#I don’t know what the time difference between AA6 and AA7 is

[doctorsiren]

Phoenix and Apollo tied up with Subway wrappers instead of rope

somehow it works

#doctorsiren #ace attorney #phoenix wright #apollo justice #country gavin #meme post #I don’t know what the time difference between AA6 and AA7 is #so I decided give Phoenix the hot old man graying sideburns 😍😍😍😍😍😍 #art

[letapollojusticesayfuck]

I’ve recently been thinking about what I would want out of a potential AA7, and have come up with some Ideas as to how to fix the myriad of dropped plot threads and other issues that plague the 3DS games (which are, actually, my least favorite ace attorney games—full disclosure). 

Basically, for AA7 to Work, I think it actually needs to be Two Games, taking place simultaneously: Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney, and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney 2. (probably with better names, but hey, that’s not My Job)

My main complaint with Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice is that they try to do too much—they’re balancing three protagonists and trying to do character development with all of them, while Also trying to have an overarching plot for the individual game. It’s too many things for one game to keep track of, and so you run into issues where Athena feels like a slightly-elevated investigation assistant, and Apollo gets out-of-nowhere backstories, while storylines introduced in earlier games (like almost everything from aa4) get overlooked entirely apart from some minor references (the entire Manov Mistree case in aa6 was practically painful to play, because it seemed like it could be the perfect opportunity to resolve the Gramarye Siblings issue, but no—it never happened). So, the ideal solution here is to revert back to the single-protagonist-per-game model (and the reason I’m only proposing two games and not three is because Phoenix has been the protagonist of So Many Games Already, and he deserves a break. In my hypothetical aa7, I’m sending him off on a trip with Edgeworth. Maybe they’re on their honeymoon, I don’t know. It’s my hypothetical scenario and I make the rules)

Anyway. So, two games—one following Athena, one following Apollo. The Athena game would ideally introduce a lot of new recurring characters unique to her—as well as cameos from characters like Juniper Woods and Aura Blackquill. Maybe there’s a new prosecutor for her to face, or maybe she just faces Simon Blackquill the whole time—the important thing here is that she’s the one behind the defense bench, with maybe Trucy as her co-counsel. She gets to interpret the Mood Matrix herself, without having other people pointing out the contradictions (which was one of the things that annoyed me the most in Dual Destinies—literally, every time she uses it, it’s either Phoenix or Apollo who has to do the interpretation for her). Anyway, the point is that she gets an entire game to herself. 

The Apollo game would follow him defending cases in Khura’in, because it’d present more of a problem to just bring him back to the WAA between games. I’ve got much more of an Actual Concrete Plot Idea for this one, mainly because I want it to resolve a lot of what’s been left open-ended so far. The main thing would be that characters from his past keep popping up while Apollo’s trying to do his job—like, he’s defending a person, and it turns out that two witnesses to the crime were Machi Tobaye and Lamiroir, there to do a concert, or he has to defend Valant Gramarye, who was in the country to study some traditional magic tricks or something. And somewhere along the way, he gets a letter from Trucy about how she’s being interviewed for a documentary about the Gramaryes (and there’s a conspiracy about how Thalassa had two children, not one). There’s so many Apollo-centric plot threads to tie up that you’d need a whole game with him as the only protagonist to do so. Everything would culminate in the final case in this game, which would come about when Apollo gets a phone call from Trucy and Athena, to inform him that Klavier Gavin was arrested for the murder of Kristoph Gavin, who was found dead in his cell in solitary confinement. Athena can’t take the case because she’s already got a trial on (which is one that you play in the Athena game), and nobody else will take the case, so Apollo gets on the next flight from Khura’in and comes back to defend Klavier, because he Knows there’s something up. And basically this serves as a way to give us the Gavin Bros Backstory we’ve always wanted, as well as a dramatic climax for the story and parallels with Trials and Tribulations, and also somewhere along the line in this case Trucy doing the documentary leads to her finding out that Apollo was Thalassa Gramarye’s son. And so we’d get closure on the whole Super Interesting sibling relationship parallels thing that AJ:AA set up and then never got to follow through on.

That’s basically it—two games that either resolve long-abandoned mysteries, or set up more story arcs to continue on with. Is it likely? Not at all! But it’s what I would do. (also I would return to the 2D animation style but that’s a whole different discussion. and I’d make it canonically gay because in this hypothetical scenario where capcom has handed ME the reins, I’d be able to do whatever I want)

#lucy's thoughts #ace attorney #aa7 #(((i haven't actually 100% finished playing soj i just know pretty much all the spoilers so))) #i don't expect everyone to agree with me lmao but i was having Thoughts and had to write them down #also Yes i Am going to write this hypothetical case where klav gets arrested for murder as a fanfic #like i'm sorry but also not sorry it's a good plot device #also this is just my take on it i'm not interested in arguing #this takes place in a hypothetical world where i get put in charge of aa7 for some reason #i am not an authority lmao #aa currents

[scarlettlawyer]

Part 4 of my commentary of @renegadewangs‘ fanfic series Phantoms and Mirages.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Now, onto Haunted Specters! God, I love Haunted Specters.

