Board 8 > Ace Attorney Topic Part 3: The Maddening (Spoilers for AA1-6, AAI1-2)

(+) Yeah! (+)

pearl is awesome
---

2-2 investigation day 1 complete

Phoenix had 52% of the lines there, so he's off to a solid start.
---

Yeah I wasn't expecting to like Pearl but she's pretty great.

Case 2 villains are usually easy to figure out. I actually think 2-2 is in some ways trickier than most, because I was suspecting both Morgan and Ini but didn't anticipate the collaboration, so I was trying to guess which one it would be. It's actually kinda unusual for the murder mastermind and the killer to be different people, though perhaps I should have expected it more given that 1-4 is another example.
---

it was the big twist I figured out, not the villain

I mean you can't use the phrase "facial reconstruction surgery" and not have it be important
---

Oh yeah I figured that out too at some point, though I don't recall exactly when. One of those great "that's crazy... but it makes so much sense" twists that AA is capable of pulling off.
---

I'm realizing that JFA and T&T are going to be doing a lot of stat-padding during investigations with the ability to present profiles

makes me wonder what DD's investigation numbers will look like without free investigations
---

so, long-delated AA6 update! I finally finished 6-3.

initial thoughts: wow, what a sad case that turned out to be. other than 3-4, is there a more tragic case in the series? I guess any others with genuinely accidental murders are also up there, but this one felt particularly sad. the case also felt particularly desperate, which kind of worked both for and against it. I was only genuinely stuck once or twice, and things definitely came together towards the end, but there were lots of trial sections here where I genuinely had no idea what I was working towards and was just trying to survive. that may have been an intentional representation of the biased and alien Khura'in system, but I felt similarly in 6-2 and that had no such excuse. I don't remember feeling quite so lost in earlier games, which might be a measure of their increasing complexity or simply my fading gaming skills.

outside of that, though, this had a really strong cast of characters, a cool setting, strong narrative, interesting twists, and a powerhouse ending. the suicidal cover-up was a bit absurd, but it certainly framed the case in a very powerful light. there can't be too many better mid-game cases than this one. game's certainly shaping up strong so far!

updated approximate case ranking:

perfect: 3-5 > 2-4 > 1-4
great: 1-5 > 3-4 > 5-4/5 > 3-3 > 6-3 > 3-2 > 4-4 > 5-3 > 1-3
good: 6-2 > 2-2 > 4-1 > 5-2
mediocre: 3-1 > 2-3 > 4-2 > 1-2 > 6-1 > 5-1 > 2-1 > 1-1 > 4-3
---

be warned, 6-4 is not at all what you will expect
---

i've heard it referred to as fairly throwaway so i'm not going in expecting the world. but that makes sense to me somehow. if you ignore DLC and consider 5-4 and 5-5 to be essentially one case arbitrarily split in two (as I do), they've never really made a mainline AA game with four full cases.

they've pulled off that balance well in the past (3-4, E1-4), but I'll try to go into this without expectation. all I really ask is that we finally defend a non-assistant character. do these guys do that anymore?
---

Giggsalot posted...

all I really ask is that we finally defend a non-assistant character. do these guys do that anymore?

be careful what you wish for
---

you'll certainly get that for 6-4!
---

also SoJ might meet your criteria for four full cases if you're one of those people about 5-4 and 5-5
---

hahaha awesome. there's something fun about even the obnoxious defendants.

and oh, okay! is it longer than E1-4, for example? i'd consider that a "short story" kind of case too.
---

it's trial only. longer than you'll expect though.
---

6-4 is about as long as 6-1. A little longer, but not by a lot.
---

actually here are some bonus stats because now I'm curious about which cases have longer investigations and which ones have longer trials and what the overall breakdown is in each game

1-2 Investigations - 802 (45.23%)
1-2 Trials - 971 (54.77%)

1-3 Investigations - 1441 (52.57%)
1-3 Trials - 1300 (48.43%)

1-4 Investigations - 1907 (55.02%)
1-4 Trials - 1559 (44.98%)

1-5 Investigations - 2810 (47.52%)
1-5 Trials - 3103 (52.48%)

PW1 Investigations - 6960 (48.73%)
PW1 Trials (Including 1-1) - 7322 (51.27%)

PW1 Investigations - 6960 (50.10%)
PW1 Trials (without 1-1) - 6933 (49.90%)

PW1 Investigations (without 1-5) - 4150 (49.59%)
PW1 Trials (without 1-5) - 4219 (50.41%)

PW1 Investigations (without 1-5) - 4150 (52.01%)
PW1 Trials (without 1-1 and 1-5) - 3830 (47.99%)

augh all these 1-on-1 comparisons are making me long for a Character Battle
---

longer investigations leading to better cases seems like a trend so far
---

I love Lotta's first testimony here because Phoenix asks her a bunch of questions as if he weren't there himself, and Franziska objects and forces him to answer instead.

"So, let me get this straight! This 'Mr. Lawyer there' broke the door down?!"

so good
---

2-2 trial 1 is underrated imo

I still think it's Franziska's best appearance as a prosecutor.

the Judge picking up on Lotta's country speech patterns is hilarious too
---

I think 2-3 trial 2 is even better for Franziska though, she's really consistently on-point in that one

I do kinda like that both of Franziska's losses in JFA can be attributed to her hubris. She lets witnesses keep testifying because she thinks she can't lose and things like that.
---

also I like that Franziska embraces spirit channeling right away

the picture of Maya channeling Mia is one of the better dirty tricks in the series
---

Okay, 2-2 trial day 1 complete.

