CASE FIVE complete!

In retrospect, I'm gobsmacked at how close I called this one -- just not in the way I imagined. By "story defining role," I was thinking more along the lines of, say, producing some case-breaking evidence for the defense, or sacrificing his position as detective for the greater good, or some similarly heroic act. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that FOOL BRIGHT of all people was the true villain all along. My own reaction was something like a choked gasp, followed by an audible but incoherent stammering that might have went something like, "N-no way....." After the initial shock wore off, my thoughts immediately turned to you, Sean, and what your thought process was at this revelation.

Up to that point, I thought the game did a spectacular job at stringing the player along in thinking who the Phantom was. For a while, Aura seemed to be the obvious choice. It made sense motive-wise: she had personal ties with Metis (Ponco hinted that Aura's persona changed when Metis was killed -- an outward expression of repressed guilt from committing the deed?), was unusually adamant in wanting to get Athena arraigned (perhaps to cover her own tracks), had a deeply rooted hatred for the courts (hence why she bombed the courthouse), and wouldn't dare show her face in a courtroom, sending Clonco in her stead (a precaution). On top of which, she was an employee at the Space Center, so she'd know the lay of the land, allowing her to know how to make the ladder leap escape, and having the best opportunity to plant the jacket evidence back at the lab. But then the game went on to constantly defuse these notions by stating first that there was no third suspect, that the Phantom was a MAN, and that his psyche profile reveals that he expresses no emotion. All the same, I was thinking, well, the culprit's face was covered by a mask, and Athena's memory could have been hazy..... But then again, Aura has been known to show quite a bit emotion, particularly during her desperate plea to stay Simon's execution and her vehement hatred toward Athena. (Which is a moot point anyway, since all throughout Fulbright expresses a huge array of surface emotions -- however false they were.)  Thing is, I'm not sure if Capcom ever intended for Aura to be a potential suspect in the eyes of the player. Not once did the game directly implicate her, but it was that very reason that continued to fuel my train of thought; I kept waiting for the characters to 'catch up' to my own deductions, and call her out with them.

I suppose Capcom's decision not to bring Gumshoe or Ema back this time around was justified to best serve the story. Fulbright haters must be beside themselves that he's a one-shot character who most assuredly won't be returning in the detective role for future AA titles.

Hah, we really did get to cross-examine Ponco after all. And Edgeworth even acknowledges the absurdity of Phoenix having a history of calling oddball witnesses to the stand.

I love that we got to cross-examine most every crucial character throughout the game (either conventionally or through the Mood Matrix), however brief some of the exchanges were. The Kenji/Investigations titles sort of spoiled me by how much of the supporting cast got to be "examined," so it's nice to see that level of expansion spread to the Saiban games. As far as these last sets of examinations, Blackquill gave me trouble, largely due to having to switch between testimony and emotions. His overabundance of emotion during the 'running wild' phase was as equally unnerving as Fulbright's lack of emotion during his examination.

Good callback on the Black Psyche Locks. Now that they've established exactly what they are, I hope a future game will go on to explain what Kristoph's was all about. On the other hand, it's disappointing that they've made zero mention of the Jurist System.

Apollo going against Athena was another 'whoa snap' moment.  I liked that they smartly acknowledged that whatever doubts Apollo had wouldn't just easily be explained away to him by what Phoenix and we as the players had initially dispelled. That Apollo would stand up against his mentor for a thorough understanding of the arguments made for some great character development on his behalf. Also, ever since the end credits scene in AA4 where Phoenix said he planned to take the bar exam again, and speculations began to arise on how they could integrate both he and Apollo together in a future title, I'd always imagined a courtroom scenario exactly like how the two teamed up at the defense bench to take down Fulbright. (I never would have imagined the bench could accommodate THREE people, though. Hello, Athena.)

One thing the series does well is justifying its character designs -- no matter how outlandish or quirky they are -- for the sake of the story. Taka existing as a key plot point in keeping the Phantom's psyche profile report secure, Apollo needing to keep his Perceive ability in check by having that bandage over his eye, acknowledging Athena's glove design when the lighter's fingerprints came up, and having the earring she's always subconsciously tapping turning out to be the final, decisive evidence.

