...that would've been nice. All previous AA games had a case where you meet the victim before they're killed. But now DD has gone and... didn't. Well, unless AAI2 already broke this tradition, but I haven't played that yet.

Just at the end of case 4 now and I have to say I liked Aura quite a lot. I can see how the plotline is starting to show the patterns of the franchise ("seven years ago" *sigh*) but so far the story still has done a lot to stand on its own... and Athena isn't as much of a Sue as I initially thought after seeing the rough story-arc in the Japanese version.

Anyway, Aura is nice, but it baffles me she's Blackquill's older sister. She does feel very sinister though so I guess there's a similarity there :P

You mean how the plot is exactly the same as 1-5's?

Everything started [X] years ago, when [Person A] murdered [Person B]. [Person A] framed the crime on [Person C], a young girl who was at the scene of the crime. However, [Person D] discovered the scene, and they rearranged it in order to protect [Person C]. In the present, while [Person D] insists on their guilt in order to protect [Person C], Phoenix Wright proves that the murderer was neither [Person C] nor [Person D], but actually [Person A].

They quote some lyrics of "Don't Stop me now" of Queen, and I'm pretty sure it's a reference to this Osu! Don't Stop me now. (Feat Phoenix Wright)

I'm skeptical about Phantom surviving the sniper attack. Is that what happened in the original Japanese version?

Apollo says to Klavier "It's a shame you guys stopped playing together, really!" (paraphrasing) referring to the Gavinners but he MEANS it? WTF. That's really out of character for Apollo. He might've been envious be he outright hated their music in AJ:AA, he called it glam and he thought it was too loud.

Klav replied: "I know just how much you... adored our music." If the hesitant pause didn't give it away, I dunno what would.

I second a lot of posts beginning with "Cykes was too present" and "suspects were too obvious".

Once again, the game lacked ambition and did a "one-shot plot lines for only one video game"
When will we have a coherent saga, with a threaded mystery lasting for 3 games (but better done than the first trilogy, which was piecing some fragments together, hoping for coherence)
Now that the game is mature and the staff knows it can easily make a saga without (utter) financial loss, why not more emphasis in it ? Wish that phantom thing would have not been resolved till GS6... But the so-called "dark age of law" was eventually resolved kinda poorly in the same game it "appeared" (even though it's been a long time ago as well outlined before). Way to lose 7 years for nothing... With such time gaps, I expect Phoenix to be 50 years old in GS6 just to avoid any plot miscoherences considering the amount of information from both GS and GK series.

Too much importance in the mood matrix (i was like wtf when the judge said "it weighs the same as evidences", srsly wtf...)

Still no correction about the clear lack of "potential suspects". About the lack of stake around penalties, that's inherent to the game mechanics unfortunately.

About "returning characters were not given any role" : that's true. But imo, Trucy and Klavier are nothing more than rag dolls/fillers, ever since they've come to the series. What has proven their usefulness, both in terms of scripts & character interest, so far ? Nothing I can see. Except if you're fan of dumb panties running gags (how can someone actually talk about "gag") and empty bragging personnalities with no balls to hold for... (weakest rival so far in the series)

The lack of a real face to put on the "bad guy" is really dramatic for the whole charisma of the game, i'd say.

Cases 4 and cases 5 shouldn't have been separated, seriously...

Eventually, Apollo wasn't as developed as he could be. Think about it. He's just "cooler", but that's pretty much about it. Recalling one's memories doesn't make up for char dev. Now we barely only know he had a friend and that he likes space. Wow. What about the frigging unused plot holes left in GS4 mah boy ? Your mother, your father, etc. ? How is Clay anyway ? We read about 3 lines of the guy from his 10 year former self. How is it an important character ?

Really appreciated the work on some animations, most notably Means' board and Cosmos' segway

It doesn't bother me that much that the game is railed : after all, as previously said, there are no real stakes to define. Come on, we're playing a novel and there's nothing we can do about it. Cause that's what we like. (henke37 said it all, heh). HOWEVER the incessant removal of evidences stroke me, in a bad way. I would also have expected little more toughness on the use of special powers (especially Apollo's ring)

gems > Fulbright was needed everywhere so to be emotionnally tied, blablah. THATHZ TEH PHANTOM CMON

I also felt like they could've gone much further with Apollo. It was more like he got some depth in this game but IMO his friendship with his contrived friend Clay felt too sappy, and seriously, couldn't they have made that bro-picture with the two more dude-bro'ish or something? Now people are all over it shipping the two because of its "Yaoi" appeal. I dislike that. Of course when I say contrived it spring to light that it couldn't really have been much different. He was left as a blank slate because of poor planning by Takumi with AJ:AA so they had to make something "contrived" to develop his character.

But I honestly think he should've gone more "to the dark side". I get that he left because he needed peace to gather his thoughts, look for his own answers and stay away from Athena so he didn't percieve her and get the wrong impression, but I wish he'd gone so far that he'd have done something to regret making it harder for him to go back to being his good ol' self. I would've loved it if DD ended on a cliffhanger with Apollo's future still being left as a mystery.

What happened with the Jurist System? Is it implied or is it gone?

It's gone.

Actually, now that I think about it, who is responsible for the courtroom bombing? The Phantom or Ted Tonate?
The way I understood it, the phantom had the remote switch, and tonate activated the bomb again. Now, how did the Phantom know that / did Tonate even plan on bombing the court room? Because the Phantom bombed it to get rid of the moonstone, didn't he..? Looking back, that part is kind of confusing.

At the end of Case 1, we all suspected Tonate to be the bomber. It wasn't until we heard about the Phantom when he was a possible suspect. Tonate said he didn't bomb Courtroom No. 4; the current evidence said otherwise at that moment. We then proved it was the Phantom behind it all. He detonated the bomb to destroy the moon rock: the one imcriminating evidence against him. The only things Tonate is guilty of is second-degree murder and selling bombs to the black market.

I found the picture to be pretty dude-bro'ish already. Anyway, the very existence of a best friend already means "yaoi" for most people, so I'd say the picture is pretty much irrelevant to the whole case.

It wasn't the best but it was a good Ace Attorney game. I can't say I'm disappointed with it at all. Im only disappointed that the Gramarye/Jurist thing was thrown away... and come on, in the Dark Age of Law, the Jurist system isn't being implemented? What the ****? That doesn't make any sense to me.

I thought Means was going to be blackmailing the students since his ideology differed from Prof. Courte.