Lurker > Llarian

Case 5-3 - Turnabout Academy

So we convince Juniper to give us another shot, and start to explore the campus for clues as to what really happened. Theres a 3rd statue we had no idea about, theres a page from Prof. Courtes planner, and theres a big bloodstain on the schools crest banner, and the Gavinners banner had been partially burned.

We talk to Myriam again, after a catastrophic freakout where she deletes all but 2 of her journalistic photos, we offer her the use of our laptop. Ill-advised, but Im just the player.

I left off at talking to Hugh, although hes pretty tight-lipped about stuff. I cant wait to find out the dirt that Prosecutor Blackquill has on him.

I appreciate yall reading this little snippet. More to come.

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The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-3 - Turnabout Academy

Omg you guys, the recording doesnt say Youre a goner! it says, Hugh OConner!

cue astonished gasps from the live studio audience

Anyway then these losers all start confessing like its going out of style and Idk well have to investigate some more.

Happy Thanksgiving, or if that doesnt apply, Happy Eating Food Day.

Ill write more when Ive investigated some more.

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The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-3 - Turnabout Academy

It has been an adventure so far. Scuttlebutt claims on the stand that everything went down exactly like Junipers script, only no one else knew it aside from Junie and Prof. Courte.

We protest, because this sort of thing would point to Junie as the killer rather than something Junie would want to do herself. Myriam Scuttlebutt claims that her own script was going to be chosen instead, and thats when Junie flew into a rage and killed the professor. She provides us with her own suspicious photo of Juniper in her concert outfit, claiming she led Scuttlebutt to the body of Prof. Courte. We ask if Scuttlebutt photographed the body, because shes always out for a big scoop, and...she hasnt.

We can tell something is off, because in the Court Record we have the design of the concert outfit and the cape should have constellation designs on it - the one in this photo is a solid blue with no pattern. Apparently, Juniper had the cape inside-out to dry after having painted the inside [now outside] with fluorescent paint. Anyone other than Juniper would not have known this, and would have seen the cape on the mannequin and worn it as-is. Prosecutor Blackquill kindly provides us with a photo of the glowing fluorescence of the cape, for the Court Record.

We realize a photo in the Themis Herald features a photo of Juniper - and Robin Newman is in the background, his hands glowing with the fluorescent paint!!

Robin Newman takes the stand and we are really put through our paces on the Mood Matrix. Its much more difficult than usual to break through the emotional noise, as Robin admits to entering the art room and trying on the cape. The language keeps referring to it as a frilly scarf but Idk what thats about.

Heaven help us, I actually sorta predicted an Ace Attorney plot twist. Through the process of working through Robins feelings, he throws off his chest/arms brace and reveals himself to be - a girl! A recording made by Scuttlebutt in the art room on the day of the murder featured a female voice saying, Youre a goner! This was assumed to be Juniper as, of the trio, she was the only girl. Now that Robin is also known to be a girl, the suspicion is shifting.

Junie had leaked some of the scripts info to Robin to avoid getting into the love confession scenario with Hugh. We realize that Robin had expected the sweat suit Prof. Courte was wearing to be a different color.

Prosecutor Blackquill calls Hugh OConner to the stand, and after some cryptic threat, has him testify. Hes boring and full of himself, so well continue that next time.

Thanks for reading!

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The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-3 - Turnabout Academy

Characters Ive met:
Myriam Scuttlebutt - a Themis student aiming to become a judge, but shes currently presiding over sleazy tabloid reporting while doing her best Snake impression in a cardboard box

We have a troubling conversation with Aristotle Means, who firmly believes that the ends justify the means. Phoenix talks to us about the dark age of law in which prosecutors drum up false charges and defense lawyers forge evidence. Our little trio of Robin, Hugh, and Junie have a mutual goal of promoting fair and upstanding law as demonstrated by their mentor, the late Prof. Courte.

We talk to Hugh and he isnt very subtle or humble about his superior level of intelligence. Apparently Hugh saw Prof. Courtes body, but figured hed lose his chance to confess to Junie if the mock trial was cancelled because of a murder. Cold-blooded, but okay, you weirdo. Robins jumping out of his skin, as usual, but stops just long enough to tell us he made the sculptures of Klavier and Phoenix, now destroyed, that were gracing the stage-now-crime-scene for the concert.

The issue now is that Junie wont ever be a judge if you dont clear her innocence through this trial, putting an end to the trios dream of running fair trials together.

See you tomorrow for trial day 1!

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The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

'l i t t l e m o n e y'

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Thanks for your patience and bumping, yall are awesome. New job is filling my brain with more information and processing that, along with other logistics, has distracted me from game time. Not to worry! I am back in the saddle again.

Case 5-3 - Turnabout Academy

Characters Ive met:

• Aristotle Means - professor at Themis Legal Academy, smile that will haunt my nightmares
• Constance Courte - deceased professor at Themis Legal Academy, victim in this case, seemed cool from what the other characters say about their memories of her
• Juniper Woods - seitokaichou/student council president of Themis Legal Academy, writer of the script for the school festivals mock trial, and primary suspect in this case
• Hugh OConner - fellow student, big jerk, defense in the mock trial, has a crush on Juniper and promised to confess if he won the trial
• Robin Newman - fellow student, sound the alarm, youre going to be UNCOMFORTABLY ENERGETIC, is definitely a boy despite a very pointy chin and 2, count them, TWO very distinct eyelashes, prosecutor in the mock trial, also has a crush on Juniper and promised to confess if he won the trial
• Klavier Gavin - former vocalist for the Gavinners, rock star prosecutor who looks way too good in 3-D modeling, goodness, have mercy on us CAPCOM

We visit Themis Legal Academy. Did you know its Themis Legal Academy? Were still at Themis Legal Academy! Could the text on the scene banners appear any slower, or could the name Themis Legal Academy be any longer? Could we have pitied the people who play this game and called it TLA after the first couple of times we mentioned Themis Legal Academy? Of course not! Because its Themis Legal Academy! Its O c t o b e r 2 4 and its Themis Legal Academy!

Anyway, we come here so Phoenix could give a lecture to the law students at his prestigious alma mater, and so Apollo and Athena could learn some things by observation. We meet the terrifying smiler Aristotle Means and unexpectedly run into Juniper Woods. Not only is Junie the student council prez, but shes singing at the school festivals concert later tonight - she shows us a sketch of her outfit and its THE BLIND LADY MOM OUTFIT. LAMIROIR FDASFJKL;AAAA this is where I had a BSOD and Tom had to report in.

Unfortunately, only one person can attend the famed mock trial, and Phoenix gives up his seat so Apollo can learn. Phoenix and Athena take a walking tour of the campus only to find the corpse of Professor Courte on the stage to be used for a concert later! Yeesh!

Klavier Gavin shows up because hes the famous prosecutor that Themis Legal Academy [did we note that this is Themis Legal Academy? Because its Themis Legal Academy. Okay, cool] invited to also give a lecture and put on a concert for the students. I had heard tell that Mr Edgeworth is not in this game, but JUST ONCE I wanted to see his pinched little face. Klaviers 3D model, on the other hand? Wow. I have nothing more coherent to say - I think they gave him a couple of other expressions and in 3D they look great o_o The hair movement is a nice touch. Its strange because I dont typically go for the tan/blond/impossibly charismatic types? IRL I find them off-putting in a way I cant quite put my finger on. Im looking forward to Mr Blackquills reappearance at the actual trial.

Klavier and Apollo decide to follow through on the mock trial hoping for some inspiration in investigating the real case [as Prof. Courte was killed in pretty much the same way described in the script which only she and Junie knew about, thus the suspicion]. Thats where Im at, thanks for reading.

We continue tomorrow with more!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

So, as it turns out, LBelle was posing as the Mayor, disposed of the fox wrestler mask and forgot about his private brand of haircolor that washes out with only water. The white hair we found inside the washed-up mask wasnt Alderman Kyubis at all, but LBelles!

LBelle had his eye on the gold ingot Tenma Taro, which had been stolen generations ago by Mr Filchs grandfather. LBelle, mired in debt up to his eyeballs, needed a way to make money quickly. It was always a struggle to keep the gold ingot under lock and key, so a yokai needed to be made up to deter greedy people from trying to acquire it.

