#the whole Dhurke thing CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD.

[doyoueverjustwomen]

hello ace attorney fans who have finished all rhe games before aj trilogy came out do you have any tips on how to cope after 6-5 (I know some people probably thought it was underwhelming BUT IT WAS EXTREMELY DEVESTATIFNT TO ME OKAU)

[brodorokihousuke]

Alright, it’s been awhile since SoJ released, and I’ve been wanting to write a thorough review of it. Or at least half-thorough. I don’t know. Let’s get this over with.

Obviously, this will be chock-full of spoilers so if you haven’t played the game yet, I suggest playing it (or just avoid this post)

ALRIGHT first case: The Foreign Turnabout.

Overall, this was a good intro case. We got a good insight (eheheh) into the divination seance mechanic, as well as a glimpse into the chaos known as Khura’in court. Pees’lubn’s singing testimony was also quite interesting, with one of my favorite parts being when everyone (including Phoenix, out of all people) begins to sing along. Resolving the case was quite satisfying, as this was the first time in a while that anyone had been acquitted of charges in crazy Khura’in.

Second case: The Magical Turnabout

Well this case was quite the ride. I mean, all of these cases were, but you know what I mean. The thing that stood out the most in this case was the characters. We have Roger Retinz (whom I constantly wanted to punch in the gut), the De Famme sisters, and of course, Ema Skye. Honestly, it was really nice knowing she finally got a job as an actual part of the forensics team. 

Some other notable moments in this case were when Trucy cried (I wasn’t expecting it and I wanted to hug her so bad poor magic child), the reference to Lamiroir/Thalassa (as well as Apollo’s comment my gosh), and when Retinz told Apollo and Athena that they owed him 3 million dollars. I almost had a heart attack when he said that, and another when I went back to the office. I hate that guy. 

One more thing to note is that Retinz’s breakdown is one of my favorites in the series. I dunno what it is about it, it’s just so... cinematic?.. idk.

I keep forgetting things rip And the ending picture... pure gold.

Third case: The Rite of Turnabout

Ah yes, Maya’s first appearance in a while... and of course she gets accused of murder again. I mean, there’s even a reference to the stepladder vs ladder thing!

But honestly, those weren’t my favorite parts of the case. That has to go to the fact there’s a bootleg Khura’inese Steel Samurai. It’s so weird and terrible. The theme is quite... interesting, as well. 

Other than that, most of the second half of the case was quite good. I enjoyed most of the stuff having to do with the Defiant Dragons (and Datz, for that matter), and boy did I freak out when I saw that picture of lil Apollo. No joke, I was running around my house screeching for at least five minutes.

The end of the case is also the only time you see Dhurke when he’s still alive, so that’s fun.

Fourth case: Turnabout Storyteller

This is my least favorite case in the game, but I have a bunch of reasons I do actually like it. Firstly, Blackquill returns, and boy is he saltier than ever. The fact that he’s also helping out because he just wants his food place back is fantastic. The part where he grabs you by the freakin collar and looks you straight in the eyes caught me off guard as well, so that was interesting.

Uendo was a really interesting witness to cross-examine, with the split personality stuff and all. Even without that, I liked his character a lot.

The case also has one of my favorite murder weapons in the whole series: a clump of udon noodle dough.

Also those terrifying balloon animals tho

*drumroll noises*

Fifth case: Turnabout Revolution

*drumroll intensifies*

And here it is. The big one. No but honestly this case was huuuge! I thought there was going to be a 6th case, but no, TR just kept pushing on and butchering my emotions.

Where do I even start with this one? Well, the beginning would probably be the best place. Obviously.

So, we start by seeing a portion of a Plumed Punisher episode. This then transitions to a recording of Dhurke that was transmitted over the footage, with him asking the citizens of Khura’in to join against the Ga’ran Regime. This has to be one of my favorite cutscenes in the game, because... DHURKE.

