Board 8 > Anagram Aces Ace Attorney: A Phoenix Wright Playthrough Topic (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

A while ago, I said that I'd never played Phoenix Wright, and people told me to do a playthrough topic. I said I couldn't because I was busy with school. Today was my last day for the semester, and the Ace Attorney trilogy on Steam has a 33% discount right now, so it's happening. I'm a little worried because the menu screen when I loaded the game didn't give an option to select a game, it just immediately sent me into Episode 1: The First Turnabout, but so be it.

I technically lied, I did play a little bit of the first game many years ago. Here is what I remember and what I know from Board 8:

• The first case is about Phoenix's friend getting accused by a silly guy with an Indian forehead dot.
• Phoenix Wright's mentor dies in the first five seconds and he spends like one sentence being sad before moving on.
• The final boss is Manfred von Karma, and his sixteen year-old daughter is in the second game.
• Lots of Phoenix Wright/Edgeworth yaoi.
• There's a fat Jewish lawyer?
• The Cornered theme is pretty good.
• There's a guy with a visor who loves coffee.
• People don't like the subsequent games where you aren't Phoenix Wright as much as the original games.

Anyway, that's about what I know. Time for a classic Anagram playthrough topic of Board 8's favorite series, nothing can possibly go wrong.

---

Anagram posted...

There's a fat Jewish lawyer?

I'm legitimately confused as to who you're referring to here

oh wait probably Grossberg

---

The only button I've found that moves dialogue forward is Enter, is there a way to set the buttons to something more normal? I tried Options and found nothing.

---

Anagram posted...

I'm a little worried because the menu screen when I loaded the game didn't give an option to select a game, it just immediately sent me into Episode 1: The First Turnabout, but so be it.

You really can't play these games out of order, they're sequential.

although not being able to select a game would be weird if you'd already played the first game but not the second and third or something

Huh, I thought AAT at least let you choose which game to play now instead of having to unlock them one at a time

but yeah either way there's zero point to going out of order anyway

---

I figured out the game issue, I pressed a button too fast and selected the first game by accident when I could have selected any. Doesn't matter in any case, though.

---

Tag

---

tag

---

Enjoy. It's a ride.

Try not to spoil yourself any more than the few things you know (not a hell of a lot anyway except the von Karma stuff, and I guess now the shock/impact of Mia's death is kinda out the window even though it's very early).

---

Episode 1: The First Turnabout
- We begin with Phoenix Wright (who I notice is presented in first-person perspective like a normal VN) being given advice by Mia. I assume Mia mentored him in how to be a lawyer and not how to be a dominatrix, the way shes dressed. There is no court where that would be accepted as appropriate clothing.
- Were introduced to the facts of the case quickly: Larry Butzs girlfriend was found dead in her apartment. I dont know why, though, because the game opens with Forehead Dot Guy kills her and telling us that hes going to frame him.
- The girlfriend, Cindy Stone (I can sense that everyone in this game is going to have a pun name, Im ready for it) was killed with a statue of The Thinker. But I actually remember from years ago that this is really a broken clock.
- I did not expect the first objection in the game to be the tiny lawyers screechy voice.
- I love how Frank Sahwits face stays still while his body moves around. Gives him a Happy Mask Salesman vibe.
- We easily prove Frank is lying by pointing out that there was no body to find at 1 PM, then that the TV was out when she was murdered, then that he knew the statue was really a clock.
- I really like how expressive and silly the characters are, it gives the game a real atmosphere.
- I like how Frank Sahwits baldness was foreshadowed by his toupee jumping up whenever his head moved up and down.
- How do you know it was running three hours slow on the day of the murder? If the clock was untampered with from the day of the murder to the day of the trial, that would be sufficient proof, wouldnt it?
- I love Franks mouth frothing over and him collapsing.
- Larry is declared not guilty in Times New Roman, and court is adjourned. As a celebration, he gives Mia the clock.
- The episode ends with Phoenix reminiscing about how hed never get to see Mia again, or something.

---

Anagram posted...

- I did not expect the first objection in the game to be the tiny lawyers screechy voice.

winced in pain indeed

---

LeonhartFour posted...

winced in pain

How are there STILL pun names that I'm just getting all these years later. :O

---

Anagram posted...

- Were introduced to the facts of the case quickly: Larry Butzs girlfriend was found dead in her apartment. I dont know why, though, because the game opens with Forehead Dot Guy kills her and telling us that hes going to frame him.

