#however im unsure if that includes the composers so i may be off the mark in that regard

[transfemkristophgavin]

something very small across both 3d games that nevertheless greatly annoys me is how apollo and athena's character themes are handled. i am definitely reading into this too much but i have also spent too long typing all of this so read my words boy

a new era begins! in aa4 is a theme that, whilst very much derived from phoenix (and mia's) original objection! motif in the first trilogy, still has a considerably different feel to it that is achieved by making the core refrain/loop of music that defines the objection! motif VERY subdued; it's almost drowned out by the other instruments in the track. this reflects how whilst it's still the same action within the context of the game's mechanics, it's being performed by an entirely new person with different ideals, motivations and methods to phoenix and mia, thus the end result is a very different take on the motif

however, in aa5, a new era begins! as a whole ended up getting recycled into apollo's out-of-court character theme, i'm fine! - objection! motif and all - which gives the impression that during development there wasn't a lot of consideration given to his individuality as a character. the same goes for athena and her character theme, let's do this!. obviously for their actual objection themes i dont mind the motif being used, but it feels like a missed opportunity to not focus on the unique parts of a new era begins! and courtroom revolutionnaire, elaborate on those aspects and turn them into wholly unique sounds for apollo and athena's character themes. most important of all would be ensuring that they DON'T reuse the objection! motif. in apollo's case with i'm fine! it feels especially egregious because it goes directly against the tone and intention of the original a new era begins! by EMPHASISING the objection! motif and making it the core focus of the track

i know in the wider scope of things this is such a small detail - i don't even necessarily dislike these tracks - and i'm aware expecting the team to dedicate the resources to creating two unique songs for three entire characters each across multiple games is asking too much, but regardless i also think it's at least a bit emblematic of how phoenix, apollo and athena were handled in relation to each other in the 3d games and how ultimately apollo and athena are both left feeling somewhat deriative of phoenix. parallels (both in-universe/textually and on a meta level) between the three are not a bad thing but it does feels like apollo and athena struggle to establish their own unique identities at times without the writers doing something insanely drastic, and the way their themes are ultimately derived from phoenix's, to me, contributes to this feeling

it's just especially a shame because the team proved that they were fully capable of getting it right with edgeworth's objection theme in aai1; it utilises the objection motif but it ALSO incorporates his character theme, great revival/triumphant return, fairly extensively, and it's one of my favourite objection themes precisely because every time the part with the motif hits i lose my mind. granted in that case they were working backwards but like, the idea is present and all that

#ace attorney #aa #ace attorney meta #4 #5 #kip.exe/txt #to clarify i say ''the team'' because i know a lot of the investigations team was brought over to the 3d games #however im unsure if that includes the composers so i may be off the mark in that regard #anyway im not insane for thinking this hard about music in the silly lawyer video game right. can someone please reassure me. #i could be spouting bullshit for all i know i just suddenly got annoyed about this and before i knew it i had written 4 paragraphs #i dont even know music terms so sorry if i got shit wrong </3 #also sorry if theres egregious typos or grammar errors or the text doesnt flow well it is 2:53am. i am going to sleep as soon as i hit post #goodnight #kip.exe/si/ace attorney