Blackquill sounds waaaay too quiet without his trademark shackles on. o_O  Speaking of AA5's sound design, it's pretty remarkable. One of my qualms with AA4 was that, while the visuals got a keen update, the sound effects remained largely untouched from the previous DS games before it. Not so here; sound effects were all newly designed from the ground up, so there's no longer this irregular discourse between the updated visuals and audio. I do have one complaint, and it has to do with the music's volume level: it's a bit on the low side. Takes away from some of the punchier music-driven sequences, like "Pursuit".

Luckily, the OST release doesn't suffer from such audio deficiencies. It's well mastered, includes nearly every track from the game (they even added the two trailer-arranged tracks: Demo PV and Last Promotion), and as mentioned, there's actual outros - an Iwadare trademark, but an Ace Attorney first. I said 'includes nearly track,' as it's a shame they didn't include....  Apollo's ringtone of The Guitar's Serenade.

I was thrown for a loop with Case Five's episode structure. All these incredible story revelations happening, and this was only the Day 1 Trial? I was thinking, anything that happens in Day 2 would have to be pretty damned amazing to top what was happening in the here and now. With the exclusion of a Day 2, I'm personally viewing Cases Four and Five as one huge, epic episode.

Bobby Bond's (or is that Ethan Fulbright's?) first mask removal knocked me on my ass. "Starbuck, you SON OF A BIIIIITCH!!!!..... Oh. Um, never mind. A little disappointed we never got to see the "true" face of the Phantom, but I suppose his ambiguity was built to such grandiose heights that the actual reveal might have been disappointing in and of itself. So, I guess I'm cool with it.

Despite my earlier prediction, I'm glad they didn't use Pearl as a spirit medium here -- would have proven way too easy for her to just summon Mama Cykes with the answers like that. I am delighted, however, at the prospect of Maya returning in a future game. Gotta get that Wright Agency Office cleaned up for her eventual visit!

So wait, did Aura and Metis really have a thing for one another? Hoo, I can see that as another point for the M rating.

They really drive home the story themes of psychology and psychological analysis toward the end there. And yea, cool little moment with Blackquill and Athena ensnaring the Phantom with their unspoken psyche trap ploy.

Agreed on all points. I'm also glad his role didn't conclude after Fulbright was first fingered as the Phantom, and that he was there for the end-of-case celebrations. As for Edgeworth himself, it did feel a little strange to no longer be experiencing him from the first-person. Not to spoil anything, but he does come off as a bit more.... not 'cold-hearted' per se, but dispassionate from the man we got to know in GK2. On the other hand, we rarely got to see him in a courtroom setting in the Kenjis, so I chalk this up as his usual M.O. when actually standing in a court of law.

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Incredible game. As I stated before, whatever shortcomings it may possess (the typos, lack of non-essential investigation scenes, the early reveals of certain culprits) is offset by the clever scenarios, a strong story balance between the three protagonists, an extremely colorful supporting cast, and a solid music score. I'm also happy to report that Cases Four and Five did NOT drop the ball; instead, they held on tight, crossed the goal line, and made a truly winning play. I doubt the upcoming DLC will tarnish the essence of the core game, and if anything, should enhance it. AA5 officially goes in the grouping of AA1, AA3, and GK2 as my favorite titles in the Ace Attorney series.

So now that electricity has returned to both ends of my home (long story), I can address some more thoughts. As before, spoilers for this and all localized entries are fair game.

Let's start with the good.
First and foremost, it's nice to finally see an AA game where the attornies are actually the most important characters in the game. With T&T being more about the family Fey, AJAA being more about an ex-attorney, and Edgeworth basically being swept up Jessica-Fletcher-style into the Yatagarasu affair in AAI, having the focal struggles of the main protagonists come from within was long overdue.