It’s such a pivotal and crucial stepping stone. Just about all the major actors on the playing board, and in fact, the playing board itself all get rearranged in a careful balancing act that sets the scene anew.

It is, or at least it was, SUCH an incredible struggle for me to reconcile the phantom from the previous fic with the phantom we see in this one (and subsequent instalments, even) upon taking a step back, and with good reason, although for me the divide ran a little deeper, as it completely boggled my mind how this was somehow the same character being written by the same author, let alone belonging to the same fic series that somehow had a line of continuity where it made sense for these characters to end up in these situations – this situation.

I don’t merely refer to the phantom’s characterisation – what’s so great is that you can totally get away with writing him in this manner and have the audience accept it, seeing as he’s suffered a traumatic brain injury from the fall. It allows for a great amount of freedom for what direction to take the character in that would have been absent before.

No, I also refer here to (of course) the dynamic he shares with the other characters, the way he is portrayed and positioned by the narrative, and lastly, my own personal approach to reading and my feelings towards – level of investment in the character as he is in this series. As I’ve rehashed many times, I wasn’t very absorbed in or on board with this series’ version of the phantom for a lot of the previous fic when I first read it, at least until the end. But now, going into this fic, I was fully invested in especially seeing and learning what changes and impact the fall had made on him, and there was a new, thrilling level of unpredictability attached not only to the character, but to the plot itself.

By all accounts, the series so far had set me up to want to see how Blackquill and Bobby were finally going to take down the Big, Bad, Evil Phantom once and for all. How they would, against the odds, track him down and apprehend him against his will in what was bound to be an epic showdown. I was ready for that. It’s what I wanted to see. When I previously mentioned wanting – yearning for a “slightly lighter take” in my first post? That was gone now. I was ready for some pizza, at last. It’s what I had been conditioned to expect so far, so I was like, why not? I was like, heck yeah, let’s do this.

And yet, the narrative didn’t hesitate to seem to want to throw all of this out the window altogether. My expectations completely and utterly thwarted, I found myself realising I really had no idea what direction this could possibly be going in (or why my expectations had been thwarted so thoroughly like this). I well and truly had no idea what would happen next most of the time, because I couldn’t fathom where things could possibly go, and that had me hooked to reading, so eager to know what would happen next since it was such a mystery.

Rereading Chasing Phantoms as I have done for these commentary posts was helpful in truly establishing in my mind that yes, that was the same phantom, the same phantom, the same man that is present continuously within this series. That needed to be reconciled not just with regards to portrayal, but also my own misconceptions outside of that about how the story and character were constructed back then.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, so let’s start off with looking at the first few chapters.

Haunted Specters, Chapter 1

…You know, right off the bat, I know/figure this series was mostly (if not wholly) written prior to the release of SOJ, and yet. I could be wrong but it looks like all of the provided dates still seem to match up in order to make it remain fully compliant to ace attorney canon. As in, there’s nothing directly contradicting it. And if that really is the case, well that’s just pretty damn awesome all around. AA7 will surely come along in future and ruin the fun of that I’m guessing, but for the time being, you can’t tell me all of this stuff wasn’t happening in the background even as AA6 was going on. AA6 all seems to take place prior to chapter 1, anyway. God bless timeskips!

...Wait, wait, coming back to edit this much later: scrap that. Apollo’s presence throws a spanner in the works. Ah, well. We can work around that, I’m sure. I’m gonna play around with it in my mind until it fits, somehow. :P Even later edit: Oh also Gaspen.

When Simon left the office, he couldn’t quite keep the broad grin from his face, nor the light skip from his stride.

This is so cute oh gosh happy Simon!

Save it for a more appropriate time- that was what his therapist had taught him.

Oh? Oh really? Is that so? Who might that be? No one important? Oh you mean? You mean the courtroom sniper? Is that right? You mean the phantom’s future

Boyfriend?

Nah, that can’t be right. Carry on then.

Hah, don’t worry, I’m not complaining. Lang Zi says: A man who cannot keep his own affairs in order lacks the competence to be having affairs.” “… No offense, Lang-dono, but at times the suspicion dawns on me that perhaps you’re making some of these sayings up as you go.” “This coming from the man who has a thousand and one prison anecdotes to share?” Lang paused for a moment, then his voice took on a much more serious note. “Anyway, I’m not calling for idle banter.”

“Haha, yeah, good one, so anyway, there’s a good chance your boyfriend might be dead.”

Haunted Specters, Chapter 2

“No! Hold it! Mr. Butz had no reason to kill anyone!”

I WAS WONDERING IF THE DEFENDANT WAS SOMEONE WE KNEW SKNJSDNKJ

“So tell him to hold off on ordering another useless gravestone with my name on it. In fact, tell him to stop looking for me while you’re at it.”

ANOTHER- god I love how completely wack some of these characters’ lives are/have been.

“… I gave him your regards. I gave him your regards, and then some.”

Me, known phantom fangirl trash: OH GOSH IS HE OKAY???

Me, knowing full-well that Bobby would be 100% justified acting in self-defense against a known emotionless killer, therefore also with somewhat mock concern: OH BOBBY PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN’T HURT HIM

(Oh, but he didn’t. I needn’t have worried.)

