First off: I loved the music, and the visuals of the new setting. Also, upon completing the game, the title "Spirit of Justice" really was well-picked by the translation team.
Generally speaking, this game had 2 really big flaws. The first was the constant flashbacks. You get the flashback to Dhurke saving the boys from drowning in Case 5a first, and you see it like 5 more times after that over the rest of Case 5. And there's so many more of those, some going back like 5 minutes of seeing the stuff happen. Bleh.
The other big flaw I felt this game had was that it was extremely picky about stuff. There was testimonies with more than one inconsistency, but you were supposed to only point out one thing in particular. Same goes for presenting evidence - where you have several ones that would've worked, you're only allowed to present one. And also when pinpointing stuff on photos/maps.
2 examples of this coming to my mind here are: Case 2 trial where you are supposed to show that Retinz bears ill will against Trucy. You are supposed to show the clipboard with the carbon paper. I tried showing the conned contract, but that was not allowed. The most infuriating part about it? When talking about the clipboard, the first piece of evidence they show is the damn faked contract. Similar situation with Case 3. There is one point where you're supposed to show that Maya was standing in the Sanctum's side with the broken lantern. But you couldn't just pinpoint in the bottom half or "behind" the lanterns, you had to pick a specific part that was exactly between the lanterns horizontally. Stuff like that. So annoying aghhhhh.
Anyway, here's my thoughts on the cases, as well as the adversaries at he prosecutor bench.
Gaspen Payne leaving the United Prefectures of Amerippon and moving to a country without defense attorneys just so he could finally win some cases is pretty funny. Wish he would've said what Winston is up to as well after Edgeworth cleaned out the prosecutors' office, but maybe in AA7 we'll see Winston come back - he might've just been bad and not corrupt. Also great how full he is of himself because of his "success" that he got without any blowback.
That said, Payne setting up Wright to get executed was pretty heavy stuff. He should stay in Khura'in.
Sahdmadhi is probably my least favourite prosecutor in the entire series. Case 5 changes nothing about that opinion (since after all you don't really go up against him anyway). Like, I understand that Queen Gar'an controlled him by having custody of his sister, but there was no reason for him to be such a bag of wind. He makes super weak cases, and all he does to counter arguments is to hurl insults, his prayer beads, or his catchphrase of letting it go and moving on. The witnesses made better cases than him. And Blackquill who was on the defense bench did a better job at leading the trial. Speaking of which, I have no idea why they flew in Sahdmadhi for some random ass homicide case. Surely there are more prosecutors than Edgeworth, Blackquill and the random foreigner available? Even Gaspen Payne in case 1 felt more like a threat than this guy. I was especially disappointed because before the trial he first appears in, he's built up having the ability to read the karmic flow of a trial and such, and then he's just a shitty prosecutor. What an ass.
Queen Gar'an on the other hand, wow. What an enemy. Probably the strongest "final boss" since Manfred von Karma. Also finally a female prosecutor and adversary with some damn oomph. Franziska always felt too timid. I didn't mind the over the top campiness of her getup and demeanour; in fact I really enjoyed it. And damn her soundbites for yelling Objection and Such Insolence are amazing, and so is her cackle towards the end. I really hope they take a bit of her and put it in a future prosecutor for the United Prefectures should there ever be an AA7. We need a good female prosecutor for the series.
As for the cases...
Case 1 is probably the weakest of the cases. While I like the setup for the new location, I think they went way over the top with the anti-lawyer sentiment (especially with the ANNIHILATE! EXTERMINATE! shite, pls). It didn't help I can't stand Ahlbi, nor did I find the culprit interesting in the slightest. His singing testimony gimmick was cute at first, but it got really grating really fast. The case itself was boring and drawn out way too much.
Case 2 is okay, but I think I would've enjoyed it more if I didn't see the two big twists (Bonny being a twin and Retinz being Mr. Reus) coming from like 5 minutes into the investigation. I like that they're doing stuff with the Gramaryes and explore Trucy some more in the case, and also that Apollo is given some responsibility instead of being a greenhorn.
Case 3 was quite solid, but it left me a bit unsatisfied. I dunno why. The story was solid, for sure, and the witnesses were pretty good, but I can't put my finger on it why it felt unsatisfying. Maybe it was because the Abbot committing suicide felt weird to me. I dunno. It seems like they did that partly to just rub in how oh so terrible the DPA is (as if we didn't get it already...).
Case 4 I actually really enjoyed. I don't understand the dislike for it. Yes it was inconsequential, yes the plot was a bit lackluster, yes it does feel like it'd fit as an early case but... Uendo and Geiru are amazing witnesses, I thoroughly enjoyed their testimonies so damn much. Bucky was awesome too, and criminally underused. And Simon joining forces with Athena because he just wants some noodles and being an ultra weeb cracked me the fuck up.
Case 5.1 I have mixed feelings about. I thought the investigation dragged on a little too much (the whole cave starting to flood part could've been taken out...), it was pretty fun to have Dhurke and Apollo go on an adventure. I disliked Atishon as a villain, he was pretty flimsy and they could've done much more with the politican aspect by having him spew more polit-rhetoric and us having to decipher his empty words and picking out the substance. Instead he's more presented as this feudal lord's bratty grandson, and he folds just like a bratty teenager when scolded properly. I was half-expecting his grandfather to show up and pull him by the ear home while talking about house arrest because he broke the name shield. I absolutely adored Armie though. She was super cute.
Case 5.2 was pretty good. Convoluted, complex, unforeseen twists, the stakes getting raised higher and higher, and the prosecutor literally changing the law as she sees fit. I can't even begin to say how much I enjoyed this case, and it probably will go into history as being one of the top cases in the entire series. The only things I didn't enjoy too much was Gar'an's breakdown. It felt a bit underwhelming after beating such a powerful foe. And the other thing is towards the end, when Gar'an brings up the DP Act and says Sahdmadhi would be convicted of murder because he made that testimony trying to protect her. Like, what the fuck? Dude made that under duress, and he immediately retracted it the second the duress was taken away.
The resolve also seems a bit weird to me - why is Amara not instituted as queen, and instead Rayfa?
Anyway, I think this is a great game, and one of the better installments to the series. The writing is great, although they really didn't try with the puns this time. The infuriating parts aren't too bad in the grand scheme of things. The only big weakpoint imo is Sahdmadhi being such a paperweight of a prosecutor.
Beyond that, I enjoyed this game a lot, and am glad they finally were able to wrap up Apollo's arc. I'm definitely looking forward to playing the DLC and hope AA7 is in the cards. It's a shame the seance won't come back unless we get a special "Meanwhile, let's see what's up with Apollo"-case in future installments.
It also seems that they have pulled Ema out.
As for AA7 - if it happens, I fully expect the game to introduce us a new lawyer (probably in a green suit...), and a new detective, along with the obvious new prosecutor. That said, I really hope they also bring back Gumshoe and Lana Skye as well.
, but I feel something like "Datz Maikh'yu" would better suit his elusive nature. 
