Finally we have a full Ace Attorney case: investigation and trial. When Mia Fey is murdered and her younger sister Maya is accused, it’s up to Phoenix to prove her innocence and find Mia’s true killer. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), his opposition is none other than Miles Edgeworth, a prosecutor who has never lost a case and is rumoured to make up evidence as he pleases. The case pulls back the curtain of the seedy underbelly of the court system and we get our first, but definitely not last, look at corruption within the courts.
Let’s start with the plot of this case before getting to the character beats. It is wild that Phoenix’s second case as a lawyer involves him bringing down a man who has the entire court system and politicians in his pocket. Our friend Phoenix certainly doesn’t think small. On the other hand, maybe it had to be someone new because Redd White doesn’t have any dirt on him, since we see in later cases that Phoenix is not immune to blackmail. Either way, it is quite the step up from a burglary gone wrong. It feels like there has to be some kind of fallout from Redd White’s downfall, but unfortunately we don’t get any of that. Presumably it all gets hushed up somehow since nobody that was under White’s thumb would want to admit it. We also get hints about the DL-6 incident and the Fey family’s involvement, although the exact nature of the murder itself is still unclear.
Let’s move on to the characters, starting with our boy Phoenix. I have such a soft spot for characters who are incredibly smart but also huge dumbasses which is probably why I like him so much. Because Mia’s right. People in-universe talk about Edgeworth as a genius prosecutor prodigy, but Phoenix is the same for defense attorneys. As much as his winning is often put down to blind luck by others, it is much more because of his intelligence and hard work. I’m not arguing that Phoenix has no luck, because he definitely has crazy luck when it comes to injuries and is frequently saved by Mia at the last minute, but he is much smarter than people give him credit for. See: passing the bar by studying independently.
This right here is why I was interested in playing these games chronologically, because what Phoenix says here is very similar to what Gregory tells Fender in Turnabout Legacy. It makes sense, because Phoenix learned what a lawyer is from child Miles, who learned from his father. That is such a fun throughline that you only get retrospectively when you play these games in release order. I'm looking forward to seeing how this continues to develop, along with Edgeworth's thoughts on being a prosecutor.
Speaking of Edgeworth…
Edgeworth has been a prosecutor for four years and one of the things he’s known for is his composure, but he spends three hours in a room with Phoenix Wright and he starts to crash out. It is so funny. Truly, these two are some of the best to ever do it, and by “it” I mean yaoi.
I have a lot to say about Edgeworth’s arc in the first game from both his and Manfred von Karma’s perspectives, but it will have to wait until we get the full picture of what’s going on.
And so begins one of my favourite friendships in the series. I love Maya so much, she is a very close sixth on my favourite character list. The first time I played these games I was really worried that it was going to head towards her and Phoenix getting together and was so relieved that didn't happen. With this, we have all the major pieces for the first trilogy of games. Now we get to see how they put together in different ways and how they impact each other.
Let’s end with a few updates to our throughlines and counters:
Technology: It is weird that nobody in this series has a smartphone given that it’s 2016, but of anyone it’s the least weird that Maya doesn’t. There is also the computer in Mia’s office, however Phoenix does specifically say that it’s an ancient model she got at a garage sale so it gets a pass for being outdated.
Phoenix Wright Indictment Count: 2
Maya Fey Indictment Count: 1
Phoenix Wright Injury/Assault Count: 4 (Paper thrown at him by Maya, punched by Redd White)
This bonus screenshot is brought to you by capitalism!
When the villain of a children’s show is seemingly murdered by the hero, it’s up to Phoenix and Maya to prove his innocence. Along the way, Phoenix receives assistance from the dead and an unexpected ally in the courtroom, finishing with a conversation that is Very Normal. With a colourful cast of characters, a number of interesting twists, and an unusual resolution, this is one of my favourite cases in the series.