Ah, I’ve been sitting here, wondering what I can say to this. How his assessment is completely aligned with reader expectations and further sets them up only to be subverted, how far off his guesses are… I just… “even the tiniest glimpse of him” they’re… they’re sharing an apartment… Yeah. We’ll get there. I couldn’t find an appropriate reaction image to the above block of text, really.

Haunted Specters, Chapter 3

Okay this is extremely pernickety, and I apologise, but…

And, mind you, I usually pay no attention whatsoever to these things, and it honest to goodness makes no difference at all in the end – if the narrative says it’s Tuesday, then it’s Tuesday. Simple as that. I merely looked it up out of curiosity and because I’ve annoyingly taken it upon myself to micro-analyse everything in this fanfiction series like a little pest. I also kinda figured because you are picking out the dates and actively calling attention to the day of the week, that you would have some kind of system that you are sticking to for it (and the vast majority of details added into your fic was done so meticulously). And maybe Google is off on the calculation and you got it right, heh. But yeah, I definitely paid no real mind to this at all when reading it the first time around.

But then… Even if Fulbright was now avoiding help from the people close to him, that didn’t mean there weren’t any people close to him. Similarly, the Phantom could never quite work alone.

Okay, okay. I know this is a direct lead-in to re-introducing Domestique into the mix, but… oh my gosh. You really just went right ahead and… Hm! The phantom can never quite work alone. He is working with Bobby right now, as a matter of speaking.

Also. I really like Domestique’s dialogue when he’s forced to face Simon, gosh. Just so unabashedly in-your-face, so dotted with swears, it’s kinda great, really.

I ESPECIALLY LOVE THIS LINE FROM HIM:

Because honest-to-goodness, it’s kinda funny how direct it is (and the “THAT’S TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES” asdgd), but also rings really true in a “this is exactly what someone like this would say in this situation” way – exactly how they’d phrase it.

…

Oh, I love. This meeting between Bobby and the phantom at the end of the chapter. It’s – aaah. Very good. With the way it’s set out, you’re somewhat kinda like, oh, huh, is it really him though? Could it really be him? But the narrative goes right ahead and keeps dropping explicit hints. It still doesn’t outright confirm it, leaving the slightest hint of plausible deniability that perhaps this is a New Character we’re being introduced to, but… :D

Haunted Specters, Chapter 4

Even the revelation that the Chief Prosecutor had helped uncover a mole who’d been hiding right by Lang’s side was a story that’d spread through hearsay only.

Second reference to the Her 👀 (yes, I’ve been paying attention to that on this readthrough).

“Coupons. Ambassador Palaeno sends me a considerable package of these things every year, yet I find no use for them. They’re redeemable only in Cohdopia itself, so I’m sure you see my problem.”

Bro. Bro you keep making vague references to characters only for them to actually become super important and plot-relevant later on. I’m blindsided every time.

Me, reading this for the first time: Haha nice reference to a minor ace attorney character, yes, Edgey would totally still receive coupons from him. I can see that. He’s totally unrelated to this story though.

Me later: THIS SUCKER WAS ALREADY BEING REFERENCED AT THE BEGINNING OF FIC 2.

The Chief Prosecutor received gifts from the Cohdopian ambassador? Honestly, everyone was intertwined in one way or the other, weren’t they?

Good work. This is very true of the ace attorney universe and it’s cool that Simon takes note of it here like this. But it’s also very true of this fic series as well, helping reiterate that fact. Oh, Simon, you don’t even know yet how intertwined everyone even is…

You set the scene so well upon Simon arriving in Cohdopia. Really depict the atmosphere and everything super well!

So then, Simon arrives at the address, and he finds… Bobby? And it’s like, wait, wasn’t that supposed to be the phantom’s address? Why’s Bobby here? Aint that hugely coincidental…? How did Bobby find… Well, he did cross paths with the phantom, so I guess he also managed to track him down to this place somehow and he just so happens to be arriving at the same time as Simon (?!) and then some other stranger that Bobby seems to know arrives and…

…

…What?!

I love how there was still plausible deniability up until the very moment Bobby says it outright. Like, the phantom’s apartment might have been abandoned years ago, and this “stranger” is completely unrelated, and took up residence there some time after it was abandoned. Yeah – a stranger that will be an important ally and help them on their quest to bring the phantom down! Right? But Bobby’s behaviour, and then he… that’s… that stranger is no stranger at all…

Simon waited, all sorts of hypotheses dawning on him, each more ludicrous than the next. As it turned out, one of the theories he’d dismissed almost immediately on grounds of being too farfetched turned out to be truth.

LITERALLY ME

Haunted Specters, Chapter 5

“I warned you, Simon. Now back away,” Bobby hissed, grabbing him by the arm to pull him away from the faux Cohdopian.

“Faux Cohdopian”… Well,

Anyway. Well. Wow. What can I even say about this chapter? Most of it’s all contained in Simon’s POV narrative itself.

First off, you have the obvious, “whoa, this is how the phantom is being formally re-introduced to the narrative? I really don’t know what I expected but it sure as hell wasn’t this.”

This chapter, this situation, the characters, are all so incredibly volatile and it plays out, it really plays out with that constant volatility.

I, kinda immediately suspected that something was off in that the fall had done some damage to the phantom’s mind in an important, meaningful way.