Finally Apollo is getting some respect as a character, and all it took was for him to get the core-defining scenario somebody cheated him out of in AJAA. Fun as they were, the characters in the first AA game didn't become great until 1-4 and 1-5 added dimension to them, and it bristles me every time somebody calls Apollo, Trucy, Klavier or Ema as being weak characters when they didn't even get half a proper chance before. Now that Athena has been pretty well-defined in her debut (of all the #$*% luck), I sincerely hope AA6 gives the floor to the AJ crew to iron out...well, more on that later.

Simon, for his part, was an outstanding character, and everything Godot was hyped as being but failed to deliver on. It was never as fun to see him lose his temper as Edgey or Franziska, but I never once got the vibe of meanness and petty spite Coffee Boy brought in with him. I fully expect him to return, and I look forward to it. And even as my three favorite characters were nowhere to be seen - that's Gumshoe, Ema and Franziska by the way - Udgey was thankfully the same as he's ever been.

The cases themselves were built nicely on an overall theme of Trust. The whole Dark Age of the Law was borne of and predicated on the idea that if things are going south, a person has take the initiative and push against the reality they see to get the result they want, or to divert the result they don't. Phoenix re-entered law even as he was looking to throw the old self awaybecause he believed in the one requesting him to, Apollo's solo flight was ultimately driven by a need to trust, and the events that had scarred Athena ultimately led her to put trust in everyone but herself. It's no mistake the villain is a lone wolf without so much as an identity to believe in; that was the whole point.

It was the second time inside a year I played something where one simple line made a screen-clearing Tetris play out in my head. Post-celebration, I couldn't help but try and predict how different he'd be once the facade fell. I certainly wasn't expecting the sideshow it eventually turned into, and yeah, it's a bit hard not to feel cheated by them not actually settling on an identity, but probably the most disappointing thing for me was that as he fell he was consumed with fear rather than rage or disbelief. My favorite takedowns have always been the ones where the antagonist is basically daring you to make it stick, and then they go right over the edge once you cinch it (this isn't always gold, however; again, Quercus Alba got more boring than anything else with the extent he was willing to hang on with both hands to the flimsiest minutae). The Phantom's surrender was basically on par with Redd White's - entertaining for its loss of composure, but unfulfilling because it wasn't the chess match that broke him, but a larger threat we never got to see.

But regarding this -

You'd better believe it. The Team Science train is back in the express lane, ladies and gentlemen!

Yeah, remember back when I said I took issue with some of the choices the scenarists and Eshiro made? This was partly what I was getting at. I knew going in, and was fully irritated by, the extent to which the major points of AJAA got swept under the rug in favor of the Wright comeback tour. The Jurist System being ignored is irritating because I spent a good amount of time figuring out ways that could be implemented to change things up, and they didn't even try. As you said, nobody said boo about the Lamiroir costume or Kristoph, and Phoenix has apparently still kept Apollo's and Trucy's relation to himself, for who knows whatever reason. And as you might've guessed, completely glossing over Ema's abscence irked me most of all. I'm not saying we needed a 'Detective Ema Skye chooses death' subplot, but even a mention would've gone a long way toward smoothing that particular scab (and everytime these games skip over parts with dusting and luminol when we could be doing it on the touchscreen ourselves, I feel a strong urge to put the stylus through the system). Simply put, AA6 needs to give the AJ cast the spotlight again and bring all these threads to a proper resolution.

Ultimately though, I enjoyed the game quite a bit, and I feel a bit silly for the pre-release jitters Takumi's abscence and the omissions I've mentioned had given me. I'd rather have more investigating and less cutscene, but they still know how to carry on through humor and personality. I still don't know if they'll ever catch up to the perfection of those first two games, but as long as they maintain the charm while picking up the slack on neglecting things, then going forward the Ace Attorney franchise will be fine

P.S, Now give us AAI2, please.

P.P.S. Angela...Channeling my inner Peter Potamus here, but did you get the thing I sent ya?

I'm getting through this very slowly. Just finished case 2. I have found the investigation sections to be a bit of a chore to be honest. The dialogue is fun and characters are great but the investigation stuff really is just a lot of reading with not a huge amount else. I found myself itching to get back into court, where I find I have more to do and a more obvious mission - find those inconsistencies.