Most of this post is going to focus on the characters since there are so many and a lot happens, but I want to start with the plot because I really think it’s one of the best in the series. A lot of the elements end up being used in other cases (which is not necessarily a negative for those cases), but the way they all work together here is excellent. I especially like that the victim ended up being the one who was attempting murder and the “culprit” was only acting in self-defense. Granted, she was blackmailing him, but it’s still a good twist and I like that the game is already playing with your expectations of how a trial will go by having the correct answer be that she has no motive.
I also really like Dee Vasquez generally. She has a great design and her takes-no-shit personality is so much fun. I love that she chastises both Phoenix and Edgeworth with no hesitation. I also like that she is willing to admit when she “lost” and she is one of the few culprits to recognize Phoenix’s intelligence. She even says he’s smarter than he looks.
To be honest, I have never understood why characters react to WP the way they do. He just looks like a guy to me, especially in a series with some out-there character designs. WP is way more normal looking than Redd White, for instance. Maybe I’m lacking the context of how big he is, but even when you see him standing in Investigations 2 he doesn’t seem scary.
As a side note, and I know this is skipping ahead quite a lot, but I think WP would adore Trucy. He would be enthused by all her magic tricks and let her practice with him. I bet he's been in at least one of her shows.
It is very funny that this doesn’t get called out more. I know it would derail things for everyone to constantly be like “um wtf is up with Maya all of a sudden?” but there are some times that it’s a bit silly. Like in the last case you think someone would have noticed that the murder victim was suddenly standing at the defense bench???
I’ll talk more about Phoenix’s reliance on Mia when we get to Trials and Tribulations (since that’s also when the series talks about it), but I do appreciate that even with her around, he still figures things out on his own. He just needs a little nudge sometimes, which is fair since this is literally his third trial ever.
Ah Oldbag. I really like her as a comic relief character, especially with Edgeworth. I especially like to think about her (in the future) finding out about Edgeworth and Phoenix. I like to think she’s accepting of Edgeworth being gay but when she finds out that he’s dating Phoenix Wright she completely loses it.
Okay we need to talk about Edgeworth helping Phoenix in this trial because it is hilarious to think about from Manfred von Karma’s perspective. You spend 15 years moulding this child into your own image to get revenge on his father (who you killed), and it works! Edgeworth thinks that what’s important is getting everyone guilty no matter what and he respects you deeply as a mentor. It works for four years until some attorney you’ve never heard of shows up and in his second trial not only beats Edgeworth but brings down Redd White (who you know von Karma has some kind of ties to). Now Edgeworth starts doubting himself and ends up flouting your teachings and openly assisting the defense. No wonder von Karma sets events in motion. I'd be pissed too if all it takes is eight hours in a room with some guy to undo all my propaganda.
A question that people have been asking for 25 years. I don’t think I have anything new to say about this conversation between Phoenix and Miles, but I had to include something from it. It is just so gay. Poor Edgeworth. I’ll talk about the events of this game from his perspective in the next post, once we get everything out in the open.
I had the same trajectory for Wrightworth that most people do: I went into the games assuming that they’re a popular ship because it’s two men who are rivals and that’s what fandoms tend to like, then I got to this conversation and went “oh.” And then the next case and went “Ohhhhh.” They truly are just Like That and it’s beautiful.
There are no counters to update this time, but a quick technology check in: The Judge not knowing what a digital camera is is pretty funny, but he is established to not know anything about technology so I guess it’s kind of plausible. As is the security system at Global Studios being old, that seems like a thing that still happens. Good for Cody’s parents to give him a camera and not a phone
Bonus: This is what happens when the government gets rid of food regulations
Two months after Phoenix Wright saves Miles Edgeworth, the pair find themselves back in court in another battle for Edgeworth’s soul. Approached by Ema Skye, Phoenix finds himself defending her older sister Lana, who insists on confessing to the murder of a police detective. The long and winding investigation takes them to a two year old case and corruption in the police and prosecutor’s office. It is only by working together that Wright and Edgeworth are able to uncover the truth, but it may already be too late for the genius prosecutor…
I know that it’s not always considered that well, but I generally like this case. It is a bit long but I like the characters it introduces and I think the many twists and turns it takes to be interesting. Plus we get so much Wrightworth food, and I think it’s a better lead-in to Edgeworth’s disappearance than the end of Goodbyes. We get to see him wrestling with who he is as both a prosecutor and as a person, and given everything he goes through it’s more understandable why he disappears.
