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.