Board 8 > The Worst Thing About 2-2 (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Everyone knows that 2-3 and 4-3 are terrible, boring, annoying cases. But I think 2-2 is probably the sloppiest in AA history. The premise is good and it does a lot of cool things plot wise: bringing back Maya and introducing Pearl, Morgan, Franziska. Grey is one of the best victims in the series too. The main twist is good too. However, the investigation/case itself just makes no sense! It's terrible! So bad!

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but just let me vent, okay?

1. Lotta - 'nuff said I guess, but I'll take Oldbag and Larry over this idiot.

2. The "key" to the case - according to Mia at least - is a literal giant key to the channeling chamber. Pearl has it, because she randomly found it next to the incinerator, I think. Maya uses the key to lock the channeling chamber. Pearl having it suggests that someone was able to leave the channeling chamber and like dropped the key by accident, but if it locks from the inside, that doesn't make sense?. The door was locked the whole time anyway, (Phoenix still had to bust the door down). So what was even the point?

3. In the very first Magatama mini-game, Ini brags about telling Dr. Grey about Kurain, but then later says that she "doesn't know any Dr. Grey." Translation issue?

4. The worst thing about AA is when it tries to be pseudo-realistic with forensics but only uses that logic for one case. Case in point: gunpowder burn. Apparently, if you're shot point blank, a nice little circle of gunpowder will appear around your entry wound. Sure, whatever. Let's make it a big deal for a couple cross-examinations and then never bring it up again.

5. In the folding screen and in the clothing box, Phoenix and the Judge really enjoy eyeballing an 8 inches off the ground measurement for a hole. Oh 8 inches? Why not 6? Why not a foot? I don't know, it just sounds stupid.

6. Pearl is mostly cute in the case, but her misspelling the founder of Kurain's name I AM instead of AMI is beyond the pale. I'm sure this makes more sense in Japanese. Either that or Pearl is just tremendously dumb.

7. This is nitpicky, but it bothers me so much. The clothing box appears in the Side room on Day 2, but you can't look inside it until you do a million other things. "Hmmm, a giant box is now in the side room, where it wasn't yesterday, when someone was murdered. Should I investigate inside it? Nah."

8. This is my vote. Ini Miney is really Mimi Miney, right? OK, makes sense. Phoenix tries to get her to reveal this by cross-examining her about her accident. The best he can do is ask her about her driver's license. "If Mimi was so tired, why didn't you drive?" First, all you would have to do in that situation is say "yeah, you're right! In hindsight, I probably should have driven!" Ini doesn't do this. Instead she says that her license wasn't ready... which is true! Franziska reveals that she didn't get the license until six months later. That should be it. CASE OVER. PHOENIX LOSES. But instead, Ini, without anyone asking, starts talking about how her sister "wouldn't have let her drive" due to her love of cool cars. DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

9. In her post-wreck interview, Ini (formerly Mimi) says she opened the "right door" to get out of the car. No one talks like this. Also, no newspaper cares enough to include a detail like this in an article.

10. If Phoenix randomly saying "hmm, I'm interested in that incinerator" isn't enough of a clue, on Day 2 the game sloppily superimposes a purple blob on the incinerator to make sure you examine it. Just lazy.

11. Ini's slow ass text speed.
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colliding posted...

This is nitpicky

I mean most of this stuff is nitpicky. I agree that 2-2 is sloppy in many ways, but not most of these things.

colliding posted...

In her post-wreck interview, Ini (formerly Mimi) says she opened the "right door" to get out of the car. No one talks like this. Also, no newspaper cares enough to include a detail like this in an article.

yes but these sorts of details are important in murder mysteries so you break speech conventions to give you the clues you need to solve the case

colliding posted...

So what was even the point?

The point was that it should have been found on Maya, but since it wasn't, it meant the key left the room at some point when it theoretically should not have been able to.

colliding posted...

Translation issue?

Unlikely. It's just the game making the witness dumb/a bad liar for the sake of giving you an easy tutorial. This usually just happens in intro cases, but the Magatama is an investigation tool, so yeah.
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colliding posted...