I loved the animation of Apollo thinking, and it gave us a decent chance to review the facts before presenting our evidence.

Still love Simon Blackquills Silence spoken line. And the grumpy way he leans, pointing himself away from the camera.

The cutscenes are so cute and I enjoy them.

WERE GOING TO ELDOONS NOODLES TO CELEBRATE! ALL HAIL THE REIGNING CHAMPION OF SODIUM!

On to 5-3 next time! See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Thanks very much. First day in the office tomorrow, please wish me luck!!

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

So it turns out that Filch dressed up as Tenma Taro and accessed the Forbidden Chamber via an air vent. He disposed of the costume by dumping it out the window, where it flew away on the wind and made newspaper headlines. Filch said when he left the Forbidden Chamber, the light outside the door blinded him. Blackquill tries to pull a fast one and claim the person who opened the door is Mayor Tenma, but that isnt the case. Athena puts it together quickly and insists that LBelle take the stand, as his alibi no longer holds up.

Through a series of weird happenstances, we find that LBelle disguised himself in the room, not by hiding behind the screen as he claimed, but by posing as Mayor Tenma and wearing the wrestling mask of the Amazing Nine-Tails, knowing that Jinxie would never force him to remove it. Theres some switcheroo here about Mayor Tenma supposedly being the Amazing Nine-Tails instead of Alderman Kyubi.

Im very close to the end, I can feel it. More soon!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Okay brief update: I got a job after being unemployed for the better part of a year, so I did training all this week.

I have however been playing the trial, will grab some time this weekend to write up. It's going really well and I'm excited to share reactions with y'all.

Thanks again to all of you reading along, it means a lot to me :3

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Its been wild. We talk to LBelle, who reveals that he has taken out advertisements for his beauty products, including a bizarre temporary hair color, but they are not available to the public for purchase. We poke around different places and get into the Forbidden Chamber, see a giant statue of Tenma Taro, and find - a lotion made by LBelles label! He must have been in here. We also find a little imp statue inside the base of the statue.

LBelle acts increasingly suspicious, saying now that he had seen Tenma Taro, but that he was hiding it to protect Jinxie. Apparently, she sleepwalks.

The little imp statue was the calling card of Filchs grandfather, a Robin Hood type. Filch recognizes it immediately.

We find that LBelle has been coaching Filch on what to say in court tomorrow, and we find out from Jinxie that her father confessed to the crime of murdering Alderman Kyubi before he lost consciousness. Nothing has addressed how she got into the locked room in the first place still - unless Im spacing out.

On to the trial tomorrow. See ya!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Theres no way that could have happened, based on the placement of the feathers and bloody tracks. We get testimony from Filch, he claims he was keeping a close eye on the foyer, but in fact, he was watching TV on the clock. They blame this on the positioning of the TV, I thought it would have been more compelling if the security cameras feed was shown on the TV. That way, if he was watching the wrestling match, there was no way hed be able to track what was happening in the foyer.

He claims that he didnt need to see the foyer - not only are the steps and floors squeaky, but Tenma Taros staff makes a jingle-jangle sound. Well, that coordinates with Jinxies testimony about a staff, but theres nothing in the official illustrations indicating Tenma Taro to have such a staff. Filch claims to not have seen Tenma Taro, but he had to have in order to know about the staff.

Jinxie testifies about seeing a bunch of youkai in the Fox Chamber, but it turns out its her disturbed feelings about the memory that changes this. We do a little Mood Matrix boogie woogie, and shes in order again with 0% noise. Theres a nice little bit of cooperation that we have here between Athena and Apollo, so thats starting to get into the question I raised earlier about the interaction between their powers.

This was the confusing part for me - Jinxie has a master key on a Nine-Tails Flower wooden coin. If I recall correctly, she said she picked it up inside the Fox Chamber. But thats supposed to be a locked room. We spend a ton of time belaboring the idea of someone LEAVING the room, but its not questioned how Jinxie got into the room to see what she saw in the first place. Maybe I read that part and missed it?

Supposedly the person who did it left, locked the doors, then tossed the key back in the room via the air vent. Much is made of the person being IN the air vent, when everyone knows that if an air vent stops and points directly down, all you need to do is throw the object with enough force for it to hit the corner, and it will fall down. The person didnt need to be in the air vent at all. But thats neither here nor there for now.

Det. Fulbright thinks that 2007s dont tase me bro is his model of policing Prosecutor Blackquill going forward. Not the most humane thing Ive ever seen in AA, but at least we dont have the prosecution repeatedly physically assaulting everyone in sight who steps the slightest bit out of line.

Is it just me, or is Simon Blackquill an interesting mix of 19th century British literature tropes and samurai/Japanese culture of the same time period?

Mayor Tenma confesses to being possessed by Tenma Taro, and the Judge thinks we all need a break to look into things further.

On to the investigation! We crawl in the air duct, its very dusty and it wouldnt have been if someone had been in there recently. Mayor Tenma is still on his Tenma Taro kick but you are able to productively discuss a few points with him and receive the Forbidden Chamber Key. We talk to Jinxie and she tells us she didnt see tracks and feathers when she was there initially. Oooh, not good.

We continue our investigation tomorrow. See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Simon Blackquill - prosecutor and convicted murderer, dark sense of humor is right up my alley, bushido babe and hes got a spooky aesthetic to boot

Det. Fulbright takes the stand and testifies about what happened to the Alderman. Supposedly Alderman Kyubi had strength to fight back after he was impaled, which seems unlikely, but has been confirmed by those that examined the body. The bloody fabric we had must have wrapped the sculpture used to bean Mayor Tenma over the head, making traceable fingerprints impossible.

Townspeople suspect the real Tenma Taro did it. Police suspect the real killer was wearing a Tenma Taro suit. Theres intrigue surrounding the municipal merger, apparently the citizens of Nine-Tails Vale are opposed to it.

I love the satisfying clink of Blackquills chains, even if his act of chewing on a feather is somewhat troubling. His hair volume is pretty astonishing as well, I bet the guy busts hair ties left and right. I was half-expecting something similar to MvKs Objection voice, but was pleasantly surprised. At least I wont be startled, the MvK one used to make me jump. XD

Blackquill states that Mayor Tenma uncovered the secret identity of the Amazing Nine-Tails as Alderman Kyubi, and this was his motive for murder. The crowd goes wild. Det. Fulbright states that hes convinced Mayor Tenma planted the tracks and feathers after skewering Alderman Kyubi, but before being knocked unconscious.

We shall see in the courtroom again tomorrow. See you!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Florent LBelle - owns his own brand of cosmetics, personal aide to Mayor Damian Tenma

This is starting to get that old trilogy feel, which is neato.

We talk to Jinxie about her experience, she says Tenma Taro ran right past her with a spear that jangled. We ask other people who were in the foyer at the time, LBelle and Filch, what theyve seen. Theyre an incredibly unhelpful odd couple, but apparently theyve seen nothing.

We go talk to Damien Tenma in the Detention Center. We ask him about the release of Tenma Taro and other rumors, we have to use the Bracelet because he lies about wanting Nine-Tails Vale for its tourism. But tourism hadnt begun until the popularity of the pro wrestler, Amazing Nine-Tails, boosted the yokai craze. We tell him we suspect that Alderman Kyubi was the real identity of Amazing Nine-Tails. We suspect the person who killed him was the same person who was blackmailing Mayor Tenma about the municipal merger, threatening to kill Jinxie Tenma if it didnt go through.

I now realize how weird it is to have Apollo AND Athena on the same case. If Athena can hear peoples feelings with her special hearing, and Apollo can tell when they get tense because theyre lying There should be plenty of overlap. The game doesnt acknowledge this at all - or at least, not so far.

Courtroom starts tomorrow. See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

This sprite of Fulbright makes me laugh.
https://i.imgur.com/2k4U0zB.jpg?1
and I couldn't resist giving this the old meme treatment:
https://i.imgur.com/jDkV7o7.jpg


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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

LeonhartFour posted...

They were English phrases, naturally.

Much like Franziska, in the Japanese version, Athena was raised in America.

That makes sense. Ive read and watched a variety of Japanese media where the characters spoke in weird languages that werent English, including but not limited to French, Spanish, German. The unifying characteristic is that they either grew up or attended school overseas somewhere, usually the USA or a language-matching destination in Europe [e.g. France for French, etc].

