Board 8 > Wifebolo plays Ace Attorney Trilogy [progressive spoilers]

(+) Yeah! (+)

also a fan of 4-2, though not necessarily above 4-1
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My review is AAI is that I didn't finish it despite being probably an hour away from the end. I can't really explain why. Take that as you will

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AAI1 is worth playing if you're just a hardcore fan of the series and/or you already plan on playing AAI2, which is an excellent game.

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4-2 was more appealing to play for me than 4-1. Not to mention that 4-1 has the specter of Too Much Change about it. I liked the 3-D rendering of the crime scene and the fact that Kristoph could be responsible in 4-1, but that was about all the buy-in I had. The rest of the time I was wondering why Phoenix looked like a hobo, how I could get rid of the Perky Magician Girl, and why I had to play a dopey attorney with strained vocal chords. 4-2 had more independent movement, the revenge angle was neat, the yakuza characters were hilarious, and the game mechanics with Det. Skye were engaging. The fact that Mr Eldoon was very attractive under that silly noodle hat didn't hurt.

Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies for the 3DS has been purchased. Gameplay and writeups will resume Tuesday, October 6th. I'm currently enjoying an anniversary weekend with Tom. See y'all then!

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Happy anniversary!

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@Leonhart4 Thank you very much!

Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Characters Ive met:
Apollo Justice - we know this guy, but hes pretty banged up this time around. Something about a bomb detonating in Courtroom 4.
Athena Cykes - cute, but terrible taste in jewelry
Phoenix Wright - wait, no hobo this time around?
Gaspen Payne - Winstons little brother, who just looks like Winston moonlighting as a bad Elvis impersonator. And yes, I finally got the pun on this one, winced in pain gasped in pain
Juniper Woods - defendant, looks like a Ghibli/Miyazaki main character
Ted Tonate - there are subtle AA puns. In case you were wondering, this aint it.
Candice Arme - deceased victim of the big blam

We have 3-D MODEL SPRITES.

We have ANIMATED CUTSCENES.

We have SCROLLABLE CONVERSATION HISTORY.

We have TIPS AND HINTS.

We have A BOMB THAT WENT OFF IN COURTROOM 4?!

Yes. We have all that and more, gentle readers. Athena is the only new/suspected recurring character since weve played AA4. She seems pretty cool - I dont think theres a benefit to having a necklace that SCREAMS your internal thoughts to the entire courtroom, even if it is high-tech. :| We shall see. Shes got a deep, dark, blood-soaked backstory that we get a PTSD-ish flashback on - like Edgeworth, she was quite young when it happened. Looking forward to learning more about that. Im always entertained when a characters elaborate hairstyle doesnt change from the time they were 4. Its okay to grow and change, girl.

Apollo was injured in Courtroom 4s blast and he looks downright heroic, all bandaged up like that with a jacket hanging off his shoulders. How did severe injuries make him suddenly look cool?

Athena takes over the defense for her buddy Juniper, as despite Apollos brave face, hes not up to the task. Thankfully, Phoenix strolls up with perfect timing just as Athena is rendered speechless by her trauma flashback. Apparently hell give me hints if I need it? Not sure how to feel about that function, but this may well have been a whole generations first Ace Attorney game - who am I to complain?

We start by listening to the robotic-sounding testimony of a Mr Ted Tonate, a bomb expert who had disarmed and transported the bomb into Courtroom 4. Hes super creepy and prefers to talk through a voice synthesizer even though hes fully capable of verbal speech. The bomb going off is being blamed on Juniper because? Unclear. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess. She was only there to support Apollo in court. The blast killed only one person, Candice Arme, a bomb specialist with the police.

Well continue tomorrow. See you then!


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Hell yeah, back to good AA games!

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Heck yeah DD

The premise of 5-1 really just hooks you right away.