The order of events with Maya and Ini swapping places still confuses me, especially in regard to the bullet hole and the Channeling Chamber key. The two of them must have swapped costumes at some point because there's no other way for the key to end up in the incinerator unless Ini was stupid enough to take the key, put it in her costume, forgot she had it in there, and then burned it. But how does Ini's costume have no bullet hole in the sleeve in Lotta's picture, unless she managed to swap costumes in the brief time before Phoenix broke the door down, or Dr. Grey's shot somehow managed to penetrate Maya's sleeve while she was unconscious on the floor? Also, they must have splattered some of Dr. Grey's blood onto both costumes at some point. The whole thing feels like a mess.
---

I bet 2-2 has the highest percentage of Phoenix lines in the OT with the possible exception of 1-2.
---

He's right at 45% after the first day. Franziska had a lot of lines on day 1.

like nearly as many as Edgeworth had in all of 1-2 or 1-3

actually the line distribution below Phoenix has been pretty even so far

Maya, Gumshoe, the Judge, Franziska, Lotta, and Morgan (strangely enough; I didn't realize she talked so much on day 1) are all fairly close together
---

Franziska (and Manfred) are both more in-your-face than Edgeworth is, so a slightly higher line density would make sense.

LeonhartFour posted...

I do kinda like that both of Franziska's losses in JFA can be attributed to her hubris. She lets witnesses keep testifying because she thinks she can't lose and things like that.

It's funny because on the one hand given her pursuit of perfection it's a definite weakness! On the other hand, this attitude does mean that the truth is more likely to come out. "Be merciless, but explore every angle to leave no doubt" is a pretty good way to get to the truth; it's just funny that AA2 Franziska isn't actually as interested in that.
---

It's weird that Franziska is the total opposite of her father in that regard. Manfred wanted to do things as briskly and tersely as possible and not let anyone say a single word more than they needed to. Franziska is just so overconfident that she thinks she'll win, no matter what Phoenix does. Heck, she steamrolls most of her own witnesses in the process, too, because she only cares about winning.

Mia: "Her idea of a 'perfect case' is pretty interesting, don't you think?"
---

I don't think Fran is a perfectionist; more, she wants to beat you so bad using any method necessary.
---

Well, she claims to be one, but it's largely to mask her insecurities. She's willing to go to extremes even to her own detriment to prove she's "worthy" of the name. It's like there's a part of her that thinks she's not "perfect" if she doesn't refute every single claim the defense makes.
---

if you show Maya's profile to Lotta on the second day of 2-2 she'll talk about how this is her second time in trouble like this and if there's a second then there'll be a third and a fourth and so on

Phoenix slaps her for saying it but it might be the most prophetic utterance in the series
---

I don't know what it is but I love Director Hotti, hmm, yes
---

2-2 investigation day 2 complete

I don't think Phoenix is going to beat his 1-2 mark for highest percentage of dialogue based on where he is now, but he'll still be pretty high.
---

Haha yeah Phoenix smacking Lotta was out of the blue but I loved it
---

LeonhartFour posted...

also I like that Franziska embraces spirit channeling right away

the picture of Maya channeling Mia is one of the better dirty tricks in the series

But Phoenix Wright proves that spirit-channeling is a sham! What a foolish fool Franziska is.
---

--You're a sham, Edgeworth!
--This detective's a sham!
--I'm a sham!
---

thus ends the only direct confrontation with Morgan Fey in the series

what a letdown
---

we're still a couple of topics away but I wonder what the top 5 looks like for 3-5

I'm pretty sure Phoenix is #1 but not 100% sure? and second is.. Edgeworth, who isn't part of the marathon day 2 trial?
---

edgeworth is obviously #2. he'll be like 35% of day 1, which is insane. don't forget that godot doesn't participate in day 1 at all.

i think it'll be phoenix > edgeworth > godot > gumshoe > franziska, but i could definitely be wrong after phoenix and edgeworth
---

where does the judge go? It's tricky because this is the only case besides 6-5 with two different judges.

oh, i forgot how much the judge talks in cases

haven't been paying attention <_<
---

3-5 day 2 is nearly twice as long as day 1. Dahlia can probably sneak into the top 5 because she's on the stand for most of trial day 2.
---

I think Gumshoe and Franziska beat Godot just because of their roles in the investigation. Dahlia and Maya both have super long testimonies, too

you're probably right there. i was biased by tran saying that day 2's trial is a monster. it is, but that might not be enough to tilt it that far.

i don't think godot will get passed by dahlia or maya (as he's on the stand for both), but i could be wrong.
---

Gumshoe is the only character who has a real presence on both days (although he's entirely absent from the trials, which hurts him), so that could work to his advantage there.

Phoenix should still get #1 pretty easily though because that prologue before Edgeworth takes over is kinda beefy.
---

Oh Phoenix is #1 and Edgeworth is #2 by far, no question imo

yeah I think it's

1. Phoenix
2. Edgeworth
3. Franziska
4. Dahlia/Iris
5. Judge?

I wonder what happens if you combine the two judges since they're functionally the same character in 3-5
---

The Judge has been no worse than 4th in any mainline case so far (not done with 2-2 yet but I'm guessing that mark will still hold), so I'd wager both judges combined would make the top 5.
---

yeah I was wondering if both judges combined could top Phoenix. probably not with that intro.
---

Ini is one of those characters I've grown to like more and more over the years. I thought she was super annoying the first time I played 2-2.

anyway I'm almost done but I've gotta head out for a little bit so I'll have the final numbers later tonight
---