Lawyer: I am gay.
Prosecutor: I brutally murdered a woman in front of her daughter.
The Media: Both sides are wrong, we truly live in the dark age of the law.
Prosecutor: I brutally murdered a woman in front of her daughter.
The Media: Both sides are wrong, we truly live in the dark age of the law.
This is like if there was a Danganronpa game with Ace Attorney characters in it just replace hope and despair with dark age of the law
>look for a new ace attorney game
>ask Capcom if their game is satire or shonen
>they don't understand
>pull up a diagram explaining what is satire and what is shonen
>they laugh and say "It's a good game sir"
>buy the game
>it's shonen
>ask Capcom if their game is satire or shonen
>they don't understand
>pull up a diagram explaining what is satire and what is shonen
>they laugh and say "It's a good game sir"
>buy the game
>it's shonen
Remember how Ace Attorney had big themes about corruption in law enforcement, how the rich bend the law to their whims, how the innocent lives are destroyed by decisions of the old men controlling these horrible systems?
What if instead you could fix the Dark Age of the Law by solving One Case
What if instead you could fix the Dark Age of the Law by solving One Case
"I am no one. I am nothing but an endless abyss."
- The Phantom, Turnabout for Tomorrow
Dual Destinies is poorly written and creatively bankrupt. I'm honestly impressed by how the game simultaneously derailed the existing continuity and character arcs established in previous games, while also delivering a half baked and childish new storyline that leaves the series nowhere to go in the future.
The “dark age of the law” was a comically awful overarching theme and having villains like Aristotle Means, a guy who genuinely believes lawyers are supposed to lie and forge evidence, is proof of how allergic the writers are from creating actual interesting or thought provoking character drama and moral arguments.
Do we not see the hypocrisy of this story when Phoenix Wright himself used underhanded means (forging evidence, rigging a jury) to justify the end goal of beating Kristoph Gavin and absolving himself in AA4? Like we literally had an interesting “does the end justify the means” moral argument set up for us in the previous game and we throw it all away for this 4Kids ass good vs evil plot line that is resolved by exposing a nameless, faceless villain whose goals were never explained?
Speaking of, the actions of the "phantom" in Dual Destinies was motivated by his desire to cover up his previous crimes from 7 years prior. You might be asking, "what motivated him to commit the crimes of 7 years ago, like disrupting the first rocket launch?" Too bad! There's no explanation! But don't worry, catching him ended the dark age of the law anyways!
There are so many “gags” that just fall back on moments from past games like Trucy only showing up with the panties, turning Apollo’s “I’m fine” into an actual character trait (wtf bro😭), and Phoenix being regressed to a compulsive bluffer. Apollo as a whole is literally a completely different character who shares none of the same motivations and thoughts he did in the previous game. You know how he was consistently at odds with the way Phoenix carried himself and raised Trucy? And how he trusts his clients less? Now, Apollo sees him as a mentor and gets complimented on how similar he is to him. Phoenix also has no reason to exist in this game, he appears to be way less capable, completely undoing the ultimatum he dealt with at the end of Bridge to the Turnabout.
Athena and Blackquill's story is by far the most competent part of this game but it still feels underwhelming given the shared screentime with the other protags, filler cases, and terrible phantom story. Why couldn’t we have had a story about the immorality of Blackquill’s death penalty?
Like the gags, the music is super derivative of past games. So many tracks are uninspired remixes (or straight up ports like guilty love?) although there were a few original bangers like the cross examination themes.
The DLC was mid filler. The fact that they decided to make DLC filler cases at all, in what's supposed to be a narrative-driven mystery series, should tell you how depraved this game truly is.
The mood matrix doubles down on the childish dialogue with conversations like "My sources are telling me you were thinking happy thoughts when you should be thinking sad thoughts." Actual elementary school dialogue, and it pervades through the entire game's writing too, drenched in incredibly cringy anime tropes.
It really feels like the devs wrote themselves into a corner here. They wanted to tell their own story with Athena and Blackquill, but they wanted to bring Phoenix back too. So they had to bring Trucy back. Which meant they also had to bring Apollo back. Oh, and why not give Pearl and Edgeworth a couple seconds of screentime too? Since Athena and Blackquill's story resolved at the end of this game, there is literally no way any of these characters can grow. Dual Destinies toppled the reputation of Ace Attorney in one fell swoop.
Please, by all means, explain to me why having a villain with no name, no face, no backstory, and no clear motivations somehow isn't enough to instantly classify this game as garbage.
- The Phantom, Turnabout for Tomorrow
Dual Destinies is poorly written and creatively bankrupt. I'm honestly impressed by how the game simultaneously derailed the existing continuity and character arcs established in previous games, while also delivering a half baked and childish new storyline that leaves the series nowhere to go in the future.
The “dark age of the law” was a comically awful overarching theme and having villains like Aristotle Means, a guy who genuinely believes lawyers are supposed to lie and forge evidence, is proof of how allergic the writers are from creating actual interesting or thought provoking character drama and moral arguments.
Do we not see the hypocrisy of this story when Phoenix Wright himself used underhanded means (forging evidence, rigging a jury) to justify the end goal of beating Kristoph Gavin and absolving himself in AA4? Like we literally had an interesting “does the end justify the means” moral argument set up for us in the previous game and we throw it all away for this 4Kids ass good vs evil plot line that is resolved by exposing a nameless, faceless villain whose goals were never explained?
Speaking of, the actions of the "phantom" in Dual Destinies was motivated by his desire to cover up his previous crimes from 7 years prior. You might be asking, "what motivated him to commit the crimes of 7 years ago, like disrupting the first rocket launch?" Too bad! There's no explanation! But don't worry, catching him ended the dark age of the law anyways!
There are so many “gags” that just fall back on moments from past games like Trucy only showing up with the panties, turning Apollo’s “I’m fine” into an actual character trait (wtf bro😭), and Phoenix being regressed to a compulsive bluffer. Apollo as a whole is literally a completely different character who shares none of the same motivations and thoughts he did in the previous game. You know how he was consistently at odds with the way Phoenix carried himself and raised Trucy? And how he trusts his clients less? Now, Apollo sees him as a mentor and gets complimented on how similar he is to him. Phoenix also has no reason to exist in this game, he appears to be way less capable, completely undoing the ultimatum he dealt with at the end of Bridge to the Turnabout.
Athena and Blackquill's story is by far the most competent part of this game but it still feels underwhelming given the shared screentime with the other protags, filler cases, and terrible phantom story. Why couldn’t we have had a story about the immorality of Blackquill’s death penalty?
Like the gags, the music is super derivative of past games. So many tracks are uninspired remixes (or straight up ports like guilty love?) although there were a few original bangers like the cross examination themes.