Bobby’s behaviour is so surreal. Just like it is to Simon. There’s so much going on, so much to process all at once.

“I think that even you, Phantom, would agree this is nothing short of folly.”  A moment of silence followed. Sam didn’t so much as blink at the question. He merely downed the pill he’d been given by draining the water in one go. “… Sam doesn’t speak English,” was all Bobby said.

Now THINGS LIKE THIS, are what made me think, well, the narrative seemed to be encouraging this viewpoint that maybe, at this point the phantom doesn’t actually remember being the phantom. Maybe he lost all his memories, and he’s just wandering around as some poor confused amnesiac who genuinely thinks he’s Sam Specter. (That doesn’t explain a couple of things, but it was only a temporary thought of mine as I read through). But this viewpoint allowed Bobby’s behaviour to make sense in my eyes. It raises a very interesting dilemma. That the phantom is still despicable and needs to be brought to justice and what have you, but how? The phantom is completely absent now, if this man has no memories of any of that. If he genuinely thinks he’s Sam Specter, an innocent civilian who has done no wrong, and for all intents and purposes is trying to live his life as such, reacts as such? Then Bobby would probably bear no ill will against “Sam Specter”. That perhaps, well and truly up until a certain point, “Sam’s” act was not an act. Or it, at the very least, was much less of an act than it would usually be. It’s… quite convincing. In which case, Bobby wouldn’t want harm to come to innocent civilian “Sam Specter”, even if he used to be the phantom. But now? Now he’s just some weak, frail man with a serious mental condition.

The attempts to affirm the personhood, to what extent there is one, of “Sam Specter” is a very interesting point of contention.

With this in mind, as Simon went after the phantom trying to get him to come out, I kind of expected it to consistently not work. That Simon would just keep pushing and pushing to be faced with that murderer once more, only for “Sam Specter” to never break character, perhaps because there is no real character to break from at that point, so caught in a delusion. For Bobby to want him to stop because at that point he’d just be needlessly harassing “Sam Specter”.

But then he does break character, so that theory kind of goes out the window.

He’d been cornered, faced with the truth and forced to drop the charade.

But. It’s still not revealed to what extent the phantom was impacted by the fall. And I kind of got the impression that the phantom was “holding onto” the act… more than usual. More than he usually would. He only broke character under duress, so there are still a whole bunch of questions raised here about just how much he was immersed and caught up in the role of Sam, exactly. Also. Yes. On a second readthrough he reacts fiercely and breaks character specifically after the asylum comment and I just – oh my GOSH.

Also: Peacekeeper Bobby…

Bobby’s gaze moved from the broken glass to Sam Specter, who was once again cradling his head with both hands. Who was rocking back and forth on the couch, muttering to himself. Obviously not listening to a word they were saying.

Oh gosh, he really… Yeah. A fall from an apartment building can certainly do that to you.

Haunted Specters, Chapter 6

What if… What if this was a mistake? What if he’d just freed a common criminal?

Well, UM.

“Oh. Oh, right. That makes sense.” A moment’s pause. “…Wait, wouldn’t I be walking backwards then, making your six my twelve?” “…” “Or uh… I’ll just turn the clock around and make my twelve six so it’ll still be right side up for you.” “… I doubt this conversation would be any different if I were having it with a young child.”

Oh my gooosh. He’s really like this huh. He’s really just Like This.

“Oh. … Well, that’s good! That nobody else is stuck here, I mean, not the… the selling.” “Stop wasting time on such trivial sentiments and prepare yourself.”

“Trivial sentiments”… I just… He’s really always Like This. Your version of the phantom is so talkative, something I noticed pretty early on, but I love it, honestly. He could have easily just ignored the statement and continued to tend to the task at hand here, not saying anything, and Bobby would have easily taken that cue and also started to focus more and not really said anything further, but oh, no, the phantom just had to throw in some kind of remark. Not replying would have conveyed the same meaning, but this guy? He’s absolutely gonna say something. He didn’t have to equate Bobby to a child either, easily could have chosen to say nothing. BUT HERE WE ARE. I love it.

Two strangers, guarding each other with their lives on the gamble they’d both make it out in one piece.

Incredible. Incredible!

“What…? Friendship?” For the first time since they’d met, the man’s voice showed more than a stoic nature. Some sort of subdued confusion. “… Wasn’t it… justice?”

THIS MOMENT IS GOLDEN. Yes, YES.

And, you know, his brain’s all muddled, he’s missing huge chunks of his memory… And he really is kind of blurting this out at this point? Like a knee-jerk reaction. He’s reaching for a – for a memory that just comes to him even if he can’t quite put it in full context, or even if he CAN, he really says this without thinking. Because even if he was suffering from this confusion, I am very certain that he would not just blurt it out like that under normal circumstances. No. This man is half out of his mind! He must know that Bobby doesn’t recognise him and he has no real reason to tip him off otherwise right now (because it could backfire very easily if Bobby freezes up or freaks out as a result!), to ask him like that... Haaah. I’m so here for really-not-all-there phantom.

Still, even through their little exchange, Sam looked blissfully lost. As if he truly didn’t understand what they were discussing about the Phantom. About him. What a pathetic little farce.

