case by case: AAI 1-4: murder is badd
Welcome back to Case by Case, my no-longer-weekly-because-of-external-time-pressures-forcing-me-to-accelerate-the-pace series delving into Ace Attorney! Last week we hung out at a crappy theme park; this week, we're hanging out in the past! Spoilers below.
If we're being honest, I expected this one to be a little bit lighter, a bit of a step back from the metaplot that focused mostly on our characters' relationships. I was super wrong! In retrospect it makes more sense this way, but hey.
This one takes place in the courthouse; the judge is here, there's a defense attorney, it's almost structured like a normal trial, including having segments that take place at the crime scene and segments that take place in the courtroom. It's not a strict one-to-one replication of a trial but this definitely feels like a nod to the traditional formula. I love that sort of thing.
If I have a complaint about this one, it's that the twist "oh, defendants' lobbies are perfectly soundproof" feels . . . a little forced, if for no other reason than that that's not how soundproofing works. But if you accept the premise it does lead to some cool "oh, that's how that all fits together" moments. I feel like this game excels at those. There's a subtle distinction between that and the sort of big grand twists the main games are known for (which, don't get me wrong, I also love); in those, the focus is often on how vast and surprising the twist is, and finally getting to use the weird bit of evidence you've had lying around in the court record for the whole game doesn't feel like the last puzzle piece is finally clicking into place so much as it feels like you're upending the entire puzzle. I think I already talked about why that really works for an investigation-focused game, but it's late enough into this game that I feel like talking about that as an overall trend isn't unreasonable.
My complaints about soundproofing notwithstanding, this one does all of the things I love about this series. It gives us a tense, interesting investigation while also letting the characters really shine. Edgeworth and Franziska both feel, plausibly, like younger versions of themselves, caught in the shadow of a mentor who, as it turns out, is not so great actually; Gumshoe almost getting arrested because he promised a little girl he wouldn't tell anyone she had innocuously broken a promise to her father absolutely encapsulates his character (and it feels like a plausible origin for his unwavering loyalty to Edgeworth). If I wasn't already sold on this game (and I was) I think this one would have done it for me.
And that does it for today's case! Tomorrow, we have AAI 1's big finale, with phantom thieves and crime rings and, presumably, more murder. I'll see you soon, friends.