Board 8 > Ace Attorney Discussion Topic, Part 4 - Dark Age of the Law Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

swirIdude posted...

A time listing with the credit rolls removed would be interesting. You could most likely time the credit rolls from Lets Plays or other Youtube videos so that you don't need to replay the games again.

Let's see...

PW1 (1-4) - 5:12
PW1 (1-5) - 7:04
JFA - 5:14
T&T - 7:11
AJ - 7:32
AAI1 - 9:10
AAI2 - 12:38 (compounded by all the fan translation credits)

So subtract that from the epic cases and you get...

1-4 - 4:54:40
1-5 - 8:39:39
2-4 - 9:00:07
3-5 - 9:28:35
4-4 - 6:31:31
E1-5 - 8:33:13
E2-5 - 9:23:28

So yeah, 3-5 would overtake E2-5 by a good five minutes if we cut the credits out.
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That's really interesting. I guess AAI2 isn't overtly long as I thought. Still a megagame, since every case is really long.

I love E2-5. Much like 6-5, it has quite a few problems, but I really love the ambition of both of those cases and how different they feel compared to the usual epic cases. The showdown with the Mastermind is excellent and everything I wanted it to be. And while that beginning is pretty slow, the second half of the Middle and End more than makes up for it.
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AAI2 is the longest game by about 10 hours so far, so it's pretty beefy! DD and SoJ are both made by the same team, so I'm curious to see where they fall in overall time.
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quite comfortable in AAI2 being longer than 5-1 thru 5-5 or 6-1 thru 6-5. it's the extra cases that will raise questions.

quick predix...

5-1: 2:24
5-2: 6:21
5-3: 7:02
5-4: 4:47
5-5: 6:27
5-6: 6:18

5-4 and 5-5 are really weird cases to guess for. feel comfortable guessing super-high (by non-epic standards) on 5-2, 5-3, and 5-6. 5-1 is probably overestimated but not by that much.
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I think you're overshooting 5-2 and 5-3 both by about an hour.

I think it's going to be more like 2/5/6/3/6/6. It's going to be well shorter than AAI2 and 6, but longer than the rest.

Also 5-4 is definitely not almost 5 hours

AA5 feels the hardest to predict in terms of time. there's no obvious #1.

let's go

5-1: 1:52
5-2: 6:35
5-3: 6:25
5-4: 4:03
5-5: 6:20
5-6: 6:45


that feels awfully wishy washy, but there's no good way to feel out that game!
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I would be shocked if 5-3 were shorter than 3-2 or 3-3. Not sure about 5-2 - tranny was the one who claimed it was a real long one, so I just took him at his word. But that could definitely be like a slightly-longer-than-5-hour case. The investigations are 'streamlined.'
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I replayed AA5 about two months ago and it generally felt expedient compared to AA3 most of the time. Maybe the lack of investigating everywhere affects that somewhat, but it's really not that long a game, I don't think.

Well, I'll put my money where my mouth is and suggest some times:

5-1: 1:48
5-2: 5:12
5-3: 6:05
5-4: 3:44
5-5: 6:46
5-6: 5:58

Yeah, I'm not sure about times for DD. I expect shorter investigation segments but longer trial segments to compensate for it. They've also got some unique case formats for a couple of cases. 5-1 is the only intro case that spans multiple days, but there's no investigation day between them. 5-4 has two trial days but only one investigation day. 5-5 is one investigation day and one trial day, like 6-2. 5-2, 5-3, and 5-6 are the ones that follow the standard case conventions.
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I don't think DD is going to have any cases longer than 7 hours mostly because none of the investigations are particularly drawn-out. 5 and 6 are both a bit more exposition-heavy than their predecessors, but 5 keeps things going at a pretty quick clip regardless.