The DLC was mid filler. The fact that they decided to make DLC filler cases at all, in what's supposed to be a narrative-driven mystery series, should tell you how depraved this game truly is.
The mood matrix doubles down on the childish dialogue with conversations like "My sources are telling me you were thinking happy thoughts when you should be thinking sad thoughts." Actual elementary school dialogue, and it pervades through the entire game's writing too, drenched in incredibly cringy anime tropes.
It really feels like the devs wrote themselves into a corner here. They wanted to tell their own story with Athena and Blackquill, but they wanted to bring Phoenix back too. So they had to bring Trucy back. Which meant they also had to bring Apollo back. Oh, and why not give Pearl and Edgeworth a couple seconds of screentime too? Since Athena and Blackquill's story resolved at the end of this game, there is literally no way any of these characters can grow. Dual Destinies toppled the reputation of Ace Attorney in one fell swoop.
Please, by all means, explain to me why having a villain with no name, no face, no backstory, and no clear motivations somehow isn't enough to instantly classify this game as garbage.
I've been thinking about this game a bit recently and while this won't be a fully fledged review of the game as a whole, I can't help but continue pondering how Dual Destinies was not only dealt a bad hand, but also used it in the worst way possible. Of course, the game follows Phoenix Wright, which is the biggest problem of this game.
After the events of Apollo Justice, you would expect an entire trilogy dedicated to Apollo. While he is the center of attention a lot of the time, a good chunk of that time is also spent on other characters. A character like Phoenix Wright absolutely does not need any of this time dedicated to him. Especially considering how, in the last game, he was a barred attorney and considered a hobo by the fanbase.
What I think a lot of people misunderstand about Phoenix in AJ:AA is that he didn't actually change much in terms of character. For the first three cases of the game, it may seem that way, but that's because this is only the second time in the series that we interact with Phoenix from someone else's point of view (and the first time was when he was barely an adult).
Everything changes when we actually play as him in the fourth case. You get to see that he hasn't changed all that much, he just chooses to put a different face out there for the public. After years of playing poker, he became so good at bluffing, he uses it to play a part that may seem different, but is inherently the same. It seems Dual Destinies saw that he was a poker player who bluffed and said "that must be his entire character." Phoenix is an attorney again, which very much undermines his hobo persona in the grand scheme of things. To clarify, Phoenix was a great character when he went from attorney to hobo, but when he went from hobo to attorney, everything fell apart.
For some reason, everyone thinks he's a bluffing master and nothing else. So much, in fact, that they even address this in one of the game's trailers. Phoenix is downright incompetent most of the time, and that's because a lot of the time, he actually DOES bluff. Even if the answer is right in front of him, even if he's hardly backed into a corner at all, he chooses to bluff instead of thinking things through.
I would like to remind everyone that the amount of times Phoenix ever absolutely RELIED on bluffing in the games prior is TWICE. Only two times did Phoenix need to bluff to get out of his current situation. The first time was when he was thinking out loud in Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) about where the bullet could've gone, and that was in part due to Mia's guidance. The second time, Phoenix simply needed to stall for time in Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) so Gumshoe could find Maya and Shelly de Killer. He already knew who the killer was, so it wasn't like he was trying to solve the mystery, he just needed to buy time.
Phoenix is presented as an incompetent dumbass and I will never forgive this game for that. He's a bit better in SOJ, but not by much. Capcom has a huge issue with giving up the spotlight for other characters. Ryu has been their Street Fighter poster boy until very recently where it seems they're trying to get Luke to fill that role, but Ryu is still there of course. Chris has been the main protagonist of the most recent Resident Evil games and he's been around since the very first ones. Dead Rising got new protagonists with the second and third games, but the director's cut of DR2 put Frank back as the protagonist and so did DR4, which completely butchered his character.
I'm thankful we have DGS and DGS2 which are completely detached from the events of every other AA game. We get to see these characters grow independently in tightly woven experiences. What happened to Phoenix is a travesty, and I don't think the character could ever recover from this kind of assassination. Visual novels require characters to be consistent, and Phoenix made one huge leap backwards with the 3D era, and unfortunately, I'm not sure if he can jump back forward.
After the events of Apollo Justice, you would expect an entire trilogy dedicated to Apollo. While he is the center of attention a lot of the time, a good chunk of that time is also spent on other characters. A character like Phoenix Wright absolutely does not need any of this time dedicated to him. Especially considering how, in the last game, he was a barred attorney and considered a hobo by the fanbase.
What I think a lot of people misunderstand about Phoenix in AJ:AA is that he didn't actually change much in terms of character. For the first three cases of the game, it may seem that way, but that's because this is only the second time in the series that we interact with Phoenix from someone else's point of view (and the first time was when he was barely an adult).
Everything changes when we actually play as him in the fourth case. You get to see that he hasn't changed all that much, he just chooses to put a different face out there for the public. After years of playing poker, he became so good at bluffing, he uses it to play a part that may seem different, but is inherently the same. It seems Dual Destinies saw that he was a poker player who bluffed and said "that must be his entire character." Phoenix is an attorney again, which very much undermines his hobo persona in the grand scheme of things. To clarify, Phoenix was a great character when he went from attorney to hobo, but when he went from hobo to attorney, everything fell apart.
For some reason, everyone thinks he's a bluffing master and nothing else. So much, in fact, that they even address this in one of the game's trailers. Phoenix is downright incompetent most of the time, and that's because a lot of the time, he actually DOES bluff. Even if the answer is right in front of him, even if he's hardly backed into a corner at all, he chooses to bluff instead of thinking things through.
I would like to remind everyone that the amount of times Phoenix ever absolutely RELIED on bluffing in the games prior is TWICE. Only two times did Phoenix need to bluff to get out of his current situation. The first time was when he was thinking out loud in Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) about where the bullet could've gone, and that was in part due to Mia's guidance. The second time, Phoenix simply needed to stall for time in Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) so Gumshoe could find Maya and Shelly de Killer. He already knew who the killer was, so it wasn't like he was trying to solve the mystery, he just needed to buy time.
Phoenix is presented as an incompetent dumbass and I will never forgive this game for that. He's a bit better in SOJ, but not by much. Capcom has a huge issue with giving up the spotlight for other characters. Ryu has been their Street Fighter poster boy until very recently where it seems they're trying to get Luke to fill that role, but Ryu is still there of course. Chris has been the main protagonist of the most recent Resident Evil games and he's been around since the very first ones. Dead Rising got new protagonists with the second and third games, but the director's cut of DR2 put Frank back as the protagonist and so did DR4, which completely butchered his character.