This really did have me genuinely uncertain what to think. Like, how much of “Sam Specter” is a farce? How invested was the phantom into that role? The phantom understands English perfectly, but because Sam supposedly doesn’t… Was it possible at all that selective hearing was truly at play? That the phantom gets so deep into the role that he tricks himself, his brain, into not really understanding English properly – refusing to process it? At least, that’s what I thought at the time. Bobby makes the requests for the phantom in Cohdopian, after all. He doesn’t just casually sit there and say “hey phantom, come out” in English. Switching between “Sam” and “the phantom” evidently takes… some effort for him. And mind you, I was putting all of this (selective hearing etc.) down to the results of the fall as well. I mean, if the phantom was “Sam” under normal circumstances before the fall he’d be able to understand English perfectly well, he’d just pretend he couldn’t, and also that he’d be able to switch in and out and between personas quite easily. But that the fall did things to his mind to make it all more difficult, for him to now be able to engage in this selective understanding, is what I figured.

But… maybe Simon’s right. Maybe he still really does understand everything they say, and is just faking it. He’s such a good actor that it really is hard to tell.

And maybe the simple fact is that it’s still easy for the phantom to switch between personas, it’s just difficult to switch out of them since he has so little sense of self. And maybe that’s just the way it always has been and the fall didn’t actually change that.

Sam’s personhood hinges on how “conscious” the phantom is while Sam is in place. The less the phantom is actually present (selective hearing etc), the more “Sam” is just Sam. But it’s later implied (more than once I think) that the phantom really is just, conscious while he is Sam, and that being “brought out” is not such an immense struggle as it otherwise could be. And yet, at the same time, the narrative seems to want to tilt us in favour of acknowledging Sam as a… a person, his own person. Of sorts. And… I guess it makes sense(?). During the whole of Dual Destinies, even if every action taken by “Bobby” was consciously chosen by the phantom… Those actions were all taken for a reason, all matching up to the consistent persona “Bobby Fulbright”. Both “Bobby” and the phantom would make a choice or engage in a behaviour for the most part, even if the reasoning was different at times they were united on the action itself. Sam is… kind of the same? He is the spitting image of what used to be a real human being, all of his outward actions and behaviours (are intended to) replicate that human being. By cobbling together some approximation of a real person like this, it is perhaps easier to treat them like a real person if they behave in all intents and purposes as such. Especially considering the circumstances. There’s a constant duality going on which I guess is what we’re supposed to settle on? The phantom never really goes away, he’s always there behind the scenes. But Sam’s there too, and we gotta treat him as real or things kinda just fall apart, really. There’s also much to be said for how Sam’s personhood is as much constituted to the extent that it’s acknowledged by those around him, too. We can’t just look at it on its own. It’s also something that’s made more “real” by others treating it and to an extent acknowledging it as real. Even if, in the very end, there might be nothing truly behind it.

THERE IT IS. Right off the bat, I just gotta say: the phantom is really channelling his inner Franziska. XD. Addressing characters by their FULL NAMES. I noticed it quite a bit in the sense that it is, very consistent within his speech pattern, almost making it a kind of “character trait” of a man who himself claims to have no real character. But of course – it makes it stand out all the more when switching to “Prosecutor Blackquill” instead.

”If you attempt to lay a hand on Sam Specter a second time, I will not hesitate to interfere and protect him.”

Here it is, the phantom himself almost treating Sam like a completely separate person… I… don’t think he would have taken this approach before the fall. Hmm. BUT ALSO. Here he’s also implying that he is conscious enough while behaving as Sam to be able to “not hesitate to interfere and protect him”. Hmm!

“Watch your tongue before I cut it off,” he hissed. “I would never lay a hand on Fulbright.” “… See that you don’t.”

Me: I WELL AND TRULY DO NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL, WHAT IS GOING ON, the phantom is protective of Bobby, well and truly his brain was influenced by that fall.

Simon really is/was in the exact same boat, honestly.

Now we have the smuggling ring brought up, the March 2019 exposure referenced, another reference to how there was a mole in interpol before… And I was kind of like, “hm! You know! There’s a certain character this brings to mind, yet unfortunately they’re nowhere in sight. Kinda really sucks they’re not a character in this fic series, honestly!” Yes, such a shame, really.

”[…] That’s why we need to expose the involvement of Lex Luster […]”

Me, reading this for the first time: Wait. Lex… Le…x. Huh. That’s… for some reason, that name rings a bell. Ah – that’s right. This “Lex”, he’s quite an important character, isn’t he? From what tiny random scraps of information I’ve seen about this fic series (from years ago!)… Yes. I’m pretty sure that this “Lex” character will be showing up quite a lot going forward.

...Well, I wasn’t wrong.