We really get to see Phoenix’s genius at the climax of this case. He does get a bit of help from Lana and a lot from Edgeworth, but one of Phoenix’s strengths is that he’s willing to accept that help. Neither Lana nor Edgeworth came up with the plan of using evidence law against Gant, though. It is so satisfying to outsmart someone like that. Fuck ‘em up, Phoenix.
My favourite new character in this case has to be Angel Starr. I love her and all her boyfriends. Good for her. Side note, in Tomodachi life my Mii is married to (adult) Ema.
I know this came out after the rest of the first trilogy, but I’m curious how much they had planned about Apollo Justice because there are a lot of parallels between what happened to Edgeworth in the SL-9 incident and what’s going to happen to Phoenix in two years. I’ll probably write a separate post about it once we get there.
All that being said…
This is one of the worst minigames I have ever played in a video game. In theory it’s not a terrible idea, but the margin for error is so small, it resets your position each time you get it wrong, and the Blue Badger music is playing the whole time, taunting you. I have to use a YouTube video to get it and even with that it took me three tries. The rest of the minigames in this case are fine, some are even kind of fun (I like spraying luminol everywhere) but this particular one can go to hell.
ANYWAYS
We get back to “what is a defense attorney” a bit here. Lana and Mia may have been a thing, but it’s clear that Lana never really understood what drove Mia. One of the reasons Phoenix is so good at his job is because he believes in his clients. Lana doesn’t understand that because she’s a detective and a prosecutor. Of course, Phoenix’s thoughts on this topic need to be tested at some point, but for now we know that a defense attorney is a friend to the friendless and someone who believes in their client.
Speaking of roles, we can see that Edgeworth is starting to rethink his own stance. We don’t get an explicit “what is a prosecutor” here, but it’s clear that things are starting to change. Phoenix and Miles end up explicitly working together to uncover the truth, even if Miles is still troubled by his past actions as a prosecutor and Gant’s claim that the two of them are the same.
In the last post I talked about this game from Edgeworth’s perspective and about how no wonder he’s messed up, and this only makes it worse. I did want to highlight that Edgeworth does have support other than Phoenix in the form of Detective Gumshoe. His loyalty to Edgeworth is so sweet, especially since he sees it as a form of trust. Gumshoe is even willing to risk his job for Edgeworth. There’s Phoenix too, of course, in an extremely not-at-all subtle metaphor about each of them having half of the evidence and not being able to find the truth without each other. I mean, come on. I fully believe that Lana “she was attracted to me” Skye is acutely aware of what’s going on between them and is maybe even trying to nudge them in the right direction.
And so we come to the end of Phoenix Wright’s rookie season. We have a bit of a timeskip before Phoenix has to start contemplating what a defense attorney truly is. There’s an ominous sound on the horizon, almost like… a whip?
None of the counters we’ve kept so far get any updates but I will give you a one-off counter for everyone’s favourite lunch seller:
Angel Starr Boyfriend Count: 7 current, indeterminate number of old, and taking applications for new
And since we’ve finished a game for the first time, let’s take a look at the counters so far:
Phoenix Wright Indictment Count: 2
Maya Fey Indictment Count: 2
Total Wright & Co Law Office Indictment Count: 4
Miles Edgeworth Indictment Count: 2
Phoenix Wright Injury/Assault Count: 7
Amnesia Count: 1.5
Bonus: Edgeworth is definitely not working through his feelings via chess
We’ve made it to the courthouse, and into a courtroom, but we don’t quite make it to trial just yet. Instead, we spend time with a young Miles Edgeworth and an even younger Franziska von Karma as they investigate the deaths of a defendant and the prosecutor Miles was supposed to replace. Miles meets a lot of new people, most of whom he won’t re-encounter for another six and a half years, with one major exception. Another case that doesn’t get a full resolution, although at least we find out who the killer was.
