#i have yet to play DD or SoJ so no one @ me if this is inaccurate pls 🫶🏼

[mint-mango]

edgeworth chartered Another private jet after hearing about phoenix’s disbarment, only to arrive to, uh,,,,, a new quirky girl assistant??????

[justarandomidiot1]

OH HELLO???? I didnt realize there was another Epic Au being made for Ace Attorney lol. I skimmed thru the blog to see who you put as who and its fun how youre also doing your own thing w characters vs how Im just assigning character roles to different AA characters lol

I will definitely check out the au you and your friend made more!!

this is an au i've been thinking up since like a month after the thunder saga released

[oodlyenough]

So now that you finished the 6 games, Just curious. what is your opinion of Apollo?

(I haven't played SOJ's dlc case yet but I don't even think Apollo is in that one? So...)

I think my feelings on Apollo are a resounding... "he's okay". Lmao. Which sounds harsh? I don't dislike him, and I found him pretty enjoyable to play in AA4 and AA6.

What sucks for Apollo as a character is that 4 sets up a lot of potentially interesting relationships for him (the betrayal of Kristoph as his mentor, awkward half-mentor half-resenting relationship with Phoenix, his friendship and secret siblinghood with Trucy, whatever is going on with him and Klavier) and then 5 and 6 have no interest in any of those. Phoenix and Apollo's relationship just gets watered down into, I don't know, whatever they're going for tbh -- some kind of straightforward hero worship, which is boring and a disservice to both, and Trucy and Klavier basically cease to exist as characters in 5-6. So then both DD and SOJ have to reinvent the wheel with new characters/relationships for Apollo, to differing degrees of success.

I think AA5 Apollo was the worst, not even that I was like ... mad at him or anything, just that I felt his characterization was so bizarre and his story was so underwritten and it detracted from the game's main character, which should have been Athena. Clay was the weakest attempt at making the audience emotional over a relationship they never saw and a character who never had a line of dialogue. "I'm fine" is just not that emotionally resonant a catchphrase to begin with. If we're going to explore a cynical Apollo, we could've done that based on the events of AA4, Kristoph and Phoenix both, not the death of Clay.png

But AA6 Apollo's backstory was more interesting to me. I thought the relationship with Dhurke was surprisingly well done by sequel trilogy standards, lol, I liked that Apollo had quite a prickly reception to begin with and the slower rebuild of trust there was interesting. As justifications for a retcon go, him being so bitter and hurt about the abandonment that he hasn't wanted to think or care about Dhurke or Nahyuta for years works pretty well. I think fandom probably doesn't like the ending of Apollo leaving the WAA to be with characters they don't like much (Nahyuta and Rayfa), but frankly after those three games I think Apollo striking off on his own is for the best, lmao.

So I guess I feel he's enjoyable moment to moment, but across his so-called trilogy his character work is patchy, and you're left more with a build-a-character outline for headcanons and fanon. I can see why that appeals to people. I like him but he's not a character I want to spend hours fleshing out where canon did not, through fic etc. For me there are just too many other characters in the franchise who interest me more and make me more inclined to put that work in.

[vonlipvig]

Causes of death in the Ace Attorney franchise

Because I'm bored, and what do we do when we get bored? We MAKE LISTS! I went through every character dead character in the canon game universe (so AA1-6, AAI1-2, and TGAA1-2, sorry PWvsPL) and jotted it all down below, so let's see what the most common (specified) cause of death in Ace Attorney is:

Stabbed (x15)

Shot (x15)

Hit by a blunt object (x14)

Impaled (x5)

Poisoned (x4)

Fell to their death (x3)

Hanged (x3)

Car crash (x2)

Strangled (x1)

Electrocuted (x1)

Crushed (x1)

Suffocated (x1)

Asphyxiated (x1)

Heart Failure (x1)

Burned (x1)

Full list with character names all color-coded by game and more specific data below! (Beware of SPOILERS for the whole series!)

COLOR CODE: OG Trilogy - AJ - DD & SOJ - AAI1 - AA12 - TGAA 1 & 2

(AAI gets two different colors since a lot of people probably haven't played AAI2 yet. Sorry, DD and SoJ, you have to share. 'Why don't you do one color for the whole Apollo Trilo-' No <3)

---

Stabbed (x15)

(Bruce Goodman, Misty Fey, Rex Kyubi, Constance Courte, Clay Terran, Metis Cykes, Inga Karkhuul Khura'in, Byrne Faraday, Manny Coachen, Horace Knightley, Di-Jun Huang, Mason Milverton, Jezaille Brettª, Odie Asman, Klint van Zieks)

Shot (x15)

(Gregory Edgeworth, Robert Hammond, Turner Grey, Pal Meraktis, Romein LeTouse, Magnifi Gramarye¨, Dhurke Sahdmadhi, Buddy Faith, Oliver Deacon, Deid Mann, Mack Rell, Ethan Rooke, Pop Windibank, Genshin Asogi, Tobias Gregson)

Hit by a blunt object (x14)

(Cindy Stone, Mia Fey, Russell Berry, Kane Bullard, Zak Gramarye, Candice Arme, Paht Rohl, Archie Buff, Jove Justice, Dumas Gloomsbury, Ka-Shi Nou, Isaac Dover, Jill Crane, Jack Cameron)

Impaled (x5)

(Jack Hammer, Neil Marshall, Manov Mistree, Puhray Zeh'lot, Tahrust Inmee¨)

Poisoned (x4)

(Glen Elg, Terry Fawles¨, Drew Misham, John H. Wilson)

Fell to their death (x3)

(Dustin Prince, Jack Shipley*, Akbey Hicks)

Hanged (x3)

(Joe Darke°, Celeste Inpax¨, Dahlia Hawthorne°)

Car crash (x2)

(Ini Miney*, Selena Sprocket*)

Strangled (x1)

(Juan Corrida)

Electrocuted (x1)

(Doug Swallow)

Crushed (x1)

('Di-Jun Huang')

Suffocated (x1)

(Taifu Toneido)

Asphyxiated (x1)

(Duncan Ross)

Heart Failure (x1)

(Azura Summers^)

Burned (x1)

(Magnus McGilded)

---

ª: She was stabbed, right? Like, she was poisoned first, but she died from the stab wound first, if I'm correct. Do tell if I'm wrong, lmao.

