Wow, I can't believe there are so many people who put 2 as the worst of the bunch, not when 4 and AAI1 exist. From what I've played of 5, that one also doesn't seem like it'll top it, but I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt. 2-1 and 2-3 might have been weak, but 2-2 is good and 2-4 is up there in the top 3 of the whole franchise imo.
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LTTP: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies l THE DARK AGE OF THE LAW
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I honestly think it might be my favorite in the series (haven't played DGS yet), though it depending on the day I might like AA3 more (today I feel like I like DD more). I understand the issues the game has but I like all of the new characters and each chapter is great (and, when you include the DLC chapter, that means there are six great chapters). Everything non-story/gameplay related is amazing too (visuals, music, presentation). The issues the game have didn't bother me a whole lot. THE DARK AGE OF LAW thing for example was obviously way over-repeated, but I found it to be a humorous instance of subpar writing rather than something that's annoying.
I will say that I think I'll retroactively like it less if AA6 doesn't expand on its story and characters very much. I don't want this series to go in a safe direction where every entry is self-contained and the characters never evolve over the course of the series again.
I will say that I think I'll retroactively like it less if AA6 doesn't expand on its story and characters very much. I don't want this series to go in a safe direction where every entry is self-contained and the characters never evolve over the course of the series again.
I think it's fair to say AA characters do show some form of growth over each title. Phoenix is obviously done, but Apollo was just balling out in AA6 when he was really mellow and tame in AA4. I personally didn't like the shift in his JUSTICE character trait being dialed to 12, but I could see why he started getting more annoying. He won a lot of cases, so he's more confident,sure, etc, kind of like AA3 Phoenix.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I loved it. Adored it, even. Absolutely loved the three defense attorneys working together and getting their own cases, Apollo getting a bit more spotlight, and even the token "useless" case was enjoyable (case 2 in this game). Case 3 was once again the worst. The curse of the third case continues. Alas. The music in this game was also great, as usual.
Blackquill was a great prosecutor. He felt threatening, over the top, and cool - I loved Klavier, he's one of my favorite characters - but he never felt like a threat or a rival. He was a redeemed Edgeworth type from the very beginning, more of a frienemy than an enemy. Blackquill was a return to form.
I'd put it just below 1 and tied with 3 for my rankings.
Blackquill was a great prosecutor. He felt threatening, over the top, and cool - I loved Klavier, he's one of my favorite characters - but he never felt like a threat or a rival. He was a redeemed Edgeworth type from the very beginning, more of a frienemy than an enemy. Blackquill was a return to form.
I'd put it just below 1 and tied with 3 for my rankings.
Stoppp you're making me want to replay AA3 and I have like five other games on the go right now.
And whilst we're doing personal rankings:
AA1 > AA3 > AA4 > AA2 >>> AA5 > PLvAA
I couldn't be bothered to finish Investigations.
Blackquill was one of the worst parts of the game, for me. He just drags and drags and adds nothing. I swear, if you cut every line where he says something to the effect of "you have at last unsheathed your sword... but it is dull! Do you think you can face me with such a blunted blade!?", the game would be a good 3 hours shorter. It's like half his dialogue, and it's always awkward, like I'm supposed to take this wannabe as a real samurai instead of the punk / J-pop reject he looks more like. Not to mention his ridiculous shackle-smashing gag that they pull in literally every trial segment, with every character reacting in shock every single time.
You know which prosecutor doesn't get enough love, though? Barnham. He's threatening by virtue of the fact that he knows the law and you don't, and he has the authority to have you thrown into flames at any moment. You actually have to play by his rules and earn his respect over multiple cases. And plus, he's got some of the best standard animations in the series -- that table slam, that flinch!
Where Blackquill dragged AA5 down, Barnham raised Layton vs. AA up, in my eyes.
ryanfadholi
Member
Haven't played AAI1 so I don't know, but at AA4 I really enjoyed the
Mason System part where you go back and forth to past and present
Actually story-wise I'd put AA2 a little above AA5, but I'm giving AA5 some extra credits because they managed to move to 3D and kinda streamlined the gameplay nicely.
On the other hand, why do you guys doesn't really like PLvsPW? Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright are my favorite franchises on DS/3DS, for me the crossover is like THE BEST THING EVER. Except for maybe the story isn't that good for AA standard. But it's your typical Professor Layton story!
Speaking of AA3's last case, that was one of the few times a game made me close to tears.
And fuck, I've very rarely been as hyped as when Cornered 2001 started playing at the very last. I wouldn't be surprised if they did that for AA6's last case, considering how much they're bringing back.