There is a lot of Miles talking about seeking perfection: the perfect evidence, the perfect testimony, all to build the perfect case. He talks about his desire to win and ensure that all criminals are found guilty. The von Karma teeth are in deep at this point. I am so curious what Detective Badd thinks of him, especially since he went out of his way to help Gregory in the last case. Unfortunately we don’t get much of that, only that Badd (rightly) considers both Miles and Franziska to be naïve kids.
Man, fuck this guy. I have a lot more to say about Manfred von Karma, but it will have to wait until we get to his next (and final) appearance. Let’s just say it’s hard to know who’s pettier: him, or Kristoph Gavin. It makes me sad to see how much Miles and Franziska are under his thumb. If only there were someone who could help with that…
She’s right and she should say it. I really love that Calisto Yew spends most of this case laughing at how ridiculous Miles is, because he is. I mean, that outfit is just so much. Miles always speaks formally, but it’s much more in this case than later ones. Sometimes you need someone to point out how ridiculous you’re being in order to recognize it yourself, and while I’m not sure that Yew is that person for Miles, it’s a start.
I love them so much. One of the best parts of the Investigations games is seeing more of their relationship. Even in this case, when they’re both young and still under Manfred’s control, it’s clear they care about each other. I mentioned in the last post that Fender is a top five Ace Attorney character for me (he’s number four, specifically). Miles is absolutely my number one (shocking, I know). Franziska is tied in fifth with a certain other prosecutor, my preference changing depending on who is on screen at the time, so at the moment she’s up there. Anyways, I adore the sibling relationship between Miles and Franziska. The whole vending machine is fun to explore but this exchange is my favourite.
One of my favourite goofy things about this entire series is that they have the technology level of when the games were made, not when they’re set. In-universe it is 2012 but they have a VHS tape? To be fair, I don’t know a lot about security systems so maybe they were still using tapes in 2012 but it feels off. It gets more egregious as the games go on and I will always delight in pointing it out because it is never not funny to me.
How could I not include the beginning of a beautiful working relationship (and eventually friendship). Miles then goes on to talk smack about how much he doesn’t like Gumshoe and that he’s not very good at his job, but we all know that’s not really true. Well, the Miles not liking him part, at least. Gumshoe’s aptitude for his work is a separate issue.
I don’t have a screenshot for it, but something I think this series does really well is coming up with interesting solutions for locked room mysteries. The solution to this one is interesting, using a fake gunshot sound (the video tape in this instance) to create a fake alibi for the time of the murder. The murderer gets away, but at least we know how it was done. More closure than last time! I wonder if we'll get to see Miles's actual courtroom debut...
Immediately after the conclusion of the Robert Hammond case, Phoenix Wright defends Miles Edgeworth on the charge of murdering his own father. Despite the case being 15 years old, Phoenix manages to find out the truth and save Edgeworth once again. A day later, Maya decides she needs to focus on her spiritual training and leaves for her village, but not before Phoenix gets to show her how important she was to the trial.
We have another locked door mystery (a more literal one this time) with a different solution. This one is number 6, a murder which was committed by someone outside the room but made to seem as if it was committed by someone inside. It’s a bit strange that no one noticed the extra bullet hole for 15 years, but if we know anything it’s that the cops in this world aren’t very good at their jobs (sorry Gumshoe, but it’s true).
It is so funny to me that the entire timeline of the Ace Attorney world is based on this one single date. This is the only time a year is mentioned in any of these games and everything is extrapolated from there. Parts of this project wouldn’t be possible without this one date. I am curious as to why the developers decided to put Gregory’s murder in the year the game came out instead of the game itself. It would seem to make more sense for the 15 years earlier to be 1986 and the present be 2001, but I’m glad they did it this way because it is much funnier and lets me comment on the weird technology.