Let's make it a big deal for a couple cross-examinations and then never bring it up again.

I mean why keep bringing it up when you've explained the problem with it sufficiently? Gunpowder burn comes up in other cases, too, if that's what you're trying to argue. 2-2 isn't even the first one!

colliding posted...

Oh 8 inches? Why not 6? Why not a foot? I don't know, it just sounds stupid.

It's probably converting from centimeters.

colliding posted...

I'm sure this makes more sense in Japanese. Either that or Pearl is just tremendously dumb.

Yes, little children generally don't learn Kanji in Japan. That's "higher level" Japanese.

colliding posted...

If Phoenix randomly saying "hmm, I'm interested in that incinerator" isn't enough of a clue, on Day 2 the game sloppily superimposes a purple blob on the incinerator to make sure you examine it. Just lazy.

yeah that looks dumb I'll give you that
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Also, my biggest issue with 2-2 is the fact that they're very unclear with the bullet hole in the costume sleeve. The bullet hole apparently went through Maya's costume since it wasn't in the picture of Ini. However, they must have swapped costumes at some point since the key ended up in the incinerator unless Ini was dumb enough to take the key but then forget she had it and burned it anyway (Ini does some dumb stuff in this case so maybe it's plausible). So the costume with the bullet hole should have been the one that got burned.
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My thing about the key is that... it didn't actually leave the channeling chamber, right? What actually happened was that Ini, Maya, and Dr. Grey were always all in the channeling chamber at the same time. So what actually happened was that either Ini or Morgan were just super sloppy and dropped the key while burning up Ini's Maya costume, right?

Yes, Ini/Morgan were just dumb and forgot about the key. It was likely Ini who forgot because I can't imagine Morgan would. Just the fact that the key wasn't found on Maya at all is your biggest clue that there was foul play, so in that sense, Mia is correct.
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man, ten bullet points and none of them is related to franziska and morgan being terrible and unfun, or having to defend maya again
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LeonhartFour posted...

Also, my biggest issue with 2-2 is the fact that they're very unclear with the bullet hole in the costume sleeve. The bullet hole apparently went through Maya's costume since it wasn't in the picture of Ini. However, they must have swapped costumes at some point since the key ended up in the incinerator unless Ini was dumb enough to take the key but then forget she had it and burned it anyway (Ini does some dumb stuff in this case so maybe it's plausible). So the costume with the bullet hole should have been the one that got burned.

This makes my head hurt

SeabassDebeste posted...

man, ten bullet points and none of them is related to franziska and morgan being terrible and unfun, or having to defend maya again

well it's Franziska's best case so I wouldn't call her one of its problems

but yeah only getting to cross-examine Morgan once (and it's just a "press all the statements" one) is a terrible oversight by 2-2
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SeabassDebeste posted...

man, ten bullet points and none of them is related to franziska and morgan being terrible and unfun, or having to defend maya again

franziska is not a good prosecutor. this does bother me, but this is not specifically relegated to 2-2.

morgan is okay for what she is

usually defending maya means you're in a good case... this is the exception that proves the rule, I guess?

votes gunpowder burn

I got stuck there as a kid and stopped playing and didn't pick the series back up until a couple years ago. I don't actually remember what you do, but I remember it being really obvious you needed to point out the hole and it just wouldn't register. I remember trying it and other spots a bunch and just not getting credit for anything.
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You make Lotta the first option so why even bother reading the rest. Easiest vote ever
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Lotta as a character is annoying, but she's a good witness. Good things happen when she's on the stand most of the time.
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I don't know about Lotta man. She's somewhat tolerable in 1-4 but I would've been happy not to see her again after that.

At least she gives us directions to the Hotti clinic, which we can all agree is the best part of 2-2, right?

Lotta's awful. Pretty much all the recurring witnesses that aren't main characters are. I don't know why AA consistently brings back the annoying ones.
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Lopen posted...

Lotta's awful. Pretty much all the recurring witnesses that aren't main characters are. I don't know why AA consistently brings back the annoying ones.

Because they're surprisingly popular in Japan, Oldbag especially.
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