Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 10 (#100)

#1 - 1-4: Turnabout Goodbyes

Aw, come on guys, I had to choose this one! Turnabout Goodbyes was originally the last case in the first Ace Attorney game, before it was released for DS in America and they added the DS-exclusive fifth case, Rise From The Ashes (which features the amazing Damon Gant, by the way, for which reason I heavily considered including 1-5 on this list). Turnabout Goodbyes was the first final case in the series (again, not including Rise From The Ashes) and it set a very high standard for the games to follow when it came to final cases.

I love these little pictures you get after completing
a case. I just wish they weren't replaced by pictures
of one main character from the case after the first game.
I was glad they returned in Dual Destinies.

Turnabout Goodbyes begins with a scene that was shocking to many. First, a tiny bit of context: Miles Edgeworth, the prosecutor from cases 2 and 3 in the first game, started off as a big jerk who would apparently do anything to get a guilty verdict. However, after being in court with his old friend Phoenix who he hasn't seen since they were children and after Nick proving his client innocent and scarring the record of the so-called demon prosecutor who hasn't lost a case, Miles begins to question his job and the way he operates with always trying to prove people guilty, even those who may not be, he actually ends up helping Phoenix in the next case near the end of the third trial day when he begins to realise that Dee Vasquez actually probably is guilty.

So, at the beginning of 1-4, two men are seen standing on a boat on what is later revealed to be Gourd Lake in the very late hours of Christmas Eve going into Christmas Day. They are talking about something that happened 15 years ago and how one of them has waited so long for this moment. One of the men (both faces are in shadow) shoots a bullet (at the same time saying the words 'merry Christmas' which is pretty eerie considering the situation) and the splash of somebody falling into the lake is heard and seen. The camera pans up to the face of the man holding the pistol... wait, those red clothes... nah, they wouldn't... huh... is that a cravat...?...wait, no?! OH MY GOD IT'S EDGEWORTH.

AWW HELLL NAW.

After lots and lots of Edgeworth denying partly due to to pride and also wanting to protect Phoenix from the case's prosecutor (more on that evil, evil man soon), Nick eventually is able to convince Edgey-poo (<3) to let him defend him, and after a mostly desperate an unsuccessful day of investigating and scraping for clues, the first day of trial begins with Edgeworth saying one word: 'Karma'. He soon explains that the name of the case's prosecutor is Manfred von Karma, who happens to be his past mentor, a man so dastardly and perfect that he is ten times as good as Edgeworth, according to Miles himself, and has never lost a case in his forty year career. Truly unbreakable.

Pure, terrifying evil. Staring you right in the face. In fact, when you see
him like this in the criminal affairs evidence locker on day 3 of
investigation, he actually TASES YOU WITH A TASER. And
TAKES YOUR EVIDENCE. Maya clutches on to one piece of evidence
which saves the day at the end, but still... that evidence is the bullet
from the DL-6 incident by the way (see below).

You are soon introduced to the horrible and extremely fearsome prosecutor that is von Karma (Franziska's dad by the way) and it seems like he really will do anything to get a guilty verdict as he manipulates the judge by pressuring him and threatens everybody in the court with his attitude. Over the second and third days of the case, we learn about an incident called the DL-6 incident that happened 15 years ago on December 28th 2001 (the case is set around the last days of December in 2016, meaning the DL-6 incident canonically only happened a couple months after me and my best friend were born). A young Miles and his father Gregory Edgeworth, along with a bailiff called Yanni Yogi, were in an elevator at the district court on the day of the incident after a large earthquake shook the court. Gregory was shot (he was the victim in this incident) and Yogi was pinned as the defendant. He was defended by Robert Hammond, who used the untrue excuse that Yogi wasn't thinking with a sane mind when he shot Gregory due to the fact that the elevator had been stuck for five hours and there was a lethal lack of oxygen. However, despite the fact that Yogi got free, his life was ruined due to being declared insane and his wife, Polly Jenkins committed suicide because of this.

From left to right: Gregory Edgeworth, Yanni Yogi, Miles
Edgeworth. December 28th, 2001.

It is revealed in the third day of the case that the man who was murdered in the current case, Robert Hammond, was killed by Yanni Yogi, the man who was the defendant in the original DL-6 incident after being accused of killing Gregory. He killed Hammond because he had in a way ruined Yogi's life after getting him free through being declared insane. Yanni had received a letter from an unknown sender giving him clear instructions on how to exact perfect revenge on the two who had ruined his life, Hammond and Miles Edgeworth.