This is one of two cases that is literally down to wire, as in it would not be possible to extend or re-try them at a later date, the other being the re-trial of Simon Blackquill in Dual Destinies (I have a lot to say about parallels between Phoenix and Athena but that is a long way off). Both the Turnabout Goodbyes are very close given that Edgeworth actually gets a guilty verdict in the Hammond murder before Larry intervenes and the DL-6 case is on the literal last day of the statute of limitations. It wouldn’t be a Phoenix Wright trial if things didn’t go off the rails and the judge was forced to extend the trial because some new piece of information was revealed.
This is so sad. I don’t know if Gregory died thinking he had been accidentally shot by his son or if he only realized it when he was channeled by Misty Fey, but either way it is heartbreaking. I like to think that at some point (maybe as a wedding gift) Maya channels Gregory and Miles is able to clarify things/get some closure.
Seriously, fuck von Karma. How petty/evil do you have to be to decide that murder isn’t enough revenge and you have to manipulate your enemy’s son in order to get your full revenge? I firmly believe that von Karma only put the Yanni Yogi revenge plot in motion because Miles starts to stray from his teachings. He was about to get away with murder, but once Phoenix Wright starts messing things up, he decides it’s better to get rid of Miles entirely. It’s too bad that he’s up against a single-minded defense attorney who is both a genius and in love with Miles Edgeworth. There’s a lot to be said about similarities between Phoenix and Gregory, but I’m going to save that for Investigations 2.
Okay, let’s talk about this game from Edgeworth’s perspective. You are a renowned prosecutor, known as a genius prodigy, doing your job as you understand it, and yes that sometimes involves morally iffy methods, but it is your responsibility to find criminals guilty. One day you start receiving messages from someone you knew as a child but you ignore them because it’s too painful to think about the time before your father’s death. A few years later you show up in court and it’s that same childhood friend across the room and he’s staring at you. Somehow in that first trial he manages to pick apart all your carefully prepared witness testimony and ends up not only proving his client’s (and his own) innocence, but taking down someone who seemingly had control over the entire justice system. Now your perfect record is marred but justice was served so does your record matter? You’re sipping tea and staring moodily out the window while thinking about it. You end up facing him in trial again, but this time you’re confident. At least you are until he once again pulls everything apart. You realize that the defendant can’t possibly be guilty, but it is also your policy to ensure everyone is declared guilty. For reasons that you can’t articulate even to yourself, you end up helping the defense catch the real killer. You’re probably getting yelled at by your mentor for not being perfect while also not being able to stop thinking about that man and doubting your own methods. Your nightmares are getting worse as the statute of limitations on your father’s death draws close. You get a letter from the defense attorney who got your father’s murderer off so you go to meet him but then it seems like he commits suicide and you end up arrested. You don’t know what’s going on but you do know that you don’t want your childhood friend involved, but he refuses to give up on you and that makes you feel good but you can’t let yourself think about that. You end up in court and it turns out the murder was all a set-up to get revenge on you, which means your nightmare must be real and you killed your father. You confess but your friend refuses to believe you and he somehow manages to solve a 15-year-old case and prove that the person who killed your father is your mentor and he’s been using you as a perverse form of revenge. You also learn that the entire reason your childhood friend became a defense attorney is because of a class trial you barely remember and because he saw a newspaper article about you and was worried about you. In four months your entire world has fallen apart and you don’t know what to believe anymore. The entire reason you became a prosecutor was a lie, your mentor’s teachings are tainted, you were reminded that you used to want to be a defense attorney to follow in your father’s footsteps, and you’re having weird feelings about your childhood friend that you can’t figure out. Poor Miles. Well, things can only get better from here... right?
Only one case to go in the first game! Let’s update our counters:
Miles Edgeworth Indictment Count: 2
Amnesia Count: 1.5 (Edgeworth around his father’s death)
Fun fact: I took 367 screenshots of this case. I'm proud I managed to get it down to seven.
Game: Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit (I completely forgot this game has a subtitle)
Date: December 24-25, 2000
Time Since Last Case: N/A
We begin with the IS-7 Incident, aka Gregory Edgeworth’s last case. No courtroom here, just an investigation into the murder of a confectioner/famous sculptor. This case is loaded with dramatic irony and, since this is only half of Turnabout Legacy, we don’t get a resolution to the case.
