Finished Apollo Justice yesterday. You don't want to read this if you want to avoid negativity. I don't even know if I want to spend time writing about it.

Regarding how I rate the series so far:
1 > 3 >>>>>>>> 2 >>> 4

Apollo Justice didn't grab me, at all. I understand that the game is pretty much by a new staff compared to the Phoenix Wright games, but their new 5th case of AA1 was far, far better than this game. The new main characters backgrounds', motivations', and developments' are all either messed up or completely non-existing. The use of music in climaxes is absolutely abysmal, whenever I felt like actually enjoying a scene they chose to play that one highly repetitive danger/hurry piece which regularly forced me to turn off the sound (something I usually never do in story driven games as they are bland to me without it). Cases wise the first two are fine, but the latter two are no more than convoluted jokes, unsatisfying due to seriously off pacings. If you want details I'd like to refer to Pureauthor's detailed text at neogaf which I agree with except for the music part.

I don't think I'll bother looking at whatever sequel Apollo Justice gets, and a continuation to Phoenix Wright seems very unlikely at this point considering what Apollo Justice did with it.

Yeah, I do think they went a bit overboard with the new Suspense ~ Thrill theme, but I absolutely love the piece, so I didn't mind so much.  Still, it felt like they should've used the original Suspense theme in certain moments that didn't seem nearly as tense.

Pureauthor does put out a number of valid points as well.  Speaking of misplaced characterization and motives, I absolutely could not stop laughing at this comic.  *DO NOT* read these until you've beaten Apollo Justice: 

~The Gramaryes Are Jerks Series~
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6  (Not necessarily part of the series, but a funny bit of final closure, in any case.)

He points out some things that clearly got to him and many are definitely valid. But it doesn't really justify his 'worst in series' placement. You could go through any PW game and tear it apart like that. Quite easily. He's just chosen to do it with this one.

In fact, just to point out one example has been nothing in this series worse than the fact that in the Edgeworth case in PW1, the number of bullets was made clear in the evidence from the start and yet you weren't able to bring it up until the end of the case. If anyone can make it past that, AJ shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Those are great. A fan remix of the game with those improvements would be fantastic. =P

Does anyone know if there's something like a guide or FAQ out there that not so much analyses the plot as it does the many jokes and references? I kinda need something like that for a translation thesis I'm working on.
I can find plot and dialogue transcriptions, but no real analyses.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Seconded, an AA series pop culture joke glossary sure would be nice to have (especially for me being a non-native speaker).

After avoiding it for spoilers, I got the Art of Gyakuten Saiban books and have gone through them. Nice to have crisp images of some of the game art but most of what's here is just the character poses. The GS4 book has more of what I was hoping for with a good chunk of sketch design work and nice promotional art too. The PW book does have promotional art too but, considering there are three games on two machines, there's not much.

You can really see the drawing quality rise in GS3 and GS4, along with the extra case on the DS GS1. Much more polished artwork.

Yeah, I really regret seeing pages 30-31 in the GS4 book before playing the game.  That sorta gave the whole damned game away.  >_<;

I still wish they included artwork for the victim characters, and the black and white crime photos/flashback shots.  The B&Ws were some of the best pieces in the series.

For fans who played the entire series, lookit.  The kawaii-ness..... it will CONSUME you.

The Girls of Gyakuten Saiban:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BuKTVBXF1_4&feature=related

Looks like I might not be out of the series yet.

Miles Edgeworth (+ Dick Gumshoe) to get own game: Perfect Prosecutor

Please do it the right way this time, Capcom.

Wow..... this was both unexpected yet a long time in coming.  "Perfect Prosecutor"?  Would go well with the Ace Attorney moniker.

Which leads to the question: is this really going to be "Gyakuten Saiban 5" on Japan's side?  Or is this the so-called "Gyakuten Not Saiban" project?  Either way, we're supposed to see a deluge of official information on something GS-related on April 20th.

The latter.  It's apparently being called 逆転検事, (Gyakuten... Kenji, I think?).  Geez, I can't believe two people made it here to post this before I did... I JUST saw the news show up. 

This is great news. I could see there being loads of potential taking it from the prosecution side. I'm really curious now.

Edit: Scans here- http://kotaku.com/377663/phoenix-wright … es-walking

Looks very different and very interesting!

Looks like a standard point'n click game. Which kinda makes me wary. Japanese are known for menu-driven text adventure games, not for point'n click ones. The only one I can think of ATM is Twilight Tokyo Busters...

Don't make the game have unlogical puzzles, one-pixel item hunts, instant, uncalled deaths and all the other crud bad point'n click games have.