Yogi pretends he's a senile old uncle who can't remember his real
name or anything that isn't recent at first...

...but when Nick proves he's lying, stuff gets serious.

The true culprit all along was von Karma, who sent this letter, and, after a lot of cross examination, pressing, stressful wishing and hard thought, you are finally able to deduce and prove that von Karma was the true killer in the DL-6 incident from 15 years ago. Just in time too, since the statute of limitations runs out in like a day. The statute of limitations is something that lasts for a certain amount of years that makes it so that if somebody is found guilty of a crime, say, 15 years after it has been committed, they cannot be arrested since the crime was too long ago. In the Ace Attorney world, the statute of limitation for murder is 15 years, so Phoenix literally has one day left until the true murderer in DL-6 can't be arrested. This is a thing in real life, interestingly enough, except there's no time limit in real life for murder. That's good. In the trial that was happening fifteen years ago when the earthquake struck, Gregory Edgeworth was defending in a case (that you actually learn a lot more about in Investigations 2 which is really nice) with von Karma prosecuting, and proved that von K had done something against the rules. Karma got his first penalty ever, and he shot Gregory in the head for this. And that is the truth behind DL-6. Just for ONE PENALTY. Imagine what he'd do to Phoenix for making him lose his first case AND proving him a murderer in the same day... if the statute had already run out, if it was one day after when Nick proved this and von Karma couldn't be arrested, I'm pretty certain that Phoenix and everybody he loved would be dead. There would be no more Ace Attorney.

Manfred's breakdown. It was so satisfying to see
this devil finally come to justice. 

Another cool thing about this case is that it features the return of teh Butz, first name Larry, who actually does something useful for once (soz Larreh ma boi) in helping Phoenix out by shouting 'HOLD IT' after the Judge has declared a verdict and Phoenix is pretty much screwed. However, Udgey allows this objection to the ending of the trial and Larry testifies to the court about the night of the murder which pretty much saves Nick. So proud of the Butz.

Oh, and you get to cross examine a parrot. Yes, really. 'Nuff said.

*SQUUUAAAWWWKKKK!*

Some honourable mentions for my Top Ten Turnabouts are: Turnabout Sisters, Turnabout Ablaze, Bridge To The Turnabout, Turnabout Academy, The Imprisoned Turnabout, Turnabout Succession, Turnabout Beginnings and Turnabout For Tomorrow. Basically every other case in the series really.

Well, that's it for my Top Ten Turnabouts list. The interesting thing is, the idea for this list came a few weeks ago when I was lying in bed and unsuccessfully (as usual) trying to get to sleep. I suddenly had a load of cool ideas for my blog, and I was scared I would forget them (my memory hasn't changed...) so I actually got out of bed at around 1am to write them down in a notebook. This one was just something I thought would be great to do as a countdown to my one hundredth post, and holy crap, it was definitely a lot longer and harder than I thought it would be to make, especially with regularly uploading each part now that I'm back at school. Which sucks. Nothing like this again for a while. I don't think I like countdowns anymore. And I still have some of the other stuff planned for the near future and, yes, it is Ace Attorney stuff. But, apart from a couple posts about Ace Attorney news and so on, I will try not to mention the game series too much for a while before I actually have to call this blog Ace Attorney News. Actually, Turnabout Trial Talk does a good ring to it... hint, hint, hint... no, I'm not going to rename it to that. But that name does have some relevance to the future. You'll just have to wait and see. It's not another blog, by the way.

If you just came here to read the list, then feel free to leave the post now since the rest of the stuff I'm going to be talking about below isn't about the list but other stuff.

Wow, one hundred posts! I seriously did not think I would get this far on Awesome Fantasy News, especially not in, what, barely over three months? Yeah, it's around the beginning of September now and I started this on June 2nd, which was a Tuesday. Nice. The funny thing is, like I've mentioned loads of times, I've done two blogs before, and I never really stuck to them both. The first one I did like six posts on, with a post each day for five days, but then I just stopped. And the next and last post was about six months later, in September. Ha. Although, my excuse is that I broke my legs between then, but still. (Don't worry, that blog was a plight on mankind.)

