Board 8 > Rate the Ace Attorney case: The Adventure of the Runaway Room (G1-3)

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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 Revolution (6-5) - 9.6 (25 votes)
Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) - 9.2 (32 votes)
Turnabout Reclaimed (5-6) - 8.8 (23 votes)
The Golden Court (L-3) - 8.6 (14 votes)
The Inherited Turnabout (E2-3) - 8.5 (16 votes)
Turnabout Beginnings (3-4) - 8.4 (26 votes)
The Rite of Turnabout (6-3) - 8.4 (22 votes)
Rise from the Ashes (1-5) - 8.2 (28 votes)
The Stolen Turnabout (3-2) - 8.2 (24 votes)
Turnabout For Tomorrow (5-5) - 7.9 (27 votes)
Turnabout Memories (3-1) - 7.4 (30 votes)
Turnabout Samurai (1-3) - 7.4 (29 votes)
Turnabout Academy (5-3) - 7.4 (27 votes)
The Grand Turnabout (E2-5) - 7.3 (16 votes)
Turnabout Target (E2-1) - 7.1 (17 votes)
Turnabout Trump (4-1) - 6.9 (25 votes)
The Magical Turnabout (6-2) - 6.7 (22 votes)
Recipe for Turnabout (3-3) - 6.6 (27 votes)
The Fire Witch (L-2) - 6.6 (14 votes)
Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2) - 6.5 (25 votes)
The Monstrous Turnabout (5-2) - 6.5 (23 votes)
The Adventure of the Great Departure (G1-1) - 6.0 (20 votes)
Turnabout Ablaze (E1-5) - 6.0 (19 votes)
The Cosmic Turnabout (5-4) - 5.9 (24 votes)
Turnabout Sisters (1-2) - 5.7 (25 votes)
Turnabout Reminiscence (E1-4) - 5.6 (22 votes)
Turnabout Storyteller (6-4) - 5.3 (21 votes)
The Imprisoned Turnabout (E2-2) - 5.3 (16 votes)
The Forgotten Turnabout (E2-4) - 5.2 (16 votes)
The Foreign Turnabout (6-1) - 5.0 (23 votes)
Turnabout Visitor (E1-1) - 5.0 (20 votes)
The Final Witch Trial (L-4) - 5.0 (13 votes)
The First Turnabout (1-1) - 4.9 (25 votes)
The Kidnapped Turnabout (E1-3) - 4.6 (22 votes)
English Turnabout (L-1) - 4.3 (14 votes)
Turnabout Airlines (E1-2) - 4.2 (22 votes)
Turnabout Countdown (5-1) - 4.1 (24 votes)
Turnabout Corner (4-2) - 4.0 (25 votes)
Turnabout Time Traveler (6-6) - 3.9 (19 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)
The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band (G1-2) - 3.2 (18 votes)
Turnabout Serenade (4-3) - 2.7 (24 votes)

G1-2 sinks near of the bottom of the case ranking. People generally liked Susato and Sholmes's introduction, which was the only positive for a lot. It was interesting seeing the point range for Susato/Sholmes! However, an investigation-only case that only lets you search 3 rooms could only go so high, especially one that has a rather silly murder.

Summary:

Ryunosuke's stay in London gets off to a fiery start when he's asked by the Chief Justice of the city to defend an English gentleman accused of stabbing a man during a carriage ride. Ryunosuke's going to have to take down both legendary prosecutor Barok van Zieks and six overeager jurors if he wants to save his client.

Main Characters: Ryunosuke Naruhodo, Susato Mikatoba, Mael Stronghart, Barok van Zieks, The Judge of the Old Bailey, Gina Lestrade, Iris Wilson
Other Characters: Magnus McGilded, "Thrice-Fired" Mason Milverton, Beppo, Bruce Fairplay, Lay D. Furst, Banker Juror, Maid Juror, Barber Juror, Typewritist Juror, Guildmaster Juror, Elderly Woman Juror

My rating: 7/10. Absolutely wild that they gave a "guilty defendant" case as your first case in Britain. McGilded truly makes this case. He's a fun defendant who is tough to really nail down an impression on as the case goes on. Solid witness line too. Beppo, Fairplay, Furst, and Lestrade make a good line-up that they play around with for being the potential murderer before it becomes clear that it could only be McGilded. van Zieks is a little too easy to roll over in trial, but the mystique of the Reaper and McGilded's death adds a really neat dimension to the prosecutor character. Jurors are...fine. Barber Juror (or the knife guy) is probably my favorite normal juror and the Elderly Woman shifting her opinion based on McGilded's character throughout the case is interesting and something I kinda wish the juror system would lean into more. Good case. I just wish it was longer!