I'm thankful we have DGS and DGS2 which are completely detached from the events of every other AA game. We get to see these characters grow independently in tightly woven experiences. What happened to Phoenix is a travesty, and I don't think the character could ever recover from this kind of assassination. Visual novels require characters to be consistent, and Phoenix made one huge leap backwards with the 3D era, and unfortunately, I'm not sure if he can jump back forward.
IF YOU HATE THIS GAME YOU’RE PROBABLY A VEGAN SJW
THE DARK AGE OF THE LAW
yah idk the game kind of jumps the shark, like this game is so far removed from the initial premise of legal proceedings and murder mysteries that the first game at least establishes the veneer of lol.
if you can appreciate the game for what it is as the wright anything agency's wacky j-drama adventures rather than a more meaningful sequel to apollo justice and the games which came before it, its a great time. but the way characters are written is kind of ridiculous and off-putting as a canonical entry in a multi-decade series, and the cases (PARTICULARLY THE PHANTOM GOOD GOD) are just so far removed from any semblance of gripping character drama or gritty mystery or anything to that effect
i enjoyed the game for what it is, i just hope this is not the direction capcom takes for the inevitable ace attorney 7
yah idk the game kind of jumps the shark, like this game is so far removed from the initial premise of legal proceedings and murder mysteries that the first game at least establishes the veneer of lol.
if you can appreciate the game for what it is as the wright anything agency's wacky j-drama adventures rather than a more meaningful sequel to apollo justice and the games which came before it, its a great time. but the way characters are written is kind of ridiculous and off-putting as a canonical entry in a multi-decade series, and the cases (PARTICULARLY THE PHANTOM GOOD GOD) are just so far removed from any semblance of gripping character drama or gritty mystery or anything to that effect
i enjoyed the game for what it is, i just hope this is not the direction capcom takes for the inevitable ace attorney 7
Have NOT played the dlc case (i will after writing) EDIT: i played the dlc case and it was the best case in the game by a long shot i actually enjoyed the one-off murder mystery with entertaining characters and a good mystery but its still filler for a bad game
Just barely above utter drivel. Every case is boring, original trilogy case 3 tier, easy, and bloated. I could go on about them all individually but my main complaints can be boiled down to 4 points:
1. Phoenix wright has no reason to be in this game. Him being the main character adds nothing, and subtracts from everything 4 tried to accomplish. This is not the same phoenix that purposely gave apollo faulty evidence in order to prove how the courts needed to change, possibly damning an innocent girl in the process. This is the phoenix wright from case 2-3, for an entire game, but now with trucy. He goes through nothing, and is only there to allow the (shitty, pointless) apollo melodrama to go through easier.
2. The dark age of the law is inherently stupid. It sounds corny in the opposite way that these games are supposed to. “Victory in the courts is now all that matters eeeek!” Yeah haha anyways remember 1-2s prosecutors being obsessed with results and having to confront the fact that this was a disgusting egotistical perversion of the legal system, and theyve been trying to damn innocent people?
3. The main twist is stupid and obvious. This would work as a case 1 twist, not something built up over the whole game
4. Widget is also pure nonsense in any context. Literally only the main villain points out that the robot “therapy” session only makes sense to the defense and blackquill, and they just get away with it because they didnt think of how to actually legitimize it to a third party. This is a series where they cross examine a parrot, and this is still so much of a shark jump that it completely breaks any immersion i could have had every time. (Very little because these cases are all boring and i guessed every aspect perfectly halfway through the day one investigation periods every time)
I heard 6 is good so I’m keeping my hopes up for that one, but damn this game is easily the worst one
Just barely above utter drivel. Every case is boring, original trilogy case 3 tier, easy, and bloated. I could go on about them all individually but my main complaints can be boiled down to 4 points:
1. Phoenix wright has no reason to be in this game. Him being the main character adds nothing, and subtracts from everything 4 tried to accomplish. This is not the same phoenix that purposely gave apollo faulty evidence in order to prove how the courts needed to change, possibly damning an innocent girl in the process. This is the phoenix wright from case 2-3, for an entire game, but now with trucy. He goes through nothing, and is only there to allow the (shitty, pointless) apollo melodrama to go through easier.
2. The dark age of the law is inherently stupid. It sounds corny in the opposite way that these games are supposed to. “Victory in the courts is now all that matters eeeek!” Yeah haha anyways remember 1-2s prosecutors being obsessed with results and having to confront the fact that this was a disgusting egotistical perversion of the legal system, and theyve been trying to damn innocent people?
3. The main twist is stupid and obvious. This would work as a case 1 twist, not something built up over the whole game
4. Widget is also pure nonsense in any context. Literally only the main villain points out that the robot “therapy” session only makes sense to the defense and blackquill, and they just get away with it because they didnt think of how to actually legitimize it to a third party. This is a series where they cross examine a parrot, and this is still so much of a shark jump that it completely breaks any immersion i could have had every time. (Very little because these cases are all boring and i guessed every aspect perfectly halfway through the day one investigation periods every time)
I heard 6 is good so I’m keeping my hopes up for that one, but damn this game is easily the worst one
It's not very good. They seem to undo all character development from the previous game and forget it even happened. Also, I feel as though most of the new characters are too tropey and ridiculous to be taken seriously in more serious moments. In my opinion, I felt as though the overarching story was pretty hamfisted too.
Worst cases in the series, horrid pacing and focus due to them squeezing another attorney in and reintroducing Phoenix, it throws so much of what Apollo Justice set up away, it's such a shame. Not fun to play, nor think about, it's the black spot on the series.
Floored at how well the team at Capcpom managed to translate the iconic, expressive spritework of the AA series into 3D, and the environments didn't look half bad either. Bit of a drag early on and I wasn't too hot on the mood matrix, but Athena's charisma hard-carries this game through its entire runtime.
The game bashes you repeatedly with its message, the most interesting character in AJ is sidelined by a new character, it has some of the most nonsensical and boring cases in the series.
And it has a great new cast of (Main) characters and one of the best filler cases and climaxes.
And it has a great new cast of (Main) characters and one of the best filler cases and climaxes.
I actually like this a bit more overall than Apollo Justice; in particular, the investigation sections flow much more nicely and are fairly easy to follow and complete in comparison to the previous game. My main complaint, however, is how similar this game often feels to Apollo Justice in terms of its theme. It spends so much time talking about the "dark era of the law" but isn't that basically the entire premise of Apollo Justice too? It's my belief that if you combined the best parts of Apollo Justice and this game, you'd easily have one of the best Ace Attorney games, one that could potentially stand up to Investigations 2, the original Ace Attorney, and Trials and Tribulations. Instead, you have two separated but similarly themed games that feel a little incomplete without one another. It's still a good game, but I feel like its potential isn't completely realized.
