Lurker > Giggsalot

3.5/10

I can see the arguments for this being among the worst cases in the series. Nothing here is egregiously bad, but it is so forgettable and superfluous that SoJ would probably be better if it didn't exist, and that's not great.

Yeah, this is a 9.5/10

If anything I feel like the first half is underrated, if that was an individual case (as it should be!) it would be up there with the best "minor" cases in the series. It's kind of tragic that the second half, which is way more high stakes, shows up and overshadows it. I have other minor quibbles too, mainly that the final confrontation is less satisfying than the twists that come before it (it almost edges into E1-5 territory in that regard). But both parts are fantastic and for me this is very clearly the best case since the original trilogy.

I don't especially care for Blackquill, and his presence is usually the one thing people like about this case. Otherwise it's fairly ridiculous in both tone and theme. I don't think this case is horrendous, but I do filter this alongside the likes of 2-3 as a well-intentioned minor misstep.

4/10

6-1: 4/10
6-2: 5.5/10
6-3: 8.5/10

Seems I'm lower on this game than most people, just like with DD. Strange, considering I enjoy both games! I have nothing much to say about the first two cases; they're both fine, but pretty average as a case 1 and 2 within the series. This one is different! I can't remember all of the details but this is a great case with a unusually "epic" feel and emotional climax. Probably the best case 3 in the main series, alongside 3-3.

transience posted...

a huge amount. my wife is all in on this

Hahaha this was my absolute first thought, my wife will also be thrilled to hear about this

8/10

Really strong case, one of the best "silly" cases in the series alongside 3-2 and 3-3. My main hot take here is that as a hip-hop fan I found the diss testimony to be incredibly cringy, but maybe on replay I'd be less pretentious about it. Still presents a very strong argument for the best case of the game.

5-3: 7.5/10
5-4: 5.5/10
5-5: 8/10

My feelings on DD are a bit more muted than most people here - it's very clearly a solid game, but plays things far too safe to ever really attempt anything particularly interesting.

Also, 5-4 and 5-5 should be one case. 6-5 should be two cases.

Wow, really surprised by the ratings here. 5-2 falls into the same bucket as most case 2s for me - its perfectly fine, but nothing particularly memorable. Tenma is for sure the highlight of the case, but I don't think I regard him as highly as some do either. DD is a solid game, but I like my AA games with a greater sense of ambition, and I suspect my ratings here will be lower than average.

5/10

5-1 is exceptionally cool in theory but the execution falls flat on its face, particularly with regard to the timeline. If you wanna talk about botching a decent case premise, this is worse than most of the famous examples from AJ in my opinion.

3/10

E1-1: 5/10
E1-2: 3/10
E1-3: 4/10
E1-4: 7.5/10
E1-5: 7/10

This is a pretty bad game by AA standards, but ends fairly well!

(As shown in the 4-4 topic, it takes a lot for me to dislike an epic case, and despite its best attempts E1-5 doesn't get there either)

LeonhartFour posted...

although I do like your idea that 4-0 is so weirdly told because it's like Phoenix is telling the jurists what happened while doing the voices and flanderizing the characters himself

"and then Gumshoe was like 'hey pal I'm taking you down today!' LOL"

I mean, yeah, pretty much! Phoenix in this game is a shady dude who shouldn't be trusted to reliably narrate anything, and is clearly willing to do all manner of dodgy shit to get the jury on side. The game admittedly gets muddled with its messaging here - you're clearly supposed to think nailing Kristoph is a triumph, despite all this - but that's a separate problem with the game as a whole not being able to fully reconcile Hobonix from Phoenix's past.

4-0 feeling like a weird dream where everyone is an antagonistic cartoon has always made complete sense to me.

More thoughts, after rrading the thread closely: I had completely forgotten about Phoenix rigging the jury, that's a hilarious detail. He does way more crooked shit in this game than he does in 4-0! That's a legit criticism of the game/case, maybe I just take these games a bit less seriously than you guys!

