You know what since this will probably be my last new AA experience for a while, I'll make this review more serious than usual and also write a little reflection on my relationship with this series in general

I've been following Ace Attorney for 10+ years now and it was honestly love at first sight. When I first played AA1, I had no clue what a visual novel even was, and the idea of a "courtroom simulator" where you play as a defense attorney intrigued me. And I was hooked all the way once I started playing. The original trilogy, Apollo Justice and Investigations all made a massive impression on me, and while the games were of varying quality, I could still say even the weakest games were at the very least good, and the best of the series still stand among my favorites.

And my love for the series only amplified once the series hit the 3DS. Dual Destinies was the first game I ever played on the day of its release, the localization of the Layton crossover got me insanely hyped, and I went even as far as playing the fan translation of AAI2 back when it was fully completed. However, over the years, I became more and more cynical about discussing the series. Not because I thought the games were bad, but the opposite; every AA game was at least good in my eyes. And I felt that with most fans being very vocal about which games they disliked, I felt discouraged to start any discussion about the games "targeted by the masses", and eventually I started to become less and less passionate about the series in general, to the point where I convinced myself I had fallen out of love with it.

That brings us to present day, and the release of TGAA Chronicles. When it was announced, I could feel myself getting actually really excited, even though I had already played the fan tl of TGAA1. It was mostly because the second game, which was still untranslated, was also included in the package, but also because it felt amazing to have these long-time Japan-only titles come to the west OFFICIALLY. It made me feel downright giddy, and at some point, I found myself replaying some earlier AA game "in preparation" for the Chronicles release. And when I started playing my way through, that old flame started burn brightly again. I realized that even though this series has had its ups and downs, no matter what anyone else has to say about the games I love, I will always love Ace Attorney.

And The Great Ace Attorney 2 was just the game I needed to truly solidify that realization. Like AAI2, it improves on pretty much everything the first game set out to do, and seeing all the cliffhangers from the first game solved and laid out in satisfying way made me feel alive like few other game series do. And by the time I witnessed the breakdown of the final culprit, I was absolutely enveloped by the magic that captured me about the series in the first place.

In conclusion, The Great Ace Attorney 2 is one of the best games in the series, and I'd like to thank Shu Takumi and everyone at Capcom who worked on this franchise for giving life to one of my favorite pieces of media out there.

I love Ace Attorney so fucking much.