I stalled out on the third case during my replay a year or five ago. I did mostly enjoy myself mind, but I was saddened to realize the game was not holding up as well as it had for my teenage self.
I do plan to get to the third case eventually, but I can understand stalling out on that one. It\'s the least important to the main story and the pacing needed tightening. I think there is merit to it, but it\'s not perfect. Third-case syndrome was definitely a thing with this series.
I'm a geek.
I personally think the third case in the first game was one of the better early series third cases. The fact that it\'s a standalone case allows it to have its own backstory for the murder, but it also helps develop Maya and Edgeworth. It\'s also a good step up in difficulty from the first two cases, as the suspect isn\'t immediately obvious. While the trend of the culprit not testifying on the first day becomes predictable, there\'s a good reason for it here- the culprit wasn\'t even considered as as a suspect.
I agree that the third case of the first game has some important parts to it, but it is definitely the demarcation line where the pacing really slows down and takes a while to pick back up again.
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The First Turnabout: A Promising Start
This first level, or case as the game calls them, is here to set up the basic gameplay of the series trial segments and set the tone for the series. It accomplishes both very well. The tone in particular is important, because if it goes too dark it risks becoming too self-serious to be fun. It might seem odd for a game predicated around murder trials in a dystopian-level legal system to have a generally light-hearted tone, but it actually works to the series advantage. Instead of constantly dreading what new trick the game will pull against you next, you're excited to see what new twists are around the corner. The witnesses are silly but endearing, as is Phoenix himself.
It helps that while the main characters in this case are a colorful bunch, the mechanics of the murder itself are fairly realistic and grounded. The game does reveal the murderer at the very beginning of the level, but I'm okay with that for two reasons. First, as the first case of the entire series, it's a good idea to make it more accessible to new and especially young players. Second, much like in Columbo the appeal in this case lies less in finding out whodunnit than in howcatchem.
One odd thing about this case in retrospect is just how short it is compared to the rest of the series. Generally the first case of a game takes somewhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete. This one can be finished in under 15 minutes. I think that's to the case's benefit though. No gamer enjoys lengthy tutorials, and this one does a good job of giving you the basics you'll need for the series. Beyond that, I don't have much else to say. It's a simple but elegant case that does exactly what it needs to and then ends. All in all, a good start.
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I was originally planning on doing a review of the whole game, but as I was writing I realized I had more to say than I thought. So I figured it would make more sense to break it down into episodes. I also tried to avoid putting too many spoilers in, but as the game goes on it will become more difficult to do so while still offering a complete review and analysis. If you're wanting to follow along but haven't played the game yet, I would highly encourage doing so first.