LogFAQs > #979317708

Case 4's trial brings us some colourful new jurors. And some familiar faces! Fairplay is here, though he doesn't do much. He adds some nice flavour though, being already biased against the defence, and I guess it sets the groundwork for bringing past characters back in future. That, or they couldn't fit any more new models onto the 3DS cartridge. Mrs Garrideb is a juror too, which is surely crossing a line even with this game's stretchy logic. Did they not have voir dire back then? For the rest, Juror #3 is nice, Juror #2 is next level racist but also weirdly reasonable, and the hard of hearing Juror #6 is great and very up to date on current trends!

We start with a strangely in depth discussion about what route Mr Natsume took to get home that night, despite him freely admitting to being present at the scene of the crime. It becomes clear what they're going for with Juror #6's super stylish green overcoat, but van Zieks quickly undoes the idea and we accept that Natsume did go along to the crime scene. Well, that didn't accomplish much!

Ryunosuke is rather annoyingly frail here, breaking at every slight attack from van Zieks. I'm getting a bit sick of his sweaty and falling down animations >_> Zieks also turns his racism up a few notches in the first half of this trial, I am not seeing what people like in him. It's funny how Japan is insulted as a 'tiny island' nation though, with Great Britain being a smaller island itself.

I'm very much enjoying the summation examinations! They're refreshing and I like the increase in complexity they get in this case, I assume that will only continue. Unfortunately the rest of this trial doesn't do much for me. The theme of the day is 'funny spousal abuse', from the Garridebs to the Beates to poor, poor Juror #5. We'd better not have a case with a victim who drowned in the Thames! To put it simply, I don't vibe with these sorts of jokes. Roly is... OK, and I think Patricia continually speaking as if the victim is dead is amusing. But the second we learn where Roly's beat boundary is, we've solved the case and everything else is a long drag to get to the conclusion. To be fair, Ryunosuke also pretty much figures things out at the same point.

The Beates repeatedly incriminate themselves by talking too much, and the Garridebs don't offer much resistance. With things straightened out, both Roly and Joan are treated with a rather sizable dose of sympathy from everyone concerned. I assume this is intentional, to contrast with how Natsume receives zero sympathy or benefit of the doubt from anyone in this country, but it's still slightly frustrating! I suppose that means the game is doing well. I wonder if the victim was kept alive so the game didn't have to charge Joan with manslaughter, or maybe Ms Green will come back in the future. She did have a distinct appearance for a one-off victim.

Van Zieks helps us towards the end of the trial much like Edgeworth would, I am pretty intrigued what his deal is but I still don't particularly enjoy him. Soseki Natsume is found not guilty and I care about him quite a lot at this point, I especially like how Ryunosuke has simply become 'Locum' to him. Hopefully he does not fall victim to the reaper, he deserves to be cut some slack. Herlock handles the situation with his usual amount of tact.

Lastly, Ryunosuke and Susato are now living and working with a coatless (!) Sholmes, and Herlock teases some foreboding and enticing darkness to come. I look forward to the next case!