8/10

It's kinda wild that the game opens with three single segment cases. It's a really good intro to the game's jury system, with a crazy twist that you're defending a guilty guy and you get him off the hook. I wish the case had a little more meat to it, but what's here is quite good!

7/10

I have serious problems with this case, and they're not small ones. I kinda talked about it in the recent GAA playthrough topic but I'll rehash it here. WHAT was McGilded's plan here? Did he even need an attorney in the first place? Was he unable to bribe one, and if so, why? Why was he relying on Ryunosuke coming in at the last minute if he actually had the rest of the trial completely under his control? It really makes no sense and it reeks of contrivances. Again, this is not a small problem - the whole case is about McGilded masterminding his own acquittal, so if the plan doesn't make sense from the beginning it really undermines the entire story. There are times when a plot hole like this might be overlooked or handwaved but I can't do that here. McGilded's plan just somehow magically morphs from him having no plan at all to having it all planned out from the start.

Other than that... yeah, I did actually find McGilded to be a very compelling character, and it's probably the only time in the entire first game where I didn't really know where things were going. I didn't know if McGilded was innocent or not! That's pretty fun. Obviously, the tricks he plays with the omnibus are great. Gina's debut here is great, though I do find this case odd as a vehicle for introducing the British court, the jury, and Van Zieks, who doesn't really come into his own until later imo, he gets a bit overshadowed here. The bit cast in this case kind of sucks - the other people who were in the coach feel like totally unserious characters to me and that feeling kind of pervades a lot of the minor characters in these games, they feel like Layton characters.

It's a good case with some real highlights but it doesn't all quite come together.

I'm surprised at just how low G1-2 got, I never would have pegged it as second from the bottom

Paratroopa1 posted...

I'm surprised at just how low G1-2 got, I never would have pegged it as second from the bottom

I dunno, that sounds about right to me! Well, maybe not quite that low, but bottom five is where I expected it to finish.

8

8.5/10

In another AA game I believe this case would've swapped places with case 4- a tight pre-finale set-up case that subverts expectations vs a grand less important case with a big wacky cast. But it was a brilliant move to have it this way round, I doubt anyone expected our intro to British courts to go the way this case goes. They had to set up the jury, the new courtroom, new major characters, new gameplay mechanics, and they decide that's the perfect time to throw us for a loop with a guilty client, forged evidence, and a trial cut short. It's so good.

The meta-gaming here is great, the game rewards you for going out of your way to investigate the omnibus and plays on usual expectations (I was successfully fooled into thinking I had simply missed the big bloodstain on the floor lol). McGilded's version of events sounds exactly like a usual AA-style murder plot, and I was unsure of what the hell was actually going on until very late in the trial. It's chaotic in the best way, McGilded is a terrific villain who leaves such a lasting impression. I like the jury too, they add to the chaos with constantly being at each other's throats.

Regarding Para's issues, I take it that McGilded was perfectly happy to defend himself in court- we see later in the trial how adept he is at convincing the jury and framing Fairplay and Furst- and he simply picks Ryunosuke by chance because he happened to pop through that door. Of course, within the trial itself things break down a little, there's no reason he shouldn't trigger the smoke bomb when the jury start heavily leaning towards his guilt, but that's a minor point for me.

A very solid, memorable case that shows what this game is capable of. And the only case in the first game that doesn't go on for an hour too long.

9

This one legit gave me chills. Probably the peak of the first game.

9

McGilded is on the ropes really early though, like he could have been convicted pretty easily, was he always just going to smoke bomb and escape or like, what's the deal, I seriously don't know, it feels like he needed Ryunosuke to bail him out

Paratroopa1 posted...

McGilded is on the ropes really early though, like he could have been convicted pretty easily, was he always just going to smoke bomb and escape or like, what's the deal, I seriously don't know, it feels like he needed Ryunosuke to bail him out

I dunno, maybe in his arrogance, he underestimated how hard it would be.