Yamazaki is the source of all problems in life my wife didnt leave me HE fed her a bunch of bs and made her leave you took everything from me Yamazaki i will hunt you down.
this game is like that one scene in the beginning of shrek 2 where theyre travelling to far far away and donkey won't shut up except donkey in this scenario is all of the characters not shutting up about the dark age of the law and i am shrek losing more of my will to live every second
Rise of Skywalker if it was an Ace Attorney game
Simon Blackquill is the best thing about this game bar none I can't believe they did him so well while fucking up basically everywhere else
Dual Destinies by itself is not a terrible game, however as a follow up to Apollo Justice it falls completely flat onto its face. Several of the returning characters in this entry have been butchered and flanderized (Phoenix being the prime example), and characters that could've been expanded on better were left in the dust (Apollo and Trucy). The game tries to be deep and philosophical about how broken the universe's law system is, but due to the overall childishness of the game, it leaves no effect and once again fails when compared to AJ. Some of the newer characters are fun, such as Athena and Blackquill, however these two are never expanded upon in the next entry.
In terms of general case quality, this game is pretty decent all things considered. The first 2 cases are kinda lame if I were to be honest, but the last 3 cases and the DLC chapter are all good and classic Ace Attorney fun, 5-3 and 5-5 being my favorites. So, if anything, the game itself is still a good time if you take away comparisons to it's predecessor.
The general gameplay feels much more limited here, as now certain areas cannot be examined for extra dialogue to read, and in general the game will just automatically take you places instead of letting you do it yourself, which is annoying. The new added gameplay feature, "Mood Matrix", is fine. Compared to the mechanics introduced in JFA and AJ however it's kinda weak.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Dual Destinies is not a bad game, nor is it the least quality entry in the franchise. While it nails a few aspects, alot of things about the game have a very rushed feel to it, as if the development team wasn't given enough time. Especially when the game's writer Takeshi Yamazaki, had JUST came off of writing Gyakuten Kenji 2 (A very solid entry in the franchise in my opinion). Taking the big flaws away, I still had a decent time. 3.5/5
In terms of general case quality, this game is pretty decent all things considered. The first 2 cases are kinda lame if I were to be honest, but the last 3 cases and the DLC chapter are all good and classic Ace Attorney fun, 5-3 and 5-5 being my favorites. So, if anything, the game itself is still a good time if you take away comparisons to it's predecessor.
The general gameplay feels much more limited here, as now certain areas cannot be examined for extra dialogue to read, and in general the game will just automatically take you places instead of letting you do it yourself, which is annoying. The new added gameplay feature, "Mood Matrix", is fine. Compared to the mechanics introduced in JFA and AJ however it's kinda weak.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Dual Destinies is not a bad game, nor is it the least quality entry in the franchise. While it nails a few aspects, alot of things about the game have a very rushed feel to it, as if the development team wasn't given enough time. Especially when the game's writer Takeshi Yamazaki, had JUST came off of writing Gyakuten Kenji 2 (A very solid entry in the franchise in my opinion). Taking the big flaws away, I still had a decent time. 3.5/5
i can't get over how the follow-up to apollo justice, a game entirely about showing the faults of the ace attorney world's legal systems and devoted to subverting or deconstructing the expectations players would have after playing through the original trilogy, spent its entire runtime yelling about "THE DARK AGE OF THE LAW" while manifesting that as the attorneys needing to talk about the power of friendship every episode
simon blackquill deserved a better debut game than this
This review contains spoilers
capcom. look at me. im currently whispering in your ear. why the fuck did you decide to make apollo have another backstory. why did you let your new protagonist feel so weak. she only got the spotlight in case 3 and that was cool but more athena please. and the dark age of the law is such a weird and weak plot point of your game i don't even know how to explain it. and your big villain was a phantom we didn't even get to see his true face; how am i supposed to care about him. the only good case in this game was the dlc one. please don't fuck it up again capcom im warning you DONT DO IT
the community season four of video games
Why did they introduce another new defense attorney right after Apollo and only focus on her in two cases? Why did they drop so many plot points from the last game? Why is Blackquill one of the only consistently good parts of Dual Destinies? The world may never know.
This game feels like it's designed for corporate success with removing every disliked or bothersome or risky parts of the ace attorney franchise.
No concept is overused, no new risky concept is introduced, pace is fast and back to back, optional investigations are mostly gutted or removed and waypoints forced to your face with new objective system, there is no more complicated court testimonies it's on baby difficulty, oh also Phoenix is back, not just that there is other characters returning from trilogy as well for full on fanserviceeeeeeee! Looks nice right? Ah also I forget to say one thing.
They also removed GODDAMN APOLLO JUSTICE, not completely of course but every scene he is in, he is just there for to get forced into the this game's story with a bit of "edgeness". After all no one liked Apollo and wanted Phoenix right? So What story that is? A new attorney's story of course! Athena Cykes!!!...
To be honest, when I saw the image of Phoenix as an attorney, I already completely lost all hope for this game and just removed my brain while playing it. But it was a toooo much safe product even for me. Even the new ideas feels safe with recycling from trilogy cases or worse... bringing ideas from... shounen animes...
What I mean is, everything is epic and exciting! Grand and goverment level threatening! Oh also Friendship power! With fanservice as well! No more small and personal!
Look I am sorry for offending anyone that reads this but ace attorney isn't a franchise for epic cases that goes crazy places for "me", it's a franchise that is about the personal emotional struggles while you get bombarded from all the sides to stop your advancement. At times game tries to give this with focusing to Athena for a while but only just a while, then it's like: goverment threats! Space Stations! Spies! Corrupt systems! Bombs! Countries!
No concept is overused, no new risky concept is introduced, pace is fast and back to back, optional investigations are mostly gutted or removed and waypoints forced to your face with new objective system, there is no more complicated court testimonies it's on baby difficulty, oh also Phoenix is back, not just that there is other characters returning from trilogy as well for full on fanserviceeeeeeee! Looks nice right? Ah also I forget to say one thing.
They also removed GODDAMN APOLLO JUSTICE, not completely of course but every scene he is in, he is just there for to get forced into the this game's story with a bit of "edgeness". After all no one liked Apollo and wanted Phoenix right? So What story that is? A new attorney's story of course! Athena Cykes!!!...
To be honest, when I saw the image of Phoenix as an attorney, I already completely lost all hope for this game and just removed my brain while playing it. But it was a toooo much safe product even for me. Even the new ideas feels safe with recycling from trilogy cases or worse... bringing ideas from... shounen animes...
What I mean is, everything is epic and exciting! Grand and goverment level threatening! Oh also Friendship power! With fanservice as well! No more small and personal!