After that charade ends, it goes into some normal AA dialogue. Trucy and Apollo are watching a news story on the same clip just shown, with Apollo moping around in his thoughts. Then suddenly, in what has to be one of my favorite parts of the game, Dhurke just magically appears at the office. He just runs in and is like “Hey, son! Long time no see, right? Hah ha ha ha ha!”, while Trucy is just like “???”

Dialogue (and sushi hamburgers) happens, and then... the picture. I remember it clearly, me sitting in bed at 11 PM, seeing the small version of the image on the upper-left corner. “Huh”, I thought, “It looks like hipster Apollo”.

And boy, was I wrong

The picture zoomed in and I read the dialogue. I promptly shut my 3DS and couldn’t get to sleep for at least two more hours beCAUSE THAT WAS APOLLO’S FATHER AAA

But yeah they then go to Khurian Village and see a remote controlled drone, the Rosetta stone, and a picture presumably drawn in MS Paint. We also learn that Apollo’s dad died in a purposely-set fire, which is quite sad. We then get to go on a magical cave adventure, which is totally not stressful in any way and definitely doesn’t involve any near-death characters!

Things happen, and now we’re in a freaking civil case. Against Phoenix Wright. It’s the thing that was mentioned at the end of the trailer, my goodness. As I predicted, it eventually turned into a murder trial (We’re in the AA universe. What do you expect?), and you win. It felt so satisfying to get stupid Paul Atishion arrested, because ugh he’s one of my least favorite characters. Bleh.

At some point you learn that Maya’s being held captive by Inga (who I’ve forgotten about up until this point whoops), which is why Phoenix was opposing you. Yay, blackmail! 

Because of this, Apollo and almost all of the other main characters (including Trucy the stowaway) take Edgeworth’s fancy rich person jet to Khurian to try and negotiate with Inga.

Dhurke goes in to try and figure something out (which I knew was a bad idea), and doesn’t come out. Apollo (and a few others) run in, to see a terrible scene: A bloody Dhurke holding an equally bloody knife in one hand, looming over Inga’s 死体 corpse. What fun!

Dhurke is (obviously) arrested, and lots of things happen. I’m not going to bother getting into details because goodness look at how long this is.

Eventually, you find out that Dhurke was dead the whole time. This bombshell of a plot twist killed me more than the line about Dhurke eating three bullets. I’m pretty sure it’s currently at the top of the list for “Help I’m getting emotional over fictional characters” deaths, and “Why the f**k did they have to die!” deaths. Mmmmmmmgh.

RIP Super Swimmer Sushi Dad

Then, everyone accuses the poor dead man of  setting the fire at the old royal quarters. Now how do we go about disproving this? I thought the answer was going to be “Channel Jove”, because we can get legit testimony, and Apollo can actually (kind of) meet his biological dad. But no, we get the divination seance.

It’s fine, I just... really value family/friend interaction. I think this is one of the only things I had a dislike of. Then again, nothing can really be perfect (many people just dislike the whole game, anyways).

It is heartbreaking seeing Jove’s last moments though. I mean... augh, I’m getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it. His death is the best and worst example of “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, and it kills me.

So anyways, that’s disproved and Ga’ran (Who, like Inga, I kind of forgot about somehow) is thankfully arrested. I don’t think I could’ve stood her for much longer. Nahyuta (Who I also neglected to mention whoops wow) is free of his hypothetical shackles and shows off his sick hand tat to the whole courtroom.

Some dialogue happens, and Apollo decides to stay back in Khura’in to help rebuild the legal system. The ending cutscene happens, then the credits, and then Thalassa saying that it’s time to tell Trucy and Apollo that they’re half-siblings. FINALLY!

I mean, we have to wait until GS7 (hopefully), but FINALLY

I’ll just make a bullet list of some overall things I liked about the game because this is long already

They brought back the “5 penalties” system

I really liked most of the music

The story was interesting

Since my favorite character is Apollo, learning about his backstory was great

Nahyuta was equal parts likable and hateable, making for a great opposition

The animation is smooth af

There are so many references to pop culture I love it

The name puns are so bad and hilarious I just can’t

I think that’s enough. Sorry for the ridiculously long post!