When I first played Dual Destinies, I thought it was fine. That’s equal parts praise and condemnation. On one hand, a good game is a good game, and Dual Destinies is undeniably a good game. On the other hand, Ace Attorney is a series I tend to associate with a high bar of quality, and so when “fine” or “good” are the best words I have to describe it, it would be fair to say that in some regards it missed the mark. Having replayed it now within the context of the Apollo Justice Trilogy re-release though, I think that Dual Destinies actually has a lot going for it. It just takes a few missteps along the way that holds it back from reaching its true potential.

The best thing that Dual Destinies brings to the table is newcomer Athena Cykes. Despite the fact that she’s only properly playable in one case, she’s the narrative throughline that links all of the game’s cases together, and as such Dual Destinies can more or less be considered her game. Would I have preferred it if the game was called “Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney” and if Athena was the lead lawyer on every case? Yes, but even with things as they are, I would still argue that Athena gets more development than Apollo does in his own game—you can see how even in filler cases like Turnabout Academy, Athena has personal stakes that directly lead into her character growth—so I’m inclined to give the writers a pass on this one. Besides the fact that she’s the core focus of the plot and has a decent character arc, Athena also brings with her my favorite lawyer gimmick in the series, the Mood Matrix, and personality-wise provides a nice contrast to Phoenix and Apollo with her spunky can-do attitude.

That being said, this brings me to my first major complaint with Dual Destinies, which is that I think the writers underutilize Athena and Simon’s personal connection prior to the final case. Part of what makes the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney so compelling, in spite of the fact that it’s nowhere near my favorite entry in the series, is in how Shu Takumi uses Phoenix and Edgeworth to develop each other over the course of the narrative. Even though the details of their connection aren’t revealed until that game’s climax, you can still feel it through their heated interactions. Not so in Dual Destinies. Athena and Simon appear to be almost perfect strangers until the end of the game. You could argue that this is because Athena doesn’t take the lead on every case, but I don’t think it would’ve been that hard for them to drop in more personal taunts here and there earlier on in the game.

My other major complaint with Dual Destinies is that I think they should’ve shown Apollo’s side of the investigation during Turnabout for Tomorrow. We don’t get any major Apollo development until the end of the second game in the so-called Apollo Justice Trilogy, and even then, we only get to see the resolution of his arc in this game. Opting to develop Apollo’s suspicions in real time instead of having the set-up happen off-screen would have done wonders for his character arc. It’s the final case of the game, so it’s not like having things be a little more elaborate would be out-of-place, and they wouldn’t have to get rid of Phoenix’s section either—in fact, I think showing the contrast would only serve to further demonstrate Apollo’s inner turmoil. As it stands though, this replay of Dual Destinies has done little to shake my impression of Apollo as much more than a slightly grouchier, more cynical Phoenix Wright.