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I love Punished Apollo so much

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Watch as Apollo's character rises from the ashes like a... phoenix I guess

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man i really didn't like 5-1, but ad you're having a good go with it so far

i guess the aftertastes of aa4 and aai2 are veey different
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Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Ted Tonate lied about being able to see the countdown and backtracked to a claim of being able to HEAR the bomb counting down, from inside the stuffed animal, from the gallery - which as Phoenix points out, is pretty far away. Gaspen Payne is fairly confident on this one and I cant wait to wipe any hint of a smirk off his face.

We are pretty sure that Junie got to the bomb while it was out in the lobby for some reason. Her prints are on the tail of the stuffed animal the bomb was inside, but no idea on how it got there.

I honestly didnt play very much today but still wanted to post :| See you tomorrow!

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SeabassDebeste posted...

man i really didn't like 5-1, but ad you're having a good go with it so far

i guess the aftertastes of aa4 and aai2 are veey different

I also think 5-1 isn't that great. But regardless it's a breath of fresh air after AJ.

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5-1 overall isn't a great case once you've had time to digest it all but it's an exciting hook for first time players

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Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Were back to Junie on the stand, and it seems that Athena has a heightened sense of hearing. But shes doing this whole Counselor Troi Im sensing emotions that are blatantly clear to anyone with eyes thing. Wait, we can listen to her heart?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCC_b5WHLX0

Whaaaat. She can also speak German. So, her inadvisable necklace is indispensable to this creepy process of listening to Ms. Woods heart. And its name is Widget. And this is the Mood Matrix. I like this function. What did yall think of it the first time?

Apollo saved Junie by blocking the falling rubble with his body.

Would like to point out that Junies knitting animation is pleasantly accurate [aside from the speed, which is alarming]. Sometimes artists or animators will place the needles downward and thats tossing salad, thats not knitting.

3DS needs to charge and I need to sleep. See you tomorrow for more!

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I loved the Mood Matrix. It could've stood to have some increased difficulty (with a couple of exceptions), but it's used way better than Perceive.

Also Athena's hyper sensitive hearing was very well researched for accuracy.

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Mood Matrix is cool, and has sick music

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I enjoy the Mood Matrix. The idea behind it is kinda whatever, but it leads to a lot of really memorable (and some of my personal favorite) moments in the game.

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I prefer perceive to mood matrix. Most of the time it seems to force you to think of emotional behavior in really rigid terms and that just seems dumb in general to me (yes, dumber than a bracelet that tightens when people lie/hide the truth). Like, people are always going to be feeling multiple/conflicting emotions at nearly all points of their life. I know I'm probably taking it too seriously but it's always bothered me.

I agree that the music is sick though and Athena herself is good

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perceive should always have stayed out of court, like in AA5 and forward
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Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

We are faced with an important distinction: the bomb was placed inside a stuffed animal called Phony Phanty, and Junie has a stuffed animal called Bum Rap Rhiny. They are, respectively, an elephant and a rhinoceros. Phony Phanty is standing against falsifying evidence and Bum Rap Rhiny is against false charges/claims. Its a weird public promotional thing to improve the law/court system. The tails on both are exactly the same, which is why Junie was even accused of contact with the bomb in the first place - her fingerprints were on a tail believed to belong to the Phony Phanty-encased bomb.

We sorted out her other conflicting emotions using the Mood Matrix - even though Junie was shocked by the explosion, she was happy that Apollo protected her by covering her from rubble raining down from overhead. She also felt a bit sad - her Bum Rap Rhiny is missing, aside from the aforementioned tail.

Apollo and Junie were looking for it in the blown-out shell of Courtroom No. 4, after they had been excused to the lobby of Courtroom No. 5. Apollo decided to stay and search for Rhiny while Junie returned to testify. The last thing we see is a horrible cutscene - Phoenix, Athena, and Junie return to Courtroom No. 4 and find Apollo unconscious on the ground, his blood on a nearby rock!

D: Troubling!

