First thought on hobo Phoenix?

[D.A. McCoy]

This sums up a lot of my feelings about Hobodo.

About Hobodo, personally, I loved it. I loved that they gave him a chance to develop past being just the derpy, self-monologuing, wins-trials-by-a-hair defense lawyer that we knew him as for GS1 all the way to GS3. That's not to say that he didn't have any development during his time as a lawyer, because I mean, just think of the finale cases. But Hobodo developed in a very different way, but in my opinion, still fairly true to character.

I mean, the sarcasm? That's nothing new, Phoenix was always pretty dry and sarcastic, it's just that we've always ever only seen it from his view, which diminishes the bite a bit. Bitter? Well, yeah, he DID lose the badge that he worked so hard for. Laidback and hobo-like? We see very clearly in the last case how he spent the past seven years researching the Gramarye trial and everyone linked to it. He's just as determined as he ever was to find the truth. So I also hope that GS5 won't just revert him back to his derpy self, although by the look of his new wardrobe, it looks unlikely. Fingers crossed.[/size]

Yeah by his new look they're taking his maturation into account. On the other hand, the trademark "Nick scratches his head and tries to grin in order to cover up his mistake" should no longer be there, yet is. If anything, being a famous, skilled poker player should have given him a poker face no one could read.

[Scarf Lawyer]

On the other hand, the trademark "Nick scratches his head and tries to grin in order to cover up his mistake" should no longer be there, yet is. If anything, being a famous, skilled poker player should have given him a poker face no one could read.

Mmhmm, I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed when I saw that too. I suspect it's likely they'll just be using the same expressions in court that Nick had before his disbarment. It's a shame, because I would've loved seeing him defending with the addition of a few tricks (bluffing, poker face, etc) he picked up during his poker career. Aargh character development!

[D.A. McCoy]

On the other hand, the trademark "Nick scratches his head and tries to grin in order to cover up his mistake" should no longer be there, yet is. If anything, being a famous, skilled poker player should have given him a poker face no one could read.

Mmhmm, I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed when I saw that too. I suspect it's likely they'll just be using the same expressions in court that Nick had before his disbarment. It's a shame, because I would've loved seeing him defending with the addition of a few tricks (bluffing, poker face, etc) he picked up during his poker career. Aargh character development!

I'm hoping they use it very sparingly. It would only make sense if Phoenix is really really really really shaken up or something.

[Scarf Lawyer]

I'm hoping they use it very sparingly. It would only make sense if Phoenix is really really really really shaken up or something.

Agreed. As he is now, he'd probably be more likely to do his 'glance off to the side with crooked smile' expression.

[CatMuto]

[size=75]

Although it would be fun to play as Phoenix, learn that your client is absolutely, 100% Guilty and then you get various options on what to do - my personal favorite would be "Tell Client Off And Break Contract"

Eh, that's sort of what happened with the Engarde case, wasn't it? Well, except for the part where you kind of had to keep defending him...

Yeah, exactly the point. I would've loved the option to tell him off. Somehow, along the lines of...
F*** you, Engarde. I hope you rot in hell.
You know, I'll just have that little "item" of yours killed.
Don't give no shit. Laterz.
Would've made me laugh, love Phoenix more and it could've given Maya a chance to run off on her own, without running into Killer right away.

And I loved the sarcasm Phoenix displayed openly in his hoboform. I already liked the sarcasm when he was just thinking it (or saying it quietly, dunno, when people answer his blue font, I'm always confused) but to put it out in the open like that ... it's like brutal honesty. So wonderfully refreshing.

C-A

[Pierre]

[size=75]

Although it would be fun to play as Phoenix, learn that your client is absolutely, 100% Guilty and then you get various options on what to do - my personal favorite would be "Tell Client Off And Break Contract"

Eh, that's sort of what happened with the Engarde case, wasn't it? Well, except for the part where you kind of had to keep defending him...

Yeah, exactly the point. I would've loved the option to tell him off. Somehow, along the lines of...
F*** you, Engarde. I hope you rot in hell.
You know, I'll just have that little "item" of yours killed.
Don't give no shit. Laterz.
Would've made me laugh, love Phoenix more and it could've given Maya a chance to run off on her own, without running into Killer right away.

And I loved the sarcasm Phoenix displayed openly in his hoboform. I already liked the sarcasm when he was just thinking it (or saying it quietly, dunno, when people answer his blue font, I'm always confused) but to put it out in the open like that ... it's like brutal honesty. So wonderfully refreshing.

C-A

Err....right...that would be a worse defamation of Phoenix's character than some hardcore anti-Apollo fans feel Hobohodo was. Run off on her own? When locked in a basement?