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Detective Bobby Fulbright - overenthusiastic detective, obsessed with justice, probably has a Tide Pen on his person at all times
Phineas Filch - employee at the Aldermans manor, petty thief
Simon Blackquill - mentioned in convo, expected prosecutor at this case, convicted murderer - eep!

We run into Phineas Filch, who, true to his name, steals Apollos bracelet the first chance he gets! Doesnt that thing adjust to fit the wearer perfectly? Are we to believe Mr Filch is so very good at what he does that he manages to do this without Apollo noticing? Hes also stolen someones shoes - while hes distracted, we hold on to them, hoping to find their owner.

We investigate the crime scene while keeping Det. Fulbright distracted, he truly doesnt want us poking around more than is necessary. Love the new Examine functions - the 3D modeling and animation allows us to rotate the room and view it from different angles, finding new items as we do. The items weve already looked at receive a check mark when we hover over them so we can keep track, which is a definite improvement. I dont like the flashing red circle when Examine becomes available on an item [only because I think it makes it too easy], but the rest of its great.

Athena is still, I am reluctant to report, relatable content. The only way we diverge is that she didnt want to hear about the torture devices. Im cheerfully up for morbid topics of all kinds.

Det. Fulbright is barefoot - we ask him why, and he has no idea. We present the shoes Filch had filched, and their owner is found. No longer the barefoot detective, Fulbright sprints off to the next task.

As it turns out, Damien Tenma not only has a scary face, but he is the only person lacking an alibi at the time of the murder. Jinxie was not a suspect as she had no motive according to Det. Fulbright.

We go to talk to Jinxie next. See you [actually] tomorrow!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

LeonhartFour posted...

Trucy = True see/see through

I sat there for the longest time wondering why you posted this. Then I saw that I called her Trudy twice. That's what I get for posting after watching a bunch of Monk episodes.

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Alderman Kyubi - mentioned in convo, victim and former pro wrestler
Damian Tenma - mentioned in convo, mayor of neighboring Tenma Town and father of Jinxie, injured and accused of killing above

We are surprised by Tenma Taro, the evil birb, then hes bested by Amazing Nine-Tails, a pro wrestler. Jinxie started working in Nine-Tails Vale to conquer her fears, and her late mother was also from NTV.

Feathers and bloody bird footprints all over the crime scene. Hard to believe it wasnt Mr Tenma, or a monster.

Notes function comes up during this case - perfect for people who cant focus, like me, and dont know what they need to do next.

Turns out Damian Tenma has a very scary face, but is very considerate and thinks of others. Hes been pushing to combine Nine-Tails Vale and Tenma Town for a while with the Alderman, but thats the only disagreement they seem to be having.

Phoenix calls us because Athena Cykes has come out to NTV to help us with our new case, and he needs Apollo to find her. Says she just passed the bar and shes excited to help. She keeps including phrases in Spanish and German - makes me wonder what the original Japanese said.

Were investigating tomorrow. See you then!


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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

They didn't give you a lot of background about Junie, that makes it a little tough to care about her, but she seems sweet.

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Jinxie Tenma - maid

So Athena and Apollo handling a case together, at some point. >_> But it starts out sucking us back to the setting and lackluster start of Apollo Justice cases. Youre Apollo, youre at the Wright Anything Agency, you have to babysit Trudy, hoo boy, okay. I have to say, its not difficult to get me back to that feeling of ugh.

We go off to the Nine-Tails Vale, a monstrous youkai village and tourist trap. There, Trudy introduces us to Jinxie Tenma, a maid who is pretty convinced that Apollo, with his hair-horns and affinity for the color red, is a demon. After trying to seal us away and finally believing due to the badge that Apollos a lawyer, Jinxie opens up. The alderman thought that a tourist draw would be good for the town.

We saw an alderman in the opening cutscene get shanked, though. So if its the same alderman...RIP, my dude. The history of the town involves a bird creature fighting a nine-tailed fox. The fox manages to seal the birb away and save the town. The only issue being that we saw the killer wanted to UNLEASH THE BIRB in all its terror in the cutscene.

Wow. Lots to learn, and I hope Athena comes back soon. See you tomorrow!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

We sure did pin it on him, short and sweet. He claimed some stuff that wasnt true, and it ended up that he killed Candice Arme and stuffed her in the bomb case where no one would look. Then he set up her body afterwards to be found and pinned on whoever the bomber was. He had also attacked Apollo. I guess I dont understand what he was doing in the meantime with Ms. Arme where she had enough time to be writing messages in blood.

We did not solve the mystery of the missing detonator, but shrugggg. Junies cleared and thats all that matters. Actually, that matters for a split second before Apollo announces in a dramatic yet short cutscene that hes taking a leave of absence and he doesnt want any help from the rest of us, thanks. Wow, rude.

Probably would have been a smarter idea to finish this case during the daytime - Mr Tonates sprite did not look friendlier as he became more agitated, and I didnt enjoy it. Visual learner, imagery sticks with me, so I gotta be careful about input.

I find Athena kinda relatable? Shes upbeat and enthusiastic, she encourages the people around her, and shes all about using the technology available to make life easier. She doesnt go too far towards any quality in the smart/cute/annoying trifecta of most AA female characters. Shes helpful and confident.

We travel back in time tomorrow for a flashback case, the first case Athena and Apollo handled together involving a murder by a mythical beast. See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Pretty wild how often the victim wrote something that can be horribly misconstrued comes up in this franchise.

Payne, true to his name, makes the Judge agree to include the Courtroom No. 4 attack on Apollo Justice as a material part of this case. Apollo appears to have written Woods in his own blood, but his injury was not severe enough to produce enough, er, ink to write it.

We sort out that the Courtroom No. 4 victim, Candice Arme, must have written a message with the copious amounts of blood she had available. She wrote the employee number matching the bomb case brought into the courtroom, that of Mr Ted Tonate. She hadnt known him prior so the number was the easiest way to expose him. Mr Tonate had quickly rolled the bomb case over the incriminating writing, and then upon attacking Apollo, was able to secure just enough blood to change the number code to WOODS, shifting the focus and the blame to Junie.

We bring in Mr Ted Tonate tomorrow to see if we can pin it on him. See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

We are faced with an important distinction: the bomb was placed inside a stuffed animal called Phony Phanty, and Junie has a stuffed animal called Bum Rap Rhiny. They are, respectively, an elephant and a rhinoceros. Phony Phanty is standing against falsifying evidence and Bum Rap Rhiny is against false charges/claims. Its a weird public promotional thing to improve the law/court system. The tails on both are exactly the same, which is why Junie was even accused of contact with the bomb in the first place - her fingerprints were on a tail believed to belong to the Phony Phanty-encased bomb.

We sorted out her other conflicting emotions using the Mood Matrix - even though Junie was shocked by the explosion, she was happy that Apollo protected her by covering her from rubble raining down from overhead. She also felt a bit sad - her Bum Rap Rhiny is missing, aside from the aforementioned tail.

Apollo and Junie were looking for it in the blown-out shell of Courtroom No. 4, after they had been excused to the lobby of Courtroom No. 5. Apollo decided to stay and search for Rhiny while Junie returned to testify. The last thing we see is a horrible cutscene - Phoenix, Athena, and Junie return to Courtroom No. 4 and find Apollo unconscious on the ground, his blood on a nearby rock!

D: Troubling!

Im not a big fan of the sprite animation where Junie keeps boxing her own eyes out with the heavy ends of her weird braids. Judge says were going to return tomorrow - but isnt it safe to throw it out if the only evidence tying the defendant to the crime was clarified to be her own possession that was not involved with any bomb? Not gonna lie, I thought this was going to be the shortest first case ever.

See you tomorrow!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Were back to Junie on the stand, and it seems that Athena has a heightened sense of hearing. But shes doing this whole Counselor Troi Im sensing emotions that are blatantly clear to anyone with eyes thing. Wait, we can listen to her heart?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCC_b5WHLX0

Whaaaat. She can also speak German. So, her inadvisable necklace is indispensable to this creepy process of listening to Ms. Woods heart. And its name is Widget. And this is the Mood Matrix. I like this function. What did yall think of it the first time?