Look I am sorry for offending anyone that reads this but ace attorney isn't a franchise for epic cases that goes crazy places for "me", it's a franchise that is about the personal emotional struggles while you get bombarded from all the sides to stop your advancement. At times game tries to give this with focusing to Athena for a while but only just a while, then it's like: goverment threats! Space Stations! Spies! Corrupt systems! Bombs! Countries!
i truly loathe this game. it introduces a lot of characters and concepts i want to love, but the direction of the game feels so wrong? it retcons a lot of cool things introduced in aa4, and completely wipes the character development of a lot of key returning characters. they completely massacred apollo!!! many of the cases are boring and it was a brave decision to focus the emotional weight of the story on your new character that you gave zero development & meaningful screen time to. i bought the dlc cases for this game before i played anything and i couldn't even bring myself to play those.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies is an Ace Attorney mascot. It is trying so hard to be the most Ace Attorney thing it can be, but tramples over everything the series has existed as. At the very least it has the charm and enjoyment that Ace Attorney inherently has.
Dual Destinies is not good at all and it is a sad downturn to see the series take. Every single interesting development and future plot point alluded to in Apollo Justice is completely dropped and ignored. The game's main philosophy and "moral" completely contradicts what the series and specifically Apollo Justice stood for. For a series about how corrupt the legal system is and how people, specifically in the legal system, will abuse their status and power for their own benefit, it is unfortunate to see it take a "We need to help people learn to trust the legal system again!" stance.
Phoenix's character has completely reverted and the game just jumps right into him being an attorney again. Apollo Justice didn't have many "weird fanservice moments" and it feels like Dual Destinies is trying to make up for it by having Juniper swoon over Apollo and have the game remark weirdly often that he's extremely masculine. Apollo's character seems to have become whatever the game needs him to be. The complexity of Trucy's character is completely ignored and she's just some quirky girl that's an accessory to Phoenix.
This is the introduction to Athena and it would not be a stretch to say Dual Destinies seems like it should be her game, but ten minutes in when you are switched from playing as her to being Phoenix in the first case, you know it's not true. It is weird they even pushed her into the series since it seems like the writers do not like her. It never seems like they like women very much, but Athena always seems so trampled over.
Simon is interesting as an idea for a prosecutor, but, due to the core concept of him being in jail, you never get the "outside of courtroom" interactions with him like you would see with previous prosecutors in the series. It feels like there's not as much time to connect with him.
The twist villain is lame and offers nothing interesting at all. Justice for All's Farewell, My Turnabout was so wonderful that it seems to have rebound and Ace Attorney forgot why it worked. Farewell, My Turnabout worked so well since it understood and supported the themes and ideas of Justice for All. Also it had been subtlety built up to through game mechanics through each case. Apollo Justice's Turnabout Trump on a fundamental level did the same thing as Farewell, My Turnabout. Not only that but Turnabout Trump was a unique version of the Ace Attorney twist villain since it happened so fast but it still managed to build up strong expectations and shatter them. Dual Destinies has a twist villain since it thinks that is what will make it's story and mysteries good. It offers nothing to the plot at all. Well maybe that's being a bit harsh. Maybe the twist villain is trying to communicate the theme of "Nothings wrong with the legal system, all issues are actually being caused by some foreign spy and we're all in a quasi-cold war, it's us vs them."
The most charming, dumb fun case, The Monstrous Turnabout, is made vapid due to being weirdly homophobic. The Cosmic Turnabout was good but, everything it stands for, and everything it leads to, sucks. I guess the game at least has an interesting structure. The only positive takeaway from Dual Destinies is it really is a showcase at how strong the charm of Ace Attorney is.
Dual Destinies is as bad as it is since I love Ace Attorney. Dual Destinies is only good since I love Ace Attorney. If not for these facts I would call it a bland game. For an Ace Attorney game, it is extremely bland honestly.
Dual Destinies is not good at all and it is a sad downturn to see the series take. Every single interesting development and future plot point alluded to in Apollo Justice is completely dropped and ignored. The game's main philosophy and "moral" completely contradicts what the series and specifically Apollo Justice stood for. For a series about how corrupt the legal system is and how people, specifically in the legal system, will abuse their status and power for their own benefit, it is unfortunate to see it take a "We need to help people learn to trust the legal system again!" stance.
Phoenix's character has completely reverted and the game just jumps right into him being an attorney again. Apollo Justice didn't have many "weird fanservice moments" and it feels like Dual Destinies is trying to make up for it by having Juniper swoon over Apollo and have the game remark weirdly often that he's extremely masculine. Apollo's character seems to have become whatever the game needs him to be. The complexity of Trucy's character is completely ignored and she's just some quirky girl that's an accessory to Phoenix.
This is the introduction to Athena and it would not be a stretch to say Dual Destinies seems like it should be her game, but ten minutes in when you are switched from playing as her to being Phoenix in the first case, you know it's not true. It is weird they even pushed her into the series since it seems like the writers do not like her. It never seems like they like women very much, but Athena always seems so trampled over.
Simon is interesting as an idea for a prosecutor, but, due to the core concept of him being in jail, you never get the "outside of courtroom" interactions with him like you would see with previous prosecutors in the series. It feels like there's not as much time to connect with him.
The twist villain is lame and offers nothing interesting at all. Justice for All's Farewell, My Turnabout was so wonderful that it seems to have rebound and Ace Attorney forgot why it worked. Farewell, My Turnabout worked so well since it understood and supported the themes and ideas of Justice for All. Also it had been subtlety built up to through game mechanics through each case. Apollo Justice's Turnabout Trump on a fundamental level did the same thing as Farewell, My Turnabout. Not only that but Turnabout Trump was a unique version of the Ace Attorney twist villain since it happened so fast but it still managed to build up strong expectations and shatter them. Dual Destinies has a twist villain since it thinks that is what will make it's story and mysteries good. It offers nothing to the plot at all. Well maybe that's being a bit harsh. Maybe the twist villain is trying to communicate the theme of "Nothings wrong with the legal system, all issues are actually being caused by some foreign spy and we're all in a quasi-cold war, it's us vs them."
The most charming, dumb fun case, The Monstrous Turnabout, is made vapid due to being weirdly homophobic. The Cosmic Turnabout was good but, everything it stands for, and everything it leads to, sucks. I guess the game at least has an interesting structure. The only positive takeaway from Dual Destinies is it really is a showcase at how strong the charm of Ace Attorney is.
Dual Destinies is as bad as it is since I love Ace Attorney. Dual Destinies is only good since I love Ace Attorney. If not for these facts I would call it a bland game. For an Ace Attorney game, it is extremely bland honestly.
has one of the worst and one of the best trials in the series
i'd give it a zero honestly whoever wrote this game was on crack + obvious cash cow
Playing Dual Destinies hot off of the heels of The Great Ace Attorney Adventures, and about a year after beating and feeling mixed on Apollo Justice, was one of the most interesting experiences I've had with a game considering its context. But: Surprise! I really like this one.
