This review contains spoilers

Very good game, I think I like it better than any of the individual games in the trilogy- while the first game still wins out when it comes to individual character arcs and development I think this game has probably the best overarching story of the 4 I’ve played so far and also (likely not a popular opinion) the most consistently good when it comes to individual cases; Turnabout Trump is the best intro case by a mile, Turnabout Corner is the only real weak link but it’s still much better than the likes of Big Top or Recipe, I’m a big Turnabout Serenade apologist (I get that people don’t like how it kinda drags, but I think some of the aspects people criticize about it tie in pretty well to the game's overall message) and while I can also see why people thought Turnabout Succession was disappointing I still found it really satisfying to piece everything together and a good conclusion from a story standpoint even if it isn’t the most challenging gameplay wise (and again, some of the lore-related problems I see people have with it IMO are explained by the framing device). Apollo isn’t as strong of a protagonist as Phoenix, but the new cast is still pretty likeable overall and AJ also makes Phoenix himself a much more interesting character. I can’t help but compare what this game did with him and the fandom's reaction to it to what The Last Jedi did with Luke Skywalker a decade later, and I think both works did it just as well- neither is perfect by any means but I don't think a character completing their initial journey means they should just become flawless forever, and being able to see them face new troubles, fall to their lowest moments and have to reckon with that and overcome them only makes them better heroes to me.

Reviewed on Jun 11, 2023


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