[ramzaes]

My current thoughts on Ace Attorney’s Future

So by now you are most likely aware of the recent Ace Attorney news Capcom put out, and also some stuff that’s been leaked, ill give a brief rundown before going into my thoughts in case you missed it(excuse the poor grammar , I didn’t have that much time to spell check lol)

-Capcom has announced that Ace Attorney games will be moving to the switch and that they will be releasing one between April 2018-April 2019

-Leaks from Kotaku UK: First half of next year will have two Switch releases of compilations, one for AA123, other AA456. And a third brand new game feat. Phoenix Wright will release before April  2019 worldwide launch for Switch and smartphones

(ALSO take this with a grain of salt like all leaks, im just more trusting with this once since I don’t Kotaku would try and fake AA news since it is a niche series and there isn’t that much to gain from it, and the person leaking has been correct with that huge Mario Rabbids leak)

Now this news came outta nowhere but here are my brief (not really lol )thoughts on them

-Ace Attorney Games no more on 3ds

This was always in the cards, given franchises like Pokemon, moving away from it and the Switch’s mobility. It was very good of them to announce that they still plan on releasing new games for Ace Attorney and that the series isn’t over in my opinion . 

I personally thought that if AA7 came out on the 3ds it would be the last one in the franchise, like no more AA afterwards(I expand on this below). 

But this Switch news made me reconsider that theory, as now I believe Capcom is going to keep on pumping them out because the profits they make on it must be pretty decent in their eyes., like the cost of making them must not be as expensive as we would believe.  So expect some “brand new” plotlines that will be expanded upon in AA8 etc

-Compilations

Very smart move given the next news on AA7. AA6 led to a big issue, in that, you probably wouldn’t enjoy the game as much if you never played the first 5. If they just released AA7 on the Switch straight away, they would be assuming every switch owner has played the other 6 AA games, so this would at least bring everyone up to speed. 

Given some stuff I go into further below, I would be thinking, Capcom would be looking into the sales of these very closely in regards to DGS and AAi2…

-what about AJ on 3ds

Apollo Justice is still coming to the 3ds at the end of the month, and now im thinking, what is the point? The above leak is actually incredibly damaging to sales for this as most people can just wait for the compilation on the Switch to then play it. 

There are ofc people who don’t have a switch (like me) and some who want to play AJ on the 3ds but I feel like this leak has made a few people reconsider their purchase of AJ (which is gunna do so much damage to Capcom’s sales forecast for that game…. :/ ). 

Like you know how quiet the AA twitter is usually, they might have announced the compilations early next year after people already bought it (and maybe that might have angered a few more people to rebuy it again lol)

-Featuring Phoenix Wright

Now ill try and keep this spoiler free but the “feat. Feenie” leaves a big question, where is Apollo? Does that mean all 5 cases are playing as Phoenix? Dlc cases with Apollo? Or are they going to release an Apollo game later (because in an interview for SoJ, they were toying with the idea of SoJ being two separate full games like Pokemon Red and Blue, where one only with Phoenix, and the other only with Apollo). So maybe a game featuring just Apollo in 2019? 

Now im not sure what the reaction to that is on this site, but I know a lot of people on Twitter have been rolling their eyes that the whole game is once again only Phoenix, when they feel his story is done. Me personally, I don’t really mind, as I view AA456 Phoenix as a different character to AA123, so im happy there’s at least an AA7 game coming, regardless of who you play as. 

Earlier I mentioned how I thought AA7 would be the final AA game ever if it was on the 3ds, and with that I was thinking it would be the biggest fanservice game ever (like Gumshoe, Kay, Franziska coming back, and other past characters returning in the biggest best(est) sendoff ever, like maybe even a dlc case where you play as Edgeworth with Kay helping and gumshoe, Franziska all there, and like the crime scenes being old places but with new twists, and just finalising every plotpoint ever (Iris and Kay where are you??). 

But since it ISNT the final game, I think it will be kind of like Dual Destinies, instead of answering questions, they will pose new ones, and introduce even more new characters to the already bloated cast which im not too happy about. Prepare for a new colourful Maya clone that has a new gameplay ability to turn the tide in court! (I still love Athena mmmmmk?),  Also, wanna bet that one dialogue we want between Phoenix, Trucy and Apollo about a certain relationship wont be revealed til postgame AGAIN? :P

-Worldwide launch

This is probably the ABSOLUTE BEST NEWS to come out of all of this. No longer will we need to wait through the months, wondering if we bought enough copies to make them consider localizing. Now we can play them game at the same time as Japan! Although with this series, I never had a big issue with spoilers unlike Danganronpa, like people weren’t going out of their way to spoil SoJ like they did with V3. But its stil great news that we know that AA7 will be coming west!

-Digital

-The switch has a big digital only library, -games are not tied to your console anymore, -they are tied to your account, so if you Switch dies, -you wont lose the games purchase. SO yes I do think all 3 of the Switch games will be digital only, this is clearly the route Capcom wants for us westerners and I don’t think anything short of a miracle in sales will change that :(

-Smartphones

Now this is an issue for me personally. Hearing AA7 being on the switch made me so happy, as it opens up the endless possibilities to the gameplay. 

SoJ had so many improvements to character model movements and what they did with the 3ds hardware. So thinking a Switch only AA7 game would be amazing in terms of what they could do with the models, UI, gameplay etc.

 Deep down I always wished Capcom would try and be like Spike Chunsoft and add extra gameplay to their visual novel hybrids, like danganronpa. As in, its honestly absurd at how much extra content is in v3 considering they are both just murder mystery VNs, and they is clearly no reason for them to add so much extra content. Like AA has never even had post game content at all, so maybe on the switch they can try some things like danganronpa, like an AU mode, or some silly board game thing, just stuff that doesn’t harm the main story, but is nice for diehard fans to keep opening up the game. 