[Very vague, non-specific spoilers mostly. Should be safe to read.]
As AA fans are aware, this game was the point when a new team took over Shu Takumi's darling mainline series. Takumi was occupied with Ghost Trick, vsLayton and later Great Ace Attorney, and the Apollo Justice team had kind of just dissolved: so, the team behind the spinoff series Ace Attorney Investigations had to take the reigns of the main series. Essentially, this marked the first time that two different teams were making "core" Ace Attorney games: The Investigations team now making this game, led by Takeshi Yamazaki, and Takumi's team releasing The Great Ace Attorney just two years later. The reason I want to give this context is because I find the contrast between these games to be fascinating, that despite being fundamentally "the same kind of game" they had such different directions as to lead to two wholly different experiences for wholly different players.
Looking at Takumi's games and history in interviews, its clear to me that he values The Puzzle above all else (he IS a magician in training, fun fact!). The feeling of working things out in your head, drawing conclusions wholly on your own and submitting your answer to see the game react in amazement at your ability. Ghost Trick and the existence of Herlock Sholmes in general make this the most apparent, but in my eyes "The Puzzle" is only a piece of what makes Ace Attorney what it is, and it is only thanks to Takumi's direction that it has become a focus in his games.
All this build-up is just to say this: Yes, Dual Destinies easily has the least interesting gameplay in the series. Yes, it will often make it plainly obvious what the solution to a puzzle is, moments before its time to submit the answer. BUT: I believe this is because Yamazaki's priorities were elsewhere in production. In my eyes, Dual Destinies focuses far more on its own narrative, mysteries and character drama than it does puzzle-solving, detective sleuthing and experimenting with game mechanics. This in my eyes is neither "better" nor "worse": Its just the result of a CHANGE in direction. But it IS a change that's to my preference.
For instance: There's no Soseki Natsume-type case here that, as Takumi loves to do, exists SOLELY to be a fun puzzle to unravel. Instead every case feels as if it has more of a point to it narratively, having them all fit together well thematically. Characters return, dynamics are explored, themes reinforced in interesting ways and generally I rarely got the sense that--story-wise-- my time was being wasted with any of the cases I was playing. This was an issue I felt plagued AA3, despite its attempt to be dramatic and conclusive.
Its mainly because of this new direction that I feel Case 2 in this game is the worst one: It seems intentionally set up like a "puzzle-box" mystery typical of the most devious puzzles in AA1-3, yet as I've explained that kind of focus is not want Dual Destinies typically wants to have.
Because of the baggage that both Apollo Justice and Capcom high-ups gave the team, Dual Destinies' story was almost destined to be one that attempted a lot of things, yet I don't think I could have predicted that it'd pull those things and more off...surprisingly well. I know the whole "Dark Age of the law" setting has been derided by a lot of fans, but what I found especially commendable with this direction was that they used it as a tool to go in and clean up a lot of things that...Apollo Justice just kind of handwaved away. Like...if Phoenix was disbarred and shunned away from the law world for seven years, how was he able to set up all that he does to take down Kristoph in the end of Apollo Justice, including the debut of the wholly untested Jury system? Why was Phoenix so casually doing extremely shady things both in the development of this system and while in court in Case 1? And, of course: Why was a supposedly story about Apollo becoming the new face of Justice instead written to secretly be about Phoenix being this mastermind?
By retroactively framing Apollo Justice as ALSO taking place during this Dark Age, suddenly things begin to click: Apollo defending nothing but criminals in that game becomes more than a neat coincidence, and Case 3 in that game suddenly becomes more about showing that corruption. The grimy world of Apollo Justice aside, I find all the cases in Dual Destinies in some subtle way show how the perception of the law has changed (which is a big part as to why Case 3 is my favorite in the game). The world itself hasn't changed: People's perception of it has. Culprits commit crimes not because they're in a position of power to where they're able to get away with it (AA1) or because they seek revenge (AA2), but simply because they now feel its the easiest way to solve their situation: because the current law system will not catch or punish them. Kristoph in AA4 is an excellent, shining example of this, going to lunatic lengths to commit a crime because he knows that a law world run the way it is in this age will never catch him.
Dual Destinies shows a world where people see little benefit in being truthful because their "champions of truth":
-Used fake evidence in a murder trial
-Defended nothing but criminals
-Would rather want attention as a rockstar than as a lawyer
-Was convicted of murder
That's a really cool yet understated part of Dual Destinies: Almost every character, new or old, are hiding away the truth or their true selves, not because they have done anything, but because they are afraid of what will happen once that truth is revealed. They're scared of what honesty will do to themselves, their relationships, and their careers, and instead keep it to themselves. Because to them, what happened to Phoenix, their guiding light in an unjust world, seven years ago, was the truth about him coming out, and as soon as it did his career and public perception of the law plummeted. This feeds into Blackquill's backstory as well and how he willingly turned himself in as a murderer, rather than having him be exposed: The moment these guardians of the law world come clean about their honest nature, the world came crumbling down, thus a world of secrecy and distrust was seen as the only way to live.
In terms of playable characters, I feel like the 3DS Home Menu diorama best showcases the game's direction: With Phoenix's story now told (and told again) with AA1-4, and Apollo having been introduced, its his and Athena's story now being told with Phoenix as mentor and motivation. Apollo and Athena are shown fighting in court, with Phoenix at home in the office. This is even reflected in the ending cutscene of the game, with Apollo and Athena being the ones celebrating as Phoenix just watches and smiles. The Dual Destinies the title is referring to is the two young lawyers overcoming their inner doubts and no longer hiding from the truth, no matter how scary it may sound, thanks to the help of their mentor, channeling Mia's positive mentorship.
I've heard people (mainly Athena fans) say the game feels crowded because of the trio-setup, but I find everyone gets a very comfortable slot in to tell the cohesive story. Phoenix is a passive figure as the plot delves into Athena's life alongside Apollo's inner turmoil. Given that AA4 didnt really...establish much of any goal for Apollo beyond meaningless family relations, this game works as a springboard for him, with a character moment so perfectly executed and befitting of him that he shot to the top of character popularity polls after launch. Following AA4 up with another game just starring Phoenix and Apollo and..."exploring" those family relations could've been a safe and easy direction to go in, yet Yamazaki's team committed to an ambitious idea of two kinds of character growth: DUAL DESTINIES, so to speak.
This is why I don’t mind Apollo’s “new backstory” in this game being so brief and, in a sense, discardable. Because the point of the backstory is to drive his actions and growth as a character: Not to give him a goal to pursue. You aren't meant to sympathize with him on a personal, "I-knew-how-good-of-a-guy-your-friend-was" level, because you're just observing the mental effects its having on Apollo, and trying to help him from the perspective of two people who really don't know the pain he's going through. Its what starts his internal turmoil and it does that well.
