Board 8 > Favorite Ace Attorney Character (Day 45): Phoenix vs. Ryunosuke

(+) Yeah! (+)

Having not played GAA, I've avoided voting against Ryunosuke in most matches despite me liking the character he was facing. Didn't seem fair, and I like a good protagonist, so if/when I do play GAA I'd probably like Ryunosuke too.

Felt very comfortable voting for Phoenix here. You can't just be a good protagonist to be on his level - you have to be an all-timer.

This is going to be the SFF beatdown of all time.

I like them both almost equally but I give the edge to Ryunosuke since I like his design better.

It had to happen eventually.

I'm voting Ryunosuke. I really like his character and he doesn't have missteps like Phoenix does sometimes, most notably in AJ and some small parts in PW3 and DD.

Ryunosuke is the better protagonist by far, personally. I would say the best in the series.

i have ryunosuke here. what he does in those ten massive cases is pretty amazing - they really crafted an excellent character to negotiate the foreign setting.

but they're very different games and obviously phoenix is great too.

hobonix best phoenix don't @ me

I'm surprised at how ryunosuke's hanging in here honestly. and by hanging in here, I mean keeping Phoenix under 70

i wonder what the results look like if you filter to only people who have played the GAA games.

Honestly think Ryunosuke has the advantage of having a more consistent character, Phoenix is kinda muddled in 4-6

FFDragon posted...
hobonix best phoenix don't

Hobonix would be a great character if he weren't Phoenix Wright

Whoa don't know what happened with that post quote

LiquidOshawott posted...

Honestly think Ryunosuke has the advantage of having a more consistent character, Phoenix is kinda muddled in 4-6

Well, it helps that he was designed for those two games. Phoenix had to evolve as the series went on because there was no expectation for a sequel after PW1, and Takumi didn't want Phoenix to be in AJ, so he had to write him in. Then the writers changed for AA5 and 6, and they had to roll with the weird stuff AJ threw at them.

i don't really hold AJ against phoenix. i tend to rate/rank things based on their peak. maybe not if that peak is just a small bit of their arc but in this case i'm rating phoenix as a character based on games 1-3. 4 doesn't count and uh i don't even really remember what they did with him in 5 and 6 anyway tbh

AJ was Phoenix being held hostage by the writers. I also don't hold it against him.

I dunno, AJ is canon. DD does an OK job running Phoenix back and SOJ makes the transition a lot cleaner, but it still happened. I still like Phoenix a ton. In fact, his quote about working to solve DL-6 on 1-4 Trial 1 is still one of my favorite AA moments. I just think Ryunosuke is PW1-3 Phoenix done even more smoothly and finishes more conclusively than Phoenix.

There's a difference between accepting something as canon and being willing to mentally interact with it. AA4 happened, yes, but if I paid too much attention to it I'd have to write off the entire series post-AA3 as a loss because of how destructive AA4 was to every existing character. There's a reason even the games themselves want you to gloss over the details.

KamikazePotato posted...

There's a difference between accepting something as canon and being willing to mentally interact with it. AA4 happened, yes, but if I paid too much attention to it I'd have to write off the entire series post-AA3 as a loss because of how destructive AA4 was to every existing character. There's a reason even the games themselves want you to gloss over the details.

I think ignoring it when regarding its legacy is a poor decision in all honesty

its like blocking out the prequel trilogy in Star Wars or season 8 in Game of Thrones, they happened. Its something to weigh over, even the pros and cons of what was brought to the table

I weigh it all together, but the best of Phoenix is better than anything else anyone else in the series can rival other than Edgeworth.

I already have. I gave it plenty mental consideration and decided there were a ton of cons and virtually zero pros. AA4 is an albatross hanging around the series' neck - why would I continue to think about it except when I'm basically forced to by lingering elements of canon? This is what the series itself does so I'm hardly alone in this sentiment.

I also don't think anyone doing the same thing with something like, say, the prequel trilogy, hasn't already given it due consideration as well. (Most) Fiction media is supposed to be entertainment meant strictly for enjoyment. If interacting with one part of a long-running series would be miserable, then just...don't. Like, if I didn't mentally write off AA4 then I wouldn't be able to enjoy the series anymore because I think it demolishes every pre-existing character, not just Phoenix.

Since GoT Season 8 was added as an another example - that's one that's more difficult to ignore because it's the ending. With AA you can at least look to AA1-3 and think, hey, there was a story arc that completed and it was good. Everything afterwards is just bonus content. Same goes with Star Wars. Kinda hard to do with that something as plot and character intensive as GoT where it was building up to a singular conclusion.

Even then I can enjoy Seasons 1-4 if take them as their own thing. That enjoyment is dulled by what came after though, and no amount of compartmentalization will fix that.

yeah aa4 is best ignored from a canon perspective.

i still got ryunosuke though obviously it's tight against aa1-3 phoenix

I haven't played 4-6, so I'm only evaluating compared to "aa1-3 phoenix."

SeabassDebeste posted...

yeah aa4 is best ignored from a canon perspective.

i still got ryunosuke though obviously it's tight against aa1-3 phoenix

It basically is. The only part of it they don't disregard entirely is that Phoenix adopted Trucy.