If AA5 investigations break 1:30-1:45 in Leon's playstyle then I'll feel very comfortable with my predictions. If they're more in the 1:00 - 1:15 range then Para is more likely right. That's going to be the difference-maker!
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Question: Do you guys turn on the 3D effects when you play 3DS games? I usually do, but I know some people don't like them and never use them.
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no. it bothered the bajesus out of me in 5-1 so i immediately turned it off. i don't like 3D in general and will avoid 3D versions of movies, too.
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Only when I'm really curious what something looks like in 3D, but generally no, and definitely not for regular gameplay.

I can't even see 3D. it's just a fantastic blurry mess.
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I actually kind of like it in DD and SoJ. I like seeing Means throw chalk right at me.
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3D is a little too much for me and it destroys the battery. Sometimes, I put it on for the anime cutscenes and certain animations, though. Maybe the next time I do DD/SoJ, I'll play with 3D on the whole time.
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Feels weird having an intro case split up across two days, but 5-1 day 1 is complete! Very brief day. Only two testimonies: One by Tonate and one by Juniper, which is a Mood Matrix with two "Pinpoints" and one contradiction. I know opinions on the Mood Matrix are mixed, but I've always enjoyed it. I really like the interface, and the music is fitting. Perhaps it's too simplistic a lot of the time, but I don't really mind that. Speaking of good music, I think DD's OST is pretty great, probably second only to AAI1, and it's not a distant second either. I love DD's Pursuit theme. It just feels...triumphant, for lack of a better term. The remix of T&T's Objection theme as Phoenix's new theme is swell, too.

Anyway, in terms of highlights, the intro is neat, with the introduction of cutscenes and voice acting, with Phoenix making cryptic statements to an "unknown" person on the phone, whom I think we all assumed was Edgeworth from the start, as well as delivering a monologue on how "these...are dark times." They decide to show off Athena's clumsiness as well, for some reason. The idea of a courtroom bombing was pretty good, I think. It gets across the idea of this being a DARK AGE OF THE LAW well, probably better than anything else in DD. It makes a strong first impression to see Apollo all bandaged up and wearing Clay's coat while standing in the middle of the rubble.

Juniper goes through three different lawyers in a matter of minutes here. First, Apollo collapses; then Athena freaks out; and finally, Phoenix rushes in to save the day as he is wont to do. They do an awful lot of foreshadowing future cases in the opening minutes. Gaspen asks Juniper if she's ever been falsely accused before. They reference the trial in which the bomb went off. When Athena freaks out, she has flashbacks of her mother's murder and trying to testify about it in court (with the lawyers and the judges having their faces "censored" by black blotches that look like ink stains to complete the effect).

They bring in Gaspen Payne to replace his brother. I didn't think much of him in DD because I think he has all of Winston's incompetence and crudeness without much of his charm. He's similar to 3-1 Winston, I suppose, because he tries to trash talk Phoenix and Athena while relentlessly badgering Juniper. He does have a few good moments here though, like when he mishears Widget call him "an arrogant jerk" and thinks it said he is "elegance at work." Good work by the localization team there! Wonder what the word play was in Japanese. He also makes an excellent callback to Winston's "genteel-man" line in 3-1.

Ted Tonate is a run of the mill starter villain. He's fairly bland and not too memorable. He has a pretty good damage animation when he chews on the bomb wires, but he's generically evil most of the time. I like the twist later on that he wasn't actually the one who detonated the bomb. It's an interesting swerve, but that doesn't come into play until 5-5 (which is only two days after 5-1, which is sandwiched between 5-4's two days; DD's timeline is wonky).
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LeonhartFour posted...

(which is only two days after 5-1, which is sandwiched between 5-4's two days; DD's timeline is wonky).

This is a big problem I have with 5-1 - it's just so unclear, when you're playing it, where exactly in the timeline everything is happening. It's clear that you're starting in media res to some degree, but it doesn't feel like it does a very good job catching you up to speed. Apollo's wearing an eyepatch already, which made me think he was already injured, but then he gets injured, and there was a courtroom bombing, but then there's a guy with a bomb, and, what? Wait, so, Juniper's on trial for the bombing? Or murdering someone? Both??? I just don't think 5-1 does a very good job at all of establishing the starting line of the game.