The other one was a lot less cringey (in fact, expect a post about that blog along with a link to its page(!) very soon) and was only updated once a month, but even despite the fact that updates were extremely unoften, I still didn't keep to it, and stopped posting. Eek. And those posts were barely longer than this one. I was very lazy apparently. Still am to be honest. But somehow I managed to not abandon this. I think it might have been something to do with the fact that I'm not scheduling myself. At first, I said I would post at least once a day, then it went to once every three days, then I just cancelled the schedule and said I would promise to keep updating regularly. And it worked better without a schedule. Interesting.

But I didn't even have any plans to make another blog when I did. It was just spur of the moment really. I was in a group chat with two close friends and one of them (the guy I 'passed on the objection' to) suddenly sent a link to a little blog he made. He never had really done anything like that on the internet before so I checked it out. Then I just thought, 'I should try doing one of these again. But instead of focusing it on one thing, like reviews, I should make it about news and my life when it comes to video games and movies and just basically stuff I like'. And, well, I did. I made that introduction post, and here we are. I don't know what compelled me exactly. It was probably some kind of inspiration, or more likely a competitive spark. I know he won't be reading this, but thanks. He hasn't posted on the blog in months and he only wrote for a few days or so, but that short blog was kind of what made me want to do this for the third time. And it finally worked. I don't think he's going to continue the blog, but it's here if you want to check it out. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me linking it here.

Quite a bit of stuff has happened since I started TTT (Top Ten Turnabouts), but I haven't said much about it, because I didn't want to distract from the actual list. I've had to even write a list on the Sticky Note app thing on my laptop of things I want to talk about for the next five to ten posts. At least I have a plan, because after that, I get the feeling that I'll be fumbling for ideas again. Stupid writer's block. I've even gotten two new games this week, and am getting another today, which is one of the things I'm going to make a post about soon. But I'll save which games they are for then. Expect that in post 102, actually.

I finished season 2 of (modern) Doctor Who on Saturday night. I can't believe that Rose had to leave the series like that. So tearjerking. I haven't started season 3 yet but I will soon.

And there you have it. My hundredth post, which is probably one of if not my longest post so far. I should make a kind of AFN logo sometime in the future. That'd be nice. I need to develop art skills first though.

But seriously... oh. My. God. This post is massive. Bloody hell. Forgive me if I don't post for a day or two, I may need to recover slightly. Thanks for reading.

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 9 (#99)

#2 - 4-3: Turnabout Serenade

Remember how I was saying in part 7 how it was nice to see a friendly prosecutor for once in the form of Klavier Gavin? Well, the guy only goes and invites you to a concert to see him perform in his rock band, the Gavinners! Slightly egocentric band name though. He even gives you a 20% discount. Sure, it may not be much... but can you imagine Franziska inviting Nick to Whipfest 2002? Or Godot giving Phoenix a discount at Macmillan Coffee Morning? I think not.

"I never drink more than 17 cups of coffee during any given
charity event..."

This is one of the many cases I chose for this that a lot of people find controversial and there's a bit of a split in the fanbase about if it's a good case or not. It's also probably the last of that kind of thing on the list since I'm pretty sure number one is a case that almost everybody likes. Turnabout Serenade is the third case in Apollo Justice's game, and is set pretty soon after Turnabout Corner. Like  I said above, the case starts with you at one of Klavier's concerts, where he is performing 'Guilty Love', which is his leitmotif (his theme music basically) in the game. Like the character it plays for, it is awesome. Check it out. It's my ringtone.

The famous and beautiful singer from the fictional country of Borginia, Lamiroir, along with her blind pianist Machi Tobaye, has come to perform onstage with Klavier, and the song they perform is The Guitar's Serenade, which you actually get to see a cool animated video of (the animation is pretty cruddy, but it was a 3D cutscene in a DS game at the time which was uncommon) along with the lyrics at the bottom of the screen, but no vocals sadly, probably because of lack of powerful hardware I presume. I actually really like this song and know the lyrics almost off by heart.

I have to ask, why does Klavier look so orange in this?!

While Apollo hangs out with Ema Skye (who returns in this game from the first game's bonus case, which is set many years later and she is now a forensic detective like she wanted to be), Romein LeTouse, Lamiroir's interpreter (she only speaks Borginian), is shot, and you must defend Machi Tobaye (I believe it is a pun on much to buy) in trial.

