Very much like the Edgeworth duology, the Great Ace Attorney games culminate with an extremely solid, even-handed finale that fully satisfies and stands among the best examples of Shu Takumi's work, but certain elements from earlier in the sub-series continue to linger in ways that just barely prevent the overall package from reaching the stratospheric heights that it would otherwise be capable of achieving.

As with AAI2, there are no cases in GAA2 that I would describe as "bad." One of them relies too much on overly familiar locations and characters for my tastes, but the greatest strength of both AAI2 and GAA2 is consistency.

At least one element of that consistency however, leaves me with an axe to grind. "Great Deductions" still suck. They are bloated, cumbersome, childish hidden object content that continuously butchers its own pace. At their best, they are thrilling, exciting, and kinetic sequences, propelled by infectious momentum, almost like a musical number. There is great potential in this system, if only they could be more liberal with their formula, give other characters a chance to shine, and stop buzzkilling every other sentence dead in its tracks. Toward the end of the game some of this potential finally begins to actualize, but it's too little, too late. These serve as the climax of every investigation segment. It's not a trivial matter.

It's easy for me to forgive this though when the presentation is so lovingly done. As much as I think this is an overused and unhelpfully simplistic argument in a game's favor, the locations of GAA are unarguably "cozy." Any 3D awkwardness from when Dual Destinies first made the jump has been eradicated, and I can even say that I now prefer this style over the spritework of the original trilogy. I enjoyed my entire time with the GAA duology immensely. It is a well crafted, expertly realized, lovely experience... but nothing ever gets me as high anymore as Bridge to the Turnabout did.

as much as dgs2 and its prequel are some of the best ace attorney games i've experienced, i won't deny that barok's entire arc was so unnecessary and i was actually extremely reluctant to play dgs2 because of that. it can be argued that scarlet study's choice to add slurs that weren't in the original script did worsen my opinion of him, but even then i don't forgive him for his racism especially after his stale "apology", and i also don't forgive takumi and the aa team for ever coming up with his arc. as an asian person (specifically southeast asian), it's already traumatic to experience racism nearly every day of my life, so it felt like a huge slap in the face to see a team of asian people basically end their game with "being racist is bad but it can be excused if the white person has trauma". trauma does not excuse racism or bigotry of any kind!

reluctantly putting my major grievance aside (i have more but they are extreme spoiler territory), i would be lying if i said the writing for this game in general was horrible, because it isn't! it was really refreshing to have another protagonist that wasn't phoenix, and i also really enjoyed most of the main cast and their character interactions with each other. the sprite animations are so charming and full of character as always, and sherlock's deductions are my favorite aspect of the game!
with all that out of the way, i wouldn't recommend this game (or even any ace attorney game) in good faith unless you are really willing to sit through the racism in dgs1-2. but i can definitely say that this duology will completely blow away your expectations of what an ace attorney game should be.

FINISHED UPTO CASE 3 AT POINT OF THIS REVIEW

I have no real experience with the mainline Ace Attorney series, but when Scarlet Study released the full English patch for Dai Gyakuten Saiban 1, I was interested by the alternate history London setting and the 19th/20th century crime literature backdrop (of which Sherlock Holmes himself is the main attraction).

What I didn't expect to get into was a truly masterful work of historical fiction that seeks to examine the imperial consciousness of both Britain and Japan but totally wrapped around this core is a wonderful cast of effortlessly charming characters that makes such a grand tale work. Bar none, this is my favourite interpretation of Sherlock Holmes ever.

I am so so excited to see this story conclude, but I have to specifically state my admiration for Scarlet Study's fantastic work that I hope Capcom can match in their inevitable official release. The use of cockney rhyming slang in particular is ace.

I really like DGS2 - it's got the unique privilege of being a direct Ace Attorney sequel, picking up its predecessors' plot beats and relying on the player to know where all the characters stand. This lets it tell a really energetic story by the series' standards, bringing both games' overarching plot to a close while still having time to slip in some great mysteries and incredible moments (case 3 is probably one of the best cases in the series.)

The one big gripe I have is that because it has so much plot to run through, and it relies on the player knowing and caring for its characters, it loses some of the character focus that made DGS1 so unique. Three years later I keep thinking about the massive reveal/twist at the end of the third case that basically nobody reacts to beyond the brief cutscene it takes place in. It should shake a good chunk of the cast to their core and instead they're kind of like "damn, that's crazy! Oh well."

Greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Crest of ingenuity. Acme of imagination. Pinnacle of innovation. Epic of epics. Legend among legends. Peak fiction. One above all, peak creation, lonely at the summit, goats above goats, grandiose masterpiece, impeccable perfection, too exquisite to exist, unbelievably marvelous creation, spectacularly bewildering and stupendous imagination, work of god. Groundbreaking and foundational, his sense of development is a deconstruction of employment segregation and the powerful performances are truly comprehensive of their poignant themes while the nuance in the direction complements a layered screenplay. Pure elegant, exquisite, endeavour. I can't put my finger on what's wrong because there isn't anything, masterful character-making from a masterful person. Top of the decade. Top of the century. Top of my life.