*: Accidental deaths

^: Natural death

¨: Deaths by suicide

°: Executed (Joe Darke's method of execution isn't mentioned, but if we assume Japanifornia goes by Japan laws, then hanging is the only method of execution used. Probably a higher number of deaths by hanging then, whether you believe some people got executed or not. Also, a lot of the killers in TGAA probably got executed, too? I just jotted down the confirmed cases, but yeah.)

(Also, von Karma died of 'Something'. Who knows. Of being too ashamed, maybe. Sucks to be him).

I probably missed some characters/omitted them, because who knows, it's my list I guess. If I forgot someone important do let me know!

[cyandreamz]

Just finished case 5 of SOJ (will be starting the DLC case soon though idk how long that'll take cuz I do be a slow gamer :P) and honestly I am surprised to say I like SOJ a lot more than DD!

More thoughts under cut

I'm surprised because the first case I HATED, it almost turned me off finishing the game! But than I loved the second case (would be S tier if Phoenix wasn't a shit Dad!). 3rd case I found to be overwhelming and too long but, really liked the ending and Maya is still a super cool character, she has grown but, in ways that make sense imo. 4th case I loved Simon's dialogue with Athena and Nayuta but found it to be super mid, I felt completely indifferent to the case itself and it's characters. 5th case was a LOT and felt like a two for one deal but, even though it was so loooooong it was very nice, I loved how it wrapped up the story, the fun Edgeworth and pearl fan service (I guess they both affect the plot but they both felt like they were only there for fans, I don't care cuz I'm fans and they're my faves!), and where it leaves Apollo off I quite enjoyed!

I also loved the new story characters, Rayfa and Nayuta are both so fun and, I was surprised by how much I also ended up liking Datz, Dhurke and especially Ga'ran! Not my favourite aa antagonist (that's Morgan Fey fun fact) but, she's definitely a fun villain and horrible person, she's basically a better Manfred (compared to his appearance in aa1, yet to play aai1-2 plz no spoilers for those) because unlike him she is the law! Until she wasn't because she can't sprit channel lol.

Plus new models! Phoenix and Trucy look so much better, shame that Apollo and Miles still look... weird :/

Though I do definitely have strong points of dislike. For one, the overall story is very "look guys our legal system is so good and perfect, because this fictional country has a ridiculously dystopian legal system that can only be saved if they do what we do!" and look, I expect all aa games to have a stance on law I disagree with (as I don't respect the law at all) but, it was frustrating enough to see Phoenix and Miles being like "our legal system was perfect... before the dark age of the law" in DD, when I don't feel like they'd think that? (Also how did the dark age of law not start with how Edgeworth v state ended when all it took for it to start was a lawyer forging evidence and a procecutor being accused of murder? Though this rant is unlrelated to SOJ... sorry) but they really lean into not just those two but EVERYONE thinking American (Japan in original version of course) has a perfect legal system and I really dislike that (especially since it kinda goes against AA4's message).

Also this game pacing was so weird, like case 1, way too long! Why did I have to talk to white Jesus for so long!? I know he's the killer! Case 2, perfect imo. case 3 too long again! Case 4, kinda short??? Case 5... long is an understatement -_-. Only reason I don't completely hate this is because it's better than DD as that game felt like it dragged on and oooooon (to be clear I don't hate DD! Though it is my least favourite of the aa games and found every case but the DLC case to be mid, DLC case I did enjoy quite a bit and glad I played it 3rd and not last like many recommend :D).

Also fuck insight, I'm sorry but I just hate it.

[meep--tm]

ok i know dual destinies highkey kinda sucks in a creative variety of ways but you *have* to play spirit of justice if you haven’t yet because it’s Actually Kind Of An Apollo Game This Time not as much as AA4 but it’s still so much more apollo. and he gets a third backstory that slots in with the other two.

and. it is just very good and apollo has a bigger family and even more parental issues than you think he does and oughhhhh.

dual destinies is worth finishing purely for spirit of justice, in my opinion. ema is back and maya is back and we get to see pearl more and you literally get to convict a god-queen for murder as apollo. apollo goes off the shits and almost dies several times. it’s great.

also it means you get to read one of my friend’s awesome fics where apollo goes even further off the shits and gets trauma

THIS IS VERY INTERESTING TO ME bc ive usually heard it the other way around... as in i should play DD for athena and simon and not worry as much about SOJ... this is a new perspective to me

the plans always been to eventually play both (<- buying the probably horribly expensive port trilogy bc im an apollohead w no principles) but i think what's put me off of SOJ is like. idk the idea of getting more time playing as apollo is great & i like the idea of him having more of a family but you play as him in DD and it felt weird bc he felt kinda ooc & i'd prefer if they expanded on the family he... already has? i want more of him and trucy i want an expansion on his relationship with his mother i want the Reveal yknow. also from so much of what ive seen from the game + what ive seen ppl say about the game i'm really not looking forward to slogging through a ton of xenophobia lol... though apollo convicting a god-queen is such an intriguing sentence uve got me there (another thing im a lil hesitant about is raising the stakes too high idk if i'll like that but i will see... how it's handled...)

THAT BEING SAID I OBVIOUSLY DONT. wanna be too harsh on ppl who genuinely love the game & enjoy it's characters so i do wanna give it a shot. all of my problems with SOJ are real problems but at the end of the day i havent played the dang thing so who knows. also i love nahyuta's design. ALSO YEAH MAYA COMEBACK.... MY POOKIE MY SWEETPEA.

