Board 8 > What's the worst Ace Attorney game that isn't AJ or AAI1?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't think AAI1 has pacing issues aside from the last case

Those issues are really really bad but nevertheless

Big_Bob posted...

I voted Spirit of Justice just in the sense of how dumb their attempt of raising the stakes was.

Like, Phoenix getting the death penalty if he loses doesn't affect the gameplay one bit, so why bother?

Had to capture the Danganronpa audience somehow!

Mewtwo59 posted...

Had to capture the Danganronpa audience somehow!

more like the 1-2 audience

Man Blackquill is so good

How did they botch it so badly with Nahyuta one game later?

It seems to be a trend in this series where the prosecutor in the odd numbered games is great and the prosecutor in the even numbered games isn't. Probably a good thing that GAA stuck with Van Zieks in the second game.

Mewtwo59 posted...

It seems to be a trend in this series where the prosecutor in the odd numbered games is great and the prosecutor in the even numbered games isn't. Probably a good thing that GAA stuck with Van Zieks in the second game.

Klavier is genuinely considered to be the best part of AJ

That's a low bar

LiquidOshawott posted...

Klavier is genuinely considered to be the best part of AJ

Since when? My impression is that he's generally considered a disappointment.

I figured the award of "best part of AJ" went to Trucy, Valant, or maybe even Apollo.

Best part of AJ is easily Ema. A lot of people didn't like her cause she was "grumpy" (which seems vaguely sexist). I liked her though

Grumpy Ema is the best Ema

colliding posted...

Best part of AJ is easily Ema. A lot of people didn't like her cause she was "grumpy" (which seems vaguely sexist). I liked her though

I don't think it's the grumpiness itself but rather that it was such a departure from her characterization in 1-5. For me she was (and still is) my favorite assistant, so seeing her go from positive and excited about the future to depressed about her shitty job definitely hurt the character. AA6 thankfully pulls it back, though only by putting her in proximity with Nahyuta, which sucks.

i mean i don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the idea of grown-up ema being grumpy but i'm guessing (i can't really remember but it's a very educated guess!) that the writing was just bad. did she have any actual development or arc or any good reason for being grumpy other than "idk the writers just thought it'd be neat"??? i assume not.

She's grumpy because she came back to America and got assigned to detective work instead of forensics

Although AJ implies she's not actually very good at forensics and it's a passion more than something she's skilled in

Kenri posted...

For me she was (and still is) my favorite assistant, so seeing her go from positive and excited about the future to depressed about her shitty job definitely hurt the character.

That... is kinda exactly what makes her seem like a well-written and relatable character to me though lol

Leonhart4 posted...

Since when? My impression is that he's generally considered a disappointment.

I figured the award of "best part of AJ" went to Trucy, Valant, or maybe even Apollo.

I think the disappointment aspect is more just the overall writing of him and not having much depth/development, but I think being the only rival prosecutor who isnt out to get you/is generally positive makes him pretty refreshing.

and yeah it is a low bar but that is AJ

Eh, I think it waters down Klavier's effectiveness when his defining trait is "nice guy who makes fun of Apollo's forehead."

And they aren't even consistent with his "wanting to find the truth" trait because he certainly shows no interest in the truth for most of 4-3.

Paratroopa1 posted...

That... is kinda exactly what makes her seem like a well-written and relatable character to me though lol

yeah, agreed. if she was just grumpy for no reason that'd be one thing. but not only did she age a decade but she also got put in a job she's not super interested in. makes complete sense

It's maybe realistic, but it's still a choice the writers made. Getting a career you enjoy, or just staying positive even in lousy circumstances, aren't unrealistic outcomes, and either of those would have kept the core of what I liked about the character. *shrug*

colliding posted...

yeah, agreed. if she was just grumpy for no reason that'd be one thing. but not only did she age a decade but she also got put in a job she's not super interested in. makes complete sense

Not to point out the obvious, but shes also living through the Apollo Justice timeline. That would make anyone grumpy.

AJ's goal was to make everyone as miserable as possible

colliding posted...