What we do get is some great musical numbers, which is surprising since this game doesn’t have full voice acting. I love that the guard gets into it too. Nobody can resist the Bake ‘n’ Bop theme. I want this show to be real so badly. I would watch the hell out of a musical baking show.
I’m sorry, you’re telling me this man is 34 years old??? He looks like he’s in his 40s at least. He hasn’t even faced von Karma in court yet, that’s gotta age him some more.
Something I really like is that you can see how Miles is an amalgamation of both Gregory and Manfred. He looks like Gregory (especially once Miles gets glasses), but quite a few of his animations are like Manfred’s. Speaking of Manfred von Karma…
This will never not be funny to me. How should we introduce Manfred von Karma, a man who hangs over the first AA trilogy and Investigations games even though he only has three appearances total? I know, let’s have him walk out of a fairy tale castle made of cream. It’s such a good contrast (as noted by Eddie) and is an excellent comedy bit. 10/10 no notes.
I really like that they show what a good dad Gregory is. He really loves Miles and wants the best for him. It's so important to see as a comparison to Manfred von Karma.
I wouldn’t worry Gregory, in a few months Miles is going to make two friends by doing what you taught him: standing up for someone who's alone and has no one on his side. Oh, and the boy he stands up for? He's going to be Very Normal about it.
I really like Detective Badd. I love that he’s constantly eating lollipops but everyone thinks he’s smoking. It’s fun to see a detective and a prosecutor not getting along since for the most part they work well together, and you can definitely see how Badd ends up where he does by the time Miles meets him.
It’s also worth saying that Fender is a top five Ace Attorney character for me. We’ll get into it more when he shows up in the future, but he’s so cute in this case and I adore his relationship with Gregory.
The twist at the end of this part of Turnabout Legacy is really fun. von Karma not having the body is great. I’m sure that will be very important in the trial and there won’t be any kind of fabricated evidence or forced confessions and that the trial will go great for everyone involved. Hey, remember when I mentioned dramatic irony?
This one is a bit strange because we don’t get a resolution. We don’t know who killed Artie Frost or what happened to his body, but if we know anything, it’s that the truth will always make itself known eventually. It might just take a while.
---
Okay so I know I said I was going to limit myself to five screenshots and I’ve already broken that by adding an intro photo to these posts but there is so much good writing in these games, can you blame me? Also, I’ve decided to put a bonus screenshot at the end of these posts that’s funny but not something that I have a lot to say about.
Today we end with Detective Badd speaking an important truth:
And so we finally make it to trial with a case that is the debut for both Miles Edgeworth and Mia Fey, the latter of whom is accompanied by Diego Armando, a fellow attorney. An escaped criminal is accused of murdering a policewoman, but the truth is never straightforward. To find it, we have to look at a kidnapping five years earlier and figure out exactly what the seemingly lovely Melissa Foster is hiding. Yet another case that doesn’t get a satisfying resolution, although as we barrel towards a certain someone’s first appearance, things may start to turn around…
Okay let’s get the weirdness out of the way first.
What is with people sexually harassing Mia in this case???? It’s hard to know which is worse, Armando (her coworker!) constantly calling her kitten or Gumshoe, a cop on a witness stand in court! At least Edgeworth shuts that down quickly. I cannot believe Mia dates Armando. Girl you can do so much better. There’s also the way Melissa/Dahlia is treated, but at least that is a deliberate manipulation by her to hide her true nature. Mia’s just trying to do her job.
I’m sorry, Edgeworth has a flair for the dramatic? I mean you’re not wrong, Armando, but at the end of this trial you crush your coffee cup with your bare hand and just let yourself bleed. I’m not sure there’s a single lawyer in the court system that doesn’t have a flair for the dramatic. Wait, there’s one, and it’s the woman standing next to you.
More dramatic irony! I mean, what would Mia possibly know about bringing the dead back to life? That’s a ridiculous notion, especially when involving Mia Fey and Dahlia Hawthorne.