(side note. i have already read a couple of post-SOJ fics bc im silly. and i like reading about apollo doing anything. and i got tired of tiptoeing through the klapollo ao3 tag lol)

[arainmorn-art]

Dual Destinies rant

So. It’s painful to play. I’m on the space station case, when Athena is accused of murder. Can I tell you that I’ve been dragging myself through Dual Destinies... for about 8 FCKING MONTHS?! I’ve played any other part in several days, in several weeks, but this boring dumb horse crap is just...

Why? Why is it that bad? Why is it so dull?

The same writer has done Investigations, and the second AAI was freakin wonderful in terms of how beautifully dark it was. The AA4 is my personal favorite, it has my boy Pheenie at his best - smart, witty, dangerous, handsome, mysterious, interesting - my gosh, he is amazing! You could not believe he is the same rookie we’ve been through previous games, and it’s so awesome! And knowing what he looked like before made him in AA4 so much deeper as a character!

And here... in Dual Destinies...

You know, I hate it when I see a clearly stupid weakly written character but within the story everyone calls them smart, or powerful, or deep. Usually there is just one character like this and I can grit my teeth and tolerate them. But DD has every single character like this. They are shallow as a puddle. They are talking mannequins without personalities.

Gorgeous 2D animation feels wasted on it.

I’ve heard AA4 was such a drastic change for some ducklings Capcom was afraid to be so bold in the next games. I believe that’s what happened to DD and SoJ, which I haven’t played yet. My frustration is immense. I’ve worked for a big game development company before, and they are usually cowards. The more money they have, than less daring they become. They would not only repeat all the same shit that brought them money in the first place, but also would call some risk checking managers, community managers, testing “target” audience managers, managers this, managers that - distill all the magic of the original games into some crap they are THINKING was great and made games popular - and bring this tasteless mush to the table. 

Managers are creatures killing art.

It’s so... bland. It’s sterile. And stupid. I feel nothing except of frustration. And annoyance, because characters like Athena irritate me. I don’t like hyper-enthusiastic energetic anime girls. And Blackquill isn’t cool at all. Godot was cool and charming with his coffee shtick, he wasn’t looking ridiculous, while this emo samurai brings second-hand embarassment to me. I hated Franziska for abusing Nick and Gumshoe, but I still took her seriously.  And I miss Gumshoe, oh my gosh. Bring me my puppy himbo back, I don’t want this wide-eyed paladin Fulbright on my plate. 

 Maybe I should release myself from this burden and just listen it through on the background via some let’s play. I only wanted to stay with my boys Phoenix and Edgeworth longer. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[milesdadworth]

entertained myself this fine evening by rediscovering the fact that all of phoenix’s AJ sprites don’t show his hands/his left hand in particular meaning he could easily be wearing a wedding ring that we just can’t see in this essay i will

[jawsofbalmung]

so as im playing more and more aa games im thinking about like, capcom is definitely going to keep coming out with aa games, it's a massively popular series and one of their flagships, and if they can keep making money on something they will. but im realizing lots of ways in which they could and probably will (and already have, in some spots) jump the shark if they keep dragging out the two aa timelines we have, and i thought of some future ace attorney game concepts that i would actually want to play, and would actually do a service to the existing world and characters (if done well of course). spirit of justice and dgs spoilers below!:

i can't claim this idea since ive seen a million fan variations on it, but returning to the heart of og ace attorney with a prequel game like mia fey ace attorney would be, maybe a little mid in the grand scheme of the series, but have a lot of potential for a fun game that actually probes deeper into a character as beloved as mia, as well as shows a more rounded and dynamic approach to phoenix's character without overusing him as a protag as ive seen people complain about before. i think it would probably end up disproportionately popular on here too given all the talk ive seen about wanting something like it.

i think another very, very likely concept would be a post-soj sequel focusing more heavily (or even entirely) on apollo and nahyuta's work in reconstructing the khura'inese legal system. most likely this would involve nahyuta staying as a prosecutor and helping apollo puzzle out cases as his opposition as aa prosecutors are prone to do, but i think it would honestly be more interesting if nahyuta was more like apollo's co counsel or even a secondary protagonist, and we got a brand new prosecutor. this would be probably the most exciting game for me personally, and id be very interested in seeing how rayfa's personality would change as she got older and her life got completely upended, and i personally love the divination seance mechanic and look forward to how they would use it in interesting new ways, having a game that takes place entirely in khura'in.

also not a concept i can claim to own, as ive seen a bunch of different ideas for it, but while im not super excited about more [prosecutor] investigations games because i feel like a lot of it will be jumping the shark, there have been some interesting concepts floating around. i really like this one (dd spoilers in the link) though its very very unlikely given that capcom likes its games to be able to stand alone with minimal knowledge of prior aa games, and i feel like dual destinies was so poorly received that they're trying to pretend it didn't exist and move past it. that's what i would do. but my favorite idea that i genuinely, deeply want is a barok van zieks investigation game taking place post-dgs2. it would be a fun way to expand the dgs universe a little more, and show us more of barok's sweeter side after things were resolved for him. i feel like his story isn't quite over yet, and i would quite honestly kill and/or die for a game that focuses on him. @van-zieksy has a good post outlining a bvz investigations game here!

along the lines of extending the dgs storyline, a trequel to the dgs series may be unlikely with how much they packaged it as a duology, but still possible, and something that could be done pretty well or very badly. personally, i think it would be fun to have a dgs game that takes place almost entirely in japan, in which some or all of our english friends wind up there. it was briefly hinted in the dgs2 epilogue that sholmes and iris might be making a trip to japan very soon, and on top of it being fun to see the englishmen being the out of place foreigners for once (especially barok) this would make a good leaping off point to focus partially or even entirely on susato's budding law career, in how she (and ryunosuke) tackle not only uprooting the unfair judicial system in japan, but slowly incrementally making misogynistic policies fade out as susato proves herself as a (very unconvincingly crossdressing) female attorney.

finally, i believe ive seen a fangame(?) concept for it, but a more visual novel-y approach to a dgs prequel would be so fucking cool, and if that is indeed a fangame development i saw, i am beyond stoked to get my hands on it tbh. i don't have the link anymore, but if anyone knows what im talking about, please hit me up with it!

