Board 8 > Rate the Ace Attorney case: Turnabout Countdown (5-1)

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Rules:

1. Rate each case on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Anything above 10 gets rounded down to a 10, and anything below a 1 gets rounded up to a 1.
2. Anything beyond one decimal point will be rounded accordingly: .04 and below will be rounded down, .05 and up will be rounded up.
3. You may grade on any criteria you like.
4. You can rate cases from previous topics if you miss a topic.

Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PiEuURt1qf19VoYzcFCU1EFa8uqs2teJiVcip7JmjDw/edit?usp=sharing

Previous Results:

Bridge to the Turnabout (3-5) - 9.8 (37 votes)
Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) - 9.7 (30 votes)
Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) - 9.2 (32 votes)
The Inherited Turnabout (E2-3) - 8.5 (16 votes)
Turnabout Beginnings (3-4) - 8.4 (26 votes)
Rise from the Ashes (1-5) - 8.2 (28 votes)
The Stolen Turnabout (3-2) - 8.2 (24 votes)
Turnabout Samurai (1-3) - 7.4 (29 votes)
Turnabout Memories (3-1) - 7.4 (30 votes)
Turnabout Target (E2-1) - 7.1 (17 votes)
The Grand Turnabout (E2-5) - 7.1 (15 votes)
Turnabout Trump (4-1) - 6.9 (25 votes)
Recipe for Turnabout (3-3) - 6.6 (27 votes)
Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2) - 6.5 (25 votes)
Turnabout Ablaze (E1-5) - 6.0 (19 votes)
Turnabout Sisters (1-2) - 5.7 (25 votes)
Turnabout Reminiscence (E1-4) - 5.6 (22 votes)
The Imprisoned Turnabout (E2-2) - 5.3 (16 votes)
The Forgotten Turnabout (E2-4) - 5.2 (16 votes)
Turnabout Visitor (E1-1) - 5.0 (20 votes)
The First Turnabout (1-1) - 4.9 (25 votes)
The Kidnapped Turnabout (E1-3) - 4.6 (22 votes)
Turnabout Airlines (E1-2) - 4.2 (22 votes)
Turnabout Corner (4-2) - 4.0 (25 votes)
Turnabout Big Top (2-3) - 3.7 (25 votes)
Turnabout Succession (4-4) - 3.5 (24 votes)
The Lost Turnabout (2-1) - 3.3 (27 votes)
Turnabout Serenade (4-3) - 2.7 (24 votes)

E2-5 gets a wide range of scores. Some really liked the mastermind, some didn't, and some did but also felt the plan didn't really make that much sense. Mostly everyone agreed that the case has a lot of bloat. Interestingly, because of just how much it does, a few felt that it really lacked identity and was hard to remember anything about it.

Summary:

When a bomb goes off in the courthouse, Apollo is injured and it's up to the firm's newest lawyer, Athena Cykes, to step up and handle the case.

Main Characters: Athena Cykes, Apollo Justice, Phoenix Wright, Gaspen Payne, The Judge
Other Characters: Juniper Woods, Candice Arme, Ted Tonate

My rating: 2/10. I feel this case takes all the wrong lessons from starting in media res. When you have the full context of this case, this case seems really...strange. Why is Athena freaking out against Gaspen Payne of all people after doing a much more anxious case? Why is Juniper nothing like her 5-3 appearance? Is Apollo that much of a factor? And it's just kind of weird this all happens in the middle of 5-4 and 5-5. Outside of that, it's...a tutorial case. I would have liked for Athena to take this on, but I get why they brought Phoenix for it. Payne is fine, Tonate is fine, everything is just fine. The bluff at the end is nice, but...honestly, I never really "got" this case, like the logic behind figuring out it was a fake bomb.

2/10

Worst case 1 in the series. Worst case in Dual Destinies. Juniper absolutely sucks here and made me dislike her for a while into 5-3 until I realized she's a totally different person in the rest of the game. Then when I got to when it happens later on, I was confused for a while about its placement in the story.

4/10

I think it's mostly fine, but it has some unnecessary elements. I don't think we really needed to stretch this out into two days. I feel like making Athena black out against a Payne doesn't give the player a good first impression of her either.

But I kinda like Tonate. I like the premise of the courtroom bombing. Candice Arme is one of the better victims we never meet (combined with what we learn of her in 5-4). Phoenix outbluffing Tonate at the end is great, too.

2

6

I thought for a first case it was alright, especially as a case to get the series back on track after the two awful games prior (not counting AAI2).

5

Some parts cool, some not. I do love the recontextualization of the quote at the beginning about framing the little girl upon beating the game

3/10

I thought about giving it a 2 but at least it's not boring to play, really. The in media res thing doesn't work at all, it just makes things confusing. I thought Apollo was injured at the start of the case, but then, he gets injured midway through the case, and it's like - I don't know, I just felt confused by it? Like, wait, was Apollo involved in the bombing? Was that here? When was that? I dunno I just felt confused.

It's also weird that Athena starts this case but just totally loses her shit even though she managed to handle 5-3. I mean, I know anxiety attacks are a hell of a thing, but it kinda sucks that Athena basically hasn't had the chance to overcome her fear because Phoenix steps in and takes the spotlight again. It's nice to see Phoenix return to court, I guess. I do like Ted Tonate and I like Phoenix calling his bluff at the end. I like Bum Rap Rhiny and Phony Phanto. I dunno, there is some stuff to like, but it's not a very memorable case.

3

4

Punished Apollo is cool, but the case gets worse the more you think about it

1

e2-5 being below 1-5 might be one of the single worst comparisons of this series

6

For a case that sees the triumphant return of Phoenix, it does very little for me. +1 for the bluff call though

4.5

5.5

a little weird to rank on behalf of the non linear presentation of this game ...

and something about making the first case a courtroom bombing is both a great idea and a little too "real" for me at the same time.

and as satisfying as it is to play as phoenix again, its weird how scared athena gets when later she's fine. hell, even in the next case (which as we know takes place months before) she's fine with being in the courtroom! i know her fears are more specific, but it still feels ... weird i guess?

6/10

4

plush toy commentary, weak characters with bad names, 3d...

i get why the game held mystique on release thanks to what this case *did* bring to the table, but it definitely underdelivered hard elsewhere

2.5

3.3

It's fine as an intro. They really had to stretch with the dying message stuff, but the Apollo stuff is fairly neat and taking down the villain by calling his bluff is pretty satisfying.

5/10. A pretty average case but I guess thats what the series needed.

4/10

It's...okay I guess?

4/10

It's ok. Ted has neat animations and Candice's name pun is pretty good since it kinda sounds like a real name.

Oh, I love the names here. Candice Arme is an all-timer.

I appreciate that Ted is the bomb guy's name when it came out around the same time as Retsupurae's series on Ambition, which also had a bomb guy named Ted. Definitely coincidental.

oh my god I somehow didn't realise the pun name in Candice Arme until now ....

It's right up there with Dustin Prince for the best victim name pun

4/10

It's so needlessly confusing. But after AJ and E1 it felt like a miraculous return to form.

Leonhart4 posted...

It's right up there with Dustin Prince for the best victim name pun

Nah, nothing beats Deid Mann and Rheel Neh'mu

7

Well below average!

7/10

It's fine!