This is sort of Phoenix Wright teaching you that this series isn't really a whodunnit so much as it is a whydunnit and howdunnit - without spoiling much, most cases' real twists won't be who the murderer is, but their method, or motives

Anagram posted...

- How do you know it was running three hours slow on the day of the murder? If the clock was untampered with from the day of the murder to the day of the trial, that would be sufficient proof, wouldnt it?

Can you prove that nothing happened to it between then and now? Even if it was taken into evidence right after the murder, maybe the clock broke when it was used as a murder weapon or something

dare you to go do case 2-1 now instead of 1-2

and then after 1-2, do 3-1 before finishing out the first game.

---

Paratroopa1 posted...

This is sort of Phoenix Wright teaching you that this series isn't really a whodunnit so much as it is a whydunnit and howdunnit - without spoiling much, most cases' real twists won't be who the murderer is, but their method, or motives

yep this is exactly it

you'll almost always figure out the killer well before the game forces you to pick (and the game doesn't really attempt to hide it that much most of the time)

the real mystery is figuring out how they did it without getting caught and why

---

Episode II: Turnabout Sisters
- We get a phone call between Mia and her sister Maya. Mia asks her to take care of the Thinker, into which shes placed some mysterious papers. A while later, a guy from Jojo appears and kills Mia for the papers, somehow knowing that the papers are in the statue.
- Holy crap, theres a cursor to look around and you cant control it with the mouse? Thats pretty awful.
- Later, Phoenix arrives to find Mia dead, a mysterious girl crying over her, and thats it but I dont want to backspace enough to fix that comma I didnt need. The girl falls unconscious and he puts on the couch.
- I look around the office and find a receipt with Maya written on it.
- As Phoenix goes to call the cops, a woman across the street calls them on her phone. Detective Gumshoe arrives shortly thereafter. He declares that the victim wrote the killers name in her own blood, case closed! Wow, this guy is a pretty bad cop.
- Wow, they have poor Maya locked up like a criminal. Not sure what you expected, Phoenix.
- The next day, at the detention center, Maya introduces herself as a spirit medium. Well, of course.
- Could you tell me about the day of the murder? Yep! Maya says, never stopping smiling even though her sister died a few hours ago.
- Wow, the trial is tomorrow? Yeesh. I knew this game was a parody of the Japanese justice system, but still.
- Maya gives me a note to take to another lawyer to ask for help.
- I go to the Grossberg Law Office, but hes not there. Later, Maya tells me that her mother was also a spirit medium, and was hired by the cops 15 years ago to track down a murderer by asking the ghost. The guy turned out to be innocent, and although it happened in secret, someone named White found out about it and leaked it to the press, which ate her alive and ruined her life. Why did I bother typing that out? 1. Theres no way theyd put this level of detail into Mayas backstory immediately after meeting her unless its relevant. 2. I wanted to laugh at how, if this was really such a huge embarrassment and famous case, Phoenix Wright the lawyer would surely know about it, right?
- Later, Gumshoe gives me the autopsy and laughs at me for Edgeworth being the prosecutor. He became a lawyer at 20, eh? You know, Trauma Center at least had the decency to make the doctors 26. More importantly, even though I select Give it to him straight, Phoenix still explains that he wants Mayas cell phone in order to protect her boyfriends number.
- Gumshoe accidentally tells me the witness name, April May (the worst pun so far), so I illegally go to her hotel room. She gives no information, so I go to Grossbergs law office. Grossberg acts really sketchy when asked to defend Maya, but takes the time to point out his very fancy painting that looks nothing like the rest of the games aesthetic and definitely wont be important later.
- I declare that Ill defend Maya anyway because I cant abandon you, which prompts a short flashback into Phoenixs no doubt really complex backstory. I just realized we know more about Maya as a character than Phoenix, actually. I was tempted to choose I dont know, though.
- I go back to the hotel room and bump into a bellboy. Why mention it? Because someone took the time to draw him, which means hes a witness later. The bellboy mentions that Mr. White of Bluecorp wants to speak to her. Thats the name of the guy who ruined Mayas mothers name, dun dun dunnnnn. I illegally take April Mays wiretap and decide to use it in the trial tomorrow.
- Im actually not going to bother mentioning all of the wrong trial stuff because I know the game doesnt care about it, I just that was funny.
- The game then lets me save, so I decide to post all of this.

---

Anagram posted...