[hychlorions]

I'm just so happy to see someone that loves Klavier Gavin as much as I do tbh. He's my poor little meow meow. The most comedic character in game. The most tragic. I can read him at face value as "haha drama queen flirt rockstar dude" but also write a 5 page MLA format essay on his body language in his sprites.

He's calculative and intelligent but at the same time also does teen magazine quizzes to see which Jonas Brother he is. One of the most noble and respected prosecutors who knows first hand how he can be seen as yet another corrupt member of the law because he knows the role that he has played in Phoenix's downfall. But at the same time he's scribbling 'Klavier Justice xoxo' in glitter pen on his legal paperwork.

He's just a dude but he's also a good candidate for reading too much into and self projection and I'm holding his hand but at the same time there's a knife behind my back.

i honestly... have no idea why you sent this to me specifically but i'll take it. he's the best of the best. the worst of the worst. i've never seen a more normal guy in my life. he needs so much therapy it's insane. I'm going to hold him and cuddle him and make sure he's okay till the end of time but also if I ever meet him I would punch him in the face. I will keep him in a locket and keep him safe I would study him like an unethical 1900s scientist. I am his greatest protector and his worst nightmare all in one. He's my clay and my marble he's my magnum opus

He just has so much potential and I hate the fact that there was apparently a tragic backstory for him and his stupid idiot man brother and yet it was scrapped. for what? DD? SoJ? Games i repeatedly refuse to acknowledge and/or play if only for the embarrassing lack of klavier in it? But then I'm glad. I'm glad there's no set backstory. Whatever capcom can come up with now post-retconning would be pathetic and cruel in the sense that it would never compare to what I've given him. I have built him a castle. I have handed him peace. I have placed the entire world in the fold of his gentle waiting hands. It's everything I have and yet it isn't enough and it will never be. He deserves so much more than the cards he's been dealt

[4ragon]

I'm not the original anonymous but I would extremely want to see that essay about Apollo's trust issues.

Also since I just finished Spirit of Justice, do you think Lamiroir ever told Trucy/Apollo about her and if so what would be their reactions?

Let’s see if I can write this up without crying again like I did on twitter.

So a while ago a friend of mine asked me why I liked Apollo, and I really couldn’t put my finger on it. I knew he was my favorite, but unlike Simon Blackquill, I hadn’t done that deep dive into figuring out why. I’d always just sort of loved him, and was never able to pinpoint the part that made me care about him so much. It drove me crazy, too, I love rambling about characters that I love, and I love writing from Apollo’s perspective more than anything. So why did I love him? Why did I care about him?

Well. I figured it out. I figured out my answer.

I think there are two things that characterize Apollo more than anything. One: He has trust issues. He genuinely believes that the people around him don’t give a shit about him. Especially after being betrayed multiple times in that first trial, he truly and deeply believes that the people around him are only trying to hurt him and is too scared to really believe that they care about him.

And two: He cares so much about the people around him that he constantly helps them anyway.

So like. And I won’t tag her because I don’t think she’d appreciate it, but I was watching the laquilasse AA4 stream last night, and the entire opening of Turnabout Corner is so striking to me, especially right after the end of Turnabout Trump. At the end of Turnabout Trump, Apollo’s trust and belief in Phoenix is finally and thoroughly shattered, and Apollo lashes out, punching Phoenix in the face. And for good reason! That was a huge breach of trust! Apollo literally did the exact thing that got Phoenix disbarred, namely present evidence that wasn’t real. Sure, they never exactly claimed it was the real deal, but Apollo didn’t even know it was faked, he just trusted Phoenix and this new piece of evidence and it almost fucked him over. It did sort of fuck him over, he did lose his job and his Mentor.

And then, Phoenix calls him and says that they’re in trouble, and Apollo doesn’t even question it, of course he shows up to help.

Like. You can feel how much he mistrusts Trucy on their first meeting, in everything he does and says. Especially when Trucy and Phoenix are in the same room, he’s actively thinking about how he doesn’t ‘buy their act’ when Phoenix is calling Trucy daughter-ly nicknames. And then, in a way, he’s kind of right? They guilt him into essentially being their errand boy, and I feel like they’re constantly and loudly using him throughout so much of the game.

And Apollo was there anyway. Apollo doesn’t even trust them and he’s still there the first instant Phoenix says he needs his help.

Like you can loudly do and say whatever you want and crush his dreams and betray his trust, and despite everything, there’s always that part of Apollo that desperately needs to help anyone who asks him. He can’t even bring himself to trust them, and he’s still crawling back the moment someone needs him, ready to let them disappoint him over again.

Like this struck me about Apollo from the moment I played AA4, but he’s so lonely? And desperate for connection? He cares so much about a world that has always and consistently never cared about him, and he just keeps caring and keeps caring even as that starry-eyed naivete is ripped away. And I feel like he just wants someone to care about him back, but never really able to believe that they do, because they never really seem to, because every time he allows himself to trust it’s just thrown back in his face so horribly.

Here’s an interesting thing I noticed: in Turnabout Trump, there’s a really interesting line. Phoenix has accused Kristoph of being the murderer, the extra person in the room. Kristoph takes the stand and claims to have witnessed the moment Phoenix committed the murder. And this exchange happens:

Apollo: There must have been someone else there at the moment of the crime!

Kristoph: Justice... I just said I saw no one. Not a soul.

Apollo: B-But, that goes against what Mr. Wright said!

Kristoph: Ah yes, this mysterious "fourth person"... ...who would conveniently be the "real killer", I suppose.