Best part of AJ is easily Ema. A lot of people didn't like her cause she was "grumpy" (which seems vaguely sexist). I liked her though

I think Kristoph is the main highlight and is why people like 4-1 so much even though I find him being convicted at all with such loose evidence to be incredibly weird especially with 4-4's whole theme being that they need the jurist system to get out of circumstantial evidence.
Ema is definitely the one for me though and I love her portrayal in SoJ. I honestly think it's a perfect portrayal for her and has her stand out as both a detective and a former sidekick combining both her former positivity and her AJ snarky sides.

Leonhart4 posted...

She's grumpy because she came back to America and got assigned to detective work instead of forensics

i didn't mean that i thought there was literally no reason given in the plot, when i said "is there a reason for it" i meant, like, why is it part of the writer's vision for the game, how does it contribute to the story beyond just giving her a new character quirk

Dels posted...

i didn't mean that i thought there was literally no reason given in the plot, when i said "is there a reason for it" i meant, like, why is it part of the writer's vision for the game, how does it contribute to the story beyond just giving her a new character quirk

The writer's vision for the game was misery for everyone

All of the returning characters in AJ got done dirty except for the judge (yes, even Gumshoe in his small cameo. I'm still disappointed that it's his last appearance in the series chronologicaly.)

Dels posted...

i didn't mean that i thought there was literally no reason given in the plot, when i said "is there a reason for it" i meant, like, why is it part of the writer's vision for the game, how does it contribute to the story beyond just giving her a new character quirk

I mean, this is broadly a problem with AA4 in general

god I completely forgot Gumshoe was in AJ

You'd almost think the writer for AJ wasn't the same guy who wrote the first three games based on how he wrote Gumshoe in particular

yes it's really weird. i always assume that AJ was written by someone else and then i get reminded that shu takumi is credited as the main writer and then i forget again and am surprised to learn it again. even now, i wonder if there's some behind-the-scenes reason he's credited as the writer even though he didn't actually write the game, or at least, certainly not the flashback case.

Is the translator the same? That's arguably more important for consistency than having the same writer is.

Kenri posted...

Is the translator the same? That's arguably more important for consistency than having the same writer is.

Pretty sure Alexander O. Smith was the main localizer for all four games, and Janet Hsu has been (and still is) there from the start, too.

The end of 5-2 Day 1 is so good

You have Blackquill utterly schooling Apollo, who's so clearly desperate and grasping for every straw he can find, only for Damian Tenma's dedication to kayfabe to ultimately save the day. Blackquill is able to roll with the flow of the case and adjust his strategy on the fly. He's just so good at what he does, and Apollo being terrified of him only helps to build him up. I also like how Apollo's air vent theory is completely wrong. It's rare to see the protagonist just miss the mark so badly, and it's great.

We needed more Apollo/Blackquill cases. Such an underappreciated rivalry.

I think last topic, we were discussing what you would want for AA7. My AA7 hot take is that I would want a completely different structured game than most AA games. I kinda just want 10 filler cases the quality of 5-6 or 5-2. Hell, I'll accept 6-4s. I feel like AA has such a great cast and, in particular, a lot of great attorneys/prosecutors that I kinda just want a dream game mash-up more than a structured game that has to have a tutorial, has to have an overarching plot, has to have a rival turned good, etc.

This is probably better as a fangame than an official game, but eh.

What, you want something like the first two games (and AJ, too) where the connection between the cases is relatively loose and each case functions as a standalone?

I wouldn't be opposed to them going back to that well.

Ace Attorney Generations

...

Phoenix x Miles Generations

I don't really think that's what Bitto was saying. Even the first two games and AJ has an overarching plot (that is often not addressed in the middle case)

Bitto seems to be suggesting ten distinct storylines with no connection whatsoever

Ace Attorney All-Stars Racing Transformed

JFA's probably the closest example, since there's really no connection between any of those cases. You could make an argument that it's about "what's the point of a defense attorney", but that's really all thematic rather than anything concrete (like how 1-2 references DL-6 for 1-4 or how 4-1 is pretty much an incomplete case without 4-4).

That probably explains a little bit why I'm pretty favorable to JFA!

I legit didn't recognize 2-1 for 5-10 minutes when I saw a streamer playing it the other day. I was wondering if the collection had added a new case.

Oh hey, AJ Trilogy fixed the glitch from the beginning of 5-3 and now Means isn't holding his staff anymore.