HOWEVER since its apparently on mobile I don’t think any of that will happen. Yes Im happy people who like mobile gaming can play it, and yes not everyone can afford consoles, and yes phones are like mini computers these days in terms of power. But from Capcom’s point of view, if they want to sell it to as many people as possible, they need to consider a lot of people will still have old phones, so trying anything amazing in gameplay features might not work on an old phone, leading to loss of sales in the mobile side. And we all know how much Capcom likes money. So personally im disappointed but not that much, this is just a deep feeling ive always wanted from AA, just more in game content and extra things to do. And seeing how SoJ improved SO MUCH on the DD models, I just wanted them to go even beyond that. But hey maybe now at least they can do 3d models for investigating and pretend its an investigation game , RIP Kay’s return :’)

-localizedgs and aai2

And ofc the usual, LOCALIZE DGS AND AAI2. Considering all the news, and given how poorly Marvel vs Capcom Infinite sold(it’s actually shocking at how bad it sold, maybe because no Phoenix in it? :P ), and how long it took for RE7 to reach its sales goal(1.5years), I don’t think DGS will ever be localized, at least not for a few more years. The cost of licensing to Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Estate is clearly too much for Capcom to release an even more niche game than AA(the average person will see it doesn’t have Feenie and wont buy it). 

HOWEVER given their love of compilations and ports recently, there is STILL a chance they will port a DGS1&2 game to the switch, maybe around 2020. This being after they see the sales to the first 2 compilations. So don’t buy Battlefront 2 and support bad lootbox behaviour, save that money to buy AA on the switch ;) And regarding AAi2, look im probably the biggest fan who wants a new AAI3 more than AA7 (I even made a video about it lol), but considering AA7 will be made by the AAi team, that aint happening. Now all hope would be lost, if not for the simple fact that, in 2017, just recently, AAi had an encore stage play performance in Japan . Meaning even though this play ran last year, they had enough demand to do it again this year. So Capcom clearly has some plans with Miles and crew, and hopefully if the compilations sell well, they will make a Switch port of AAi and AAi2, and hopefully Kay will live once more! :P

-Takumi

And finally to the man himself, Shu Takumi(creator of AA if you didn’t know). After spending time making DGS 1 and 2,  and with how poor their sales were, I don’t think there will be a DGS3. And I don’t think he will come back for AA7 (if it was the final game like my earlier theory, I was hoping he would come back for some fanservice lol, like he would bring his charm back and work it on the new characters which might have been fun). This is disappointing as his writing with the characters is on another level compared to the new games . 

E.g play SoJ and the professor Layton crossover game, back to back, and notice how different the dialogue is with Phoenix and Maya. Takumi (who wrote the Layton game) clearly understands his characters so well, and you can feel Maya and Phoenix’s personality just flow seamlessly with each other, like the professor game honestly felt like a case from the trilogy even though I played it waaaay later.  He has stated he is done with the main line AA games(iirc), and how he would hate making more cases than needed (like him not wanting to make the fifth case in AA1 when Capcom first localized it, since the GBA game had only 4 cases and Capcom wanted him to make one more case to sell again). So I don’t think he will make AA7 or DGS3, which means HOPEFULLY he is free to make what he wants, and we can get another amazing separate game like Ghost Trick ANYWAY that’s been my rambleeeeeeeeeeee

TL;DR Ace Attorney isn’t dead, Capcom loves the franchise but not as much as you want, please buy the compilation ports, even if you have the games, money speaks to this company that runs our favourite game franchise :/

And final silly point: I don’t have a Nintendo Switch, Zelda BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon2, FE Warriors didn’t convince me to buy a Switch. I will now be buying a Switch for AA7, THIS SERIES WILL BE THE END OF MEEEEEEEEEEE

#my ramble #ace attorney #aa7 #capcom #yes i went overboard with gifs but idc :)

[sage-nebula]

also, ace attorney for the meme?

My favorite parent-child relationship

Phoenix and Trucy are the obvious winners here, but with that said I have a true soft spot for Byrne and Kay Faraday as well. We only see a tiny bit of them, and we don’t actually get to see them interact at all, but it’s obvious how much Byrne loved and cared for Kay, and how much she continues to take everything he said to heart and do her best to carry on his legacy after his death as well. Phoenix and Trucy are definitely sweet, particularly with the way he adopted her when she had nowhere else to go despite how his own life was falling apart (and how he keeps a locket with her picture in it with him always!), but I also appreciate what little we got to see of Byrne and Kay as well.

My favorite sibling relationship

Apollo and Trucy, hands down. My favorite part of their relationship is how much Apollo acts like her big brother even though, due to circumstances beyond our control, neither of them actually know that they’re related yet. (Going on ten years now, Capcom. This is unforgivable.) He’s so protective of her, and so tolerant of the shenanigans, and she teases him even though she very clearly looks up to and believes in him as well. They’re precious and I adore them, wholeheartedly. ♥

Runners-up are the Skye sisters, though. Every time I replay 1-5 I fall a little bit more in love with their sisterly bond, and I hope that Lana can make a comeback in AA7. Come on, bring her back, Capcom. You know you want to!

