8
Honestly? I fucking love the Phantom. Do I also wish he was better foreshadowed? Sure. Would have been cool to see the real Fulbright in flashback sequences (as it is AA tradition to have decade spanning drama) ...And speaking as someone who could be the biggest Gumshoe fan here (he's my favourite character in the whole series!) I also enjoyed his Fulbright persona, full stop. This isn't a deal breaker for my enjoyment. As not perfect he was, his final breakdown was still wicked.
I think the set up with Aura is fine, but it also seems like it didn't go anywhere. Maybe it's because "main character is a hostage" was a key plot point of the greatest case in the franchise, maybe it's because this game isn't the best at juggling character arcs, maybe it's the Phantom stealing the show,
its probably the Phantom
but wow, I barely felt tension from the hostage situation. I have a lot more mixed feelings with her in general, but that's probably more of a me problem if anything.
The big mystery is great. As much as I did not once worry about Trucy, I still wanted to save Simon Blackquill, and of course Athena. The realisation that Athena tried to fix her mom with a robot assembly machine is so fucking gnarly. I do still think this game is a bit bloated as far as character arcs go, and I was definitely feeling a bit more disappointed than satisfied by the ever revolving door of protagonists, but I'd much rather take disappointment from wanting more than wishing the game would end as soon as possible.