Maybe because I'm a musician, but I'm a giant sucker for emotionally effective uses of musical leitmotifs, recurring themes, etc. and consequently
that moment in AA3 might be the single most memorable moment in the entire series to me because of how fuckin' hype it was
Matt Attack
Member
I liked it a lot initially, but it's definitely become my least favorite AA game. Unlike all of the others, it just doesn't hold up to replays quite very nicely (for me, anyway). The second case is actually my least favorite case in the whole series, which is baffling because I get to play as Apollo, my favorite character. I agree with everybody who thinks they totally botched the Dark Age of the Law thing.
I did like the concept of there finally being multiple lawyers working at Wright's agency, and I think they handled it pretty well. The best things about the game though are the beautiful visuals and wonderful music. Does this game have the best Cross-Examination music in the series? I'd argue so.
I did like the concept of there finally being multiple lawyers working at Wright's agency, and I think they handled it pretty well. The best things about the game though are the beautiful visuals and wonderful music. Does this game have the best Cross-Examination music in the series? I'd argue so.
R_thanatos
Member
King Gilga
Member
I've been stuck in the middle of the game (middle of the dlc case, done 3rd) for years now.
It's the only AA game that I never finished asap, there's something about it that just doesn't grab me.
It's the only AA game that I never finished asap, there's something about it that just doesn't grab me.
TheRedSnifit
Member
It was really the opposite for me. I loved Blackquill, he's my favorite prosecutor after Edgeworth. Godot doesn't really have any presence during the actual trials, Klavier acts like he's deliberately throwing his cases, and Francizka is just annoying.
Me too. I kinda hope they go through with it, even if it won't have the same effect.
I like to think of Dual Destinies as the highest budget Ace Attorney fanfiction I've ever read. Judged that way; it's pretty damn good! I have to admit though, I started replaying it recently for the first time since 2013 and I'm having to kind of force myself through Turnabout Academy. That case relies heavily on its murder mystery and not enough on its writing and I just want to get it over with so I can play the more interesting cases.
I like Layton vs. AA quite a bit! I won't lie, I'm in it for the court sections much more than the Layton sections, but I think the game did a splendid job with making those court sections cool. Mob trials / "hang on!" build on the formula in a simple and clean way, much more elegant than Perceive in 4 or Mood Matrix in 5. The cases themselves are strong, traditional mysteries, and the element of logical magic really sells the setting well. Unlike most AA games, I don't think LvAA has a single bad case.
Another big thing I don't think LvAA gets enough credit for, though, is the camera work. I'm replaying LvAA now after just having replayed AA5, and the difference is staggering -- AA5 maintains static shots from the same angles as 1 - 4 almost 100% of the time, with pans across during audience murmuring and slow zooms before Thought Line being almost the only exceptions. In LvAA, you get so many more varied angles of the witness stand, the courtroom, the gallery, and so on. It really helps the court feel alive and exciting.
It's a game that gets worse and worse in retrospect.
I was completely enamored by the visuals on my first run, but the flaws are really apparent when you think about it. Dark Age of the law has already been covered, but the game in general is extremely repetitive. Most of the plot beats from the final case are directly ripped off from previous games. Athena literally goes through the exact same thing that Maya goes through in the various games. Phoenix does the breakdown head thing again and it's just terrible. Case 3 straight up has the worst culprit in the franchise (though it did have one of the best characters). Apollo and Athena should have gotten the lion's share of the focus, with Phoenix hanging back as a mentor. When Phoenix Wright is playable in cases 4, 5 and DLC, they dumb him down and make him into a greenhorn for pretty much no reason. It's extremely jarring seeing him lose his cool over every little thing despite being calm and collected outside of those cases. Investing was definitely a lot less fun due to how streamlined it was. The DLC case was fun but it also had the worst writing in the series.
At least it gave us box girl
GOAT
I was completely enamored by the visuals on my first run, but the flaws are really apparent when you think about it. Dark Age of the law has already been covered, but the game in general is extremely repetitive. Most of the plot beats from the final case are directly ripped off from previous games. Athena literally goes through the exact same thing that Maya goes through in the various games. Phoenix does the breakdown head thing again and it's just terrible. Case 3 straight up has the worst culprit in the franchise (though it did have one of the best characters). Apollo and Athena should have gotten the lion's share of the focus, with Phoenix hanging back as a mentor. When Phoenix Wright is playable in cases 4, 5 and DLC, they dumb him down and make him into a greenhorn for pretty much no reason. It's extremely jarring seeing him lose his cool over every little thing despite being calm and collected outside of those cases. Investing was definitely a lot less fun due to how streamlined it was. The DLC case was fun but it also had the worst writing in the series.