I also kind of wish that they'd kept the jurist system going forward in the series, especially since GAA showed that sort of thing can work. I don't actually think AJ is all that good, but I also think DD essentially pretending it doesn't exist was pretty lame.

Interesting to read the comments here; every second rating is essentially "this case is mostly pretty good but I still hate it, 1/10". That's actually closer to my opinion than I would have expected - I guess I just don't hate it!

Everyone's points about the 4.0 backstory being ludicrously harsh on Phoenix is true, and that is a genuine black mark on the case. But I never really agreed that everyone is "out of character" there, especially given that what we see is based on one man's recollections seven years on.

And the case itself is great! There's a real ominous atmosphere to it that almost recalls 2-4, and the supporting cast (The Mishams and Valant particularly) is one of the best in the series. There are definitely flaws with the writing in this part too - that painting cliffhanger is very lamely resolved, Zak is famously ridiculous, and taking down Christoph is less impactful than it should be considering we caught him already (though this isn't intrinsically a bad idea - Dahlia in 3-5 is conceptually the same, and that's great).

But I have been mostly grading these cases on the way they make me feel, and those minor details don't hold this back much. Unless you hold the backstory against 4-4 (which clearly many of you do), I really don't see how this is significantly worse than the other main game final cases. For me, 4-4 is one of the most ambitious, atmospheric and straight up interesting cases in the series. It's a shame that they slightly botched the execution, but this doesn't feel out of place among the other epic cases for me, and that's a very high compliment.

8/10

Unlike a lot of this game, which I will happily defend to at least some extent (looking forward to giving 4-4 a high score tomorrow), it's honestly hard for me to decouple my thoughts on this one from the overwhelming hate it receives. I guess that probably means I don't disagree with it? In any case, my predominant memories of this case are it reminding me of 2-3, and I can't say that I care about the characters much either.

3.5/10

5/10

This has always felt like the epitome of a mediocre case to me. There are about equal good and bad things here, and I find it strange that it's quite so hated compared to other cases I'd put on a similar level (2-2 feels very similar in quality to me, for example). Definitely fairly low-tier for the series, but deserves to be above the absolute trough of the rankings.

Probably the best intro case in the series, but I don't think any of them are really that good. I think both this and 3-1 are pretty overrated; 3-1 is still the weakest case in T&T, and I don't think this is particularly close to being the best case in AJ.

6/10

Probably more flawed than something like 2-4 but fuck it, emotionally speaking this is my favourite case

10/10

9/10

Hard to imagine how this could be better at what it does. The ending is one of the most spectacular moments of the whole series.

The more you think about this case, the more cracks appear. But honestly, this is about as fun to play as any case in the series. This is maybe the funniest AA case of all, and I don't think Maya, Gumshoe, or the Judge get any better than this.

8.5/10

8/10

This case is basically just a showcase for Luke Atmey, but that's fine because the guy is amazing.

I love T&T as much as everyone else but I always thought this case was overrated. Still better than the previous tutorial cases, but I really don't like young Phoenix at all and Dahlia's best moments come later.

5/10

1-1: 4/10
1-2: 4/10
1-3: 7.5/10
1-4: 9.5/10
1-5: 8.5/10

2-1: 4/10
2-2: 5/10
2-3: 4/10
2-4: 10/10

Pleasantly surprised to see sensible suggestions here today! I broadly agree with most of the consensus here: you need Sabbath here, some kind of NWOBHM rep (Maiden or Priest), probably Metallica, plus something representing more extreme styles (Slayer or Death cover this pretty well). I'll throw a wildcard into this last slot, which I think manages to cover extreme metal (in more ways than one), "hipster" metal, and popular notoriety well.

Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Burzum - Filosofem

Would be great to do this for other genres!

Not sure if I'll be able to get round to this, but for anyone discovering Shpongle here and enjoying this: their next album (Nothing Lasts... But Nothing is Lost) is even better!

(I also prefer their fourth album to this one too, but that's more or a minority opinion)

Hot take: despite its obvious flaws, ZTD has some of my favourite moments in any visual novel, and I think all three games in the series are similarly good overall.

Hope you feel the same way!

(Tag)