Throughout the case are a ton of revelations, including the fact that Tobaye lied about being blind and can actually see, and it is in fact Lamiroir who is blind. Speaking of Lamiroir, she has amnesia and cannot remember anything about her true name or identity, and you find out in case four that she is actually Thalassa Gramarye of the Gramarye troupe, and Apollo's mother! It is never really told to Apollo though, along with the fact that Trucy is his half sister, and I really wish they would have expanded upon it in Dual Destinies. Hopefully in Ace Attorney 6? Maybe. But yes, Lamiroir and Machi would always hold hands when going around, and although this was at first explained through him being blind and Lamiroir guiding him around, it was actually the complete opposite way round the whole time. Wow.

Lamiroir and Machi. They make a beautiful pair
of musicians. 

By the way, the murderer is actually Daryan Crescend, an interpol agent with THE BEST HAIR EVER! He's one of the members of the Gavinners, but seriously his hair is so amazing! It's like a shark growing from his head. I mean, just look below! And his breakdown is even better. Just check out this video.

Just... just look at it... it's so magnificent... like a giant
black and white bullet...

I know this one was certainly a lot shorter than usual. And I know I say that like every time. But next time is a case that I've played very recently, like in the last two weeks recently. So expect at least quite a bit of detail.

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 8 (#98)

#3 - 5-2: The Monstrous Turnabout

This game is also pretty similar to Apollo Justice, in the way that some people love it and some people hate it. I think most people like it though. It's the first game in the Ace Attorney series to be released on the 3DS (well, Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright came out in 2012 in Japan whereas this came out in 2013, but I don't count that, not because it's not a main game but because LVW didn't release until 2014 here I think) and the most recent in the series, at least outside of Japan. Cough Dai Gyakuten Saiban cough. But, yeah, the only case from that game on the list. It's a great game, I just didn't want to include any other cases from it because I didn't want to have too many from one game.

Contrary to its name, this case isn't actually a monstrous turnabout. It's more like The Pretty Great Turnabout. The second case in Dual Destinies, the case introduces us with one of those nice new-fangled (except not for Professor Layton) cutscenes which tells us about the legend of the Nine Tailed Fox (which isn't just from Naruto, you know, it originates in Japanese mythology) and how it sealed the evil demon, Tenma Taro, away into the forbidden chamber of Kyubi Manor in Nine-Tails Vale.

Years later, Apollo meets new recruit to the Wright and Co. Law Offices, (or, as it is now know, the Wright Anything Agency) Athena Cykes, who has the ability to examine witnesses emotions during cross examination to uncover their true feelings or repressed memories, in Nine-Tails Vale, where he has travelled to with Trucy, as she has a friend there, Jinxie Tenma, who always thinks Apollo is a demon because his hair looks like horns to her and she is very superstitious. See, Nine-Tails Vale is a place that has a Yokai craze, Yokai being a group of mythical Japanese monsters, kind of like Pokemon. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if that's what Pokemon is at least partly based on.

A cool event features the Amazing Nine-Tails, a popular wrestler
who is actually Damien Tenma of Tenma Town and not Rex Kyubi
as most people suspected, as he confronts the evildoer Tenma Taro.

Rex Kyubi, the alderman of Nine-Tails Vale is killed, and Jinxie's father, Damien Tenma, is accused, so, obviously, he becomes the defendant. Now, the killer is Florent L'Belle (he's an awesome character by the way, he has his own brand of hair products specifically for himself and his hair changes colour on each day of the case) and it's great when you finally expose him and see his breakdown, but the only slightly disappointing part is that you see him kill Rex Kyubi in the case's opening cutscene so you already know the whole time who the killer is which detracts a bit from the suspense and fun of finding out. However, it doesn't really ruin the case at all, since that cutscene's a pretty nice one, and it's kind of reminiscent of the first two cases in the series, The First Turnabout and Turnabout Sisters, where you see the actual murder and the murderer before the case starts. I know you see the murderer in Turnabout Visitor and Turnabout Countdown too, but in those cases you don't really see them at the exact time of the murder, so yeah.

The opening cutscene in which we see L'Belle
commit the murder...

...and the moment where we see Redd White kill Mia Fey. See
the similarities? 

