Board 8 > Rate the Ace Attorney case: Turnabout Trump (4-1)

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Rules:

1. Rate each case on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Anything above 10 gets rounded down to a 10, and anything below a 1 gets rounded up to a 1.
2. Anything beyond one decimal point will be rounded accordingly: .04 and below will be rounded down, .05 and up will be rounded up.
3. You may grade on any criteria you like.
4. You can rate cases from previous topics if you miss a topic.

Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PiEuURt1qf19VoYzcFCU1EFa8uqs2teJiVcip7JmjDw/edit?usp=sharing

Previous Results:

Bridge to the Turnabout (3-5) - 9.8 (36 votes)
Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) - 9.7 (30 votes)
Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) - 9.2 (32 votes)
Turnabout Beginnings (3-4) - 8.4 (25 votes)
Rise from the Ashes (1-5) - 8.2 (28 votes)
The Stolen Turnabout (3-2) - 8.2 (24 votes)
Turnabout Samurai (1-3) - 7.4 (29 votes)
Turnabout Memories (3-1) - 7.4 (30 votes)
Recipe for Turnabout (3-3) - 6.6 (26 votes)
Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2) - 6.5 (25 votes)
Turnabout Sisters (1-2) - 5.7 (25 votes)
The First Turnabout (1-1) - 4.9 (25 votes)
Turnabout Big Top (2-3) - 3.7 (25 votes)
The Lost Turnabout (2-1) - 3.3 (27 votes)

We have a new top case, both in vote count and in rating! Despite issues with the overall plot and murder, the emotional climax of 3-5 is incredibly powerful.

Summary:

In a strange turn of events, Apollo must defend an all too familiar face in the murder of world traveler Shadi Smith.

Main Characters: Apollo Justice, Kristoph Gavin, Phoenix Wright, Trucy Wright, Winston Payne, The Judge
Other Characters: Shadi Smith, Olga Orly

My rating: 4.5/10. The twists make this case, but there's other good things too. Hobonix is probably at his best here, mainly because you get just a little taste of what he's now like. I like Apollo's immediate reaction to the forged Ace too; though, things do feel a bit on-rails around the end. Orly's a fun witness. Every time I pick up a bottle while sitting, I think about the contradiction about the fingerprints on the bottle. Admittedly, this case kinda falls apart when you know the full game's plot, but...you know, I try not to read too much into Shadi's motivations on anything.

7.5/10

Great intro case. I don't really care that the rest of the game doesn't deliver on what this case promised. I marked out when Phoenix joined Apollo at the bench and did his classic Objection pose.

7.8/10

Sick case. Great twist, fun logic, neat witnesses. Shame the rest of the game is downhill from here.

8.0/10

I think it's pretty good. This game's got problems for sure but this case I don't really have any issues with. Having your assistant as the murderer is a really unique twist, too, kinda sad they blew that on a case 1

5, the AA1 objection music is top tier

6/10

not the best first case! it falls victim to the same problem 5-1 ends up having, which is that it's too caught up in the big mystery it has weak internal logic

6/10

It's fine.

7/10

I love Olga.

5.5

Didn't get me excited to play the game but good enough intro to a bunch of characters and stuff. I was into this well enough.

8.5/10

I loved the twist... it really threw me for a loop. High score again, but then again, I give higher scores than most anybody on average.

7

8

Perhaps my favorite intro case in the series. Shame the rest of the game doesn't deliver.

6

never got the hype behind this case

7

Good start to an ultimately a terrible game.

8

I'm just now learning there is hype to this case.

8

8.5/10

To me this is every bit as good as 3-1.

You could say the greatest weakness of this case is that the rest of the game fails spectacularly to follow up on its set up. Kristoph's motivation makes no sense since Zak couldn't have implicated him about anything, nothing Zak does at any point is the least bit sane, and Phoenix's characterization here goes out the window almost immediately. But I truly do not hold it against this case because if the rest of the story held up these things didn't need to be true.

Olga was a great example of a non-guilty witness who actually had every reason to lie. The first usage of Perceive might be the only time I truly like it, particularly in AJ where they confine it to trials and not investigations. Your assistant being the murderer might be the biggest twist to the meta they've ever done. Revealing that Phoenix actually did manipulate this crime scene culminating in Apollo punching him after the trial is such a great finish.

Shame about the rest of the game though.

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

7

8/10

8

A really good start to a game that seems to be pretty love it or hate it. I'm replaying the series now, (which is why I'm behind a few days - more on that later) so we will see how I feel about AJ as Not a Teenager. I remember liking it back then ...

Olga is a great witness, the re-introduction of Phoenix is so intriguing. The little exchange between him and the Judge made me feel nostalgic... even though I immediately went to this game from T&T! Kristoph is also incredible, the plot twist that the Mia Fey of this game being the murderer still holds up.

Also I gotta say, wow... in hindsight you can really tell that the OT are GBA ports compared to AJ. I forgot how lush and vibrant these backgrounds look. not to mention the abundance of touch screen shenanigans

Anyway, time to rate the three cases I missed. Couldn't play as much as I wanted to past few days:

3-3: 6.5
I honestly like all the characters this trial (I'm a big Kudo defender!) but wow the trial itself just felt like a slog.
3-4: 8
Terry is certainly a character that exists.
3-5: 9.5
A mostly satisfying conclusion, though I wish the set up to get there was stronger. There's definitely some "why didn't y'all talk it out" feelings beforehand. May or may not bump this up at the end of rankings, we will see.

7

3.5

It's alright, but the issues I have with it far outweigh the good stuff. The Phoenix character assassination is at its worst in this case, and Phoenix basically knowing the answers and making you into his sockpuppet just kinda sucks. Felt less like a mentor, and more like someone asking their child to repeat after them. The part where we have to interact with the map and Phoenix basically just tells you where to move the furniture is just bad gameplay.

However, my real issue is that all the loose ends and intrigue from this case retroactively make it one of my least favorite cases of the series on a purely emotional level because the explanations and answers are directly related to all the garbage from 4-4 and 4-0, and it sours the experience completely for me.

Oh, I assure you it's quite based.

7/10

The only case in AJ I played in full, and the only one to feel like Ace Attorney. Too bad the writers butchered the rest of the game.

7

Oh really, Ms. Orly?

8.5/10.

Setting up an into case like a finale case was a brilliant move.