9/10

This is definitely my favorite short case in the series. It's perhaps the single case that both respects the player's intelligence and plays with the veteran AA players' expectations in the whole series. It being a case 3 that thrusts you into defending a guilty man is an awesome start, but it does so much more than that.

That you can go look at the inside of the cart and notice some stuff, then go back in later and realize that everything has changed is also really cool. But the sheer fact that the game doesn't TELL you it changed is the clincher. This and the major 6-5 twist are the only two real times I can distinctly remember the game basically showing off a huge plot point without outright telling you what it means. It makes it feel like you know some huge secret you're not supposed to be aware of, and it's an awesome feeling.

9

maybe a hot take, but this is the best case in either GAA game.

9.5/10

8

7

8.8

9/10.

10/10 favourite case in TGAAC and McGilded is my favourite character in TGAAC.

8/10

7.5/10

I like to think Ryunosuke named his son Phoenix Wright because of the Phoenix Wright Omnibus, and Phoenix Wright is actually Phoenix Wright III (or maybe even IV).

Maybe one day the series will do real time travel to have Phoenix and Ryunosuke meet.

6

The Phoenix Wright Omnibus is maybe the laziest reference they could've made.

I'm very fond of McGilded's theme (I know others use it but it feels like it belongs to him)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VCedvpAS3Y

Edit: I wonder, is McGilded the most competent defendant we've had in the series? Instead of putting himself in greater jeopardy or interfering with our defence as so many others do, he actively defends himself, to great success!

I'm a bit surprised at the high ratings on this one, though I had sort of sensed most people valued this case higher than me, so not too surprised.

I totally appreciate all the strong points this case has and McGilded was definitely compelling, I think I was just still too much in a mind-set of "wow this game is simple and easy" (from the lingering effects of G1-2 into another trial-only case) plus there's still all the silly jurors and witnesses that still make this case feel very "GAA1-like" and I think that held me back from getting super invested in the case, even though it had those intriguing hooks in it. I may appreciate it more on a replay when I can view it distinctly from the cases before and after it which kind of sandwich it into a mediocre experience overall.

andylt posted...

I wonder, is McGilded the most competent defendant we've had in the series? Instead of putting himself in greater jeopardy or interfering with our defence as so many others do, he actively defends himself, to great success!

Matt Engarde

Leonhart4 posted...

Matt Engarde

He's good but ultimately fails, while McGilded actually manages to get a Not Guilty verdict at the end.

And Edgeworth has been a defendant before

Edgeworth objects to his own Not Guilty verdict to take the fall for DL-6!

andylt posted...

He's good but ultimately fails, while McGilded actually manages to get a Not Guilty verdict at the end.

He honestly didn't fail. He was about to get declared Not Guilty until de Killer turned on him and he confessed out of fear.

I'm gonna toss 4-1 Phoenix into the "most competent defendant" competition

hombad46 posted...

I'm gonna toss 4-1 Phoenix into the "most competent defendant" competition

Actually yeah, this is the answer.

Leonhart4 posted...

Maybe one day the series will do real time travel to have Phoenix and Ryunosuke meet.

Calling it now, Ace Attorney 7's DLC case will involve Maya and Pearl channelling Ryunosuke and Van Zieks for an old fashioned Victorian era trial.

Am I correctly interpreting Furst's angry animation to be him riding an imaginary horse?

Bitto posted...

Am I correctly interpreting Furst's angry animation to be him riding an imaginary horse?

That is what I believe it's supposed to be, yes.

8

Apparently the secret to beating the third case allegations is to make the cases serious business.

The jurors aren't super fun in Ryunosuke's first trial abroad. Not really a big deal, but sometimes a good supporting cast saves a case for me. The witnesses are somewhat better, but Gina is the only real memorable one (and I'd say that she gets better as these two games go on)

It was a strong decision to give this fish out of water vibes in the case where the defendant is actually guilty.

And wow, I just love how increasingly sinister McGilded becomes. Admittedly, I did suspect he had some skeletons in his closet, because you just don't have a character design like that without looking suspicious ... Because really if I was told to draw a picture of a wealthy Victorian England asshole he would probably look like this guy.

And yet, despite that I was utterly on edge. There's something so utterly visceral about not being able to stop this train wreck, by second guessing yourself over and over. When you examine the crime scene again and find those bloodstains and you think "did I forget about these the first time around??" So god damn brilliant.

This is really the McGilded show feat. Gina Lestrade and I can't even be mad.