This case also introduces another main prosecutor, just like Turnabout Corner and The Stolen Turnabout -- well, pretty much every second case in the main series, really. This prosecutor is Simon Blackquill, a prison inmate who is a convicted murderer! Granted, you do later find out in case 5 that Simon's innocent, and that Miles Edgeworth (did I mention that he's now the chief prosecutor, by the way? Yeah, he is! The game is set in 2027 after all which is around 10 years after the first trilogy and Investigations 1 and 2, but if they make an Investigations 3 I'd like to see Edgeworth's becoming of the chief prosecutor explored) knew this deep down and that's the only reason he let a convict prosecute. But still. Blackquill is a bit of a samurai wannabe and is an opponent who is not to be underestimated in the courtroom. Especially with his evidence-carrying hawk Taka, who loves nesting on the Judge's head.

The case also introduces the Dick Gumshoe to Blackquill's Edgeworth (his detective, basically): Bobby Fulbright, the 'here of justice' who later turns out to be basically the biggest villain of the game in disguise. How ironic. Yes, turns out the real Fulbright has been dead for over a year, which I'm sure I won't be able to stop thinking about when I replay this and the third case in Ace Attorney 5. Oops.

'IN JUSTICE WE TRUST!'
Ironic, isn't it, considering his true nature?

The Monstrous Turnabout is a great case and conveyed to me that Dual Destinies was going to be a great game. I was hooked and played it nonstop, especially the trial sections.

I think this one was a bit shorter than the others, and if so, I apologize. I seem to have a series case of writer's block. Anyway, just two parts left. On part 10, after the stuff about the actual case, I will be doing a long cheesy talk about the blog.

Update: Again, no post tomorrow. I have that homework I need to start and I want to actually get in some video game enjoyment between school sessions. When part 9 goes up on Thursday I'm just gonna try and push on through and get part 10 over with. Okay, see you soon.

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 7 (#97)

#4 - 4-2: Turnabout Corner

Yay, finally an entry for Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the game that everybody... hates apparently? Really? I don't know, I've heard on the internet that many fans hate or at least just dislike Apollo's game, mainly because you don't get to play as Phoenix and that Apollo is a forced new character. Many people also don't like that Phoenix lost his badge, especially after how strong his trilogy was and after the fact that his badge was a big part of his character and who he is. While all of these are fair points, I still think this is a good game, and there's even another entry for this game higher up on the list. Anyway, onto Turnabout Corner...

I just realised that 'Passing Down The Objection', the name of a recent post,
would suit this picture a lot, since it's like Phoenix has passed his skills
down to Apollo. Although Polly's mentor is actually Kristoph Gavin. Ah. 

The name is very, very unspecific, that is a fact. C'mon, there are a lot of corners in the world. Corners on shapes, furniture, places, metaphorical corners, even people... so yeah, the case name really doesn't say much about the case. Then again, the only names I can really think of that would describe the events of the case a lot are Turnabout Noodles, Turnabout Panties, Turnabout Mobsters and Turnabout Illegal Doctors are also pretty strange and somewhat questionable. Especially the second one.

Guy Eldoon, who has had his Elddon's Noodles
stand stolen to transport the victim's body. Ew, I wouldn't
eat any noodles out of his stand again.
...
Actually I've been eating lots of noodles lately.

In his second case, Apollo has been asked to defend, oh, no one big, just THE MOB. Okay, not literally the whole mob or something, haha, but specifically, Wocky Kitaki, the son of well-known crime boss Winfred 'Big Wins' Kitaki and his wife Plum. In this case, Polly is called to the the Wright and Co Law Offices which makes its return from Phoenix's saga, where it has been renamed to the Wright and Co Talent Agency by Phoenix's daughter, Trucy Wright. Yes, that's Wright, (hehehehe) Nick has a daughter! Well, okay, she's adopted, but still...

Off to a Wocky start... ;)

Trucy becomes Apollo's assistant while he goes to investigate and prepare for the trial, and she is basically his version of Maya. Actually, at first, they don't go to investigate for the trial as they are not requested to defend Wocky until a while into it, but instead go to look for a panty thief (no joke) who has stolen Trucy's magic panties. Innuendos, ahoy! Just to clear things up and before you start to question the kind of games I play, these 'magic panties' are used for Trucy's magic tricks, in which she pulls things out of them. Like rabbits from a hat, but more... modern? What can I say; it's an anime(ish) game.

If you swap the syllables in Trucy's name, it sounds like see-truth,
which is likely a pun on Apollo's bracelet that he uses to see nervous
twitches and habits.

In court, you find out that the panties were stolen by a man called Wesley Stickler, who is (apparently) not a pervert, but wanted to know the trick behind them and how she can somehow defy the laws of science with her panties.

.......

