LogFAQs > #979423416

Bad news: I did not take many notes while playing the rest of the trial, so my recap may miss major details. Apologies. Good news: the reason I didn't take notes is because I was so enthralled in the case!

Inside McGilded's box is a reader for the music disk- or rather, two music disks. It quickly becomes apparent that these disks contain coded messages, which everybody is very shocked by- did they think all this murder was because people wanted to get their hands on some cool music? Juror #5 has her time to shine, and inadvertently lands Graydon in hot water in her attempts to praise him lol. I like all of the cross examinations we get today, none of them play things straightforwardly.

After a while we break Graydon down somewhat, and he admits to being at the scene of the crime. But he frames Gina, using her bloody coat against her. A neat development, as we already know Sholmes's evidence won't work here. We're led to believe we have to find a contradiction in Graydon's testimony quick, but when we don't, Sholmes dramatically arrives to save us disguised as a police officer. And then dramatically leaves by passing out. Always a showman.

In a twist I never would have guessed, Susato had stolen Chekhov's Cat-Flapomat and created the peephole in the storage room door, and this is our key to undercutting Graydon. To tell the truth, even after we're presented with some of this information I don't understand exactly what had happened or what statement I'm supposed to press. It takes a while for me to realise the truth. It seems far out of left field, but after examining the photos... huh. Man, I love stuff like this where it's technically possible to notice a key element a very long time before you're supposed to. Did any of you spot the peephole discrepancy in the before and after photos from the beginning? The more I think about it, the more a peephole in the storage room door makes no sense. My main query at this point is why on earth Susato did such a thing, as it is very bizarre.

Anyway, Graydon begins to fall and I'm pleased with how the case is resolving... but of course, it isn't resolved yet at all. This game loves to keep things going an hour longer than you think it will! But this time, it actually works. Our target becomes Inspector Gregson, and I really like everything about this. His odd actions earlier come back into focus, and it is very satisfying sparring with him. Honestly, Gregson's behaviour on the stand here makes me appreciate him and his intelligence far more than any regular detective stuff we've seen him do up to this point. He sees pretty far ahead as to where things will go, and manages to cover himself nicely. I did not expect Gregsy to be in this situation, but he makes for a great final boss, as it were.

Iris gets some good lines, Sholmes and van Zieks (sort of) are on our team, and even the Skulkins help us out (not gonna lie, I really enjoy these stupid guys), but the standout here, as it should be, is Ryunosuke Naruhodo. He is absolutely on fire in this sequence, hunting his prey as he did in the first case, but this time to protect someone else.

By fair means or foul, you're determined to due your duty. Well... by fair means or foul, I'm prepared to do mine! I will stop at nothing to protect my client! I don't care who I make an enemy of!

I love this guy! He doesn't give a fuck about taking on the British government or the judicial system. I particularly like that he doesn't mince words with Gregson, there's no softness here once Gregson has decided he's fine framing an innocent child. After how generous the game had been towards the police as an institution earlier on, I'm glad this is how they close things out. And with our final piece of evidence, we threaten Gregson by playing the state secrets of Great Britain in open court. What a great scene.

After this we have a very long denouement (I'd expect nothing less from this game). For a second I think Graydon breaks Gregson's neck lol. But no, he gives us his tragic and honestly pretty interesting backstory. We get to see some of Mason, who seems to have been a lovely man, and McGilded, whose moustache twirling villainy I enjoy every minute of. He did die in the fire, after all. Has a one-off character ever appeared in so many flashbacks post-death? Even Kazuma can't compete! Case 3 is mostly wrapped up now, we don't get the specifics of the conflict between Mason and McGilded on the omnibus but it's easy to imagine an argument sparking that McGilded hadn't anticipated.

Things end pretty chill for the rest of us, considering how many of us have been committing crimes here and there. After the verdict, Ryunosuke and van Zieks share a moment in the empty courtroom. I do quite like van Zieks in the later parts of trials, when he's helping us find the truth and just as annoyed with unhelpful witnesses as we are. And it's pretty remarkable that he, to my knowledge, doesn't commit any shady legal business at all, a far cry from pretty much every other prosecutor. It's a shame about the racism. He opens up slightly to us (to tease the sequel, no doubt), about how his mistrust of us stems back to a Japanese friend who betrayed him. I don't recall if Kazuma had ever set foot in GB before but I assume this is referring to him. Perhaps Kazuma broke Barok's heart, just as he broke Ryunosuke's in case 2.

We celebrate with Gina, and I feel bad for poor Sholmes that we do not notice his disguise. This man should really be in hospital though. As he did with Soseki, Sholmes 'helpfully' reminds Gina that she's a sacrificial lamb of the Reaper, and is probably doomed. But Gina has a new outlook on life and thinks her good heart will mean she won't be judged harshly. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if that is sort of how it works, what with the Reaper's prior victims being said to be terrible people.

Afterwards, we reunite with Susato in front of a neat looking background at Dover. She explains her rationale for the peephole thing, and uh... IDK, mechanically this all feels pretty farfetched for her to have foreseen that much so quickly. But as far as her motives go, this is just about what I wanted from her. She's lost faith in the judicial system and manipulated things to help us out, while ensuring our own hands were clean. Glad to see her get some agency, and I'm excited how the second game goes for her! Though she probably won't be able to go back to London again without facing trial.

Before we wrap up, we surprisingly do hear some of the state secrets from the music disk. They are personal after all, but not in the way I expected. Four names are read out: K Asogi, A Shin, T Gregson, and J Wilson. For a moment I wonder if Asogi is secretly alive somehow as a Japanese spy, but I quickly realise how little sense that would make. I suppose the best I can hope for is that we get a Mia-style flashback case in the next game with Kazuma as the star. As for these names, I can't think what connects them. Wilson and Kazuma are both dead, Shin could be someone we've never met or an alias, and Gregson is a bizarre link. Did he have reason to hide this disk beyond his duty to the force? Hmmm.

And thinking of Wilson, I wonder if he is how Susato knows about the Baskervilles title. Her father was good friends with him, if I recall correctly, but if that's the case I don't know why she'd keep it a secret from Ryunosuke.

We get our anime ending (I like the photo at the end), and a credits sequence with more great music. Gregson and Roly get a happy credits scene roaming about while Gina is in jail. The system is rigged! And so Ryunosuke's first chapter is over. I'll post more thoughts about the game as a whole tomorrow, but I was very happy with this conclusion, and can't wait to see where things go from here.