- Could you tell me about the day of the murder? Yep! Maya says, never stopping smiling even though her sister died a few hours ago.

I think this case actually did a surprisingly good job at capturing the weightiness of the whole situation; it's downright melancholy compared to the rest of the series' tone (with a couple of exceptions)

Anagram posted...

- Later, Gumshoe gives me the autopsy and laughs at me for Edgeworth being the prosecutor. He became a lawyer at 20, eh?

You'll be amazed at how reasonable this seems once you've played the rest of the games

Awesome, tag.

---

Anagram posted...

I was tempted to choose I dont know, though.

the dialogue for this choice is actually really good

Anagram posted...

I illegally take April Mays wiretap and decide to use it in the trial tomorrow.

that threw me for a loop the first time I played

---

You really have to get used to the game that this is not a game about actual legal proceedings, it's really more of a murder mystery drama where you're playing a detective who then argues his case at a fancy debate club that looks like a court. Once you sort of recontextualize what the AA series is actually like and forget about all the silly legal shit it makes more sense

Oh yeah, if you're trying to make ANY sense of this universe's legal system, you're gonna have a bad time.

---

Paratroopa1 posted...

You really have to get used to the game that this is not a game about actual legal proceedings, it's really more of a murder mystery drama where you're playing a detective who then argues his case at a fancy debate club that looks like a court. Once you sort of recontextualize what the AA series is actually like and forget about all the silly legal shit it makes more sense

Underleveled posted...

Oh yeah, if you're trying to make ANY sense of this universe's legal system, you're gonna have a bad time.

I knew going in that the actual legal system is bonkers and unrealistic, don't worry.

---

if you've ever watched Perry Mason you should know what you're in for

---

- I like how rich and stuffy Edgeworth looks, and I like the terribly animated three frames of him bowing.
- He calls Gumshoe to the stand.
- It was heavy enough to be a deadly weapon, even in a girls hands!
- Can I just say how clever this format of questioning and cross-examination is? Its a great mechanic for interrogation. I can easily imagine this being played straighter and being boring as a result.
- Gumshoe forgets the key defining most important piece of evidence in his first testimony.
- It takes me an embarrassing length of time to realize that Mia supposedly wrote her sisters name before dying, but the autopsy said she died instantly. Edgeworth produces a new autopsy that says she lived for a bit, so I call Gumshoe a sham. Gumshoe leaves and April May shows up, so I guess the only point of that entire sequence was to introduce the floor plan and the idea that Mia survived for a little bit?
- I like all of the little details, like April Mays leg being poised all girly and her agreeing to thinks and making her boobs bounce.
- The witness will refrain from wanton winking!
- I thought the witness testimony was quite firm.
- Am I really allowed to just not cross-examine April May? I choose to do it, of course.
- I point out how April May spoke about Mayas physique instead of her clothes, which is suspicious because the clothes are so strange I will be honest and say the clothes never occurred to me because the game is so cartoony.
- Then I point out how she knew it was a clock, but actually I almost pointed out the part where Mia runs to the right. I assume both are options.
- I heard the clock. Man, even if the hotel is across the street, theres no way the clock is going to be heard from that distance. Instead of saying that, I produce Mayas cell phone with the call that her sister took out the clock parts.
- This witness is a big, fat liar! Fat?!
- Holy crap, the shadow around Edgeworths eyes when hes angry, thats golden.
- What happens if I dont object to April May saying shes seen the clock at stores?
- Oh man, April Mays anger animation, so good.
- I prove she wiretapped the law office, etc.
- Every detail about this game is really endearing, like the wooshing lines behind Phoenix and Edgeworth as they argue. Even the super dramatic music cutting out at the most important part when the cell phone is used is great.
- I call the bellboy as a witness when April May mentions him. I really like how he shows up in his uniform and has no name Is he wearing two ties? I just noticed that.
- Its an endearing mannerism of mine.
- I object! That was objectionable!
- Jesus Christ, Edgeworth, stop dramatically leaning over the table, standing up while the camera shifts to Phoenix, then dramatically leaning over the table after he says something again.
- Phoenix proves that April May checked in with a man whose whereabouts were unknown when the crime happened. Gee, I wonder if its Mr. White, the guy who looks like a Jojo character.
- Court is adjourned for the day.

---

anagram cleverly getting in B8's good graces by quoting all the meme parts

---

Anagram posted...