Apollo saved Junie by blocking the falling rubble with his body.

Would like to point out that Junies knitting animation is pleasantly accurate [aside from the speed, which is alarming]. Sometimes artists or animators will place the needles downward and thats tossing salad, thats not knitting.

3DS needs to charge and I need to sleep. See you tomorrow for more!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Ted Tonate lied about being able to see the countdown and backtracked to a claim of being able to HEAR the bomb counting down, from inside the stuffed animal, from the gallery - which as Phoenix points out, is pretty far away. Gaspen Payne is fairly confident on this one and I cant wait to wipe any hint of a smirk off his face.

We are pretty sure that Junie got to the bomb while it was out in the lobby for some reason. Her prints are on the tail of the stuffed animal the bomb was inside, but no idea on how it got there.

I honestly didnt play very much today but still wanted to post :| See you tomorrow!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

@Leonhart4 Thank you very much!

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Characters Ive met:
Apollo Justice - we know this guy, but hes pretty banged up this time around. Something about a bomb detonating in Courtroom 4.
Athena Cykes - cute, but terrible taste in jewelry
Phoenix Wright - wait, no hobo this time around?
Gaspen Payne - Winstons little brother, who just looks like Winston moonlighting as a bad Elvis impersonator. And yes, I finally got the pun on this one, winced in pain gasped in pain
Juniper Woods - defendant, looks like a Ghibli/Miyazaki main character
Ted Tonate - there are subtle AA puns. In case you were wondering, this aint it.
Candice Arme - deceased victim of the big blam

We have 3-D MODEL SPRITES.

We have ANIMATED CUTSCENES.

We have SCROLLABLE CONVERSATION HISTORY.

We have TIPS AND HINTS.

We have A BOMB THAT WENT OFF IN COURTROOM 4?!

Yes. We have all that and more, gentle readers. Athena is the only new/suspected recurring character since weve played AA4. She seems pretty cool - I dont think theres a benefit to having a necklace that SCREAMS your internal thoughts to the entire courtroom, even if it is high-tech. :| We shall see. Shes got a deep, dark, blood-soaked backstory that we get a PTSD-ish flashback on - like Edgeworth, she was quite young when it happened. Looking forward to learning more about that. Im always entertained when a characters elaborate hairstyle doesnt change from the time they were 4. Its okay to grow and change, girl.

Apollo was injured in Courtroom 4s blast and he looks downright heroic, all bandaged up like that with a jacket hanging off his shoulders. How did severe injuries make him suddenly look cool?

Athena takes over the defense for her buddy Juniper, as despite Apollos brave face, hes not up to the task. Thankfully, Phoenix strolls up with perfect timing just as Athena is rendered speechless by her trauma flashback. Apparently hell give me hints if I need it? Not sure how to feel about that function, but this may well have been a whole generations first Ace Attorney game - who am I to complain?

We start by listening to the robotic-sounding testimony of a Mr Ted Tonate, a bomb expert who had disarmed and transported the bomb into Courtroom 4. Hes super creepy and prefers to talk through a voice synthesizer even though hes fully capable of verbal speech. The bomb going off is being blamed on Juniper because? Unclear. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess. She was only there to support Apollo in court. The blast killed only one person, Candice Arme, a bomb specialist with the police.

Well continue tomorrow. See you then!


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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

4-2 was more appealing to play for me than 4-1. Not to mention that 4-1 has the specter of Too Much Change about it. I liked the 3-D rendering of the crime scene and the fact that Kristoph could be responsible in 4-1, but that was about all the buy-in I had. The rest of the time I was wondering why Phoenix looked like a hobo, how I could get rid of the Perky Magician Girl, and why I had to play a dopey attorney with strained vocal chords. 4-2 had more independent movement, the revenge angle was neat, the yakuza characters were hilarious, and the game mechanics with Det. Skye were engaging. The fact that Mr Eldoon was very attractive under that silly noodle hat didn't hurt.

Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies for the 3DS has been purchased. Gameplay and writeups will resume Tuesday, October 6th. I'm currently enjoying an anniversary weekend with Tom. See y'all then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

fdasfjkl;a I finished this game on Monday but took time to percolate.

Case 4-4 - Turnabout Succession

Characters Ive met:
Thalassa Gramarye - only daughter of Magnifi Gramarye, wife of Zak, and mother of both Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright

Hoo boy. I loved the MASON system of investigation. That almost single handedly saved the game for me, and certainly gave me renewed energy towards finishing it. For those of you who dont know me, I love all manner of productivity strategies, and to-do lists are one of my faves. This was so fun, investigating each chapter of both past and present, getting those satisfying glowing check marks, and continuing to break Psyche Locks left and right. It was like we had the old operations back together again.

Many stunning revelations were uncovered throughout this process, which you trace through as Phoenix Wright, both past and present. Trucy is your adopted daughter by virtue of being an orphan of that case you bungled by presenting forged evidence that you didnt know was forged at the time. With her father and mother both having disappeared, you feel a sense of responsibility towards her. You first see Thalassa Gramarye in a photo in Trucys locket. Shes stunningly beautiful.

Summary:
You talk to Officer/Bailiff Meekins who explains that Zak Gramarye truly disappeared that fateful day! It turns out the precocious Trucy was covering for her father with the help of The Amazing Mr Hat - who upon further inspection is the perfect stand-in for someone of Zaks stature.

Zak used poker to select his lawyer - Kristoph clearly didnt measure up. He also couldnt be declared guilty in court as he intended to pass the rights to his daughter Trucy - transferring to her the rights to all his secrets of performance and magic.

We visit Kristoph in a very plush-looking solitary confinement. He is doing his nails with a familiar-looking nail polish bottle, and there is a Yellow Envelope on a table in the cell. When Kristoph is called away, we sneak in and procure said Yellow Envelope.

You talk to both Drew and Vera, verifying that they made the Magnifi diary page for a client who has the Devils face near him. This client also gave Vera a gift of nail polish as a good luck charm.

We grill Valant about the magic trick gone wrong resulting in Thalassa Gramaryes death. They had accidentally killed her during practice, Magnifi covered it all up - but her being his only daughter as well as Zaks wife, they owed him. Trucy didnt know. Valant recalls that Brushel was hanging around and became friends with Zak, but Valant himself could never trust the guy.

We return to the Drew Studio in the present day, and talk to Brushel. We find out that Valant is out of luck due to the transferal of rights to his daughter, Trucy. We also find out that there was something of a love triangle between the Gramaryes - Zak, Thalassa, and Valant. Thalassa had been married before to another performer, but he died a year into their marriage, after giving birth to a child, before Trucy. Brushel shares a photo of Thalassa with you - note her bracelets.

You meet once more at the Borscht Club and talk to Zak Gramarye. It turns out that Apollo and Trucy are half-siblings. Magnifi, Thalassa, Apollo and Trucy all have the gift. The bracelets help focus it as a tool to identify tension in a person and determine if they are lying. Trucy is just super amazing and doesnt need a bracelet to do it >_> Zak is waiting for his legal death, and wont be meeting with his daughter again. Zak writes and signs a Confession for you to use later.

You show this Confession to Valant and he immediately recognizes it as a lie. Although he had not killed Magnifi, the man had killed himself and Valant was too tempted to use the circumstances to frame Zak. Valant manipulated the IV bag to this end.

Kristoph catches you with the Yellow Envelope and you return it to him - next the case. We use a combination of the Yellow Envelope and Red Envelope to pin the killing on Kristoph. It didnt matter that you returned the Yellow Envelope to Kristoph in his cell, because that derpy pin on Phoenixs slouchy PaPa hat is actually a camera. He filmed and faithfully recreated the Yellow Envelope to be used in this case.

The jurists take their turn to determine the outcome of the case. You play as jurist no. 6, who has a little trouble choosing - I chose Not Guilty. As her arm reaches out to touch the button, you see that its Lamiroir and a familiar looking bracelet. Thalassa got a pretty sweet performance deal out of it, travelling the world as Lamiroir.

Commentary:
Nice little bit of teamwork here between Klavier and Apollo, slightly reminiscent of Phoenix and Miles in the original trilogy [kinda like LaCroix flavor - it aint gonna be the fruit itself, but you can at least tell what fruit its trying to be]. Kristoph loses it in spectacular fashion and the day is saved.