And this is well past the point where Phoenix has accused Kristoph of being that person. There’s no possibility at this point that they’re both innocent, it’s either one or the other. And Apollo is still so desperately trying to find a way for them both to be innocent, basically saying, “Just give me a fourth person and I’ll believe you.” And then Kristoph turned out to be a monster, and then Phoenix turned out to have betrayed Apollo from the start, and as far as Apollo is ever aware, none of the care from either of these men was ever real. He trusted, and he suffered the consequences.

But again. He’s still there. Someone pointed out a while ago, but Apollo stays. Apollo shows up to the Wright Talent Agency under false pretenses, and he complains and hems and haws, and he still stays. Why?

Phoenix and Trucy loudly manipulate him into working their case. They’re perfectly happy to flaunt that they’re basically tricking him. And he stays. Why?

Because Apollo can’t trust them, but he wants to so fucking bad. He doesn’t even seem to like Phoenix that much, but he wants that connection so fucking bad. He cares about them so much and he doesn’t believe for a second that they extend that feeling back at him, and he’s compelled to stay anyway.

He knows Trucy is practically using him, and he’s a sobbing mess when he thinks she was kidnapped for a few minutes. He’s cynical and mean and it’s all just to cover up the fact that he loves all these people around him with all his heart and they never once pay it back. And he comes back anyway. He’s like a fucking loyal dog that is never given enough affection and so he’s constantly trying harder and harder to earn that love while never believing he’ll ever really get it.

(Shit nope crying again)

It’s just so sad. And this is all without adding anything from the 3D games. The 3D games do build on this theme in one way or another, but from the get go, this is who Apollo is. A caring young man who is constantly punished for caring and yet can’t stop caring anyway.

We see it again in the 3D games. And I think part of why I don’t enjoy DD as much as SoJ is that DD doesn’t capture this mistrust the same way. It’s so surface level, that sense of betrayal and mistrust and anger he gets consumed by in that final case. And the worst part is it doesn’t have to be! There’s already that foundation! Apollo has been hurt already a million times. The only person he’s ever been able to trust, the only lifeline that’s kept him above water since he was a child, was Clay Terran, and now that was taken from him because he DARED to trust someone new. That’s so fucking compelling! But we never get that! We never get to see how Apollo is feeling. We get that he’s convinced Athena did the murder, but never really get into the Why, into the What This Means for Apollo.

It’s a bit better in SoJ. We see how far he’s come in terms of trusting people when he trusts in Trucy wholly and immediately in case two. And then, conversely, we see his mistrust and hurt when they introduce Dhurke into the mix. Apollo refuses point blank to believe that Dhurke had come to visit him, that Dhurke cared about him. Apollo demands to know why Dhurke was there, what Dhurke wanted, how Dhurke was going to use him. He’s been able to slowly start building that trust with people like Trucy, but he still cannot let himself trust again when Dhurke had already betrayed that trust.

I said it before, but as much as I hate the slapdash ways in which Capcom keeps throwing backstory at this boy, I love what the backstories are, because they build on this angry, cynical, lonely young man I care about so much. He’s been hurt and abandoned and used and betrayed since he was young, and being good never truly paid off for so long, but he kept doing it, he kept being good, he kept caring about people because he couldn’t help it, and kept hoping that maybe they could care back. And eventually I think it does start paying off for him. People do start caring about him. And I feel like it takes until around SoJ for him to start really believing that the people around him might care about him too.

Also congrats on finishing SoJ! Since there’s a very good chance that they might be announcing AA7 soon, I...hope? fear? expect? that they’ll touch on this then. However, I also worry that they’re going to botch it up so hard.

I know what I want to happen. I want Trucy to be angry. I want her to be angry at Lamiroir and Phoenix. She is constantly putting on a mask to try to make the people she loves happy, and I feel like this is a reasonable breaking point. After all, this is kind of the one thing that Phoenix hasn’t been honest with her about. She had a brother right there, and knew the whole time?! She had a mother there the whole time?! And no one bothered to tell her?! I think she’d be heartbroken, and I think she deserves to be angry. She’s been through so much, and they never give her time to really grieve or be upset.

I think Apollo would be ecstatic and angry at the same time. All he’s ever wanted was family, and now he does! He already loved Trucy, and thought Lamiroir was amazing, so I think he would be so happy to have that family back in his life. On the flip side, I do think he’d be angry at Phoenix, particularly for keeping it to himself before Lamiroir came into the picture, but I think if they talked it out, Apollo would come around to it and be able to forgive Phoenix.

[blueskittlesart]

Do you have any info for getting into AA? It looks like a game I'd enjoy but...its a LOT to see and I'm not sure where to start admittedly

ABSOLUTELY i do. ace attorney is a really fun series and i’d definitely recommend it!! before going in tho, if you really don’t know much about it it’s important to know that despite its appearance, it’s not a kids game. aa depicts murder, suicide, emotional abuse, etc, and certain plot points do have the potential to be triggering. @athenadykes actually compiled a spoiler-free list of potential triggers in all the games, so if you’re someone who could potentially be triggered by that kind of thing i highly advise you to look at it so you know what youre getting into. 

If you want to play the games following the canon timeline, this is how you should play:

aa1 (phoenix wright: ace attorney)

aa2 (justice for all)

aa3 (trials and tribulations)

ace attorney investigations 1

ace attorney investigations 2 (gyakuten kenji 2/prosecutor’s path)

aa4 (apollo justice)

aa5 (dual destinies)

aa6 (spirit of justice)

the first 3 games (aa, jfa, t&t) are a complete story and are referred to as ‘the trilogy’ by most fans. they’re definitely where you want to start. after aa3 is where things get a little murky with the timeline and play order. ace attorney investigations/gyakuten kenji are spinoff games following edgeworth instead of phoenix. they take place narratively just after the end of aa3, but were released between aa4 and aa5. they can technically be played at any time after completing the trilogy, and you don’t HAVE to play them to understand the rest of the games, but if you like edgeworth or franziska i’d recommend them! (note: aai2 never got an official US release, so if you want to play it in english you have to use a fan translation. there’s one that’s easy to find and very high quality tho.)

here’s a link to another ask where I explain how I emulated for aa1-4 and aai1&2, as well as emulation and ds hacking options for aa5&6. it also has links to every aa game in emulator-playable format. I’d pretend I love to suck nintendo’s dick at this point and say that there’s a switch and steam version of the trilogy for i think $30, but that only helps you out for the first 3 games and they just took dd and soj off the app store anyway so i hope they lose money because of me specifically actually. get fucked nintendo <3

(note, i didn’t include the dgs games here because 1. they haven’t been translated or released in the US and 2. i haven’t played them yet and honestly dont know if i even can because i havent tried the translation patches BUT if you do want to play them i think the general consensus is that you should play them after completing all the other games, even though they take place narratively a couple hundred(?) years before aa1.)