At least it gave us box girl
GOAT
Bakkus
Member
Don't agree based on what i've already said, i'll also add that if it wasn't for Phoenix,
he would be in jail for life and Von Karma would still be around doing miscarriage of justice ad nauseam, so even if he was sincere in his criticism of him in 5-5, he honestly should just keep that to himself because he is the very reason he still has anything in life.
But from Edgeworth's POV,
Blackquill is the one suffering the miscarriage of justice. Yes he was wrong about Athena being guilty, but as a prosecutor his rule has always been since game 2 to go all-out to find the truth, and in this case he honestly believed that was that Athena was guilty. It's not surprising he was frustrated by Phoenix's tenacity, even if they were working towards the same goal and even if they are friends.
I'm not saying he was perfect, but again, I thought he was more interestingly handled than Trucy, Pearl, or Klavier, and him being a bit more cynical made sense to me.
I remember posting my displeasure at this game a year ago (already eloquently expressed by others in this thread in the same manner) and being shouted down by naysayers who kept robotically repeating "It's the game that went back to the basics" until their internal brain wiring short circuited. What basics? The basics of letting the game play itself?
Link1110
Member
Just beat Case 3:
I really enjoyed this case. The best filler case since T&T case 2 and 3 without a doubt. Some impressions...
I really enjoyed this case. The best filler case since T&T case 2 and 3 without a doubt. Some impressions...
- I loved the professor character, especially after the transformation and going spartan style Though watching a video, it seems they removed the "spartan" reference. Don't know why, since they eve changed his name to be a reference to ancient Greece. The blackboard was hilarious,
- Someone counted "The Ends Justify the Means" being said 27 times. I'm convinced this was cut down from however much they said "shudan wo erabazu"
- The friends had a great story, that FMV was really full of feels
- Atsui Chishio? We have a character literally named "Hot Blooded?" Well, this is the series that gave us "Aiga Hoshidake," but that was a little too obvious.
- I did like Seiya Rei's name, for all the references it manages to cram in (0 points on the test, arrow, cool, and KORA, SEIYA REI!"
- We don't get to see the whole "Loving Guitar's Serenade" at the end. I didn't wanna see it 20 times again, but once would've been nice now that we have voice acting. And where was the air guitar animation?
- They translated Yugami's "Damari na" as silence? I was hoping it'd be "Shut Up" so I could make a DGS connection. Oh well
- Someone counted "The Ends Justify the Means" being said 27 times. I'm convinced this was cut down from however much they said "shudan wo erabazu"
- The friends had a great story, that FMV was really full of feels
- Atsui Chishio? We have a character literally named "Hot Blooded?" Well, this is the series that gave us "Aiga Hoshidake," but that was a little too obvious.
- I did like Seiya Rei's name, for all the references it manages to cram in (0 points on the test, arrow, cool, and KORA, SEIYA REI!"
- We don't get to see the whole "Loving Guitar's Serenade" at the end. I didn't wanna see it 20 times again, but once would've been nice now that we have voice acting. And where was the air guitar animation?
- They translated Yugami's "Damari na" as silence? I was hoping it'd be "Shut Up" so I could make a DGS connection. Oh well
BlueBadger
Banned
I personally really enjoyed AA4 :/
AAI1 I could have taken or left, but I loved the translation of AAI2. I still wish AAI2 got officially localized to the west. I found it way better than the first one.
My personal favourite in the series is 3, followed by 4. But it might also just be because Apollo happens to be my favourite character.
WrenchNinja
Member
Here's my problem with the dark age of the law
Major spoilers
Major spoilers
Why does Phoenix using false evidence and Blackquill killing a doctor the thing that turns the public against the courts exactly? Why wasn't Manfred killing two attorneys, Lana Skye aiding the corrupt chief of police Damon Gant in murder, Callisto Yew killing Faraday, Godot killing a government sanctioned psychic Misty Fey the trigger or ever mentioned. That stuff is way more serious than whatever the hell Phoenix and Blackquill got into.
burn this down
Banned
YES! Holy shit, I was literally thinking about this last night! I just got to the flashback case in AAI1, and
Von Karma showed up and I just started thinking about that. Like, why are those two cases more special than 40 years of Von Karma forging evidence and finding innocent people guilty?
two instances of forged evidence.
Shift Breaker
Member
Wasn't thrilled with it when it came out and a replay hasn't done much to change that. The new characters were mostly bland. I don't hate Athena, but I don't like her either and the only thing I can say about Blackquill is that he was angry and forgettable. Klavier may have been more of a help for Apollo than a hindrance, but at least he was memorable. Blackquill is just...there. Fullbright was the only major character I liked and even then his reveal felt like a waste. Even the returning cameos were needless.
Still excited for the sequel, but with a hint of caution.
Still excited for the sequel, but with a hint of caution.
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