Welcome to innuendo city!

The victim (who, I didn't actually mention yet, was a man called Pal Meraktis, a doctor who usually performed operations for people who couldn't go to official doctors such as the Kitakis) was actually killed by Wocky's girlfriend, Alita Tiala, the one who requested your help in the first case. Pretty twisted. This case also introduced the new kind of 'main' prosecutor for the game and one of my personal favourites, the rock star German wannabe Klavier Gavin, brother of the killer from the first case, Kristoph, who was actually Apollo's mentor and killed Shadi Smith, who you find out in case 4 was actually Trucy's real father, Zak Gramarye, real name Shadi Enigmar. But, ahem, the whole plot of game aside, some people think Klavier is one of the weaker prosecutors because he isn't as set on a guilty verdict as others. and actually acts more like a rival and friend to Apollo. I actually really like this, because it's reassuring to see a prosecutor for once who isn't evil like Manfred von Karma or willing to get a guilty verdict at all costs such as Franziska or Godot, but instead actually really wants justice and only wants to secure a conviction if he believes that person really is guilty. I thought it was very cool to see him return in Dual Destinies, though his voice in that one cutscene at the end of Turnabout Academy isn't really what I think he should sound like.

Here's a pic to make the frauleins fangirl.

Oops, I went on a bit of a Klavier fanboy tangent then. It's just because he's so cool. Especially the part where you see him in his debut trial eight years ago, which, coincidentally (or is it?!), was the case where Phoenix lost his badge.

I liked seeing him return in DD. The same goes for Edgey.

I was unsure about Apollo Justice at first because I was afraid they might have changed a lot about the game, but after playing the first half of this case I saw that it was just like Phoenix's trilogy but with a different protagonist with a different story and great new characters and storyline.

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 6 (#96)

#5 - 2-4: Farewell, My Turnabout

Okay, let's get on with the second half of these cases now! You're going to see a few obvious entries and a few fairly unexpected ones. I said I would be attempting to not make my list like all the others and refrain from including the obvious choices... but c'mon, it's Farewell, My Turnabout. Even if it is lower on my list than on others.

Many people who are fans of the series think that the second Ace Attorney game, Justice For All, is much weaker than the first and third games (myself not included; I think all three are great, but I'm overly positive like that I suppose). Some think that the game is a little disappointing because there are only four cases compared to the five from the first game, especially the last two which were extremely long, and some just dislike it for different reasons, like the characters and the story. The way the plot goes can annoy some because they think it's unrealistic, and some find Franziska von Karma's constant whipping annoying. I understand that, but I like it because it's a funny trait and it defines her ruthlessness. But I digress.

One case stands out to people a lot more than the other three (The Lost Turnabout, Reunion and Turnabout, and Turnabout Big Top), and that case is the final and probably longest in the game, Farewell, My Turnabout. The case begins with Nick n' Maya (the new name of the Wright and Co Law Offices) (joking btw) attending the Hero of Heroes grand prix to determine the, well, hero of heroes. Some cool contestants include the Steel Samurai's successor, the Nickel Samurai, and the new anime star, the Jammin' Ninja. Nick n' Maya have been invited by Will Powers, the defendant from case 1-3, Turnabout Samurai, and soon the Nickel Samurai is expected to hold a press conference with an important announcement.

While walking through the hotel, Maya is escorted away by a busboy for a moment, and it isn't until a few minutes later that it is revealed by good ol' Dick Gumshoe that the guy who plays the Jammin' Ninja, Juan Corrida, has been murdered, and the defendant is the Nickel Samurai's actor, Matt Engarde! You soon get a call from the busboy from before who explains that he has kidnapped Maya! He tells Phoenix that he must defend Matt and get an aquittal if he wants her back.

If only Nick didn't let Maya run off with this guy... then he could
have avoided a lot of trouble. And what's with the stitching through
his face? O.O

Phoenix later discovers that Matt wasn't the direct killer of Juan, but instead was the person who requested Maya's kidnapper to do it, who is an extremely creepy assassin called Shelly de Killer who looks just like a happy gentleman all the time despite his not-so-innocent job. He returns in Miles Edgeworth 2 by the way, that's a good reason to play it. De Killer is one of my favourite characters in the whole series. Anyway, near the end of the trial on day 2, Nick is forced to make a moral choice that you as the player must actually decide. Plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead not guilty for Engarde, and therefore let a man who paid an assassin to kill somebody and is basically a murderer himself go free while pinning the blame on the innocent Adrian Andrews (who reappears in the previous case on this list, The Stolen Turnabout, by the way), you get the bad ending, where you find out that Maya was let go by De Killer and never saw Nick again. It's short but pretty depressing. However, if you choose guilty, you get the 'proper' ending, where you must present a certain piece of evidence that proves his guilt while protecting Maya. This piece of evidence shows de Killer (who is actually testifying in court through a radio at this time) that Engarde had betrayed one of de Killer's client rules. He then lets Maya go and Matt becomes de Killer's next target.