Im not a big fan of the sprite animation where Junie keeps boxing her own eyes out with the heavy ends of her weird braids. Judge says were going to return tomorrow - but isnt it safe to throw it out if the only evidence tying the defendant to the crime was clarified to be her own possession that was not involved with any bomb? Not gonna lie, I thought this was going to be the shortest first case ever.

See you tomorrow!

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The shortest first case ever is only 30 minutes!

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junie is truly terrible
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Junie is truly okay

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Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

Pretty wild how often the victim wrote something that can be horribly misconstrued comes up in this franchise.

Payne, true to his name, makes the Judge agree to include the Courtroom No. 4 attack on Apollo Justice as a material part of this case. Apollo appears to have written Woods in his own blood, but his injury was not severe enough to produce enough, er, ink to write it.

We sort out that the Courtroom No. 4 victim, Candice Arme, must have written a message with the copious amounts of blood she had available. She wrote the employee number matching the bomb case brought into the courtroom, that of Mr Ted Tonate. She hadnt known him prior so the number was the easiest way to expose him. Mr Tonate had quickly rolled the bomb case over the incriminating writing, and then upon attacking Apollo, was able to secure just enough blood to change the number code to WOODS, shifting the focus and the blame to Junie.

We bring in Mr Ted Tonate tomorrow to see if we can pin it on him. See you then!

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They use bloody writing a lot in the series, but I liked the way 5-1 used it because it was different than how you normally see it.

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Case 5-1 - Turnabout Countdown

We sure did pin it on him, short and sweet. He claimed some stuff that wasnt true, and it ended up that he killed Candice Arme and stuffed her in the bomb case where no one would look. Then he set up her body afterwards to be found and pinned on whoever the bomber was. He had also attacked Apollo. I guess I dont understand what he was doing in the meantime with Ms. Arme where she had enough time to be writing messages in blood.

We did not solve the mystery of the missing detonator, but shrugggg. Junies cleared and thats all that matters. Actually, that matters for a split second before Apollo announces in a dramatic yet short cutscene that hes taking a leave of absence and he doesnt want any help from the rest of us, thanks. Wow, rude.

Probably would have been a smarter idea to finish this case during the daytime - Mr Tonates sprite did not look friendlier as he became more agitated, and I didnt enjoy it. Visual learner, imagery sticks with me, so I gotta be careful about input.

I find Athena kinda relatable? Shes upbeat and enthusiastic, she encourages the people around her, and shes all about using the technology available to make life easier. She doesnt go too far towards any quality in the smart/cute/annoying trifecta of most AA female characters. Shes helpful and confident.

We travel back in time tomorrow for a flashback case, the first case Athena and Apollo handled together involving a murder by a mythical beast. See you then!

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5-2 is where it's at! excited for this one!
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people don't like Junie? consider me shocked.

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They didn't give you a lot of background about Junie, that makes it a little tough to care about her, but she seems sweet.

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Jinxie Tenma - maid

So Athena and Apollo handling a case together, at some point. >_> But it starts out sucking us back to the setting and lackluster start of Apollo Justice cases. Youre Apollo, youre at the Wright Anything Agency, you have to babysit Trudy, hoo boy, okay. I have to say, its not difficult to get me back to that feeling of ugh.

We go off to the Nine-Tails Vale, a monstrous youkai village and tourist trap. There, Trudy introduces us to Jinxie Tenma, a maid who is pretty convinced that Apollo, with his hair-horns and affinity for the color red, is a demon. After trying to seal us away and finally believing due to the badge that Apollos a lawyer, Jinxie opens up. The alderman thought that a tourist draw would be good for the town.

We saw an alderman in the opening cutscene get shanked, though. So if its the same alderman...RIP, my dude. The history of the town involves a bird creature fighting a nine-tailed fox. The fox manages to seal the birb away and save the town. The only issue being that we saw the killer wanted to UNLEASH THE BIRB in all its terror in the cutscene.