After all the emphasis this franchise has historically placed on powder burns, that we claim ballistics had no idea that Magnifi killed himself? Tell me if Im missing something >_> That stood out and annoyed me. No ones arms [aside from Inspector Gadget, or possibly Mr Fantastic, both in an oddly dark timeline] are long enough to make a difference here.

A mother finding out she has two kids after recovering her memory? Wild horses couldnt, yall. That part of the end was totally unrealistic.

Honestly, this whole time I was tired of Trucy, I had dismissed Zak/Shadi as some grifter who met an untimely end in a drafty basement, and Apollo as some Gary Stu with odd taste in jewelry. Now that its all tied together, it does lend it some credibility and I have to say, I see them all in a different light now. It doesnt make the game any better, and Im not sure they could have been more hamfisted with the way those assorted plot points were thrown together - but it does improve the overall feeling I have about the game.

Ranking this games cases by themselves, best to worst [because, lets be real, theres no way this compares to the original trilogy]:
4-4 Turnabout Succession
4-2 Turnabout Corner
4-1 Turnabout Trump
4-3 Turnabout Serenade

Thanks for reading, yall. What should I play next? Investigations? Should I bother with Dual Destinies?

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-4 - Turnabout Succession

Characters Ive met:
Magnifi Gramarye - aged and ailing patriarch of the Gramarye Troupe, given 3 mos. left to live
Shadi Enigmar - aka Zak Gramarye, famed magician of the Gramarye Troupe
Valant Gramarye - famed magician of the Gramarye Troupe
Drew Misham - painter and forger
Phoenix Wright - names usually on the tin
Klavier Gavin - a young prosecutor and rockstar
Dick Gumshoe - MY FAVE. This practically saved the game for me.

Oh, how Ive missed a relatively normal case. This wasnt exactly open and shut, and I had to look for hints at certain points, but it was pretty good.

Zak Gramarye is accused of killing his mentor and leader of the Gramarye Troupe, Magnifi Gramarye. Phoenix Wright is on the hook to clear the guys name, and hes up against a young hotshot prosecutor named Klavier Gavin [short hair = passage of time].

Magnifi wrote letters to each of his disciples, asking Zak and Valant to come at different times in the same night and end his life using the single-shot pistols they use for one of their acts. Magnifi has grown tired of living, and his terminal diagnosis wasnt helping at all.

Zak and Valant both testify that they shot a nearby stuffed toy, rather than kill their beloved mentor, and blame the crime on each other. Ballistics point to Valant being the killer, but then Klavier pulls a fast one saying the ballistics were actually inconclusive. We go on a wild goose chase to find that not only did Valant kill Magnifi, but he used a nearby insulin syringe to add more liquid to Magnifis IV drip to obscure the real time of death!

Klavier produces a diary [upon examination, it does have a silk hat on the back cover] that he says is written by Magnifi. A page is ripped out and missing, and Phoenix Wright produces it. A very young Trucy had given it to him prior to this case and he had accepted it in the lobby without thinking.

Klavier calls Drew Misham to the stand, who confirms that the entire diary is his own forging work, and although he does not know who his client is, the fact remains that Phoenix Wright is producing forged evidence in a courtroom.

The Judge, never one to rub more than two brain cells together, is shocked at Phoenixs affront to justice. He must now declare a verdict, and it does not look favorable for Shadi Enigmar/Zak Gramarye. But true to the magicians word, it will be impossible to declare a verdict, and Zak Gramarye disappears, never to be seen or heard from again.

Klaviers theme is that song from the other case. Dont think for a minute that I didnt notice it, even hidden in a nice relaxing background arrangement as he spoke. I was forced to watch that animation 47 times. Its a part of me now.

Seeing young Valant was very interesting - the lack of mustache was a distinct improvement, and his shocked sprites were a welcome respite from Brushels gruesome Pink Tie Tangle.

Were back to reality [oh! There goes gravity!] next time in Ace Attorney, The Last Case of Apollo Justice: Hallelujah.

See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-4 - Turnabout Succession

I have to say, yall are the most supportive bunch Ive ever met. Thanks in advance for that.

This case has been plugging along fairly easily. I have definitely looked up the first Perceive spot in this case and was glad I did [sweat during this specific phrase in the right armpit, really?].

Brushel testifies that he saw Drew Misham drink the coffee and fall over dead immediately. He is incorrect, as the poison is slow-acting - meaning that if the poison was on the mug, he would have had time to finish the cup before keeling over. He claims that he came early by 15 minutes and entered without knocking, he saw Misham stuffing a yellow envelope, putting a stamp on it, and mailing it. Well - we only have a Red Envelope. Said yellow envelope if mailed is long gone.

Det. Skye helps us analyze the contents of the Red Envelope further, uncovering poisonous residue from an included stamp. It is suspected that Drew Misham had no stamps and took the poisoned stamp out of its mini picture frame on his desk and licked it to use on the yellow envelope. But why would he do that, if he had an inkling that it might be poisonous?

We suspect the red envelope and its promised $100,000 payment is not for a forged painting, but instead for forged evidence. Perhaps Drew Misham was not the forger, but someone else.

We realize the forger is likely Vera, which would explain why Drew wouldnt have had any reason to suspect the stamp and used it. It would also explain why there was poisonous residue only on the lip of the coffee mug and not in the coffee - it was remaining from licking the stamp and came from contact with Drews tongue, not from the coffee itself.

Poor Vera takes the stand and keeps staring at Klavier with an unsettled look on her face. o_o

She testifies to having sold her first painting at 12 and also to forging other items that her father then sold, e.g. signatures, handwriting, fingerprints, etc. Drew conducted all transactions and posed as the forger, while Vera completed the actual engineering and the two of them stayed holed up in their home/studio, away from prying eyes.

Vera framed the stamp because she liked the design, a commemorative portrait of her favorite magicians - the Gramarye Troupe. She had no idea that it was poisoned.

Klavier starts wigging out and asks about a diary entry in a book with a silk hat on the back cover. Vera confirms that yes, in fact, she had been asked to forge a diary entry in such a book. He mentions that Phoenix Wright hasnt told us everything about that case 7 years ago that led to his fate. He asks Vera who the client was, who asked her to create the diary entry. She seizes up, and manages to choke out, ...the...De...vil before collapsing to the floor.

It turns out that Vera was poisoned with atroquinine, the same poison used on the stamp, but a smaller amount than the lethal dose. Shes unconscious.

I am so tired of Klaviers guitar riff. It was fun the first few times, but this case seems to move at a good pace - then I have to wait the 8 seconds for him to air guitar. Again. And again. And again. It was nice seeing him sweat and freak out at the end - I wonder what happened?

Looks like were going to have to go back 7 years to the old case to get some more info! See you then!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-4 - Turnabout Succession

Characters Ive met:
Spark Brushel - journalist ?

We poke around with Det. Skye and she gives us the suspicious reporters business card so we can continue figuring out who knows what about this case. We talk to journalist Spark Brushel at the Detention Center. Vera has completely clammed up in his presence [who wouldnt? The guy is totally out there].

Valant Gramarye talks to us at the Sunshine Coliseum, telling us that Zak Gramarye is legally dead, now that 7 years has passed. Hes annoyed about a journalist who has been bothering him for an interview. We ask if it is Brushel, and Valant rips up his business card. Okay then. Dont like that guy.

Theres a Red Envelope in the desk that contained the little framed bit of poison. After some cajoling, we convince Det. Skye to let us examine its contents using her X-Ray Analyzer. Its a super old letter about a large payment transfer. We find out Drew is a forger of paintings - he paints them just like the original to be sold as part of a scam. This is way more difficult to do than it sounds here - especially since actual paintings are x-rayed to determine their authenticity. Older paintings often display studies or earlier works underneath the top layer painting. Canvases, as with other art supplies, do not come cheap, and if the existing painting did not sell for any reason, it was common practice to paint over them. NWI Times states, Picasso's "Old Guitarist" hides a past life of a former painting. The Art Institute of Chicago x-rayed the painting to reveal the menagerie image underneath of a woman, child and animals.