Matt Engarde seems like your average
action star...

Until he shows his true colours.

Some other cool features of this case include the return of Miles Edgeworth, who, after the first game, left a note saying 'Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death.' This note was supposed to make people think he had committed suicide after the shame and moral conflict he had suffered in those cases from last game, but, after going on a kind of journey of self discovery, he comes back to take Franziska von K's place at the prosecutor's bench after being shot by de Killer to help Phoenix get a guilty verdict. Yes, that's right, this guy takes his job so seriously that he shot somebody to make the aquittal easier for Wright, Woah. And he always acts so normal about it, which is what makes his character so interesting and frightening. Adrian Andrews is also a good character, and suffers from a type of disorder that makes her unable to cope without somebody to always depend on, which she successfully attempts to hide at first. This can be seen when she attempted to kill herself after somebody she was very close to, Juan's former manager Celeste Inpax, committed suicide.

You later find out that the card
Adrian is twirling in her hand all the
time was picked up at the crime scene.
It is de Killer's business card that he
leaves at murders to show that he carried
out the job.  

Also, I'm sorry that this part was fairly shorter/clumsier than the others so far. It's just that these review-type things for each case are actually a lot harder than they look to make. They're not really tough to write; after all, I do a ton of typing all the time. It's just that when I do things like this, I usually end up saying the same kind of repetitive stuff. In fact, now I remember why I stopped making posts on my last blog, where I wrote reviews. And on the day before this goes up I was given an English homework project which is due in two weeks so I need to start that. Oh, and apologies if I got one or two things incorrect about the details of the case, I haven't played this one for a longer while than the others and it's a little long to replay right now. But oh well, hope you're enjoying it so far. :)

This case is actually pretty amazing, and I think I rushed it at the time. Wow. You know what? I think I'm going to replay it after Layton V Wright. In fact, you know what? Maybe I'll replay the whole game. Or the whole series. Who knows? By the way, as of writing this, the blog just hit a thousand pageviews. Nice.

If you're wondering why the number of posts doesn't match up,
several of them are drafts.

Update: No post tomorrow. Expect part 7 on Monday.

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 5 (#95)

#6 - 3-2: The Stolen Turnabout

The case begins with a cutscene involving a strange masked figure called Mask DeMasque (there's usually a cool star icon between the words Mask and DeMasque but unfortunately there's no star icon on my keyboard) flying away into the night sky after stealing a precious jewel without being noticed until it's too late. Oh by the way, the music in this intro is awesome, it's short but there are a couple different parts that play to match the stuff happening in the cutscene. Check it out here.

This case, like many others in the series after the first game, lasts for two days of investigation and two days of trial. However, the case has something to it for its first half that's pretty different than usual: it's not a murder case. Yeah, it;s the first time Phoenix has defended somebody from a crime other than killing, and of, course, it's related to the opening cutscene from before. You have to defend Ron DeLite (who reminds me of Ron Weasley, mainly because they're both called Ron and I don't know anybody else with that name, lol) from being convicted of large scale theft, which is where this ties into the jewel at the beginning.

Being defended by Phoenix? I'm sure
he was positively DeLite-ed.
(Or not, read below)

See, the weird part is, Ron seriously, seriously wants to be found guilty. However, Nick still gets Won-Won (see, this is the kind of stuff that happens when he reminds me of Weasley... just watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) declared innocent and proves that the true culprit is none other Luke Atmey (get it? Look at me? I LOVES IT), a self-proclaimed 'Ace Detective' (Luke Atmey: Ace Detective coming this holiday season) who has a tendency to say 'ZVARRI!' when he realises something and loves his big magnifying glass.

He understands me.

Not complaining, but why does he look like he stuck some kind
of solidified lightning strike onto his almost bald head? I'm
probably overthinking this. 