Wow. Lots to learn, and I hope Athena comes back soon. See you tomorrow!

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Trucy = True see/see through

also 5-2 hype

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LeonhartFour posted...

Trucy = True see/see through

I sat there for the longest time wondering why you posted this. Then I saw that I called her Trudy twice. That's what I get for posting after watching a bunch of Monk episodes.

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Alderman Kyubi - mentioned in convo, victim and former pro wrestler
Damian Tenma - mentioned in convo, mayor of neighboring Tenma Town and father of Jinxie, injured and accused of killing above

We are surprised by Tenma Taro, the evil birb, then hes bested by Amazing Nine-Tails, a pro wrestler. Jinxie started working in Nine-Tails Vale to conquer her fears, and her late mother was also from NTV.

Feathers and bloody bird footprints all over the crime scene. Hard to believe it wasnt Mr Tenma, or a monster.

Notes function comes up during this case - perfect for people who cant focus, like me, and dont know what they need to do next.

Turns out Damian Tenma has a very scary face, but is very considerate and thinks of others. Hes been pushing to combine Nine-Tails Vale and Tenma Town for a while with the Alderman, but thats the only disagreement they seem to be having.

Phoenix calls us because Athena Cykes has come out to NTV to help us with our new case, and he needs Apollo to find her. Says she just passed the bar and shes excited to help. She keeps including phrases in Spanish and German - makes me wonder what the original Japanese said.

Were investigating tomorrow. See you then!


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Llarian posted...

She keeps including phrases in Spanish and German - makes me wonder what the original Japanese said.

They were English phrases, naturally.

Much like Franziska, in the Japanese version, Athena was raised in America.

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courtesy bump

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LeonhartFour posted...

They were English phrases, naturally.

Much like Franziska, in the Japanese version, Athena was raised in America.

That makes sense. Ive read and watched a variety of Japanese media where the characters spoke in weird languages that werent English, including but not limited to French, Spanish, German. The unifying characteristic is that they either grew up or attended school overseas somewhere, usually the USA or a language-matching destination in Europe [e.g. France for French, etc].

Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Detective Bobby Fulbright - overenthusiastic detective, obsessed with justice, probably has a Tide Pen on his person at all times
Phineas Filch - employee at the Aldermans manor, petty thief
Simon Blackquill - mentioned in convo, expected prosecutor at this case, convicted murderer - eep!

We run into Phineas Filch, who, true to his name, steals Apollos bracelet the first chance he gets! Doesnt that thing adjust to fit the wearer perfectly? Are we to believe Mr Filch is so very good at what he does that he manages to do this without Apollo noticing? Hes also stolen someones shoes - while hes distracted, we hold on to them, hoping to find their owner.

We investigate the crime scene while keeping Det. Fulbright distracted, he truly doesnt want us poking around more than is necessary. Love the new Examine functions - the 3D modeling and animation allows us to rotate the room and view it from different angles, finding new items as we do. The items weve already looked at receive a check mark when we hover over them so we can keep track, which is a definite improvement. I dont like the flashing red circle when Examine becomes available on an item [only because I think it makes it too easy], but the rest of its great.

Athena is still, I am reluctant to report, relatable content. The only way we diverge is that she didnt want to hear about the torture devices. Im cheerfully up for morbid topics of all kinds.

Det. Fulbright is barefoot - we ask him why, and he has no idea. We present the shoes Filch had filched, and their owner is found. No longer the barefoot detective, Fulbright sprints off to the next task.

As it turns out, Damien Tenma not only has a scary face, but he is the only person lacking an alibi at the time of the murder. Jinxie was not a suspect as she had no motive according to Det. Fulbright.

We go to talk to Jinxie next. See you [actually] tomorrow!

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This sprite of Fulbright makes me laugh.
https://i.imgur.com/2k4U0zB.jpg?1
and I couldn't resist giving this the old meme treatment:
https://i.imgur.com/jDkV7o7.jpg


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Llarian posted...