We talk to Det. Skye about the paintings more and get to use her X-Ray Analyzer to see the initial sketches under all 3 paintings - oddly enough, they turn out to be representative of 4-1 through 4-3!! Who is Drew Misham to Apollo?

Find out next time!

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-4 - Turnabout Succession

Characters Ive met:
Vera Misham - daughter of artist mentioned below, held in Detention Center
Drew Misham [mentioned] - artist

Phoenix sells us down the river by making us the lawyer for a test of the Jurist System, a system that legal is considering changing to in the future. Trucy gives us a ticket to see Troupe Gramarye at Sunshine Coliseum, where we had so much fun with the Gavinners last time. Phoenix gives us the Gramarye Envelope to open at the appropriate time.

We try talking to Vera at the Detention Center, but dont get very far with her aside from receiving her business card.

We proceed to Drew Studio and meet Det. Skye there. Unusually, on the night of the murder, Drew had been entertaining a reporter for an interview. He fell ill and died after receiving his cup of coffee from Vera. I sprayed the whole room with a test for atroquinine. Idk, the cup was glowing but only on the lip, not inside the cup.

We also went to the Sunshine Coliseum and spoke to Valant Gramarye again briefly. I showed him the Gramarye Envelope, he identified the signature on the back as that of Zak Gramarye, who was Trucys biological father.

I am reluctant to keep whining, but this is so tedious. If they had taken two seconds at the beginning to endear us to the characters or given us something special here, we wouldnt be having this issue. Its like Ace Attorney By Numbers at this point.

Probably lots more to do for investigating. See yall next time.

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How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Ugh, Daryan points out that the cocoons on the black market isnt profitable anymore. I was so sure that anymore would be the question asked when I pressed him, but Apollos a box of rocks and so am I for playing this game. I guess he could be speaking generally, but it still sounds like a statement made by someone with inside knowledge.

We accuse him of smuggling. He continues to protest that Borginia is so strict and it would be more trouble than its worth. We present the newspaper article showing that the Chief Justices son is afflicted with Incuritis and would likely pay up to anyone providing a cure - bringing business safely close to home.

Apparently the guitar given to Klavier by Lamiroir was transported using special conveyance for evidence only open to Klavier as a prosecutor, so it was used as the mule. Once it became clear that the stash couldnt be recovered, it had to be burned.

Then theres the whole rigamarole with Machi pressing the button while playing the piano. First of all, it would have been peak Ace Attorney, since we found the Remote Switch in the piano, to have had it go off due to pressure from the strings while Machi was playing it. But no, instead we gotta fiddle with the Mixer again and isolate the part that he was playing, have an entire TED Talk about whether or not he could play what he was playing with one hand, while the other was supposedly igniting the guitar remotely, etc. etc.

And we definitely watched the 3D sequence, and parts of it, more times than I can count. Im fresh outta scarves, Ill have to go buy some before the first cold snap arrives.

We call Machi to the stand to testify against Daryan, because its in his best interest as a Borginian citizen.

The thing that frustrated me was that Machis playing wasnt very different to the untrained ear, and since weve already seen the song split up before, it was annoying that his one-handed playing wasnt quite lined up with when we heard the gunshot earlier. Also why did I have to point out that Machi was the accomplice. It was all so contrived.

Wouldnt it make more sense in Japanifornia for us to extradite Machi for his crime? To be perfectly frank, I want someone to suffer for how stupid this case was. I dont care who.

Fun fact: the symbol on the front of Lamiroirs face covering looks like the Japanese hiragana character ra, which would be the start of her name in Japanese. Ramiroa is written using katakana characters, however.

Wow, last case starts next time guys. Thanks for reading along!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Daryan is here, and hes mightily cranky about it. We point out that the firecrackers found under the couch may have served as the gunshots from some point in the evening. Daryan insists that we prove the shots went off during the second set.

Oh fine, so it wanted me to present the Mixing Board instead of the Video Tape. Since they both have the same information re: Lamiroirs imperfect performance the game does have some either/or moments but when multiple pieces of evidence point to the Exact Same Point, Id like to be able to present ANY of them instead of being badgered into a specific one.

I swear, if I have to watch the 3D animation that we spent all our budget on ONE MORE TIME, Ill eat my scarf.

Daryans ridiculous pompadour flopping around everywhere isnt lending this any gravitas.

Seor Pompadour claims not to have known LeTouse in his further testimony, trying to gut the charge of its motive. We present the weird Replica egg looking thing stamped Sample. Apparently, in addition to being the key ingredient in a cure for the dim-witted disease Incuritis... the cocoon can be used to make a deadly poison! This is the reason they are strictly banned from being exported out of Borginia, and tracked closely by Interpol. Their sale can fetch a pretty penny on the black market.

Daryan will testify regarding the cocoon and smuggling next time. See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

We return and start talking about what Lamiroir actually heard - when Daryan was talking, he said press the switch now. Luckily we have a Remote Trigger/switch in the Court Record, and we explain its connection to the Igniter to the court. Theres some nonsense about second and third acts, but thats quickly cleared up.

The killer wasnt exactly following the lyrics, we suspect they intentionally swapped a couple of the steps but overall it was close enough. We come to the conclusion that Lamiroir was not by the tiny window, but somewhere else during the shooting.

She was in THE AIR VENT we talked about yesterday. How convenient. How quaint. She was calling it a window because ESL. Lamiroir points out that was where she was, but she was moving quickly and there was no time to report what she had experienced as the show must go on. She makes a big show of being sworn to secrecy, but we cut right through to sorting out how the transported man illusion [ extra credit to whoever gets that ref ] illusion happened.

I love that Klavier has a dissonant guitar chord play every time hes annoyed or foiled in these courtroom scenes. Its interesting to see him swing between a smug Herr Forehead line and holding his own head in his hands.

Apparently Klavier is a stickler for live performance, so a body double was used at the beginning and Lamiroir had to sing live the entire time. The evidence is on the Video Tape as we hear her hesitation upon hearing the gunshots and dropping her Brooch through the air vent. She sings a word only once when she is supposed to have sung it twice.

Were going to call in Daryan Crescend and put him on the stand next. Stay tuned!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Thanks for your patience, yall. This game its so unfortunate. We return to the courtroom, where Lamiroir must help Machi testify to his own innocence. We find that he knows some English, which is quite the turnaround from the no English alibi we had going earlier. Since he could understand the lyrics, we ask where he learned them - Lamiroir insists that she told him. Shes obviously trying to protect him.

Finally, the translating thing is happening as it should, theres a brief pause and then Lamiroir helps Machi testify. I dont have to wait for 4 pages of Wingdings. We realize that Lamiroir needs to testify again.

Machi refuses to testify when we ask him about the cocoon. He does say that LeTouse was on the ground when he found him, and that when others/we approached, Machi had in fact escaped through the air vent, which covers the entire ground between the dressing rooms and the stage above.

Were getting nowhere, so the judge calls a 5-minute recess.

Dontcha wish when life was all evil twins and snowmobile tracks? I know I do.

See yall before too long, I hope. Thanks for continuing to follow along with me on this little trainwreck we like to call AA4.

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

We found an igniter in Lamiroirs room, we talked to Klavier and find a similar thingy in his burnt guitar. We talk to Det. Skye and realize that the remote button has a reach of up to 30 feet, which means someone could have detonated the guitar while they were underground in or around the dressing rooms. Klavier also gives us a replica of a Borginian cocoon. This is one weird country. I can see why no ones heard of it before.

We run into Daryan, whos cranky because he cant work during the investigation by Klaviers orders. Yknow what, buddy? Tough. Get a better hairdo with all this time off. Relax.

Lammy is missing, oh no, this was a fun case. Wait, we have to find her? Laaaame. Okay fine.

We go hunting for the blind singer, and find her in a guitar case, unconscious. We save her life and get her to the hospital. According to her, someone taller than her struck her in the forehead and she ran away, taking advantage of the dark stage to hide in the guitar case. Not too bright, as it actually closed and she almost died, but thats how these things are sometimes.

We show her the Cocoon and talk to her about it - Lamiroir is convinced that she was marked for transporting/smuggling them and thats why Mr LeTouse was assigned to her.

We use the fact that we saved Lamiroirs life to our advantage, making her come translate at the Detention Center with Machi. In true Speed Racer fashion, we find that the Cocoons are part of a cure for Incuritis. You know, the inflammation of the incurable disease. Kinda like Sandoland? Anyway, Borginia does not allow the cocoons out of the country on pain of death.

