I don't quite follow how people are upset that "Phoenix's characters" are making appearances here. Exactly what makes them "belong" to Nick? For me, they're simply part of Ace Attorney history, and them appearing here is completely appropriate.

To be honest though I prefer the "small" cameos, like Lotta and Sal. The ones you wouldn't know were cameos unless you've played the other games. They're like Easter eggs, a "Cameo GET!" if you will. :)

Meekins was alright, he wasn't as annoying as I remembered him, though I suppose that's mostly because I hated the noise his megaphone made. Ema was mostly "WTF are you doing here?" though it was nice to see her in this stage of development (would love to know though what made her so grumpy in AJ!)

Larry and Oldnag surprised me though. In that they actually managed to be funny in this game. Or, actually, it's not so much them that's funny, it's Edgeworth's reactions to them. As the only two people guaranteed to knock icy-cool Edgeworth off his equilibrium, they were the cause of some absolutely ace moments. Especially Oldbag.

I was bothered by Meekins in this game more than that RFTA or AJ because he was without his microphone. That was like an endearing quirk and I could accept him as a character without taking him seriously. Here, he's even more of a sadsack than in Turnabout Succession.

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In my opinion, the cameos that were only mini-sprites were fine, but having Oldbag (x2), Ema, Larry (as Steel Samurai Daddy=fail) & Meekins there kind of destroyed the originality in the game. Other than those four, the other cameos fit in perfectly, and the gameplay itself was really great so I suppose it was fine enough, but yes, Capcom could've done better with more original characters.

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^ That's Capcom we're talking about.

I don't find cameos to be that annoying. Hilarity-wise, I found Larry to be a little annoying than Oldbag, not that I hate Larry, I'm surprised that he even appeared as Steel Samurai. Meekins was expected, despite that "pose." Lotta did a small role in Case 5, she captured a photo.
Speaking of Steel Samurai, can someone enlighten me why Steel Samurai is invited in the embassy?

But still, this is only a spin-off, so cameos still expected.

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I belive Alebahst were big fans of The Steel Samurai, and so, they invited him to join the goodwill thingie.

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