[klapollo]

I think the reason why they’re putting off the sibling reveal is bc they aren’t sure how to handle Thalassa integrating herself in Apollo and Trucy’s life as their mom? Cause like Trucy knew her at a very young age and has Phoenix and Apollo barely knew her and is an adult, they also only had a few interactions and it just sounds awkward and difficult knowing someone is your mom and you should have a close connection with her but don’t know. or I might be wrong idk, but I feel like thats the more likely reason why it hasn’t happened yet, and perhaps the reason why Thalassa didn’t tell them immediately. Sorry for the rant I’m just thinking about this again and don’t know where else to tell

I've said something to this effect before but I think Capcom kinda shot themselves in the foot on this one and effectively made their job harder re: justifying why Thalassa kept it in for TWO YEAYAHS and lost out on key parts of her kids' youth. My personal theory is that it's rooted in her trauma, but I highly doubt this is the case in actuality.

In choosing to integrate another protagonist, they've put themselves in a box where they're forced to simultaneously nurture three characters (to what end they are carrying on with Phoenix as a protagonist I don't know, as I've said before I feel like his story is done and he'd function best as a Mia-like mentor character). DD HAD to focus on Athena, it was her debut game, but they also shoehorned in sloppy Apollo lore (again, to serve what purpose, I don't know, I’m almost CERTAIN they could have raised the stakes on clay without all that stuff).

SOJ is where the problem REALLY comes to a head though. In the Magical Turnabout, they had the perfect vehicle to make all this stuff happen. A case specifically focused on the troupe, confronting Trucy's past, with a slimy, powerful villain who threatens Apollo and Trucy with their own secrets? The stage was SET. And they cashed in on absolutely none of it. It was very surface level acknowledgement of Trucy that did her character no favors and actively ignored everything we've learned about her and her family so far. Then, on top of this, MORE sloppy Apollo lore. Now, at this point, if you choose to focus on him even more in the next game (should there be one), the average aa fan is just gonna be like "fuck, God, MORE apollo?????" while the players who actually love him are gonna be burnt out should the resulting lore be more on-the-fly nonsense.

The original trilogy played its hand with Phoenix lore very smartly. Every major plot-integral thing about his past (see: not minor details that can be easily peppered in like Apollo owning a bunny or Phoenix biking to work) serves to build the overall narrative. His childhood with Edgeworth and Larry, dating Dahlia/Iris, and meeting Mia are all major puzzle pieces that help lay the foundation for the game's conclusion. With Apollo, we get the opposite. The plot's needs do not inform the development, the plot is informed by what direction they want him to go in. This goes hand in hand with their choice to abandon multi-game stories in favor of standalone titles. There is no "end goal" here to which the plot developments must serve and it makes everything very, very messy.

And, as a result, the Thalassa crap becomes muddled and ridiculous. It makes her look like a bad mom, and it leaves Apollo and Trucy in a weird place. Not to mention everything YOU mentioned, where she must now integrate herself into the lives of two adult children.

This was REALLY fucking long even for me lol. Forgive me.

[askaceattorney]

Dear Sender of the Lich,

Mod Edgeworth: I do apologize, though I don’t know which letter you are referring to and, when the Halloween Event was starting, I was specifically looking for letters with “Halloween.”

If you want to send your holiday letters, you need to wait until myself or one of the other mods sends a post to announce the start of the holiday letters. While the Halloween Event did start much earlier than the holiday letters and the letters to the Cursed Mediums were being answered very early on, it was only letters to those cursed mediums. If it was a letter to anyone else, I’m not going to know right away. You do need to be specific the moment it happens.

Dear Gumshoe “Letty” Fan, 

Mod Edgeworth: Only by request. You will need to resend that letter with the link of the letter answered by the cursed mediums. I will try to keep an eye on yours.

Dear Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: Only if you resend them. They will be answered normally and tagged “Halloween 2021.”

(Referenced Video)

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: I watched it just now.  Far be it from me to make any “sweeping” judgments, but I’d so it was okay at best.  

And who knew a broom could have such sage wisdom?

Dear skibot99,

Co-Mod: It’s been a while since I did that (and since I played some of the games), but I’ll give it a shot.

1. Ace Attorney Investigations 2

2. Dual Destinies

3. Spirit of Justice

4. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

5. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures

6. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

7. Trials and Tribulations

8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

9. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

10. Justice For All

I prefer the newer games to the older ones, in case it wasn’t obvious.  I’ve mentioned this before, but the Ace Attorney series is one of the rare few that’s managed to get better over time, in a number of ways -- its visuals, its music, its mechanics, and so on.

Oh, and I would add the The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve to the list, but I still have yet to finish it.  I definitely have high hopes for it, though.

Mod Edgeworth: I’m pretty sure they mean starting with your least favorite to your favorite. Anyways, here’s mine.

1. AAI 2. JFA 3. DD 4. SOJ 5. AJ 6. AA1 7. T&T 8. PLvsPW 9. DGS 10. AAI2 11. DGS2

The second game of The Great Ace Attorney definitely succeeds Ace Attorney Investigations 2 by far. Somehow, the Ace Attorney games that weren’t localized always seem to be the best.