Sure I could tolerate it if it went more like:
Nick: (I'm sorry Maya...I just can't live with doing this)
Engarde: Well Mr Lawyer?
Nick: I'm out *solemnly leaves while Engarde taunts him*

*Epilogue* And I never Engarde again, Pearl asked me what happened and I couldn't face her to tell her the truth. A week later Engarde made the headlines, innocent, Adrian went to jail. Pearl cried most days for a while, I sent her home to the village. Thinking of moving soon, this place just has too many bad memories perhaps I can get a job elsewhere. Larry and Edgeworth keep asking me what happened, Edgeworth in particular is suspicious, he knew about the kidnapping but didn't know about Engarde being behind it all, I think he's piecing together the truth. Anyway that's all I have to say for now, goodbye....Maya.

*Pan out to show Trenchcoat!Phoenix at a gravestone labelled Maya Fey (for added bonuses have Mia's grave beside it).

So yeah as a bad ending but man that would wreck Phoenix's character the way you described it.

[Kimia]

Hm. Weeeell, I played AJ as my first game. It was actually the reason I even got a DS, since my GBA had finally given up and died.

Anyways, my thoughts when I saw that Hot!Hobo?

"Why hello there, Mr. Wright. Please ignore the rope and duct tape behind my back. Believe me when I say that it's better for you not to notice. :insert perverted cackling here:"

Cause he is one hot little SOB.

And! Ooooooh. The scheming! Seven years of plotting and waiting! And it plays right into his hands, too! Gods, the scheming was the hottest part of his character in AJ. The irony of him destroying Kris by forged evidence (including using an unknowing attorney (just like him seven years ago...)) was wonderful. I know, it's awful of me to seek vengeance through cheating(forging), but damn if it didn't feel good when I found out that Kris was the cause of the disbarment.

Getting the feeling that part of Phoenix's psyche went POOF. And out came scheming Phoenix from the ashes. Overall, this is my favorite version of Phoenix (him being hot as hell in this version only adds points...)

[Aelki]

I was super duper pissed when I saw Phoenix as a hobo. I mean, after the awesome ending in T&T, I just can't say that i'm okay with him being a hobo. To top it off, there was no Edgeworth, Larry, Maya, or anyone else in the game it and ugh.
Even today, I'm not okay with it. I always at heart am going to prefer Lawyer Phoenix rather than Hobohodo.

[Neni]

My first reaction was: "Wat."

Quickly followed by: "WHY."

Then I played the game and it quickly became: *facepalm* "We leave the guy out of sight for 2 months and...!!!"

Then, he was being all cute with Trucy and I was like: "Hm~ Yeah, that I can get used to."

But he kept annoying Apollo and I was like: "Hypocrite."


And thus my Final Verdict was:

"...Pal, you need your job back. Badly. Still, here's a Father of the Year Award. You get an "F" in mentorhood, though. Try to improve."

(I swear, if there's no Daddy-Daughter fluff in GS5, I will eat my 3DS in anger. ))

[Smithee]

My first reaction was: "Wat."

Quickly followed by: "WHY."

Then I played the game and it quickly became: *facepalm* "We leave the guy out of sight for 2 months and...!!!"

Then, he was being all cute with Trucy and I was like: "Hm~ Yeah, that I can get used to."

But he kept annoying Apollo and I was like: "Hypocrite."


And thus my Final Verdict was:

"...Pal, you need your job back. Badly. Still, here's a Father of the Year Award. You get an "F" in mentorhood, though. Try to improve."

(I swear, if there's no Daddy-Daughter fluff in GS5, I will eat my 3DS in anger. ))

Seconded; I hope and will be in GS5.

[TheBlarghMan]

For all the game series out there that have ever attempted to make a drastic change for the main character...I think
Capcom may have done both the best and the worst jobs of that in the history of video games(best with Phoenix Wright, worst with the new Dante).

I won't really bring his new personality into consideration into this argument, I did like him having a much more mature and confident sense of himself and his own skill(although I will admit that I did think he got a little cocky in the flashback trial of 4-4). I personally thought AJ did an amazing job from the standpoint of not just changing the character, but giving a reason as to why he changed in the first place. I had kind of expected the narrative behind Phoenix losing his badge to be some incredibly shallow, poorly thought out explanation that was hurried into the game, but Capcom did an excellent job of writing in an incredibly captivating explanation that not only drew its audience in and evicted an incredible sense of sadness for Phoenix, but they also made it tie in perfectly with case 4 of the game.

My only complaint with that is that it seemed like the game perhaps focused too much on Phoenix and not enough on Apollo, but that most likely has to do with the fact that AJ's release was rushed and therefore not as much material/fleshing out of Apollo's character could be included.

[sisselxsoleil]

My first reaction : "damn he's hot."

I really like Phoenix in AA4, I like that "evil mastermind" feeling he conveys. He is more badass and mature (I thought he kinda lacked maturity in the trilogy) and his jerkish side makes him less perfect, which is a plus imo. I'm a little disappointed that in AA5, he seems to go back to his old self, as if the character development he received in AA4 never existed. I hope they will fix this somehow, because right now, while looking at the screenshots of AA5, I only see the goofy Phoenix and not the badass Phoenix.