The court stuff is wonderful though. So much fun, great characters, a hilariously twisted case filled with lunacy and I found case 2 played out very closely to my own pace. Not a huge amount of waiting around for characters to realise what I had already figured out.

Not sure I yet like Cynthia's emotion feature. It seems to be full of stops and starts and doesn't feel as fluid as some previous features. Nice to see Apollo's skill observation return and I'm hoping they make more use of that.

Overall, really enjoying it.

So far from what I've played (the first investigation part of second case), I feel like they should have done more animations for the characters. Got bit annoying with Trucy and Bobby Fulbright. Otherwise it has been fun to play, even if I'm taking things really really reaaally slow with it.

Am I right that there are no options to change sound levels or have I just not found it? I find the music very quiet compared with the beeps of the text and would love to turn down the beeps and listen to the music nice and loud.

If ya try ta fight us,
you will get a nasty whackin´!
If ya disrespect our singin',
we will feed ya to a kraken!

Yeah, it's time.

Finished the first day of trial in the DLC case. Chronologically, it takes place between Cases 2 and 3, and it seems that would ideally be when you should play it. If you've finished Case 5 and already know where certain arcs wind up...it's a little hard to put the genie back in the bottle and readjust. But the DLC case also introduces characters and play elements better than the cases in the game proper do, so it's really unfortunate the case wasn't available back at launch. I'll play to the conclusion before I swear to it, but right now I'd recommend playing it before Case 3 and certainly before 4 or 5.

Early thoughts on events and characters past this point, be ye warned.

Sasha and Orla are a interesting pair, and Sasha's reactions in court are pretty amusing. A missed oppurtunity though, in her 'punk' hand sign not matching Viewtiful Joe's hand sign

In contrast, Marlon's animations - aside from his singing animation of course - are pretty limited and he seems kind of wasted so far. Norma's pretty standard, but her referring to Phoenix as Blue Boy has me thinking of someone else entirely.

That's a cute little sea shanty, even if it reminds me a little of that weird UmJammer Lammy song.

It's nice to finally have a video clip at our disposal to examine at will again. Maybe someday we'll finally reach where we were seven years ago with Rise From the Ashes. Yes, I'm still bitter.

Maybe I was just fuzzy in the head when I made it to that point, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me the logical argument Phoenix was trying to make with the scarf proving the body couldn't have been pulled underwater afterward. I eventually moved forward by pure guesswork on that part. Two penalties, but the accompanying dialogue was amusing.

Yeah, the best option for the music (outside of the official soundtrack of course - was that their plan all along?) is to play with a set of headphones that have their own adjustable volume. But then there's the sound effects. So yeah, no perfect solution.

P.S. A final treat for people who've finished Case 5. I'd share it with everyone, but because of the nature of Youtube's recommended video system linking to spoilers, and because THE VIDEO ITSELF HAS A MEGAWATT, GAME-DESTROYING SPOILER ONLY SECONDS IN (why would they do that, anyway?), this video is restricted to Case 5 alumni only. But it is flat-out scary how well these two songs mesh together.

Having just picked up A Link Between Worlds, I'm in that irresolute mindset of wanting to finish the new AA5 DLC case as quickly as possible just to "get it out of the way" -- and not wanting it to end, as, in all likelihood, this will officially mark the end of the game. (It doesn't look like Capcom has plans for any more DLC cases in the foreseeable future.)

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I'm past DAY 1 TRIAL myself.  Spoilers ahoy, ye scurvy dogs; these impressions are from a POST CASE FIVE stance, so be warned:

It's nice that we're getting a case that focuses on the dynamics of Phoenix and Athena as a team; in retrospect, the two never really got a lot of time together in the main game. It's sorta hilarious how they're pushing Apollo to the wayside here: "Want me to come, guys??"  "Nah Apollo, you stay here in the office. Clean the toilet for the hundredth time.

