This review contains spoilers

this game blew all of my expectations completely out of the water, honestly. it's somehow an improvement on the previous games in nearly every possible way. there wasn't a single character i outright disliked, and i feel like there were so many strong personalities in this game compared to the previous two that it really made the conversational dialogue shine to new heights; the training group was one of the biggest highlights for sure and i especially liked watching maki and kaito's relationship transform throughout the later chapters. kokichi alone is also possibly the most interesting character in the entire series, and his dynamic with both miu and keebo was fantastic. even the monokubs i thought were a really fun addition to the villain cast (though they took a bit of time to grow on me). characters aside, i also thought the actual cases were more fun and unique overall, especially with twists like in the 5th trial. and on the subject of trials... they're also the best in the series BY FAR - both of the first two games had serious issues with the trial minigames being anywhere from mediocre to pure misery, with few exceptions; in this game pretty near every minigame is at minimum enjoyable, if not very much so. the regular debates are made more interesting via more inspired text movement and the lie mechanic (which is SO MUCH BETTER than the flashback bullshit from the first two games). the mass panic debates are simple but cute. armament argument is EASILY the best iteration of the rhythm minigame. psyche taxi is just plain fun. mind mine is mostly whatever but it's not misery or anything. new hangman's gambit is nothing special but definitely way better than 2's (though the correct words were still sometimes a bit bullshit). v3's closing argument is also easily the best iteration of it. the only one i can say i dislike is the debate scrum, since there's no way to discern the "correct" word without either failing or letting the entire script run through, and it kind of lacked substance in general. there's also of course still some weird logic throughout the game but i didn't find it nearly as sketchy as either of the previous games. the whole game really does feel like a fitting conclusion to the trilogy, both in gameplay and story. i have heard from multiple sources that the ending is hotly debated but i really enjoyed it, even if i don't think the mastermind was a very interesting character for the most part - and i don't mind that, since in the end that was kind of a secondary reveal anyway. but yeah, this is easily my favorite of the trilogy and just a phenomenal game overall; even if i have some minor issues, this is definitely a 10/10 for me

Reviewed on Mar 08, 2022


1 Comment


2 years ago

It was my favorite of the trilogy as well :) The ending indeed makes or breaks the package for people. Some have an intense hatred for it, i loved it.