes up with a bluff worthy of Phoenix Wright. He works well as the very first challenge the player come across in a game that is particularly bleak.

* BestBossEver: While the bosses in this game tend to fall short of the usual standards, [[spoiler:Apollo is a well liked challenge. Determined that Athena is the true killer, his intense desire to avenge his best friend puts him at odds with another protagonist and shows how much he's improved as a lawyer in the most tragic example possible, as the only way to defeat him is to cause him to have a HeroicBSOD. It's a tense and tragic battle against a character finally standing on his own two legs.]]

** Then there's also [[BigBad The Phantom]], also known as [[spoiler: Bobby Fulbright]]. Some think he was one of the most terrifying opponents our lawyers have ever encountered, others think that he was a good concept that was executed terribly and there's also a third group that considers him a dull and uninteresting character prone to downright moronic actions, such as [[spoiler: bringing the lighter with Athena's[[note]]Actually Clay's.[[/note]] prints in the first place instead of letting Starbuck take the fall]].

** Creator/WendeeLee voicing Athena becomes more hilarious given [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkxhyrhmn5A this scene]] from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''.

** Localizing the name Hosuke Odoroki into Apollo Justice pays off in this game, especially because he gets a new co-worker named Athena Cykes. Apollo's namesake is commonly associated with the sun, while Athena gets a lunar motif as seen in her overall design and Japanese name. Juniper even manages to include a sun metaphor at one point. Plus, the names of Greek gods are commonly used in astronomy, coinciding Apollo and Athena's connections to the Cosmos Space Center (Apollo via his best friend Clay while Athena spent most of her childhood there).

* OlderThanTheyThink: The "Dark age of the law" is chronologically older than people think. Prior to Dual Destinies, we had the [[VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney their ancestors dealing with such a thing back then]]. [[spoiler: The Justice Minister Mael Stronghart is corrupted because he wanted power and abused his authority whereas Jigoku Seishiro who is the Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs in Japan is tamer in comparison but still corrupted regardless. Prior to Stronghart getting ousted and his status revoked after confessing, those in the gallery during the closed trial supported Stronghart's questionable methods which showed that they are willing to turn blind eyes to corruption as long as the crime rate remains low]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

** Plonco and Clonco are beloved due to being adorable robots who help lighten the mood of a case that would otherwise be overwhelmingly bleak. They also end up being quite helpful witnesses [[spoiler:who even help to provide evidence to defeat the BigBad.]]
** Marlon Rimes is another fan favorite character due to his very likable, laidback personality with a good of depth and [[spoiler:being possibly the most tragic and understandable culprit in the entire franchise, trying to put down what he thought was a dangerous animal who killed his girlfriend and even risking his life attempting to save the victim when he fell to his death.]] Many considered Turnabout Reclaimed one of the best cases in the series in large part to him alone.

** A reversed instance of this ([[AnachronicOrder for the audience]]; [[FunnyAneurysmMoment for the characters, it's played straight]]) occurs in the fourth case. The Judge asks about the bomb transport case, a crucial piece of evidence in cases one and four, and Blackquill [[BlackComedy jokingly]] tells him that it's his coffin. One of the final revelations of the first case is that [[spoiler:the the body of the murdered detective, Candice Arme, was hidden inside the transport case ''during the very trial'' Blackquill made the joke in. Of course, none of them knew this at the time]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Let's face it. As noted above, a lot of things related to [[spoiler: Bobby Fulbright became a lot more harsher after TheReveal]].

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:The man known only as "[[NoNameGiven the phantom]]" is a [[TheSpook mysterious]] international super spy and the other figure responsible for "The Dark Age of the Law". Murdering multiple people to [[KillAndReplace assume their identities]], the phantom [[TheSociopath has no qualms over the suffering his actions cause]], allowing the neighbors of one of his victims to believe she had been killed by her 11-year-old daughter. Sabotaging a rocket, the phantom nearly kills the astronaut aboard and years later [[MadBomber bombs]] an entire space station; he later murdered yet another astronaut, Apollo's best friend, and [[FrameUp framed]] the astronaut's coworker. Attempting to bomb a courtroom to destroy a piece of evidence, the phantom is [[DirtyCoward willing to kill hundreds to get away]] and tries to frame Athena and her friend for his atrocities]].

[[YMMV/AceAttorney2012 The 2012 film]] | [[YMMV/AceAttorneyAnime The anime]]]]-]]]

** Also the Judge, who's somewhat more reasonable and down-to-Earth again, while previous games where giving him quite a lot of {{Flanderization}} into more and more of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.

** Some of the fandom interpret Simon Blackquill's admiration for Japanese culture, despite having (at least in the English version) ostensibly no Japanese heritage, as a sign that he's a [[OccidentalOtaku weeaboo]]. Also [[spoiler:the revelation that his under-eye streaks came from crying a lot in prison]] has given birth to the theory that Simon is secretly a crybaby.

* EpilepticTrees: While this game claims that "The Dark Age of the Law" was started by the combined effects of Phoenix's disbarment and prosecutor Simon Blackquill's murder conviction, some fans point instead to the actions of Manfred von Karma, Damon Gant, and Lana Skye all the way back in the first game as what truly kickstarted it. Their respective methods were practically the embodiment of the "the ends justify the means" philosophy that seems commonplace among legal professionals by this game's setting, with Phoenix's disbarment and Blackquill's conviction a few years later simply acting as the tipping point.

** "Turnabout Reclaimed," the DLC case, is considered by many to be ''Justice For All''[='s=] "[[ThatOneLevel Turnabout Big Top]]" done right, because it also features the interesting elements of that case, namely [[spoiler:the circumstances and nature of the real culprit]], but with much more likable other characters. Also, the notion of defending a killer whale in court [[spoiler:for the first half of the case]] is considered by many to be absolutely hilarious. It also introduces the twist of [[spoiler:there being no actual murderer (the victim fell to his death and the one other person around clearly tried to save him, but failed)]].