- Every detail about this game is really endearing, like the wooshing lines behind Phoenix and Edgeworth as they argue. Even the super dramatic music cutting out at the most important part when the cell phone is used is great.

Ace Attorney's presentation is impeccable when it comes to stuff like that. They know how to use their limited assets for maximum drama.

---

- The next day, I go to the hotel room, learn that the bellboy can identify the man with April May, go to the law office and find nothing, go to Grossbergs law office and oh my godddd the suspicious painting is gone, what a surprise, this definitely wont be a clue later.
- While in the office, I find two photos, both related to the DL-6 Incident, which sounds unimportant and like it wont come up again later. For some reason, I can only take one photo (I actually checked what year this was so I could complain that cell phone cameras existed back then, but it was 2001, so I guess I cant), so I take the photo of the Jojo character I already know is the murderer.
- The bellboy confirms the Jojo character is the man with April May, and when I go back to the law office, the picture of the woman is gone. Whatever, shes obviously Mayas mother. April May admits that this is Redd White, her boss, then Phoenix asks for directions to Bluecorp. Now, even in 2001, you could just google that. Or at least check a phonebook.
- Grossberg says he sold his fancy painting. Or was it stolen by Redd White?! Well soon find out.
- At last I meet Redd White, and I know Ive made this joke before, but come on, this is a Jojo character. I say that having never watched anything Jojo-related ever, but I am familiar with the memes.
- White brags about how he controls the police and courts, but the game goes out of its way to paint him as a huge idiot. This is a fun murderer for sure. He punches me, then kicks me out.
- I like the color blue, he said, wearing a pink business suit.
- Heed my exposition!
- I tell Grossberg I know White is blackmailing him, but I wanted to tell him that theyre lovers. Grossberg explains that Bluecorp is an intimidation company and owns the judges, lawyers, etc. What I find interesting about this idea is that this is like final boss-level stuff, and instead its the first thing you fight.
- Grossberg explains that the DL-6 Incident involves Mayas mother, and that he got her off of criminal charges, and that only Mia would challenge him.
- In Mias office, I find that White drove a bunch of people to suicide. I take the evidence to Grossberg, whos all Present in court I guess. I wanted to just end there, but there was nothing else to do, so I go Redd White and give the evidence to him.
- White accuses me of murdering Mia and calls the only cop in the city, Gumshoe, to arrest me, and I guess he just does? Over a black screen, Phoenix narrates a lot of stuff that would be interesting to see, Xenogears-style. It ends with Maya visiting me the detention center, but they were too cheap to change it so she was on the other side of the visiting window, so shes still in the room with the guard.
- The next day, Phoenixs trial begins.

---

Anagram posted...

- I tell Grossberg I know White is blackmailing him, but I wanted to tell him that theyre lovers.

You can actually advance the game with that choice if you do it right. There's zero repercussions for picking wrong choices during investigation segments, so feel free to mess around.

And you can mess around during trials, too, if it doesn't show that you'll lose a badge for a wrong choice at the top of the screen. Wrong option dialogue is usually hilarious, to boot.


---

Anagram posted...

I actually checked what year this was so I could complain that cell phone cameras existed back then, but it was 2001

The game takes place in 201...6?

---

It's not really a big deal but I don't think you are supposed to know what year the game takes place in yet.
---

NFUN posted...

The game takes place in 201...6?

Ehhh, I usually forgive things not knowing how future technology will progress.

- Privately, Edgeworth tells me that hell do anything for a guilty verdict because its impossible to tell whos guilty and innocent. Yeah, that makes sense.
- I am the CEO, or to use the more common term, President, of Bluecorp! I know the joke is that he doesnt know the difference, but I wonder how many people actually dont.
- Redd White says that Mia ran to the left, but April May said to the right. Instead of just saying she was wrong, this really trips him up. Another good detail: all of Redd Whites shiny jewelry is dull when he makes a surprised face.
- I was actually curious if you can object to an objection, so I asked my dad (a lawyer) who happens to be in the room with me. He said no over the course of three minutes by offering a needlessly detailed explanation of how you respond to an objection that you dont agree with. Hes a lawyer, my sisters a lawyer, my moms a court reporter Now, thats a detail the game doesnt include, court reporters. I guess theyre a bit less glamorous than lawyers and judges, though.
- I eventually prove that White had to have been in the office because he saw a light stand, but Edgeworth tells me to confess to putting the wiretap another day and seeing the stand then.
- Maya channels her sisters ghost, and in the process her boobs quintuple in size. She tells me to look at the back of the receipt to see that she bought it the day before she was killed, which contradicts Whites testimony But a better question is why, if Phoenix was the killer, she would write Maya on the receipt.
- Even with this, the judge is like Whatever, well hold Phoenix another day so Edgeworth can look at more evidence, and White can go home, so Mia gives me a list of people White forced to kill themselves. White confesses, the judge declares Im not guilty, and someone throws confetti from the ceiling?
- That night, Mias ghost decides that Maya will be my new assistant, and the chapter ends.
- It's a bit interesting how Redd White is only defeated through magical shenanigans, and how something that would normally be endgame stuff (avenging your mentor) is like the first thing you do.