Daryan bursts in and interrupts our conversation, hauling Machi away and claiming he has a call from the Borginian embassy. Suspich!

We return to court next time! Stay tuned!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Okay, so the update is that Apollo Justice is due back to the library. This will be my motivation to finish it posthaste and reduce my fines overall.

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Spent most of the time poking around places Ive already been and talking to people Ive already met. We found some sort of remote button in the grand piano.

Pretty sure its not my imagination - a lot of the rejection dialogue is way longer than it was in previous games. e.g. Det. Skye having 5-6 frames of munching on snacks while Apollo provides his not-so-important commentary on how she doesnt want to talk to us right now. This is Ace Attorney. If she wanted to talk to us about the matter at hand, she would have done so already. When I have two full pages of evidence in the Court Record, I think its an unnecessary delay even to have to fast forward through this womans Snackaroo binges.

I showed the revolver to Uncle Valant and he seemed vaguely unsettled by it.

After poking around, I returned to the Detention Center to see if anything would be different with Machi. No dice, hes still rattling off sentences in Borginese and Trucy is acting as his translator by saying the same vague sentence over and over. I have no buy-in! I almost dont care! Its a shame that Romein Lettuce, full of vitamins that he was, had to die like this, only for me to drag out his murder investigation because its too lame to solve quickly.

More investigation soon. See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

The problem being that Daryan was on the stage with the rest of the Gavinners while Romein LeTouse was being shot, so that gives him an alibi against Lamiroirs accusation that it was his voice she heard backstage.

Characters I have met:
Valant Gramarye - Uncle Valant to Trucy, a friend of her real dad
Zak Gramarye - mentioned in convo, Trucys real dad

I honestly hope Valant is a friend of her real dad, like Disney actresses are friends with the Princesses they play at the parks. Because its way too anime genetics to be explained away otherwise.

We receive a Video Tape from Uncle Valant of the live concert...and theres no sign of Daryan on that stage with Machi, Lamiroir, and Klavier.

We meet Machi in the Detention Center, he doesnt respond at all but our Bracelet responds to his silence, which is funky and weird.

We meet Lamiroir back at the concert stage area, she insists that Daryan was the voice she heard. We also speak to Uncle Valant, who speaks in vague riddles about how his clients ask for custom illusions based on the time and place they are to be held, and how Magnifi Gramarye started off the Gramarye Troupe and how awful it was when interest in magic waned.

Idk, Im with Apollos meta-internal-monologue, wherein he wonders how we can get so off-topic so quickly? I wonder the same thing myself.

More investigation soon. See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Lamiroir is the one whos actually blind! Dun dun dunnn

Prosecutor Pantene Pro-V Commercial proceeds to point out that she did not lie in her testimony - we just kept pushing like she could see, because that was what we understood at the time. We then ask Lamiroir to testify about her blindness, and we get to cross examine.

We ask if her staff being informed about her blindness included Romein LeTouse, and it did. So when he was saying cant see, he wasnt talking about himself, he was talking about Lamiroir! The bailiff interrupts and introduces Daryan once more, who had left to verify the Interpol number we found with the Luminol that had been smudged. The number is, in fact, matched to Romein LeTouse, as is the serial number on the gun he was shot with, as it was registered for Romeins use.

Lamiroir shocks the entire courtroom by confirming that the sound of Daryans voice is the same as the voice of the man she heard on the night of the murder! We end todays court proceedings here since we cant seem to get order.

More tomorrow! See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

We return to the carpeting under Romein as he died - Det. Skye lets us try our hand with an old fave, Luminol. We spray it on the smeared piece of carpeting and it reveals an Interpol number. Why would Romein write that? But before that, how would Romein know such a number?

We discuss Machi Tobayes blindness once more and realize - he was the act, and Lamiroir is the one whos actually blind. Since shes still local, Klavier offers to bring her back in to the stand.

More on this tomorrow. See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Thanks, I thought it was just me feeling super tired at the beginning of this case. I think we are starting to get into the groove now.

So I derped pretty hard today, saving with 30% HP left after making several mistakes. Instead of internally cursing myself for the rest of the case, I elected to restart this chapter from the beginning. I maintain that all that Lamiroir moonspeak and someone else translating was completely unnecessary.

Since no one told her, Lamiroir should not have known that Romein got shot because there was a gag order out. Plus she testified about seeing bullet holes, which were on the same wall as the door. Therefore, she must have been in the room? Just kidding, she testifies that she saw through the tiny window an adult of some variety shoot Romein. Prosecutor Big Blonde Burgundy Pain points out that the tiny window was closed. He says Lamiroirs testimony is full of holes because shes trying to protect Machi. We usher Lamiroir out pretty quick and bring back Det. Skye. Oh joy.

Det. Skye continues to talk about Machis blindness and how it affects the case at hand. Prosecutor Air Guitar starts smirking while we continue talking about Machi and how super blind he is. I never said he was blind, that was what Det. Skye brought to the case, he says, unhelpfully. This kinda stuff makes me miss the nostalgic old updated autopsy report moments.

I guess Machi can see just fine. I threw a postcard at this issue because I can read it and it clearly says Sight Saving Musique. I wonder when/if that will become relevant.

Lamiroirs surprise/thrown off sprite where her veil flies straight up and points at the ceiling? Kinda dorky for such a beautiful character design. I was expecting some of that fabric fluttering from a strong truth front coming through, but maybe that would have been too much like Dahlia?

More about this case tomorrow. See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

As always, I seem to get big things easier but some of the picky little details trip me up.

Apparently, Lamiroir was gulping during her testimony, that would have been nice to know before I watched her eyes and lips 5 times each on different parts of testimony. Also, her hands were out of frame, so I couldnt exactly watch those. Had to look it up.

Now apparently there is something in my Court Record that contradicts her testimony. Ive thrown everything relevant and some things not-so-relevant at her, I have the kitchen sink in my hands, and also this nifty attorney badge.

Will try again after a good nights rest. See you tomorrow!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Prosecutor Gavin tries to lead an open-and-shut case by bringing in Det. Skye as his only witness and fast-tracking it toward a guilty verdict for our young pianist, Machi Tobaye. He almost does it, too. The Judge asks Apollo if hes got something to refute this case made by the prosecutor and we do indeed!

We get Lamiroir on the stand. Im very tired. Sorry.

More tomorrow when I am less tired.


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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Yooo that didn't happen. I'm playing through some trial tomorrow and then posting. Thanks guys!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

Characters Ive met:
Daryan, two-tone pompadour guitarist and policeman?
Weirdo Yellow Suit Guy, keeps appearing and I suspect heavily that hes Trucys biological father because anime genetics and also why not

Apparently when someone gets killed by the gun, you gotta click on the gun and add it to the Court Record and then run around showing the gun to everyone you know to see what they have to say about the gun. This is standard AA procedure, not sure what my brain was doing yesterday. Its a .45 caliber revolver which is insanely heavy and kinda bizarre for anyone to be having/using around these parts, but here we go.

Klavier derails us with the sound mixer, demanding to know who missed their cue during the concert that day. You sort it out - its Daryan and hes not too happy to be ratted out. You find out that the Gavinners is a rock band entirely populated by law and law enforcement types. Boy howdy, is that a funky combo in the year of our lord 2020.

Klaviers sprite plays with his own hair often enough when talking to Apollo that its difficult to imagine hes not flirting? But then again, he strikes me as the type to flirt with anything that moves. Klavier is stunned to find out from you that Romein was holding Klaviers heart-shaped key ring when he died. Mr Gavin had believed it lost that morning, causing a domino effect of annoyances all day.

We show Lamiroir the Brooch, turns out its hers and she tells us that not only does she speak English, but it was Romeins idea as her new manager to speak as her interpreter. Machi is there, and asks to step out for some fresh air. Lamiroir speaks both Borginese and English. Machi, her blind pianist, only speaks Borginese and sticks to Lamiroir like glue. Lamiroir means the siren in English, we decide to ask her for info because of Romeins last words. At this point, Lamiroir clams up. Nothing doing, shes not going to talk no matter what we do.