I dont like the flashing red circle when Examine becomes available on an item [only because I think it makes it too easy], but the rest of its great.

In the older games it pretty obviously said "Examine" when you hovered over an object. This doesn't seem too different

Excellent Ceiling Cat meme

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Yeah, it's just to make it so you don't have to literally click on every single thing to figure out if you can actually examine it.

Also, you can sometimes get bonus dialogue even if something has a check mark if you reexamine it, if you're into getting as much dialogue as you can.

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Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Florent LBelle - owns his own brand of cosmetics, personal aide to Mayor Damian Tenma

This is starting to get that old trilogy feel, which is neato.

We talk to Jinxie about her experience, she says Tenma Taro ran right past her with a spear that jangled. We ask other people who were in the foyer at the time, LBelle and Filch, what theyve seen. Theyre an incredibly unhelpful odd couple, but apparently theyve seen nothing.

We go talk to Damien Tenma in the Detention Center. We ask him about the release of Tenma Taro and other rumors, we have to use the Bracelet because he lies about wanting Nine-Tails Vale for its tourism. But tourism hadnt begun until the popularity of the pro wrestler, Amazing Nine-Tails, boosted the yokai craze. We tell him we suspect that Alderman Kyubi was the real identity of Amazing Nine-Tails. We suspect the person who killed him was the same person who was blackmailing Mayor Tenma about the municipal merger, threatening to kill Jinxie Tenma if it didnt go through.

I now realize how weird it is to have Apollo AND Athena on the same case. If Athena can hear peoples feelings with her special hearing, and Apollo can tell when they get tense because theyre lying There should be plenty of overlap. The game doesnt acknowledge this at all - or at least, not so far.

Courtroom starts tomorrow. See you then!

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Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Characters Ive met:
Simon Blackquill - prosecutor and convicted murderer, dark sense of humor is right up my alley, bushido babe and hes got a spooky aesthetic to boot

Det. Fulbright takes the stand and testifies about what happened to the Alderman. Supposedly Alderman Kyubi had strength to fight back after he was impaled, which seems unlikely, but has been confirmed by those that examined the body. The bloody fabric we had must have wrapped the sculpture used to bean Mayor Tenma over the head, making traceable fingerprints impossible.

Townspeople suspect the real Tenma Taro did it. Police suspect the real killer was wearing a Tenma Taro suit. Theres intrigue surrounding the municipal merger, apparently the citizens of Nine-Tails Vale are opposed to it.

I love the satisfying clink of Blackquills chains, even if his act of chewing on a feather is somewhat troubling. His hair volume is pretty astonishing as well, I bet the guy busts hair ties left and right. I was half-expecting something similar to MvKs Objection voice, but was pleasantly surprised. At least I wont be startled, the MvK one used to make me jump. XD

Blackquill states that Mayor Tenma uncovered the secret identity of the Amazing Nine-Tails as Alderman Kyubi, and this was his motive for murder. The crowd goes wild. Det. Fulbright states that hes convinced Mayor Tenma planted the tracks and feathers after skewering Alderman Kyubi, but before being knocked unconscious.

We shall see in the courtroom again tomorrow. See you!

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Blackquill is so good

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Llarian posted...

The game doesnt acknowledge this at all - or at least, not so far.

let them be, jeez!
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Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Theres no way that could have happened, based on the placement of the feathers and bloody tracks. We get testimony from Filch, he claims he was keeping a close eye on the foyer, but in fact, he was watching TV on the clock. They blame this on the positioning of the TV, I thought it would have been more compelling if the security cameras feed was shown on the TV. That way, if he was watching the wrestling match, there was no way hed be able to track what was happening in the foyer.