And putting a bow atop of it all is presentation that feels almost a cut above Ace Attorneys typical stellar pedigree: The composer of AA3 paired with the sound director of AA4 leads to whats pretty easily my favorite sound in the series, narrowly beating Great Ace Attorney purely by the element of variety. One of my biggest issues with AA4 was just how...dislikable a lot of the interacting cast was (again, is retroactively made more interesting with the Dark Age framing), and Dual Destinies remedies this with some absolute top-of-the-line new favorites (Simon + Case 3 my beloved) All the characters animate beautifully, and I admire the restrictions the team placed on themselves regardless: Characters like Filch and Fulbright will still snap to animations to retain the snappy timing of the original games, something I felt The Great Ace Attorney was comparatively lacking in due to reliance of "natural" motion-capture.
But then we come back to that point, that interesting contrast in direction: The Great Ace Attorney’s character models have far more detail and a whole new sense of fluidity, giving it more of a sophisticated feel, wheras Dual Destinies’ more simple designs and harsh cuts lend themselves to a different vibe altogether. The game’s anime cutscenes are a great example of this. The simpler designs lend themselves nicely to the occasional shift, and it does wonders to help drive the story. TGAA gets half as much cutscene runtime and accomplishes precious little with it, mostly just feeling jarring and out of place; Again, different direction.
So let's summarize: A fantastic story that retroactively makes the Ace Attorney game I have the most issues with click better and established three Top-5 favorite characters, paired with the best soundtrack in the series and a really nice visual direction for the mainline AA series. And crucially, while as I explained before the game fumbles in puzzle design, it NEVER shows its hand too early. This is my distinction between “the puzzle” mentioned earlier and "the mystery”, and the mystery is always excellently paced out across each case whilst driving a good story to boot. The points at which the game nudges you toward what to pick aren’t several steps before said event occurs, but rather often right after a major new unveiling has happened within the story. THIS is why the handholdy design doesn’t bother me.
Neither Takumi or Yamazaki had an easy task on their hands. Takumi had to introduce and build a whole new world, knowing full well it and its new characters, story and games would likely always live in the shadow of what would occur in the mainline series. Yamazaki, on the other hand, had to tie together the tangled web that Apollo Justice established, and carry the torch of the mainline series forward with a wholly new team with a distinct new flavor for the series, whilst also making an impactful game in its own right for both new fans and old. The results of both efforts are ones that, in a way falter where the other succeeds. Dual Destinies just so happened to land on the side of the pond that I happen to vibe just a bit more with, with all due respect paid to Takumi’s equally impressive effort.
I feel its best summarized with this: TGAA’s new mechanics like the Jury and Herlock Deductions lead to deviously clever puzzles and fun character interaction. AA5’s Percieve/Mood Matrix are very lacking in substance, yet are both used to pull some of the series’ best storybeats with incredibly satisfying ludonarrative harmony. And just the fact that Dual Destinies even HAS those abilities, on top of it all, to me speaks volumes on how passionate the team was to honor and respect the old, push forward with the new, and give it their all.
*[Playtime: 35 hours]
[Key Word: Admirable]*
(This is one of my favorite games to discuss in general, and you'll probably see me in the replies to a good few reviews of the game here, because there are a lot of things people view as flaws with the game that I just flat-out disagree with.)
[Very vague, non-specific spoilers mostly. Should be safe to read.]
As AA fans are aware, this game was the point when a new team took over Shu Takumi's darling mainline series. Takumi was occupied with Ghost Trick, vsLayton and later Great Ace Attorney, and the Apollo Justice team had kind of just dissolved: so, the team behind the spinoff series Ace Attorney Investigations had to take the reigns of the main series. Essentially, this marked the first time that two different teams were making "core" Ace Attorney games: The Investigations team now making this game, led by Takeshi Yamazaki, and Takumi's team releasing The Great Ace Attorney just two years later. The reason I want to give this context is because I find the contrast between these games to be fascinating, that despite being fundamentally "the same kind of game" they had such different directions as to lead to two wholly different experiences for wholly different players.
Looking at Takumi's games and history in interviews, its clear to me that he values The Puzzle above all else (he IS a magician in training, fun fact!). The feeling of working things out in your head, drawing conclusions wholly on your own and submitting your answer to see the game react in amazement at your ability. Ghost Trick and the existence of Herlock Sholmes in general make this the most apparent, but in my eyes "The Puzzle" is only a piece of what makes Ace Attorney what it is, and it is only thanks to Takumi's direction that it has become a focus in his games.
All this build-up is just to say this: Yes, Dual Destinies easily has the least interesting gameplay in the series. Yes, it will often make it plainly obvious what the solution to a puzzle is, moments before its time to submit the answer. BUT: I believe this is because Yamazaki's priorities were elsewhere in production. In my eyes, Dual Destinies focuses far more on its own narrative, mysteries and character drama than it does puzzle-solving, detective sleuthing and experimenting with game mechanics. This in my eyes is neither "better" nor "worse": Its just the result of a CHANGE in direction. But it IS a change that's to my preference.
For instance: There's no Soseki Natsume-type case here that, as Takumi loves to do, exists SOLELY to be a fun puzzle to unravel. Instead every case feels as if it has more of a point to it narratively, having them all fit together well thematically. Characters return, dynamics are explored, themes reinforced in interesting ways and generally I rarely got the sense that--story-wise-- my time was being wasted with any of the cases I was playing. This was an issue I felt plagued AA3, despite its attempt to be dramatic and conclusive.
Its mainly because of this new direction that I feel Case 2 in this game is the worst one: It seems intentionally set up like a "puzzle-box" mystery typical of the most devious puzzles in AA1-3, yet as I've explained that kind of focus is not want Dual Destinies typically wants to have.
Because of the baggage that both Apollo Justice and Capcom high-ups gave the team, Dual Destinies' story was almost destined to be one that attempted a lot of things, yet I don't think I could have predicted that it'd pull those things and more off...surprisingly well. I know the whole "Dark Age of the law" setting has been derided by a lot of fans, but what I found especially commendable with this direction was that they used it as a tool to go in and clean up a lot of things that...Apollo Justice just kind of handwaved away. Like...if Phoenix was disbarred and shunned away from the law world for seven years, how was he able to set up all that he does to take down Kristoph in the end of Apollo Justice, including the debut of the wholly untested Jury system? Why was Phoenix so casually doing extremely shady things both in the development of this system and while in court in Case 1? And, of course: Why was a supposedly story about Apollo becoming the new face of Justice instead written to secretly be about Phoenix being this mastermind?
