The Ace Attorney Series

I don’t think it’d be a problem if you just, say, cut over to Apollo and co. for a bit in Case 4 or something, with the case either bring plot relevant or mostly filler with Apollo being summoned back to Japanifornia at the end for whatever reason.

Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Oct 17th 2018 at 5:13:07 AM

The possibility of Khura'in coming back is a concern I have regarding AA7, and I worry that they may have written themselves into a corner. Personally, I don't think it should come back. It worked in SoJ (with some problems), but it was a one-off thing and the country has had its story told already. I like my lawyer games to be straightforward and I like to catch the true culprit using logic and evidence. Turning this outlandish court system where Divination Séances are a thing into a permanent aspect of the series might cause AA to drift too far from what has made the games consistently good.

The problem is, so far, all new gameplay mechanics—Psyche-Locks, Perception, and the Mood Matrix—have come to stay. Obviously, the only way the Divination Séance can be brought back is if Khura'in is also brought back. And I think having only one AA7 episode taking place there would break the pacing of the story even more than Turnabout Storyteller did.

Edited by Bluethorn on Oct 17th 2018 at 6:54:16 AM

Honestly, I didn't mind that Turnabout Storyteller "broke the pacing." It was a filler chapter, sure, but it was a nice breather after the previous chapter, gave me a chance to play as Athena and see how Simon is doing, and it's one of my favorite cases in the whole series.

If Khura'in comes back for one chapter in a future game, I would be down for it, mostly because I want to see how the Khura'in cast is doing after the events of Spirit of Justice. Oh, and also because I want to see Datz getting up to more shenanigans.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Oct 17th 2018 at 3:55:55 AM

Make Apollo have the DLC cases. That way, Seances return without needing to interrupt the main game.

To clarify, I liked Turnabout Storyteller too; I'm just not sure a similar filler episode set in Khura'in would work in the next game. It feels taking the time to explain the different game mechanics just for a filler episode would distract from the rest of the game

Having a Khura'in episode just as DLC is a solution I hadn't thought of, though, and it could work.

I mean SOJ's credits with the characters talking and stuff implied that Apollo and Trucy would finally find out that they're siblings so I doubt Khura'in would be the main setting since that reveal kind of requires Apollo and Trucy to be in the same place.

Personally, I wouldn't show Khura'in throughout AA7,^note except maybe in a post-case cutscene or two, like one I would have had at the end of 6-2, but would instead have it open up AA8 at around the same time as the latter cases of AA7. Effectively, AA7 would be Athena's (& Phoenix's) route while the first half of AA8 would be Apollo's Route.

The problem with having Apollo's cases as DLC is that you need a whole bunch of memory for DLC-exclusive settings and mechanics. Better that Khura'in rest a game before coming back for another half-game.

And, of course, this is predicated on not having another Lead Defender (and, thus, Magical Lawyer Superpower #5) in either game. Personally, I would continue the theme of the senses with a detective with a keen sense of smell being introduced in a third Investigations game, then be the Detective in AA7, with just the prosecutors that we have now, barring Nahyuta. Heck, let Klavier be the 1st case foe for AA7.

1st case foe will never not be a Payne.

Aside from Flynch, who was just Payne-lite.

I've been thinking... I know they are pretty much the only lawyers left in Khura'in - Payne doesn't count -, but is no one there gonna talk about the country's top prosecutor and only defense attorney having been raised as brothers and, on top of that, the top prosecutor and the responsible for the Séances being siblings by blood?

So I haven't really been able to play any of the newer games (I had planned on it, but my brother took the 3ds with him when he moved out so I have no means to do so anymore), but it occurred to me recently after watching a Let's Play of Apollo Justice that there's one game I can play that I haven't yet: AAI 2.

I gotta be honest, a big reason why I haven't done so until now is that I didn't really like the first AAI all that much. In fact, I consider it the weakest AA game I've played so far (and rewatching Apollo Justice has only cemented my opinion of it as being superior in almost every way). That's not to say I thought it was bad, just that for all the promise of being able to play as Edgeworth and a bigger connective tissue between all the cases creating a stronger central story, the actual story told was honestly kind of underwhelming. I liked Alba as a villain but that's it really; the other culprits were forgettable, I didn't really care for most of the new characters, and also I prefer the music from the first four AA games and especially the art in Apollo Justice a lot more. It honestly just felt like the game had very little to offer beyond playing as Edgeworth which wasn't really enough to elevate it from being mediocre.

I have however, heard that AAI 2 is actually a big improvement and one of the better stories in the series, so I decided "why not".

I probably won't be posting much more until I actually finish the game; all I have to say so far is I liked how meaty the first case was.

Investigations 2 blows the first one out of the water. The only complaint I'd have is that I miss Yew, who was easily the best part of the first game.

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can play Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice on that.

I have an android, so it's a no-go. That's good to know, though.

Edited by Draghinazzo on Nov 24th 2018 at 12:10:07 PM

Sorry for the double post but:

I just finished AAI 2.

I noticed it was an improvement on the first game right away; the first case was far lenghier and more involved compared to the first's, and certainly more interesting. As the game went on, it only became more and more compelling so now I finally understand why it gets so much credit from the fanbase.

To be honest, I think the game was worth playing for Sebastian alone. I get the impression that this is common, but I was genuinely caught off-guard by what the game had in store for him. He and Courtney were fairly obnoxious (deliberately I assume) in cases 2 and 3, and someone I assumed was just going to be a two-bit comic relief character. However, case 5 really turned things around and he quickly became my favorite character from this game. I would honestly go so far as to say he has the best and most compelling character arc of any character in the series, honestly more compelling than any of the protagonists in the franchise even. I don't really think the protagonists of the franchise really change much in terms of their core personalities; Edgeworth for example changes his philosophy but his overall demeanor doesn't change very much. As a person with a fairly sheltered life, Sebastian's character arc also had a more relatable edge to me that a lot of characters in this game don't have. He even got a brand new character theme to symbolize his change into an actual competent prosecutor, and it's a pretty decent one at that.

The culprits in the first game outside of Alba were mostly forgettable, but I enjoyed all the culprits in this game a lot more especially Blaze and Simon, and most of the new characters were pretty alright as well.

I also really enjoyed how interconnected the game is to the rest of the franchise and how it uses a bunch of characters from past games to make the AA world feel much bigger.

Overall I'm glad to have played it.

You found Alba more memorable than Yew?

Oh right, Yew was good too. That's about it.

Edited by Draghinazzo on Nov 26th 2018 at 9:09:32 AM

Well, as you may know, over two months ago LegalEagle made a review of Episode 1 of the Ace Attorney series ("The First Turnabout"). It seems that this real lawyer doesn't know anything about the Japanese legal system, huh?

He openly admits that in the video.

And to be fair, while some oddities of Ace Attorney's trials can be explained by the Japanese legal system's differences from the American one, others are just weird.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 28th 2018 at 9:29:09 AM

I'm pretty sure the Japanese legal system will let your client go if you establish reasonable doubt, much less conclusive proof that your client couldn't have done it, without you literally having to frame the real culprit first.

Well, there's some artistic license in effect, obviously. This is a video game series, and it has to be fun, not accurate. There would be no challenge if all you had to do was establish reasonable doubt.

Also, like...

They're murder mysteries. Obviously they're gonna end with the explanation of who did it, how they did it, and why they did it.

Unless the murderer is Kristoph Gavin.

How Ace Attorney shipping begins (posting here mostly because I can strikethrough on forums):

Sounds about right.