Hart Vortex is amazing.

Freaking heck, continuing from case 4 directly now? They're just stealing from DD at this point. At least they aren't taking the terrible aspects from it. Anyway this is hype, I expect Vortex to be the main evil guy (he's the main judge on this case with no jurors, come on) and if I get anything less I will be surprised.

So yeah, quite a lot to unpack in this case. Finally, we got an AA case where not the judge was the guilty party the whole time. And two of them nonetheless. The sudden investigation with Holmes was very short and sweet, and was a nice change of pace. Everything finally got tied up together, and yeah, Hart being the big bad was quite obvious, I mean, just look at him, but it was well-written enough so I don't mind. He did give me Damon Gant vibes, but I think the mystery was different enough to separate those two.

With that said, that last bit with Holmes was a bit over-the-top, even for AA standards. I mean really, Iris is so smart she creates holographic projections in the 19th century? I could maybe buy that in a mainline AA game where it takes places in the near-future (or entirely in the past as of 2019), but not quite in DGS. And like, are they really gonna take the word of some schmuck reading from a scroll he claims to be from the queen? Just have Holmes and the queen hidden in the crowd the entire time, and come out only when Ryunosuke tugs the ears. No need for weird holograms here. With that said, I did like the idea behind the twist, and felt having the ultimate authority, one who was mentioned at the beginning of every London based DGS trial, be the one to take down Hart felt very appropriate.

And as with case 4, the lack of a jury really stuck out here. As SC said, couldn't they have just been government officials? Considering how the opinions of the people in the crowd came into play several times, I felt like that role could have just as easily been filled by a jury. And them reacting to the hypothetical queen coming in scenario would have played out nicely I feel.

Goodbyes were very nice, left enough room for interpretation on the future while wrapping things up. It's a pity that a hypothetical DGS3 had to get rolled into DGS2. I don't think we really got as nice character moments in DGS2 as we did DGS1 as a result. And man, Maria was really underdeveloped. I think she got the worst of it when it came to this merger. I guess despite that, she still managed to leave enough of a impression on me to make me want more. Similarly, I feel Gina and Susato were kinda underutilized this game, only just being there. Ryunosuke's arc wasn't nearly as good as DGS1's either... but I'm happy with what we got with Asogi and Van Zieks. So all's well that ends well I suppose.

I pretty much agree with you there. The final JR was pretty splendid, and the fast pace contributes to a lot of it. Plus Yuujin/Holmes is a pretty great tag team. Tap dancing yaaaaaay

Yeah, Vortex was a bit obvious to me as well, which was just a pity. On one hand, I really do like how he masterminds everything without ever directly killing someone, and his motives were genuinely decent. On the other hand, I just found him so booooring before the reveal as a character, and the way he got taken down was genuinely garbage. I do not exaggerate when I say that's my least favourite final AA confrontation ever. Even worse than 1-2's and it never really addresses Vortex's motives and even the guys in the audience who supported him. Having a jury at the end would have been perfect thematically and it was just a wasted opportunity. I like your alternative much better in terms of believability as well. That said, the breakdown was pretty good.

The trial itself was also sort of underwhelming? I much preferred the case 4 witnesses overall. Jigoku's bit was fine but then they just start talking about the Professor all day and that's not nearly as fun.

Also yeah people got shafted at the end which was a pity but I liked seeing Sithe in the end. Was fun enough though.