For a series that's already rich in puns, we sure get an overabundance of them here; they're just more self-aware with them. Like, r-EEL-y!

Phoenix's gluttonous appreciation for sea life is amusing. Do penguins really taste like chicken, I wonder?

This marks the first time we've ever gotten a vocal song in an Ace Attorney game, isn't it? (And no, I don't quite count The Guitar's Serenade.) It sounded decent when I first heard the Japanese version on the OST (I broke my "play first, then listen" rule for the Turnabout Great Pirates tracks), but with Sasha's sassy pirate accent, I'm digging the English rendition a lot more. (And yeah, it sure does remind me of Lammy's "Treasure"!)  I gotta do my in-line recording of the song, along with Apollo's ringtone and Rimes's "flip-flop" skit to quench my need for a complete OST.
 

Pearl's presence here does go a long way toward alleviating my prior complaint about they how shortchanged her before.  Great that she now gets a proper animated cutscene intro like the rest of the old returning cast. They touch upon what she's been up to with the summer camp. She's a tad more relevant here what with her ability to spiritually recharge the Magatama. That bit where she congratulated Nick on getting his badge back and wanting to throw a celebratory party with all his old friends is smile-worthy. And we get a sense on how much she's actually grown in height by that one shot when she crashed into Marlon in the food prep room. (Before that, it was hard to imagine her as being anything but the tiny eight year old she once was.) I'm now a bit more forgiving when she just suddenly appears later on in Case Five.

After Case Five, I don't think I could ever look at Fulbright the same way again. I'm almost tempted to shout into the screen, "Don't trust him, you guys!!"

This case is reminding me of how amazing this game's backdrops look..... and how disappointing it is that you can't investigate them.  After Nine-Tails Vale's Yokai Lane, the Pub o' Danger is the second most desired environment I want to explore and examine.

Not really a spoiler, but is anyone else noticing a slight delay between certain dialogue and menu transitions? They just don't seem as snappy as the core game.

Blackquill and his nicknames again. Word Mistress!

Definitely looking forward to see how this all plays out. This may be one of the few cases in the game that doesn't outright reveal who the killer is, which already places it a notch above in the intrigue department. (My money's on Rifle -- and he shall serve his death sentence by being a sumptuous chicken dinner for Phoenix's celebratory return to the world of law.)

Folks say that putting your 3DS's sound setting to Stereo instead of Surround helps the music channels come through a bit clearer. That's strictly anecdotal evidence, mind, as I haven't tried it myself - but hey, it's worth a shot.

Well, Space Jam does go with everything, much like Guile's Theme.  But yeah, doubly so here.  Brilliant!

C'est fini. The whole thing.

So this is kind of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it certainly fits in well at the point I mentioned, and the interpersonal relationships are also in key with that part of the story (whereas from a post-Case-5 perspective, certain exchanges come off unusually harsh, like Athena taunting Blackquill about no freedom in prison), and there's no lampshading spoilers for later chapters, so if you want to play it around Case 3, you totally can.

But there's another reason you might want to save it for later.

Best case. Best case in the game, right here. At the very least, my personal favorite.

Yeah, Case 5 had the big twist, but the final battle didn't match my levels of hype (I admit this was partly my own fault), and ultimately didn't have the heart of Case 2 (my runner-up for the game in full) or this 'Special Episode.' I'm satisfied with it on an almost-reached-Rise-From-the-Ashes mechanical level (Power of Science, baby), and humor, heart, and the emotional tumult to this case didn't disappoint. In retrospect, the case almost seems like a formal apology for the sins of Turnabout Big Top. It shares a lot of the same themes and tragedies without reducing its characters to hollow jokes (and without the damned Circus music). The last-second redemption of the culprit and 'resurrection' of the sister were much appreciated as well.

'A gift from a detective friend of mine?' You know what, I'll take it. It's the same sort of hand-waving Maya got when she was reduced to 'this kid I know' in AJ, so fair's fair, I suppose. And Pearl is the next best of the AA girls after Ema (if we're only counting friendlies, anyway; Franziska is the runner-up if we include antagonistic ones), so it wasn't a total wash. But I definitely want her back for next time. Team Science forever.