(Previous Post)

Dear draph91,

Mod Edgeworth: I know whom you’re talking about.  DID personalities counts as one character. You can even ask for the option of each personality’s opinion, but be warned, they’re not going to be any different. They’re different personalities, but still the same person. They will have the same taste for food, are close with the same people and have the same opinions and preferences.  

Dear dawsongfg,

Co-Mod:

Dear dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: I’m glad you asked.  Are you familiar with this golden oldie?

Dear dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened, so even if it does kind of put a dent in the fourth wall, I wouldn’t call it a break.  Just don’t expect the characters to know what you’re talking about when you say things like “Turnabout Goodbyes,” “Episode 2-2,” or stuff like that.  They didn’t see the same text, transitions, and GUI stuff we did, after all.

(Referenced Post)

Dear Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: I mean that they are not sending 10-12 letters from nighttime until midnight anymore. In fact, yesterday, they’ve only submitted five letters with a bunch of other letters from others in between.

(Referenced Video)

Dear Dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: It reminds me of the old Game Boy Color Pokemon games, actually.  I’m not sure why, but thanks for the nostalgia.

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: Thank you!

(Okay, that has to be it with the Danganronpa sprites.)

Running a popular blog isn’t a cakewalk, even with the help I get from my fellow Mods, so thanks for letting us know that our efforts are still making a difference.

Dear dawsongfg,

Mod Edgeworth: The Lost Turnabout.

Co-Mod: Turnabout Big Top.  See this post for details.

Dear Dahlia,

Mod Edgeworth: Aside from being kidnapped and stuffed into the wardrobe by a couple of Cursed Mediums? It was fun.

Mod Justice:

DEVIL-WOMAN... PLEASE... FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY AND EVERYTHING THAT EVER IS OR WAS...

JUST STAY DEAD AND SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!

Co-Mod: You’re a flippin’ dead woman.

-The Mods

[rivalsforlife]

Additional, what's your thoughts on AA6, then?

Oooh okay I know that AA6 is generally better received than AA5, but I didn’t really like that game much either, for somewhat similar reasons why I didn’t like AA5?

Like not only did it abandon most of the plot threads of AA5 -- which they have even less of an excuse for, since this game came out three years after DD and on the same console -- but it had a similar problem that DD had involving pushing back major characters. Namely, Athena, who was kind of hyped up in DD as someone who was going to “revolutionize” the courtroom, but then barely had a major role in SOJ aside from the fourth case (which only had the one trial day and no investigation time, and was completely disconnected with the plot.) And yeah juggling three protagonists at the same time is a bad move, but if you had to pick a protagonist to give a smaller role... I would not pick Athena.

I guess the thing about Spirit of Justice is that it’s an Apollo game which tries to be a Phoenix game. I can’t really see any reason for Phoenix to go to Khura’in and stay there. Sure, he wants to hang out with Maya, who he hasn’t seen in a few years -- but she was supposed to come back in a couple of weeks. Also, and this is one of my bigger issues, one of the biggest shows his daughter was ever going to perform would be in the time he was gone, but he didn’t seem to particularly care about missing it. And, and, and! He didn’t even get to SEE Maya for two weeks after he arrived! So why go that early?

I know the semi-canon prologue kiiind of touched on that with Phoenix thinking Maya was in danger, and I can definitely see him rushing over there if he thought she’d been hurt and/or accused of murder somehow. But... the prologue isn’t really CANON canon, it’s not ever stated explicitly or shown in the game. Instead the game just has him say he was worried about Maya for no particular reason, so he... abandoned his daughter just before her big show... and then didn’t even go back after she was accused of murder? I know that he couldn’t have made it back in time for the trial, but he didn’t even go back to comfort her? For two weeks? Where he was in Khura’in and couldn’t even see Maya? 

It just strikes me as a “we need Phoenix to be in Khura’in for Plot Reasons and not because it’s something his character would ever actually do” kind of thing. And, you know, there is that one interview where they say that Phoenix had to be in Khura’in because they needed to “challenge” him more, but this isn’t really much of a challenge. “He needs to win otherwise he’ll die”??? Big deal, we all already KNOW Phoenix would die to defend his friends! We’ve played Bridge to the Turnabout and seen him run across the burning bridge because he thought Maya was trapped with a murderer. Like, the stakes aren’t that much higher. Phoenix wouldn’t let something silly like death get in the way of doing what was right. That one concept about an “underground court” where Phoenix couldn’t trust his clients was a MUCH more interesting concept because it actually challenges one of Phoenix’s core beliefs. Instead, I can’t say that Phoenix has grown or changed at ALL before and after Khura’in.

And aside from Maya Being There and a general intolerance for injustice, Phoenix has no personal stakes in the general conflict of Khura’in. You know who apparently does? Apollo. But his connection to Khura’in isn’t even really explored until the last case, where they shove all of the Dhurke and Nahyuta development in at once. Of course, his beloved childhood friend he was so distraught over in the last game isn’t ever really mentioned, nor does his loss seem to have any long-term effect on Apollo beyond DD.

And speaking of Dhurke and Nahyuta... another issue I had with Turnabout Revolution is that it was trying to do SO MUCH that it didn’t give much focus. Also the severe delaying of Nahyuta’s character arc: he’s pretty much in Second-Case Prosecutor Mode until the very last case, where we only see him for the last part of it. It makes his development feel a little rushed, I think -- it’s been a while since I played SOJ though, so take that with a grain of salt.