There’s another good moment that I forgot to get shot of where Edgeworth counters Mia’s claim that Dahlia killed Valerie by saying, “Dahlia Hawthorne lost something much more precious. Her big sister. Ms. Fey must be insane to even suggest that she murdered her.” Hey, Miles? You might want to remember your thoughts on someone killing their sister. I just have a hunch that it might be pertinent in a few years. Just a thought.
There’s a lot to talk about with Dahlia. She has one of the best character themes in the series. It’s great because it’s both relaxing/mystical but there’s also something slightly off about it that makes it just a bit edgy. It is (for the most part) fun to see the men in the courtroom become buffoons around her, especially because we (and Mia) can see right through it. Obviously what happens to Fawles is messed up, but on the other hand he was 20 dating a 14 year old so, uh, there’s that. I like an evil woman, especially when she’s not morally grey and is just, as she puts it, “a bad girl.”
Something that’s fun with her in this specific case is that it’s a bit ambiguous if Edgeworth has actually fallen for her act or if he’s playing along with it because it helps his case. I personally lean towards the latter, because he doesn’t fall all over himself the same way the judge does, instead he uses that sympathy to penalize Mia. Plus Edgeworth’s gay so it makes sense it doesn’t work on him.
One of my favourite throughlines in this series is what is a lawyer, and what is a prosecutor? In the first case, Gregory Edgeworth says a lawyer is a friend to the friendless. In the second, Miles says that his job as a prosecutor is to find all criminals guilty. Here we get Armando’s take on the subject of lawyers. The way that the character’s views evolve over time is really cool to see, which is one thing that I’m looking forward to with this project.
Again, we have a case without a resolution. The killer gets away by manipulating the defendant into committing suicide, and the debut of Miles and Mia ends without a verdict. There’s a hint that Dahlia dislikes Mia for a reason other than seeing through her act. We see Manfred von Karma’s influence on Miles as he manipulates testimony and evidence in order to get a perfect win. And Dahlia gets away with this murder, but only time will tell how long she can escape justice…
Bonus: As a Canadian, I had to choose something related to the judge, and this made me laugh the most.
Phoenix Wright is hit on the head with a fire extinguisher and develops amnesia right before the trial of Maggey (not Maggie) Byrd, forcing Maggey to explain to Phoenix (and the player) the mechanics of a trial. Despite this, he manages to discover the real killer and prove his client’s innocence.
This is by far the weakest tutorial case in the series and I don’t have that much to say about it. A man mistakes a baseball glove for a bunch of bananas. There’s a contradiction that is only obvious if you know about baseball (which is my favourite sport, but I am aware that it is not necessarily common knowledge). They give Phoenix amnesia for the purposes of tutorializing the player. For some reason it’s being prosecuted by Payne instead of Franziska. What’s she doing during this, huh? I’d say she was too smart to get involved in a case this ludicrous, but given the next case…
Wellington is talking about Phoenix’s amnesia, but it does also fit with the main theme of this game, which is what is Phoenix’s role as a defense attorney? He’s right, Phoenix hasn’t figured that out yet, and if it were coming from literally anyone other than this guy, it would be more interesting.
Even when amnesiac, Mia’s lessons are still there. It really shows Phoenix’s genius that he’s able to navigate this case with no memories. Phoenix Wright’s lawyerly instincts can’t be erased that easily!
I do think it’s interesting that Phoenix first has this nightmare now. It indicates that he’s already having doubts about his role as a defense attorney, although we don’t have an explicit reason for it. It could be general uncertainty as he matures from being a rookie, or maybe it’s because of Edgeworth’s disappearance. I could absolutely see him feel like he failed Edgeworth and so is having doubts, which would also explain why he’s overly dramatic when Edgeworth is brought up.
We do have two counters to update:
Phoenix Wright Injury/Assault Count: 30 (hit on the head with a fire extinguisher)
Amnesia Count: 2.5
Bonus: Send this to your friends who haven’t played this game and ask them what he’s talking about!