By retroactively framing Apollo Justice as ALSO taking place during this Dark Age, suddenly things begin to click: Apollo defending nothing but criminals in that game becomes more than a neat coincidence, and Case 3 in that game suddenly becomes more about showing that corruption. The grimy world of Apollo Justice aside, I find all the cases in Dual Destinies in some subtle way show how the perception of the law has changed (which is a big part as to why Case 3 is my favorite in the game). The world itself hasn't changed: People's perception of it has. Culprits commit crimes not because they're in a position of power to where they're able to get away with it (AA1) or because they seek revenge (AA2), but simply because they now feel its the easiest way to solve their situation: because the current law system will not catch or punish them. Kristoph in AA4 is an excellent, shining example of this, going to lunatic lengths to commit a crime because he knows that a law world run the way it is in this age will never catch him.
Dual Destinies shows a world where people see little benefit in being truthful because their "champions of truth":
-Used fake evidence in a murder trial
-Defended nothing but criminals
-Would rather want attention as a rockstar than as a lawyer
-Was convicted of murder
That's a really cool yet understated part of Dual Destinies: Almost every character, new or old, are hiding away the truth or their true selves, not because they have done anything, but because they are afraid of what will happen once that truth is revealed. They're scared of what honesty will do to themselves, their relationships, and their careers, and instead keep it to themselves. Because to them, what happened to Phoenix, their guiding light in an unjust world, seven years ago, was the truth about him coming out, and as soon as it did his career and public perception of the law plummeted. This feeds into Blackquill's backstory as well and how he willingly turned himself in as a murderer, rather than having him be exposed: The moment these guardians of the law world come clean about their honest nature, the world came crumbling down, thus a world of secrecy and distrust was seen as the only way to live.
In terms of playable characters, I feel like the 3DS Home Menu diorama best showcases the game's direction: With Phoenix's story now told (and told again) with AA1-4, and Apollo having been introduced, its his and Athena's story now being told with Phoenix as mentor and motivation. Apollo and Athena are shown fighting in court, with Phoenix at home in the office. This is even reflected in the ending cutscene of the game, with Apollo and Athena being the ones celebrating as Phoenix just watches and smiles. The Dual Destinies the title is referring to is the two young lawyers overcoming their inner doubts and no longer hiding from the truth, no matter how scary it may sound, thanks to the help of their mentor, channeling Mia's positive mentorship.
I've heard people (mainly Athena fans) say the game feels crowded because of the trio-setup, but I find everyone gets a very comfortable slot in to tell the cohesive story. Phoenix is a passive figure as the plot delves into Athena's life alongside Apollo's inner turmoil. Given that AA4 didnt really...establish much of any goal for Apollo beyond meaningless family relations, this game works as a springboard for him, with a character moment so perfectly executed and befitting of him that he shot to the top of character popularity polls after launch. Following AA4 up with another game just starring Phoenix and Apollo and..."exploring" those family relations could've been a safe and easy direction to go in, yet Yamazaki's team committed to an ambitious idea of two kinds of character growth: DUAL DESTINIES, so to speak.
This is why I don’t mind Apollo’s “new backstory” in this game being so brief and, in a sense, discardable. Because the point of the backstory is to drive his actions and growth as a character: Not to give him a goal to pursue. You aren't meant to sympathize with him on a personal, "I-knew-how-good-of-a-guy-your-friend-was" level, because you're just observing the mental effects its having on Apollo, and trying to help him from the perspective of two people who really don't know the pain he's going through. Its what starts his internal turmoil and it does that well.
And putting a bow atop of it all is presentation that feels almost a cut above Ace Attorneys typical stellar pedigree: The composer of AA3 paired with the sound director of AA4 leads to whats pretty easily my favorite sound in the series, narrowly beating Great Ace Attorney purely by the element of variety. One of my biggest issues with AA4 was just how...dislikable a lot of the interacting cast was (again, is retroactively made more interesting with the Dark Age framing), and Dual Destinies remedies this with some absolute top-of-the-line new favorites (Simon + Case 3 my beloved) All the characters animate beautifully, and I admire the restrictions the team placed on themselves regardless: Characters like Filch and Fulbright will still snap to animations to retain the snappy timing of the original games, something I felt The Great Ace Attorney was comparatively lacking in due to reliance of "natural" motion-capture.
But then we come back to that point, that interesting contrast in direction: The Great Ace Attorney’s character models have far more detail and a whole new sense of fluidity, giving it more of a sophisticated feel, wheras Dual Destinies’ more simple designs and harsh cuts lend themselves to a different vibe altogether. The game’s anime cutscenes are a great example of this. The simpler designs lend themselves nicely to the occasional shift, and it does wonders to help drive the story. TGAA gets half as much cutscene runtime and accomplishes precious little with it, mostly just feeling jarring and out of place; Again, different direction.
So let's summarize: A fantastic story that retroactively makes the Ace Attorney game I have the most issues with click better and established three Top-5 favorite characters, paired with the best soundtrack in the series and a really nice visual direction for the mainline AA series. And crucially, while as I explained before the game fumbles in puzzle design, it NEVER shows its hand too early. This is my distinction between “the puzzle” mentioned earlier and "the mystery”, and the mystery is always excellently paced out across each case whilst driving a good story to boot. The points at which the game nudges you toward what to pick aren’t several steps before said event occurs, but rather often right after a major new unveiling has happened within the story. THIS is why the handholdy design doesn’t bother me.
Neither Takumi or Yamazaki had an easy task on their hands. Takumi had to introduce and build a whole new world, knowing full well it and its new characters, story and games would likely always live in the shadow of what would occur in the mainline series. Yamazaki, on the other hand, had to tie together the tangled web that Apollo Justice established, and carry the torch of the mainline series forward with a wholly new team with a distinct new flavor for the series, whilst also making an impactful game in its own right for both new fans and old. The results of both efforts are ones that, in a way falter where the other succeeds. Dual Destinies just so happened to land on the side of the pond that I happen to vibe just a bit more with, with all due respect paid to Takumi’s equally impressive effort.
I feel its best summarized with this: TGAA’s new mechanics like the Jury and Herlock Deductions lead to deviously clever puzzles and fun character interaction. AA5’s Percieve/Mood Matrix are very lacking in substance, yet are both used to pull some of the series’ best storybeats with incredibly satisfying ludonarrative harmony. And just the fact that Dual Destinies even HAS those abilities, on top of it all, to me speaks volumes on how passionate the team was to honor and respect the old, push forward with the new, and give it their all.
*[Playtime: 35 hours]
[Key Word: Admirable]*
(This is one of my favorite games to discuss in general, and you'll probably see me in the replies to a good few reviews of the game here, because there are a lot of things people view as flaws with the game that I just flat-out disagree with.)