He claims that he didnt need to see the foyer - not only are the steps and floors squeaky, but Tenma Taros staff makes a jingle-jangle sound. Well, that coordinates with Jinxies testimony about a staff, but theres nothing in the official illustrations indicating Tenma Taro to have such a staff. Filch claims to not have seen Tenma Taro, but he had to have in order to know about the staff.

Jinxie testifies about seeing a bunch of youkai in the Fox Chamber, but it turns out its her disturbed feelings about the memory that changes this. We do a little Mood Matrix boogie woogie, and shes in order again with 0% noise. Theres a nice little bit of cooperation that we have here between Athena and Apollo, so thats starting to get into the question I raised earlier about the interaction between their powers.

This was the confusing part for me - Jinxie has a master key on a Nine-Tails Flower wooden coin. If I recall correctly, she said she picked it up inside the Fox Chamber. But thats supposed to be a locked room. We spend a ton of time belaboring the idea of someone LEAVING the room, but its not questioned how Jinxie got into the room to see what she saw in the first place. Maybe I read that part and missed it?

Supposedly the person who did it left, locked the doors, then tossed the key back in the room via the air vent. Much is made of the person being IN the air vent, when everyone knows that if an air vent stops and points directly down, all you need to do is throw the object with enough force for it to hit the corner, and it will fall down. The person didnt need to be in the air vent at all. But thats neither here nor there for now.

Det. Fulbright thinks that 2007s dont tase me bro is his model of policing Prosecutor Blackquill going forward. Not the most humane thing Ive ever seen in AA, but at least we dont have the prosecution repeatedly physically assaulting everyone in sight who steps the slightest bit out of line.

Is it just me, or is Simon Blackquill an interesting mix of 19th century British literature tropes and samurai/Japanese culture of the same time period?

Mayor Tenma confesses to being possessed by Tenma Taro, and the Judge thinks we all need a break to look into things further.

On to the investigation! We crawl in the air duct, its very dusty and it wouldnt have been if someone had been in there recently. Mayor Tenma is still on his Tenma Taro kick but you are able to productively discuss a few points with him and receive the Forbidden Chamber Key. We talk to Jinxie and she tells us she didnt see tracks and feathers when she was there initially. Oooh, not good.

We continue our investigation tomorrow. See you then!

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Llarian posted...

Is it just me, or is Simon Blackquill an interesting mix of 19th century British literature tropes and samurai/Japanese culture of the same time period?

yup!
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Blackquill is so great, and Apollo is really the perfect opponent to highlight his strengths.

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5-2 day 1 is tbf probably his best court day though!
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SeabassDebeste posted...

5-2 day 1 is tbf probably his best court day though!

Well yeah, most prosecutors have their best day right up front! It's called making an impression! Blackquill is still great the rest of the way.

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Case 5-2 - The Monstrous Turnabout

Its been wild. We talk to LBelle, who reveals that he has taken out advertisements for his beauty products, including a bizarre temporary hair color, but they are not available to the public for purchase. We poke around different places and get into the Forbidden Chamber, see a giant statue of Tenma Taro, and find - a lotion made by LBelles label! He must have been in here. We also find a little imp statue inside the base of the statue.

LBelle acts increasingly suspicious, saying now that he had seen Tenma Taro, but that he was hiding it to protect Jinxie. Apparently, she sleepwalks.

The little imp statue was the calling card of Filchs grandfather, a Robin Hood type. Filch recognizes it immediately.

We find that LBelle has been coaching Filch on what to say in court tomorrow, and we find out from Jinxie that her father confessed to the crime of murdering Alderman Kyubi before he lost consciousness. Nothing has addressed how she got into the locked room in the first place still - unless Im spacing out.

On to the trial tomorrow. See ya!

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Okay brief update: I got a job after being unemployed for the better part of a year, so I did training all this week.

I have however been playing the trial, will grab some time this weekend to write up. It's going really well and I'm excited to share reactions with y'all.

Thanks again to all of you reading along, it means a lot to me :3

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Oh nice, congrats on the job!

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