---

So far, I've enjoyed this game. We'll see how things progress tomorrow.

---

LeonhartFour posted...

You can actually advance the game with that choice if you do it right. There's zero repercussions for picking wrong choices during investigation segments, so feel free to mess around.

And you can mess around during trials, too, if it doesn't show that you'll lose a badge for a wrong choice at the top of the screen. Wrong option dialogue is usually hilarious, to boot.

Or you can just save scum to see all of the wrong option dialogue...!

---

Paratroopa1 posted...

Can you prove that nothing happened to it between then and now? Even if it was taken into evidence right after the murder, maybe the clock broke when it was used as a murder weapon or something

It couldn't have broken, it was used right then and there, dammit.

---

Lolo_Guru posted...

dare you to go do case 2-1 now instead of 1-2

and then after 1-2, do 3-1 before finishing out the first game.

Sounds confusing and bad.

---

Anagram posted...

Sounds confusing and bad.

It's getting the tutorial cases out of the way, basically.

rather than them being a letdown right after each endgame epic case, just get 'em done now. Pretty darn sure none of the first cases in each game of this trilogy spoil any part of the previous games past like, case 1-2.

---

you might want to do that for 2-1 but no reason to do it for 3-1

---

2-1 makes references to the first game that he hasn't reached.
---

I also would definitely not play 3-1 out of order

---

Team Rocket Elite posted...

2-1 makes references to the first game that he hasn't reached.

I can think of only one and I doubt it matters.

---

The only case i recommend out of "order" is 1-5 if it lets you in the trilogy release, to after finishing the third game. Since that one was original to the ds ports and serves more as a segue to the 4th game more than anything

I wouldn't play any case out of order your first time through. The tutorial cases are short, so even if they aren't very good compared to the other cases in the game (although 3-1 is quite good), it's not a big deal.

Anagram posted...

It's a bit interesting how Redd White is only defeated through magical shenanigans, and how something that would normally be endgame stuff (avenging your mentor) is like the first thing you do.

or taking down someone who supposedly controls the courts...!

---

Lolo_Guru posted...

It's getting the tutorial cases out of the way, basically.

rather than them being a letdown right after each endgame epic case, just get 'em done now. Pretty darn sure none of the first cases in each game of this trilogy spoil any part of the previous games past like, case 1-2.

this is a horrendous idea, do not take this advice

LeonhartFour posted...

I wouldn't play any case out of order your first time through.

There IS one exception to this; AA1's final case can be played either right away or after AA3 is concluded

Anagram posted...

- Can I just say how clever this format of questioning and cross-examination is? Its a great mechanic for interrogation. I can easily imagine this being played straighter and being boring as a result.

Anagram posted...

- Every detail about this game is really endearing, like the wooshing lines behind Phoenix and Edgeworth as they argue. Even the super dramatic music cutting out at the most important part when the cell phone is used is great.

Yeah, the AA series is great at stuff like this. I really like you pointing out the attention to detail on the presentation, because it is a really important part of the game.

1-2 does end kind of weird though, if you think it was abrupt that Mia just shows up and gets Redd White to confess you're not alone; most cases end on a far more satisfying note

Yeah, 1-5 is different since it technically was created later, but I'd still play it where it "fits."

---

Ooh, tag

---

Unless people really want me to, I'm just going to play 1-5 after 1-4. I know it was added in a rerelease later, but assuming it's part of the continuity, I see no reason to skip it for later.

---

Anagram posted...

Unless people really want me to, I'm just going to play 1-5 after 1-4. I know it was added in a rerelease later, but assuming it's part of the continuity, I see no reason to skip it for later.

Yes, the later games acknowledge it as canon.

---