I'm noting a distinct lack of court battles in those scans.  C'mon, who doesn't want a shot at taking down the goody-two-shoes defense for once?!

While we're on topic, this one's for the Edgey fans.  He can serve ME any day:
http://www.court-records.net/arts/08022 … snap02.jpg

Phoenix, Larry and Franziska in the background make this one really nice, thanks.

ROWR! Edgeworth...great character, sexy design, and how can you not love the badassery when he's facing you in court? Glad to hear he's getting his own game and as long as those walking sprites animate nicely, I wouldn't mind seeing Mr. Ruffles striding down the hall.

But yes, like Angela, I would be demanding for court battles. Getting the chance this time to yell 'Objection' in Edgeworth's voice, shredding down the young defense attorney rookies would be great fun. Excellent music, too, please.

Further on into the game and all I wanna say is that Trucy has stolen my heart.

I'm near the end of the last episode of the second game, and now there's talk of a fifth!  It wasn't all that bad, but I think the designers emply some obscure thinking at times.  And my biggest pet peeve is waiting for the text to scroll onto the screen.

It looks good.  The walking sequence make this feel like the old Sierra computer games.

This game is for the Edgeworth fans (most of them seemingly female...).  I think Capcom made a smart move.

Yep.  But again, once you've beaten a case - and if you're so inclined to play through it again - you do have the ability to speed-scroll through the text by simply tapping the touch screen, or pressing either the A or B button.  Holding B is particularly great for barreling through long passages of text.

OMG, That video is so adorable.

I wonder what a "The Boys of Gyakuten Saiban" video would look like.
Gahh....probably yaoi-ish.

This new game looks interesting. I don't mind playing as Edgeworth.

Weird...when I played, I could scroll through the text by tapping the screen even on the first playthrough.

Yes, but was it an instant scroll?  Like, you tap, and the entire passage of text appears on-screen automatically?

Checking this again, I received the instant scroll on double-tapping after a conversation has occurred the first time.   You don't need to beat the case.  You just need to have the conversation the first time.  I remember this specifically, because I did get stuck in a few places, and I kept triggering the same response out of people when talking to them, so I double tapped and the text appeared instantly.

Right, only if a conversation is repeated would it do that.  But once you've beaten the case in its entirety, you can double-tap (or press A or B) for instant scroll for ALL passages of text - regardless if it was ever once said or not.

It's basically Capcom's way of first allowing you to play the game exactly as it was intended, with the timing of the text and character animations synced with the story's progression.

The resurgence of the point 'n' click genre is in full effect! Truthfully, I enjoyed the investigation parts of Ace Attorney best, so this new game is right up my alley.

I hope they take a page from LucasArts rather than Sierra. Deaths simply do not belong in adventure games. I'm also hoping for full talkie, though I'm sure the chances for that are nonexistent.

Ok, then I misunderstood you.  I never really noticed the text scrolling, since I only beat the game once and then trade it into the store.

Hehee..... Ace Attorney fans sure know how to deliver the goods.

Franzy talks about the facts of life with.....

Schadenfreude!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYzsRMa … re=related

Looks like the news was largely on Gyakuten Kenji and the concert.  Check it out, Famitsu's got a sneak-peek of the trailer as well as shots from the concert, announcements from the producers, and a shot of one of the new characters that's going to be featured in Kenji:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGpgGfz2j_k

Seeing all that merchandise in one place is like a wet dream; I want an O.G. Blue Badger shirt!

I was in a game shop at the weekend that had notices up for Apollo Justice coming out here soon. Weird thing is, PW3 hasn't come out here yet. There's no sign of it. It's bizarre to think they could miss out on the best in the series.

Thank you for agreeing with me.

A lot of ppl think that you just can't top the first game, especially w/ the epilogue scenario (Yomigaeru Gyakuten). But to me, the wrap-up explanation in the last few missions of PW3 are fantastic.

I look forward to where they'll take the Apollo Justice story arc. It has potential, but they'll have to do a lot to overcome a weaker set of protagonists (Trucy's pretty good, Apollo is not so much. If they keep Phoenix's role of "bad-ass guy on the side" and bring back some Fey characters, that'll sell it).

Ramza

Just beat the game five minutes ago. Very close in place for Trials and Tribulations. I'd say it's a very close second.

*tips hat* Here's to Gyakuten 5 and Perfect Prosecutor being excellent.

Had to post this here:

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=264

Bahahahaha!!

Well, I finally started Apollo Justice and finished the first case.  One of my biggest complaints with the series is it is needlessly verbosive AND made worse by having to wait for the scrolling text.  Ridiculous.