case by case: 4-1: shadi dealings
Welcome back once again to Case by Case, the series where I play through and then subsequently write about every case in the Ace Attorney series! We're onto Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney this week, after wrapping up the Phoenix Wright trilogy last week. Court is now in session, after the cut?
It's seven-ish years since the last game, and Phoenix Wright is once again on trial for murder! He's been disbarred for mysterious reasons, and he is now this scruffy looking professional gambler (sorry, card player, there is definitely no gambling going on here) who drinks glass bottles of grape juice by the crate. I say this without irony: this is a masterclass in bringing back a popular character when you're moving on to tell someone else's story later on. So many pieces of media bring back the old characters and they immediately suck all the air out of the room; everyone is talking about how great and nice they are; they are treated not as people but as brand representatives; they are here not because there is a story that calls for them but because the fans want to see their favorites.
But look at this guy. Look at him! He's disgraced, he's sketchy as hell, he's being framed for murder. There's a story here, questions to answer, a mystery to solve. And while he obviously has something up his sleeve, he can't do it alone.
For these introductory slash tutorial cases there is usually not as much to them as the rest of the game, but while that is true here this one at least is hitting the ground running as far as narrative elements go. We've got whatever's going on with Phoenix, we've got whatever's going on with our mentor, defense-attorney-turned-murder-man Kristoph Gavin, and whatever's going on with the victim, Shadi Smith, we've set the tone for the I-love-that-they-call-it-this the dark age of the law . . . this sets the stage admirably for the game that is to come.
We get a brief introduction to Apollo's special ability, which is "being a body language expert." I would quibble about the fact that body language expertise is actually mostly a scam but these things are designed to give us more ways to interact with the trial segments, which previously did not have very many verbs available to us. This is . . . fine? Sometimes it feels like the gimmicks are there for the sake of being gimmicks, but so long as it doesn't get in the way I'm not going to complain too much.
And that's it for this one! We got more time hanging out with Apollo and the rest of the gang coming up next week, where I sure hope we get to eat some noodles. Thank you as ever for indulging me, and I will see you all then.