[BurdenOfProof]

Who's this bloke? The client? Yeesh. Hey, he kinda reminds me of someone...(looks closely) kinda like Nick, haha, some joke, CAPCOM...
...
... = ...
...WHAT IN THE NAME OF CRAVATS!?!?!?

(He is later identified as Phoenix Wright.)
WUTWUTWUTWUTWUT????

[Smithee]

The irony of him destroying Kris by forged evidence (including using an unknowing attorney (just like him seven years ago...)) was wonderful.

Just like when Mia destroyed Redd White by blackmail.

[CatMuto]

The irony of him destroying Kris by forged evidence (including using an unknowing attorney (just like him seven years ago...)) was wonderful.

Just like when Mia destroyed Redd White by blackmail.

With the difference that she did it blatantly in court, with dozens of witnesses. (What's the point of blackmail if other people know about it?)

C-A

[Smithee]

.

[Sjibbey]

This sums up a lot of my feelings about Hobodo.

About Hobodo, personally, I loved it. I loved that they gave him a chance to develop past being just the derpy, self-monologuing, wins-trials-by-a-hair defense lawyer that we knew him as for GS1 all the way to GS3. That's not to say that he didn't have any development during his time as a lawyer, because I mean, just think of the finale cases. But Hobodo developed in a very different way, but in my opinion, still fairly true to character.

I mean, the sarcasm? That's nothing new, Phoenix was always pretty dry and sarcastic, it's just that we've always ever only seen it from his view, which diminishes the bite a bit. Bitter? Well, yeah, he DID lose the badge that he worked so hard for. Laidback and hobo-like? We see very clearly in the last case how he spent the past seven years researching the Gramarye trial and everyone linked to it. He's just as determined as he ever was to find the truth. So I also hope that GS5 won't just revert him back to his derpy self, although by the look of his new wardrobe, it looks unlikely. Fingers crossed.

Pretty much my thoughts in a nutshell. Either upward or downward a character needs to develop. If that doesn't happen you'd get the same game over and over.
I'd like some sunglasses for him in GS5 for the most epic 'deal with it' moment in internet history.

[Atroquinine Deadly]

Holy hotdog..... THAT'S PHOENIX?!

[Emiko Nabile Gale]

I didn't think that man with the blue hat and grey sweater was Phoenix at first. But when I found out I freaked ._.

[Moddragon22]

I don't understand why people say he's hotter than regular Phoenix.

[Southern Corn]

He's got that grizzly look to him. Plus the outfit.

My first impression was surprise and sadness. I was interested to see where the game would go with this subplot. It didn't disappoint

[Going for Miles]

Also his distracting hair and eyebrows aren't visible. Regular Phoenix has a goofier aura to him in general, so I can understand if people think hobonick is hot but not the regular Phoenix.

[WaitingforGodot]

I agree with Going for Miles, and also: he almost looks like a different person with that design, so I definitely find it understandable if one doesn't find lawyer-Phoenix hot, but thinks AJ-Phoenix is, what with different preferences per se. I think lawyer-Phoenix looks rather goofy (in an endearing way), which I don't think AJ-Phoenix does, I think he's rather good looking.

[arteria]

I was just shocked when it was revealed he was actually Phoenix. I was like "Man what on EARTH happened to you??"
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed and saddened by his new status as an strangely good-looking hobo.

[Miles Morales]

I didn't like the way they went about having him lose his badge and at first I thought it was some new character that is until you find out also I didn't like Phoenix as a hobo I prefer him as a lawyer so going forward capcom should leave him a lawyer

[Southern Corn]

I didn't like the way they went about having him lose his badge and at first I thought it was some new character that is until you find out also I didn't like Phoenix as a hobo I prefer him as a lawyer so going forward capcom should leave him a lawyer

Meh, I do agree that making him a hobo again would be pretty pointless, but I really didn't like him that much in SoJ either. I guess it's mostly because of how self aware he's gotten about the bluffing since the trilogy. Weirdly enough though, it didn't bother me that much in DD, but I do think that he should have a much lesser focus in AA7 (if there is one).

[MBr]

I went into AJ completely blind when I first played it in 2014. At first, I was upset that he ended up this way thanks to Zak the jerk. I was also annoyed at how he was dangled in front of the player with Apollo asking everyone what happened to him and them responding, “Investigate it yourself.” Playing as him in the flashback case was my favourite part of the game at the time.

I’m not hung up on it anymore. I appreciate he parallels he has with Manfred von Karma: after their career was ruined they took in the child of the man who ruined them and they had a winning streak for many years.

I have to say though, Phoenix’s trilogy personality comes through when you play as him in the MASON system during the present day. He still has reactions like “whaaaat?!” rather than keeping it cool like he does as an NPC. I suppose since Apollo isn’t around, he doesn’t have to appear so mysterious.

What annoys me most now is how the series tries its best to ignore AJ - in this case Phoenix becomes a lawyer again and nothing about his character from AJ carries over. He makes references to AJ, sure. Though I will say I liked that his disbarment was linked to the dark age of the law in DD, though that could have been done better.