Also I want to say that I really love Maya and I’m glad to see that she’s okay, but it doesn’t feel like she had a huge role in SOJ despite the game pretty much existing to bring her back in a big way. She comes back, and she’s still not the Master, inexplicably, despite it having been nine years since T&T. The game says it was because she could only channel spirits 30% of the time or something before, but... that never really came up past Turnabout Goodbyes? After that she’d pretty much always been able to channel whoever, whenever she needed to (including channeling Dahlia for several days) so I don’t really buy that excuse. My fear is they didn’t want to risk changing Maya Too Much so they just kind of tried to keep her as close to original Maya as possible. Plus, she only shows up for two of the five cases, in which she spends almost all of her time accused of murder, kidnapped, or channeling someone. And all of her important interactions are with Phoenix, or sometimes Rayfa, and like maybe an offhand comment to Apollo? But she doesn’t ever bond with Apollo or Athena or even Trucy -- she and Trucy never even ACKNOWLEDGE each other, which is SO weird, because this is her best friend’s daughter, why is she acting like she doesn’t even know her? 

There’s more with Trucy -- the game tries to claim Trucy has a bigger role because she’s accused of murder, but the entirety of that case irritates me for how it completely disregards previously-established Gramarye lore to add in This Random Dude (who does have an awesome theme song, but still), and then perfectly sets up the opportunity for a sibling reveal only to completely ignore it. (You’ve got a guy who knew Thalassa and should have known about her perceiving power + bracelet, and has a huge complex about being defeated by a Gramarye, coming face-to-face with Apollo with his perceiving power and bracelet and... nothing! Not even acknowledging it!)

oh and the civil trial. the civil. freaking. trial. is SUCH a cool concept that they ABSOLUTELY fail to make work. Because instead of it being about Phoenix’s ideals failing him, or him believing in his client until the very end but his client just turned out to be a terrible person, it was yet another Farewell, My Turnabout but worse, with Phoenix only defending this guy because Maya’s kidnapped again... and he learned absolutely nothing from last time, where the only reason he got through the trial safely was by trusting Miles and teaming up with the other side to delay the trial for a rescue, instead he just decides I’m Not Telling Apollo Anything and struggles like he did in the second game. Plus it takes any victory of Apollo triumphing over Phoenix away, because Phoenix wasn’t actually trying his best. It had the opportunity to be an exploration of “what would Phoenix do if his trust in people actually went wrong”, but they abandoned it because Phoenix Wright Is Never Wrong. Instead it was just so weak!

Wow this is ALL OVER THE PLACE I’m sorry about that anon. ending with a bit of positivity, I really like that Final Big Twist at the end of the game, I think that was a super cool use of spirit channeling! And getting a little more spirit channeling lore was nice (though I would have liked to see more about the structure of Kurain Village -- you expect me to believe this random dude has a major role as the mayor of what has always been described as a matriarchal village?) I guess my main issue is... a lot of potential for cool things (in the civil trial, in Maya getting to know and bonding with the New Generation, sibling reveals and spirit channeling lore) and it doesn’t really deliver on most of it.

[inlovelawyers]

just curious about what your fav cases are and which ones you dislike the most ? i’m sorry if you’ve been asked this before :( your posts are awesome

Hello, anon! How are you today? Thank you for asking!

Oof, my favorite cases? Let’s see... In a non-specific order, I’d say... [SPOILERS FROM ALL GAMES EXCEPT DGS 1 AND 2]

Turnabout Goodbyes is a MUST. I still remember my feelings when I played AA for the very first time. I hated Edgey-boy in Turnabout Sisters. How could he, right? But then something changed during Turnabout Samurai. Without realizing, I was in love with that man and I wanted to protect him as badly as Phoenix. When the intro played and Edgey was holding a gun, all I could think of was: “DON’T WORRY, BABY! YOU’RE INNOCENT AND I’LL PROVE IT!”

It’s silly but I felt like Phoenix in Turnabout Goodbyes, channeling all my love for Edgey in courtroom. Also narumitsu at its best. It brings me good memories!

The Kidnapped Turnabout is also great because I love the badgers so much. My URL used to be something related to Blue Badger! Also it’s the first time that we see Lang and boi, do I love that wolf???? He’s so hot wtf??? Ahem... Plus, there’s Kay and that Gavinners reference! Also Phoenix crossing the bridge of love? hahaha that’s gay. Still in the AAI universe, I also adore The Inherited Turnabout because Dad Greg is a precious beam. And the whole gang is so cool? Sebastian, Justine, Jeff, Katherine, Delicia... They’re all so funny and nice! AAI 1 and 2 are AmAZiNg games!

And lastly (and probably my fav), Turnabout for Tomorrow. People can judge me all they want, but I love DD. Mostly because Phoenix is back, he’s happier and healthier after his AJ breakdown. He’s engaged to Edgeworth. Also, although I didn’t like Apollo’s behavior when I first played it, I understand everyone now. Apollo? Did nothing wrong. Aura? Did nothing wrong. Lesbians? Everywhere. Simon Blackquill? Hot af. And the plot twist at the end? The Phantom? I needed to stop the game and go for some air because I couldn’t believe it was ~~Bobby~~ the whole time. Love it! Love it very much!

Honorable mentions: Rise from the Ashes is SOOOOOOOOO cool???? The characters are great, I love them! But it’s sooooooo long?? At some point, I need a break and finish it the next day. Also, how could I not mention Bridge to the Turnabout? Simply because, although I love all the angst, the plot, the tension... I love Godot very much. I hated learning he was the culprit. My first time playing? I had to stop it. I couldn’t finish it, so I just looked for a walkthrough and concluded the game with a broken heart. Not to mention Iris and Phoenix. It’s something that does not please me. I have very mixed feelings about it, although I do know it’s one of the best cases. It’s more like a personal matter, you see. Lastly, I find SoJ very weak as a game in general, but I do appreciate Turnabout Time Traveler, in which Edgeworth and Phoenix get married.

That said, those are my favorite cases! I haven’t played DGS yet, only watched half of the first game walkthrough. Also I don’t really want to go to AA2 and AA4. We... don’t do that here.

Finally, thank you for such kind words! I’m glad you appreciate my posts, it really means a lot to me! Hope my answer was good enough! Have a nice day!