Oh, and hello to Charley as well!

Best line? "Everytime you come into my court, I'm introduced to a new way of thinking." And the callback to cross-examining the animal was great, as well.

-The Dissing of Phoenix Wright- God, I loved this case.

Unfortunately, the nature of the evidence left behind after all that winnowing very heavily suggested who the culprit was before the second day of trial got underway. But there were plenty of other surprises to make up for it.

The prize for best animation in the entire game has to go to Crab's Sniper tag. Every time it came up I had to watch it for several seconds. Runner-up goes to the culprit's transformation. HOLY SHIT, that transformation.

The prize for best cutscene is Orla's thank you. No runner-up. No other scene is half as worthy.

FULL-GAME SPOILER HEREI've not played AAI2 yet, but I believe this marks the first time all the culprits in an AA game were men. Come on, guys!

So ultimately where does DD fall in my personal rankings? Mmn, I want to say I'd put it on par with AAI, but I've stubbornly held off on replaying that one until Capcom relents and gives us the sequel, and my memory's a little hazy on it. So consider this a rough estimate pending that eventual replay.

PWAA = JFA > DD = AAI > AJAA > T&T

As I've said in other posts already, the game does a better job at giving Apollo more character development (even if he's unceremoniously disinvited for the Special Episode) and Athena grows into a better character she seems at first blush. The guided-tour investigations are disappointing, but the courtroom showdowns still hold up. Really, it just felt good to have AA back after a multi-year absence, and if Capcom wants to give us AAI2 and turn famine to feast, I certainly won't kick.

SPECIAL EPISODE complete! High-caliber case, ranking just behind the one-two punch that is Cases Four & Five as my personal fave in the game. Sonic described it well enough, as the "humor, heart, and the emotional tumult to this case didn't disappoint." With a few caveats, it fits well into the main narrative, but works perfectly fine as a standalone episode too.

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Got such a kick out of that.  .... Rimes' "flip-flop" animation sets (both tame wannabe playa, and aggressive full-on gangsta variations) are my all-time favorites in AA5.  For a game consisting of so many incredible animation sets, that's high praise indeed.

I'll admit, I was caught completely off-guard. Somehow, I had it in my head that the culprit was going to be DePlume: a seed of suspicion which was planted long before I even began to play this episode. A few weeks back after finishing up Case Five, I let myself become intimately aware of the full Original Soundtrack, even the DLC songs.  "The Writer Who Snatched Away the Truth" -- how could one not hear a title like that and think, "This has 'culprit' written all over it?"  And that seed began to sprout and grow at an unprecedented rate when this character they introduced just minutes after the episode began is, lo and behold, "a writer."  Well, I've never been so happy to be so wrong.... but yeah, it does lend credence to the fact that there wasn't a single female culprit in the game; a thought that was at the forefront of my mind going into this case, and yet another reason I was positive that it was gonna be DePlume.

And a few more observational notes:

-The naming convention of Sniper and Rifle is too cute. And yes, them pulling a Sazh/Chocobo Chick with Crab and Sniper was full of win.
-In a case that zeroed in on animals, I'm glad that Taka got some pointed attention from Blackquill.
-I caught myself saying "Son of a gun...." a few times today. Crab, you so infectious.
-A Hickfield Clinic mention, a Phoenix whip-lashing remark, and (finally!) a Charley acknowledgment. Fan service, how I love thee.
-With Rimes' transformation, I couldn't help but be reminded of One Piece's Chopper. Along with the identical pirate attire, both go from puny runt to hulking giant in a flash.
-I wasn't sure, but was that ACTUAL BLOOD pouring out of Rimes' shark bite wounds? If so.... HARDCORE.
-Nostalgic Sweater, it's been a while! Phoenix will totally be rockin' this in future playthroughs..... until, course, Capcom decides to release Hobo Phoenix as another DLC costume. (Translation: Make it happen, Capcom!)