case by case: 4-2: wocky hijinks
It's Monday, which means it's time once again to have a murder happen in our vicinity! Last week we lost at cards, due to cheating; this week we don't have to look very hard to find a missing ramen cart. Spoilers, as ever, after the cut.
Our inciting incident here is a somewhat contrived but nevertheless clever series of seemingly unrelated busywork low stakes investigations that Apollo is browbeaten into accepting because he's unemployed and Phoenix asked him to come help out around the office. As we investigate we discover that these seemingly unrelated incidents are actually connected, and also there's a murder involved.
The investigation segment for this one felt oddly linear; while so far there have been cases where you can't talk to someone or uncover information until you have done a certain thing in another area, this one felt more . . . arbitrary, I suppose? There were a few points which felt like they would have benefited from the structure the magatama's psyche-locks provide, and a few where I picked up a new piece of evidence and immediately knew who to show it to, but that person was just not around so I had to wander around and figure out what else I was missing before they'd show up.
But that's a minor complaint; I do like this one overall. It has a nice pace, the conclusions to the mysteries are satisfying, and while Prosecutor Gavin is absolutely ridiculous this is also a great showcase of who he is as a character. I think the correct amount of screentime is being given to the mystery of Phoenix Wright's fall from grace; enough that it's something we're thinking about, not so much that it's the only thing we care about. And I had forgotten how much I enjoy Emma Skye as our detective character.
I could do without the fixation on panties.
And that's all for this one! Overall, a fun one. I like the characters, I like the story. Probably not going to be a standout case but it's solid and does the job. Next week, we get to go see Prosecutor Gavin's band live in concert! I'm sure nothing bad will happen.