It's not until after this trial, when you start to become a little disappointed that the case only lasted one day and it was pretty short for the second case in the game, when you realize that, oh crap, you screwed up. Well, Phoenix did anyway. You find out that at the place where you proved Ron was at the time of the theft to clear his name, and at the time he was there, 1AM in the morning,  a man called Kane Bullard was murdered.

Oh.

So, there is a day two of the trial, and, although this case does feature the usual murder after all, the way they played out the first majority of the case in a very different way than normal was really cool. Yeah, you do prove in the next trial that Ron was also innocent of the murder, but the way that you basically doom yourself by proving the whereabouts of Ron is great. You find out that Luke Atmey was the true murder and secretly wanted the larceny to be pinned on him to escape being convicted of a worse crime, murder. You even barge in on his trial where you get to see the judge's very similar looking brother for the first time who, guess what, is also a judge. He actually makes quite a few appearances in the third game. Ron DeLite does turn out to be Mask DeMasque after all, but after his first theft, Luke Atmey spotted him and blackmailed him into committing the rest of his five or so robberies.

Mask * Demasque's theme is awesome. Yes, the *
icon is the closest I can get on here to a proper star.

This case also marks the debut of the mysterious, the awesome, the amazing yet troubled prosecutor, Godot, who has only appeared in this game so far, despite being one of the most popular prosecutors. This guy loves coffee, and drinks seventeen cups of Joe (first time I've used that term) every like the epic caffeine-high lawyer-slayer he is. I won't go too deep into his backstory and secrets since that's explored properly in case 5, Bridge to the Turnabout (not making an appearance on this list, surprising for some) but it's very touching and brings a tear to many people's eye.

Actually I prefer tea -- *gets shot*

"All men wear masks - whether it be over their
faces, or over their hearts..." - Godot

If you weren't yet convinced that this is a cool one, just sniff the air. Smell that? This case features the return of the Butz. And now he's a security guard. Go play it.

Aaaagghhhh! The fangs!

We're at the halfway point of this long, long project. Yeesh.

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Top Ten Turnabouts - Part 4 (#94)

#7 - E2-5: The Grand Turnabout

The last case in the most recent Investigations game and therefore the most recent case in the Investigations sub-series, The Grand Turnabout features probably one of the biggest plot twists in not just Investigations 1 and 2 but the whole Ace Attorney series. In fact, personally I think that the only other moment in the series I can think of so far that rivals it is the moment where Bobby Fulbright turns out to be the Phantom in disguise in AA5. You find out that one of the most innocent acting characters so far in Investigations 2, Simon Keyes of the Berry Big Circus (which has a cool return from Justice For All) is actually the mastermind behind many of the wrongdoings in the game, and so go to the circus to confront him and expose the truth.

It turns out that Horace Knightley and Simon Keyes were
friends since childhood, and were rescued from a freezing
car by Sirhan Dogen who took Keyes on as his disciple.

This case basically ties up all the mysteries left from the first four cases, and features dialogue between Shelly de Killer and Sirhan Dogen! That's right, two assassins in the same room. The case really is more action-packed than the others. We also finally start to like Justine Courtney and Sebastian Debeste, who we learn had a hard relationship with his father Blaise. There are a lot of revelations in this case, especially involving characters we've known for a while, such as the two I just mentioned as well as characters like Shi-Long Lang's father, Dai-Long Lang, and the president of Zheng-Fa, Di-Jun Huang (is it just me or is that a pun on 'they done wrong'? Could be a stretch) who it turns out died many years ago. Huh?! Yes, it turns out that this President Huang is a body double of the real president who was assassinated by Dogen 12 years ago. And, get this; the real Huang had an illegitamate son with Justine Courtney called John Marsh. Wow, so many plot twists.

Dai-Long Lang with the real President Huang, a long time ago.

The character development is great; Justine Courtney isn't actually a cold and cruel women after all, but was trying to secure a not guilty verdict (she's a judge) for murderer Patricia Roland because she had been blackmailed to do so by Blaise Debeste after he kidnapped her son John. Sebastian Debeste also goes from being one of the most annoying and foolish (am I turning into Franziska von Karma here?) characters to one of my favourite and most sympathised with. It's just a shame this game was never released outside out Japan, but at least there's the fan translation like with Mother 3. Hopefully we'll get one for DGS too, but it's unlikely. Oh well, at least AA6 has just been announced with a Western release!

Thomas

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10