Romeins body and Daryans guitar go missing and we go hunting for them. Not only do we find both, but Machi is there, unconscious. We offer our representation, but the language barrier should make things nigh impossible.

Trial tomorrow. Wish me luck!


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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-3 - Turnabout Serenade

I spent an extended period of time poking around every single room multiple times to try and trigger something new to happen. Stage, two dressing rooms, the hallway. I talked to Det. Skye repeatedly and showed her everything I found so far.

Im tired, as evidenced by the title mistake from the last post :| thanks for the heads up though.

Eugh. See you tomorrow with more!


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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-2 - Turnabout Corner

Characters Ive met:
Klavier Gavin, prosecutor and rockstar
The Gavinners, Klaviers band
Det. Ema Skye
Lamiroir, singer
Romein LeTouse, bodyguard and translator to Lamiroir
Machi Tobaye, blind piano player

Apollo and Trucy go to the Gavinners concert and get to go backstage because they know Klavier. One of the songs goes weird and Klaviers guitar is accidentally set on fire and destroyed. Lamiroir is weird and has Wingdings for lines, which Romein translates. Kinda unnecessary but okay.

Det. Skye is handling security detail backstage for Klavier. Suddenly as we talk to her, we hear gunshots and rush in to see whats up. Romein is there on the floor, bleeding out from some awful wounds. Apollo hears his last words, but is swiftly moved out as soon as we know Romein is dead.

I think this will be an interesting case, even if it did have a wild start. Im tired, so Ill do more poking around/investigating.

See you tomorrow!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-2 - Turnabout Corner

Big storm in our area knocked our internets out for a day and a half. I appreciate your patience.

Yeesh. So apparently when Alita confronted Dr Meraktis, he sprung on her and tried to strangle her with the power cord of the desk lamp we found, which was why it had a weird red smudge on it, from her lipstick. Alita testifies to being unconscious after this and because Dr Meraktis surely thought he had killed her, he needed to hide the body quickly. Which, average Joe Schmoe, sure. A medical doctor?? You wouldnt do all the normal did I really kill this person checks? I guess it was one of those fit-of-rage, oh-no-what-have-I-done moments, but still.

We ask what Dr Meraktis was then doing with the noodle stand? He had clearly moved almost all of the bowls to make room for the unconscious body of Alita Tiala, and he was on a precise heading for a river. That way, he could dump the noodle stand, and the incriminating body, and get away with it. This was the point at which Wocky presumably confronted him. Alita awakens in the noodle cart, realizes Dr Meraktis is pulling it, and shoots him right after Mr Stickler had called out - resulting in a bullet through the right temple.

As if this couldnt be more complicated, we then go on a giant unnecessary tangent about how Dr Meraktis had a CAR, why didnt he put the body in his CAR, his CAR worked, why didnt he use his CAR to transport the body. Let me tell you, the true crime fandom is screaming right now. Tip of the Day: do not, under any circumstances, use your car to move a body. They will leave all kinds of clues behind no matter how well you think you cleaned afterwards. Fiber, hair, skin cells, blood or other bodily fluid residue. Basically, youre screwed as soon as the body goes in your car.

We come to the bizarre conclusion that Trucys panties stuffing up the exhaust pipe prevented the car from running and thats why Meraktis didnt use his car. Not that using his car is a legit terrible idea. Not that, you know, he was involved in a hit-and-run earlier in the evening and injured a defenseless bystander [Phoenix]. Not even that his car is missing a side mirror and is as such not cool to drive - per Japanifornia Vehicle Code, Section 26709: every motor vehicle that is subject to registration in the state of Japanifornia, except motorcycles, must have two mirrors that reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least 200 feet to the rear of the vehicle.

Nope, none of that stuff that makes sense. Outta here with that nonsense, this is Apollo Justice. Any plot to use the car was definitely foiled by panties.

On to the next case! See you tomorrow!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-2 - Turnabout Corner

So far, this is where Im at:

1. Ms Tiala goes to the Meraktis clinic, swaps out her wedge heels for clinic slippers.
2. She has the pistol, she threatens Dr Meraktis in his office, forces him to open the safe and shoots at him, misses, the bullet is embedded in the safe.
3. She shoots again, this time she doesnt miss and kills Dr Meraktis.
4. She closes the safe.
5. Somehow the Meraktis body is positioned near the Noodle cart, at this point I cant be bothered to care how it gets there.
6. Ms Tiala goes to People Park because she stands on the Eldoon side of the Noodle cart and her slipper picks up a leaf.
7. Shes still wearing the clinic slippers, she walks through some of the yellow paint that was knocked over by the Meraktis hit-and-run of Phoenix earlier that evening.
8. She then disposes of the slippers in the garbage can.

But I cant figure out how the game wants me to present this in trial. Im listening to this crap Ms Tiala is testifying about how she kindly went to warn Dr Meraktis about Wockys plan to kill him, but I cant specifically figure out what is wrong with her testimony. Guide time it is.

The old report she signed off on in the safe was the problem. You use the Perceive function to see that shes nervous during her testimony regarding being concerned about the chart now. We pin her on Wockys Chart because shed be in big trouble if Wocky or the Kitakis found out she knew.

She claims nothing happened, but our safe-hidden Bullet says otherwise, we get it analyzed and everythings groovy. Its a match for the fingerprint-wiped Pistol. Alitas clearly after the moolah and were determined to show that to the court. Wocky, however, is unfazed and continues professing his guilt like the worst defendant ever.

More trial tomorrow. See you then!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Case 4-2 - Turnabout Corner

This is funky.

We bring Wockys chart to the only other living physician we have met so far, Mr Eldoon. He removes his hat, which apparently had an attached wig of noodle-like-fiber, and gets serious. Not only do I love when characters do this, but Mr Eldoon is a good-looking older man. The intense Lee Pace-style eyebrows are a bit much, but its very easy to picture him as a surgeon. Ehhh, yall were going to find out about my affinity for fictional older men at some point. Might as well be now.

He looks over Wockys chart for us, and says the kid might have 6 months to live. Its been 6 months already since Dr Meraktis opened him up, saw the location of the bullet, and closed him back up again without removal. The bullet is dangerously close to the aorta, which provides blood to the rest of the body. Mr Eldoon says that the natural function of the heart and lungs are causing the bullet to migrate closer to deadly consequences. He also says that when the time came, the Kitaki family would naturally bring Wocky back to the Meraktis clinic. This would have allowed Dr Meraktis to cover for his own failure to remove the bullet by claiming a surgery was necessary, and saying Wocky died on the operating table.

We also speak to Wocky, showing him his own chart and asking questions. He tells us the tale that Ms Tiala, instead of proposing another surgery, asked to get engaged to be married! We wonder why Ms Tiala rushed to become engaged to Wocky, knowing his lifespan was growing short.

I suspect it has something to do with money, power, or revenge - but against whom? We shall see.

See you tomorrow at the trial!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius

Leonhart4 posted...

Phoenix wasn't originally supposed to be in Apollo Justice, but Capcom didn't think the game would do well without him, so he wound up being included in the end.

That makes sense, even if I am disappointed.

Case 4-2 - Turnabout Corner

Gameplay is going a lot smoother today.

Had to check a guide to remind myself of the garbage bin in People Park, and procured the Slippers. Sole on the Slippers matches the mystery footprint so thats super cool. I secured documentation allowing me to enter the Meraktis Clinic. Sure enough, pair of slippers are missing from there. I found someones fancy wedge heel sandals, add those to the Court Record.

Then, suddenly, noise coming from the office! We burst in just as the perp leaves via the window. We decide to investigate rather than try to chase the guy down. We uncover a few odds and ends that dont have too much relevance right now, and approach the Safe. Theres a couple digits already entered, so Apollo has the bright idea to apply the aluminum powder for fingerprinting to the surface of the safe. We do so, sort out the code, and open the safe.

Wockys medical chart is inside, and whats more, it was signed by nurse Alita Tiala, Wockys now-fiance! We find a bullet hole, and the corresponding bullet, in the back of the safe. We take our findings and run back to People Park. I tried showing the new stuff to Det. Skye, but the game pretended that Trucy wanted to show her but Apollo didnt. Conflict!

Well see how this all goes down for the rest of the investigation.

See you maana!

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius