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    Ace Attorney I drew Maya

    August 03, 2020

    Ace Attorney I drew Maya

    I drew Maya

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 06:53 PM PDT

    Franziska von Karma in a spirit medium outfit

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 06:36 PM PDT

    Investigations Duo Again

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 07:51 PM PDT

    My first attempt at fan art: The Ace Attorney himself

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 08:30 AM PDT

    A Doodle Of My Favourites (I'm sorry Klavier, I couldn't draw you.)

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 01:59 PM PDT

    Matt Engarde ( art by me )

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 08:55 PM PDT

    How Ace Attorney handles non-linear storytelling

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 01:56 PM PDT

    Surprisingly, for games which are so linear, this series very often writes plots in a distinctly non-linear case order, so I thought it would be fun to examine (almost) every game in the series and evaluate how well each game makes use of it's structure. I won't be covering the DGS games since a) I haven't played the 2nd one and b) I have nothing to say about the first in regards to this topic.

    AA1: Pretty easy, the first game in the series plays it safe and boring with each case occurring in chronological order.

    JFA: Maybe the weirdest game on here, since the only jumbled case placement is the first and second cases being swapped from timeline order. The only reason I can fathom this was done was so that Maya could be in the first case, while still dedicating a full-length case on Kurain village to properly re-introduce her to the cast while exploring spirit channelling in more depth. Why Maya needed to be in 2-1 so badly anyway, I don't know. In this instance, nothing would be too different plot-wise if the cases had been in chronological order, just that Maya would be absent from 2-1, which might have been better anyway since, at least before 1-5 was retroactively added to the DS release, there was no case without Maya after she supposedly left the cast at the end of 1-4, meaning there's no real time to miss her.

    T&T: Arguably the gold standard of non-linear case structure in the series; at least good enough that several games after have imitated it to varying extents. The case order doesn't seem to make too much sense on the surface, with the game starting with a flashback, and then having another flashback case later in the game which is set even earlier, but T&T pulls it off pretty well. I think the reason for this becomes obvious whenever you try to swap cases 1 and 4, and realise they just don't work in that order from a story perspective, even if it is chronologically more accurate. Things like Edgeworth as a prosecutor, showing Diego Armando before Godot (which would make the mystery surrounding him completely obvious the moment he shows up again in 3-2), and the defendant committing suicide are elements that just wouldn't fly for the first case, never mind the fact that 3-1 has an easier mystery. 3-4 also does a good job of utilising the player's expectations set by 3-1, and sweeping them under the rug; the player will already know that Dahlia is a villain (and not called Melisa Foster), and that Mia was scarred from her first trial, but few people would be able to guess the trial's sudden ending ahead of time regardless. As for the reason the flashback cases are placed where they are, 3-1 works as a first case since the very premise of the series' first flashback (starring Mia no less) is a good enough hook to interest players familiar with the previous two games, and having a relatively new lawyer as the player character is a better justification for a tutorial than giving Phoenix amnesia again. 3-4 works where it is since we've just gotten a good picture of the Wright & Co. Law Offices' status quo from 3-2 and 3-3, so shifting to another flashback disrupts that, and the case itself being related to the finale in the way that it is kicks the game's plot into overdrive leading into 3-5.

    AJ:AA: This one is almost entirely linear, besides the 7 years earlier sections from 4-4. Phoenix's last trial before disbarment isn't fully developed enough to slot between 4-3 and 4-4 the way 3-4 was, and the MASON system part, for better or for worse, made more sense to hybridise the two time periods for the final investigation, since they integrate into each other. Besides, pretty much every mystery in the game is already solved before the final trial anyway, so putting the flashback stuff all as it's own case before 4-4 would make Turnabout Succession even shorter and more of an anti-climax than it already is.

    AAI: This one just baffles me, frankly. To state it outright, the case order is I-4, I-2, I-3, I-1 and then I-5. The only placement that makes sense to me personally is Ablaze. Putting I-1 after I-2 (and I-3) in the timeline feels illogical, because it means that Edgeworth is only finally explaining the tutorials of his investigation procedure to Gumshoe after already having solved 2 cases already within the past 24 hours alone (this issue will come up again in 5-1, and it's the reason why out-of-order tutorials really don't work without a plot contrivance like amnesia). I-2 would've made just as substandard of a tutorial anyway. This game should have been ordered I-2, I-3, then I-4, I-1 and I-5 as usual, with more depth being given to Turnabout Visitor. Turnabout Reminiscence being where it is in the actual game is clearly inspired by 3-4's placement in T&T, and the case itself is very blatantly derivative, featuring baby-face Edgey, clean-coat Gumshoe, a younger version of the game's main rival and a killer who gets away and becomes just a red-herring villain in the finale.

    AAI2: Like AJ:AA, this game is almost completely linear, just with a flashback section for half of a case, in this instance being the Gregory Edgeworth segments in I2-3. I don't really need to go into this one, since the 2 separate incidents of that case are very connected, so it only made sense to do it the way the game did.

    Crossover: Completely linear, just with alternating viewpoints, since the main team of 5 for this game are very often split apart. Moving on...

    DD: The only deviation here is the first case, which is bafflingly set in the middle of the game's fourth case. It's worth noting that the DLC case is set between 5-2 and 5-3, but a case starring Phoenix's second debut as a lawyer had to be there, since he says in 5-2 that he's going to take the bar again, and 5-3 shows that he's already re-instated. The only issue here is that there are plenty of people who only played the DLC case after the main game, where the Fullbright twist makes his interactions a little uncomfortable. 5-1 on the other hand, is horribly placed, since at this point in the timeline, both Phoenix and Athena, who comprise the defense team here, have had a full 2 trial days each against Prosecutor Blackquill (in 5-DLC and 5-3 respectively), yet both of them suddenly need a refresher on how to do cross-examinations and use the Mood Matrix, and they struggle with Gaspen Payne behind the prosecution. It also makes playing through 5-4 jarring, since the first trial day introduces a big plot development of the bombed courtroom, and then we immediately skip over that since we've actually already did it. Worse still, the reason for the courtroom bombing is almost completely irrelevant to the rest of the game, which makes what was otherwise at least an interesting first case if anything feel like a pointless distraction. Another thing I want to point out is the immense shake-up to the status quo from the last game. As if the jump to 3D wasn't jarring enough, going from 4-4 with rookie Apollo, Trucy and Hobo-Nick hoping to introduce the juror system to the start of 5-1 where you're playing as this new Athena person, who's already an integrated member of the cast it seems, with Apollo in bandages, and a fully-reinstated (and personality-reverted) Phoenix, with no Trucy in sight and no mention of a jury (as well as a completely different courthouse), makes it feel like the game completely ignored AJ:AA (which it kind of did, tbh.) It really feels like the writers decided to make a "surprising" case for the demo and promotional material without any regard for how it would actually work as a tutorial. Long-story short here, it's usually a good idea for at least the first case to be in chronological order.

    SOJ: This game is completely linear, but I think in this instance it shouldn't have been. If you swap 6-3 and 6-4 in the chronology, then it means less hassle for Nahyuta. He travels to Japanifornia once for 6-2, stays long enough to prosecute 6-4, and returns to Khura'in for 6-3, where he remains until we see him next in the second half of 6-5. In the game we actually got, Nahyuta goes to Japanifornia for 6-2, back to Khura'in for 6-3, is back in Japifornia within 48 hours for 6-4, and returns to Khura'in again for 6-5. I'm not a big fan of Nahyuta (and nor are most people), but I feel a little bad for him regardless; it's not a good idea to prosecute with so much jet-lag (no wonder he was always so cranky). Granted, if the game was structured like that, then we couldn't have had this gem of an Awkward Zombie comic, so... (By the way, I'm not saying to swap the order of 6-3 and 6-4, just the timeline placement of them. It's better to have 6-3 after 6-2 so that we don't spend too much time in Japanifornia after only introducing Khura'in, and having 6-4 as a palette cleanser after 6-3's investing ending works better.)

    So, in general, this series is pretty hit and miss in the area on non-linear storytelling (I feel like I've said that phrase so much that it's started to lose it's meaning). Sometimes, like in T&T, AJ:AA and AAI2, it works, whereas in AAI and DD it really doesn't. Sometimes it's smarter to not be fancy and stick with good old linear cases, like the original game, but maybe they should've changed things up for something like SoJ. What do you guys think? Do you want to see more variety in structure for AA7? If so, how should it be done? Or do you think it would be smarter to keep to the basics? Or maybe you disagree with something I've said, in which case feel free to contest me.

    submitted by /u/galactar7
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    :)

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 06:47 PM PDT

    =>

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 05:20 PM PDT

    An Edgeworth Observation: Turnabout Beginnings

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 07:11 PM PDT

    I just replayed one of my favourite cases in the series, Turnabout Beginnings. The fourth case in Trials & Tribulations, and the second to bring us back in time to Mia's early career, this time her very first case.

    I don't need to recap the case in full, of course - if you're reading this thread, chances are you know how it goes already. Playing this case again, and seeing the 20 year-old rookie prosecutor version of Miles Edgeworth that it features got me thinking some more on a topic I've discussed fairly extensively here before. I usually bring this up in criticism of the Ace Attorney Investigations games, but that's only one part of what I view as a general frustration within the Ace Attorney fandom as a whole.

    I think people idealize Edgeworth way too much. Now, I get it - he's easily one of the most popular characters in the series, and he deserves it. He's a masterfully-written rival who goes through a complete transformation of character over the course of the series. I don't think it's necessarily entirely the fault of fans for looking at him through a more generous, forgiving lens than I think he deserves. It's very easy, I will openly admit, to forget what a complete scumbag Edgeworth was in his chronologically earlier appearances.

    As a disciple of Manfred von Karma, Edgeworth was a ruthless and often downright vindictive prosecutor in his early career. Meeting Phoenix Wright in court, losing cases to him twice over, and then having to be defended by his old school friend on a murder charge started him down a completely different path in life. After some major life lessons were forced upon him in case 1-5, he disappeared for roughly a year, doing some soul-searching, before resurfacing in case 2-4. Upon his return there, he's become a very different person, but even then, his character development isn't finished. In that case, it takes him quite a while to properly understand why Phoenix has such an openly negative response to seeing him again, and it's not until about another year later, in 3-5, that he finally completes the arc of character development that carries him across the whole original trilogy.

    Seeing (and even playing as) Edgeworth in 3-5, and then returning to the first game in the series and experiencing his debut in Turnabout Sisters again can be pretty damn jarring. That was the episode in which he insistently pushes the case against Maya on her sister's murder, despite Maya obviously having no motive for the crime, and no real evidence of her guilt beyond a piece of paper in the room with her name written on it, and a single witness who says she did it. Then, in the second trial day, he takes to prosecuting Phoenix instead, clearly aware of how incredibly suspicious everything surrounding it is, and takes extensive measures to back up the claims of the true culprit, Redd White. He even goes as far as to outright fabricate an entire alternate scenario that is blatantly false and directly contradicts what was proven to be true about April the day before once Phoenix nearly has White cornered, purely out of a desire to win the case no matter what, the truth be damned. When even that plan fails, he tries to argue for the Judge to delay the verdict another whole day, at which point even the gallery in the courtroom is calling for his defeat, knowing that any "evidence" he produced with another day of preparation would be false.

    In his chronologically earliest appearances in the main series, Edgeworth was a shrewd, dishonest bastard whose only concern was ensuring his own victory in every case, no matter the circumstances.

    Now, if anything I've said here sounds familiar coming from me, you'll probably remember it from a post I wrote up here a little while ago, roundly criticizing Ace Attorney Investigations and its sequel for their portrayal of Edgeworth, which I argue is a perfect demonstration of the tendency I mentioned above for people to idealize Edgeworth. I don't want to make people read the whole post again for context, so I'll just clip out the part that matters most right now.

    This is seen at its most extreme in Case 4 of the first Investigations, in which even Bratworth, the 19-20 year-old Edgeworth who faced off against Mia in 3-4, continually trying to push his case with all he had even when it was abundantly clear that his star witness was a compulsive liar who had nothing but suspicious reasons for taking part in the trial, is still portrayed as that same idealized genius who won't rest until every last shred of possible doubt has been eliminated, and the truth is uncovered, if a slightly more immature version. His dishonest, shrewd behaviours are completely erased in favour of trying to make him look like a perfect, "cool" hero deserving of the endless praise the Investigations games dump on him. I feel this not only does a disservice to his characterization in the first place by downplaying and ignoring a considerably large portion of his personality, but also goes further in actively erasing the critical distinction between the corrupt, dishonest Edgeworth from his early career, and the Edgeworth we see later on in the series' timeline, from the end of 3-5 all the way to Spirit of Justice.

    Basically, I accuse Investigations Case 4 of portraying the younger Edgeworth at the very beginning of his career as effectively the exact same person as his older self from the rest of the game, with only the most superficial of differences, despite the way Edgeworth behaved in the earlier-released games to feature younger versions of him. Now, I'm taking too long to get to the point, which like this post's title indicates, is about Edgeworth in Turnabout Beginnings, the fourth case of Trials & Tribulations. I just replayed the case in one go (and it's refreshing to remember how quickly a case could go by in the earlier games, before the overall pace of the series slowed down so much), and I kept a quick log of all the moments that I think highlight Edgeworth's general bastardry from his early career the best. In chronological order...

    • In the trial's first few minutes, we learn that he deliberately concealed a piece of vital evidence from the police conducting the investigation, Gumshoe included, holding onto it until a more opportune moment in the trial. He also smugly insults Mia directly to her face immediately after revealing this and shutting down her momentum after the first time she points out a contradiction in Gumshoe's testimony.

    • Shortly after, he directly and openly lies about the reason that "Melissa Foster", the witness who provided a photo of the crime scene, doesn't want to testify.

    • The next time Mia catches a mistake in his work (about two minutes later), he insults her again, calling her, quote, "this novice bimbo".

    • When Mia next turns to discussing the damaged state of Dusky Bridge, which currently creates a contradiction in Edgeworth's case, he makes up an entirely false explanation on the spot, because his witness doesn't have an answer.

    • His witness ends up completely stuck shortly after this, having no way to explain how she knew about the stolen car she claims Terry Fawles used to hide the victim's body. Edgeworth takes action by inventing another complete lie on the spot, for no reason other than to give himself and the witness an escape route.

    • When Mia arrives at the conclusion that "Melissa" is actually Dahlia Hawthorne, the girl thought to have been killed five years earlier, Edgeworth initially feigns shock at this deduction, before admitting that he already discovered her true identity during a background check prior to the trial, claiming that he kept it hidden because "it seemed irrelevant to the case". Let me review here, in case your memory of this episode is a bit faded: the case surrounds the murder of Dahlia's adoptive sister, with the one other person involved in her staged kidnapping from five years prior as the suspect. One of the first pieces of evidence submitted in the trial is a note written by the victim, indicating that Dahlia is actually still alive, and during his investigation, Edgeworth discovers that "Melissa Foster" is actually Dahlia herself. He decides "OK, but I'd like to win this case, soooo... let's pretend it's irrelevant and keep her identity hidden in court".

    The first even remotely decent thing Edgeworth does in this case full of Von Karma-brand deceit and petty rudeness is try to call for the Judge to suspend the trial so Terry can be given medical help once everyone realizes he's poisoned himself. And lest you think that the terrible outcome of his first-ever trial scarred him into changing his behaviours at all, I'll bring us back to Turnabout Sisters for a moment and mention that he didn't grow out of insulting Mia. In the very case that revolves around Mia's brutal murder, Edgeworth directly insults her right to Phoenix's face during the trial, calling her a coward.

    Now, I think 3-4's position in the story is excellent given how well it showcases the change in Edgeworth's character over time, taking us from the immature, dishonest 20 year-old to the changed man that we actually get to play as for a good chunk of 3-5's first half, but unfortunately, I think there's still a substantial tendency among fans for people to massively idealize Edgeworth, treating him like he wasn't ever a vindictive liar who all but certainly put quite a few innocent people in prison for crimes they didn't commit prior to his encounters with Phoenix. The fact that this element of his past is pretty much discarded once he starts changing as a person is a moral discussion for another time, though.

    At risk of sounding like I'm just shitting on the Investigations games yet again, I want to close by once more addressing the fact that I do think they're partly at fault for helping to create this heavily idealized perception of Edgeworth, most prominently thanks to case I-4, which paints the version of Edgeworth that appears in 3-4 as being effectively the same person as his older self, save for a very slightly more immature way of interacting with people.

    submitted by /u/JC-DisregardMe
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    Character Review #2: Main Prosecutors

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 09:08 PM PDT

    As promised, here is my second character review post. Today, it's the main prosecutors of each game! I will be ranking them based on character, not skill.

    • Miles Edgeworth: Okay, what is not to love about Edgey? When you first meet him, he's a pure dick who forges the autopsy report, but then he turns out to be a tragic example, manipulated by Manfred von Karma, who killed his father and blamed it on him. His connection to Phoenix is undoubtedly very close, they care about each other dearly. It's no wonder Edgeworth got his own spinoffs. He's the one who introduced Wright to the concept of "pursuing the truth" after having a crisis and later on even became chief prosecutor.

    • Franziska von Karma: Franziska is a weird case. Her character started out not so great, and throughout the franchise she gradually improved. Franziska is a prodigy that is too blinded by the concept of perfection. Throughout the trilogy, it shows subtle signs that she does care for her fellow comrades, she just chooses not to show it. Also please bring her back Capcom.

    • Diego "Godot" Armando: Probably the most polarizing character in the series, so I'll just give my insight. Do I find Godot sympathetic? Yes and no. On one hand, his backstory is definitely sad and pretty much the reason why he fell into villainy, but on the other hand, I feel that he let his anger get the better of him. He was so bitter that he took it all out on Phoenix and eventually led to the death of Misty Fey. However, this is what makes him great of course. As far as archetype goes, I personally label Diego Armando as a fallen hero. He was once a good man who descended into madness because of tragedy, but at least he acknowledged that he screwed up in the end.

    • Klavier Gavin: Is he lacking backstory? Yes. Could he have been fleshed out more? Yeah, but I just can't help but find him entertaining. His nickname "Herr Forehead" is just too hilarious and I love how he annoys Apollo and Ema whenever he appears.

    • Simon Blackquill: The twisted samurai. A man who nearly gave up his own life to protect a young Athena Cykes. A man who spent years behind bars because of a false verdict at the hands of a very twisted spy. Blackquill is awesome. I find him very charismatic and his manipulation in court is a very interesting ability. Also his finger-sword is pretty damn epic and served as a great shock the first time it happens.

    • Nahyuta Sahdmadhi: And now we've reached who is perhaps the most infamously hated character in the franchise thus far. Maybe it's my personal opinion on Khura'in in general, but I can't really say I'm a fan of Nahyuta either. And yes, his redemption arc could have been better written, no question.

    Next up is the big bads. As always, feel free to let me know what your thoughts are!

    submitted by /u/AceDemoMuse76-2
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    when you are just a simple prosecutor possum who is very stressed so you fake your death

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:31 PM PDT

    Why Isn't the Lana Skye Case in the Ace Attorney Anime?

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 04:09 PM PDT

    I was watching the anime and I noticed that it jumped over a case that was originally in the game and I thought that was really weird.

    submitted by /u/Missed_Mintakey
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    The great cereal debate (My 3rd objection.lol)

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 07:46 AM PDT

    Specific part of Trials & Tribulations soundtrack

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 11:19 PM PDT

    Does anyone have the variation of the Justice For All Pursuit track that plays in Bridge to the Turnabout? The one after lightning strikes, right up until Phoenix falls into the river. I really like the variation but can't find it anywhere on YouTube.

    submitted by /u/Hammigcar1
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    Turnabout Academy Discussion Thread

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:29 PM PDT

    Now that the dust has settled, what did we think of 5-3? From what I can tell, it seems to be quite a divisive case. Personally I quite enjoyed it, mostly for Aristotle Means and Hugh O' Conner (if it weren't for those two it'd be pretty meh). Specifically I would like to talk about Means, who I found to be quite entertaining and I think he served his role in the case well. I especially enjoyed his transformation from "friendly, slightly disturbing professor" to "aggressive chalk assaulting spartan lecturer", and I had a lot of fun during his cross-examinations with how over the top he was. Now one thing I hear about Means sometimes is that his over the top nature ruined the dark atmosphere the case was going for, but I disagree. Now /u/R1K1_Productions had the following to say in his Aristotle Means writeup at /r/AARankdown :

    In addition to all of that, Means also has the important role of causing Athena's second traumatic breakdown. This is a significant part of the case's climax, and it's clearly played as a very emotional scene. And yet, Means triggers this scene by writing "you suck lol" on a chalkboard, then comically pointing at the screen and shaking his arm up and down.

    Now while I found this paragraph greatly amusing and had a good laugh from it, I would argue that this is not a problem with Means, but with Athena's character in DD, and also slightly a problem with Turnabout Academy. There were other things that contradicted the dark tone/moments the case was going for, and for the most part I think Means didn't have much to do with that.

    Anyways I'll leave my thoughts at that before I start going off and rambling. What did you guys think about 5-3?

    submitted by /u/TheReformedOne
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    Guitarist Franziska von Karma (artwork by me)

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT

    If Ace Attorney Played like Danganronpa by KKid

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 02:00 PM PDT

    will there ever be a season 3 of the anime?

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 04:23 PM PDT

    Apollo 3DS Port

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 03:28 PM PDT

    So I just finished the trilogy of games and wanted to move along with the franchise and see the apollo game is next (no spoilers please havnt looked into it) I have not bought the game yet and want to know how good the 3ds port is? Is it the same as the original with updated graphics. Is the original better? I just want to make sure I am playing the game to have the best way I could. Is the 3ds game good or should I look for a ds cart of it

    submitted by /u/RetroRemedies
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    I made a few Apollo Justice-era wallpapers!

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 08:29 AM PDT

    Vote for Phoenix Wright in this Smash Poll

    Posted: 02 Aug 2020 12:43 PM PDT

    I don't normally use Reddit but made an account just for this

    Here is the link: https://boards.4channel.org/v/thread/519593653

    It's easy to do the pool, just click the link, answer the first question, type in Phoenix Wright, and submit. Others have discords to vote for their character so please just vote.

    submitted by /u/PWSmashBrosPoll
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