My favorite family relationship (other)

Maya and Pearl as best cousins, + Maya as best Promoted to Parent. Maya had to be like Pearl’s cousin, big sister, and mother after everything with Morgan went down (er, both times it went down), and I think she did a wonderful job stepping up where needed. At the very least, it didn’t seem like Pearl wanted for anything, and it was clear that Maya was making a concentrated effort to take care of her. Credit where credit is due, their relationship is truly sweet and special. (And that said, I don’t think we actually got to see the two of them interact in AA6, did we? A shame, that is.)

My favorite friendship between two people

If I’m excluding ones that I also ship romantically, then Phoenix and Maya---at least, in the original trilogy. Their banter was always wonderful and it’s obvious how much they care for one another. I do cherish that about their relationship. That said, AA6 exhausted me and has made it so that I don’t want to see Maya in the main series at all anymore, so my opinion on this one is a bit soured now. Thanks, AA6. Thanks so much.

My favorite friendship between a group

The Wright Anything Agency as a whole has a wonderful dynamic (and, tbh, is better than the original trilogy’s Wright & Co. Law Offices). I especially love the power trio of Apollo, Athena, and Trucy, but Phoenix as the Team Dad is wonderful as well, A+++.

My favorite mentorship

People give a lot of flack to Phoenix for not being a good mentor to Apollo, but I honestly disagree? It’s true that, especially in AA4, Apollo had to put up with a lot of nonsense due to all of the secrecy and machinations in the background, but at the same time I think that Phoenix gives Apollo the kind of mentorship that he needs. Apollo is pretty anxious beneath his Chords of Steel smokescreen and second-guesses himself a lot; it’s clear early on in AA4 that he doesn’t really have confidence in himself to know what he’s doing, however much he tries to convince others that he does. By tossing him into the think of things and then pulling back the lifeline, it’s true that Phoenix is inciting Apollo’s anxiety---but he’s also forcing Apollo to see that he can do this, that he does know what he’s doing, that he can hit the ground running and still make it to the finish line. The Apollo that we see in AA6 is far more confident in himself in just about every way, to the point where he can tell Phoenix to his face to “stand down and be quiet” --- and I firmly believe that this is because Apollo has had to fight through the fires of his own self-doubt and insecurities, and that he had to do so because Phoenix refused to hold his hand (and thus hold him back). And it’s worth noting, too, that this is far different from Kristoph’s approach; Kristoph was the type to stand over Apollo’s shoulder, hold his hand, and critique every little thing in order to mold Apollo into a little mini Kristoph Gavin. Phoenix didn’t do that. Phoenix tossed Apollo into the fire, and as a result, Apollo came into his own, as his own person as well as his own attorney. Apollo thrived under Phoenix. He never would have under Kristoph.

So all of that said? Phoenix and Apollo are my favorite mentorship. Definitely.

My favorite rivalry

I mean, what other one is there other than Phoenix and Edgeworth? As much as I do ship them romantically, any case that they’re both working on together is guaranteed to be fantastic not only because of the content of the case, but also because of the banter that will be tossed back and forth across the courtroom. It’s only worth it to play as Phoenix if Edgeworth can be the prosecutor, full stop. (And I mean, I do love Franziska a lot, but let’s be honest: She does her best work when Edgeworth is pretending to be a defense attorney, and we all know it.)

My favorite hatred/antipathy

PHOENIX AND KRISTOPH, PHOENIX AND KRISTOPH, PHOENIX AND KRISTOPH!!

Kristoph Gavin is, in just about every way you care to name, Phoenix’s shadow archetype, and I love shadow archetypes. I love them. And that, coupled with the fact that we have unfinished business with Kristoph (we don’t know what he’s hiding behind his black psyche-locks, we know that he has to still be saltier than the Dead Sea after everything that happened, et cetera), means that I really want him to come back and I want another showdown here. We sadly didn’t get to see Phoenix truly react to Apollo emulating Kristoph in AA5, and the way that Kristoph gaslighted and manipulated Klavier was so subtle in AA4 that many people missed it, but both of those things could make a comeback. Kristoph’s hand in Trucy being abandoned could make a comeback. Kristoph could use Athena, given that she never knew him, in order to get the ball rolling (because he’s very good at coming across as classy and non-threatening, and it’s possible that he could fool even her ears), et cetera. There’s so much that could be done, and I want it to be done! BRING THIS BACK, CAPCOM!!

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon

Aside from how they are part of rival fandoms (Steel Samurai and Jammin’ Ninja, respectively), I really would love to see how Maya and Kay get along. I think that they have similar temperaments, and that Maya would be starstruck by Kay’s chosen career path as a “phantom thief,” and that likewise Kay would be very interested in Maya’s spirit channeling. (Maya could also channel Byrne for Kay, if she wanted, which I think Kay would very much appreciate.) I would love to see the two of them meet and interact at least once; I think it would be amazing!

Likewise, I’m still waiting for Kay to come back as a prosecutor who forms a new Yatagarasu, with Athena as the defense attorney and Ema as the detective. I’m waiting, Capcom. Deliver this to me! DO THE THING, CAPCOM! Do eeeet.

#gen relationship meme #tangelomadness