LeonhartFour posted...

I love DD's Pursuit theme. It just feels...triumphant, for lack of a better term.

yeah, this is a really good one. second-best of the mainline series.

The remix of T&T's Objection theme as Phoenix's new theme is swell, too.

it's alright, but athena's is infinitely better. apollo's is better, too, for that matter. phoenix by rights should be remixing his AA1 objection theme!

They decide to show off Athena's clumsiness as well, for some reason.

ugh

The idea of a courtroom bombing was pretty good, I think. It gets across the idea of this being a DARK AGE OF THE LAW well, probably better than anything else in DD. It makes a strong first impression to see Apollo all bandaged up and wearing Clay's coat while standing in the middle of the rubble.

too bad this all ends so poorly, ugh
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Yeah, part of the problem is that 5-1 throws a lot of misdirection at you that doesn't get addressed until much later, like the aforementioned twist with Tonate. Apollo's eye being covered has nothing to do with the bombing, but you don't learn that until 5-4, where he already has it at the start of the trial. Plus, Juniper is also someone they all clearly already know, but this is the first time you're meeting her. They throw a lot of stuff at you that you can't know yet your first time through in 5-1.
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I think Apollo already having the eyepatch in 5-4 is one of the cooler parts of that episode, actually.
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Oh, Courtroom Revolutionnaire is definitely the best theme of the bunch. I like Apollos's, too, but I like the song it's based on way more, so I end up thinking it's not super great overall.

also I like the fact that they actually used music as a callback from something other than PW1 for a change with Phoenix's theme
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i do appreciate going with a different game's tracks, but if they want to call back to aa3 then make it the testimony music! or the aa2 announce the truth.
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LeonhartFour posted...

also I like the fact that they actually used music as a callback from something other than PW1 for a change with Phoenix's theme

Oh yeah, I love that they use AA3's objection theme for Phoenix now. I dunno why, it just seems really cool.

Nah, don't reuse testimony music, no matter how good it is. Each game's cross-examination music should have its own feel to it.
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AA5 has my favorite cross-exam themes in the series, by the way.

I'd actually say AA5 has my favorite soundtrack overall.

I always liked the AA3 Objection remix, way more than the AA1 one. It also fits Phoenix's older, wiser personality. Though, I wonder if we're gonna get new themes in AA7. As much as I like Courtroom Revolutionnaire, I kinda want something new!

I, too, like the Mood Matrix's aesthetics and the general aesthetics of AA5. I always felt the AA5 Cornered song felt "space-y", especially when it shifts its tune. Agreed with DD being the second best soundtrack, right after AAI1.

Yeah, 5-1 is...confusing. Not necessarily complicated, but confusing in the grand scheme. Not exactly the best intro. It's not exactly great that our first scenes of Athena is her being a clumsy anime character and then completely flopping against Payne. And then the next case, our first scene is her being a feisty anime character and german suplexing a police guard.

thank god for 5-3 which really made me rethink my opinions on athena
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Yeah, Athena as a character is kind of all over the place.

I guess that makes sense since she's all about emotions and she regularly runs the gamut of emotions. I enjoy watching Widget and seeing the times when the emotion Widget displays doesn't match her facial expressions or what she's saying. It's interesting.
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ugh. reminded why i hated athena in AA5. in fact, i'd forgotten i even disliked athena in AA6, but... ugh
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Athena is pretty good. I actually like that she's all over the place. It's why she can have such a wide range of animations.
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5-1 complete! The second trial day has more going for it than the first. Only three testimonies though: One by Juniper and two by Tonate. I love DD's Allegro theme. Definitely one of my favorites in the series. They also very, very briefly play Dark Age of the Law and DD's version of Announce the Truth during Tonate's breakdown motive rant, both of which are excellent as well. The final piece of evidence is the bomb transport case because you have to show where Tonate hid the body after you prove Arme was killed before the trial and not as a result of the bombing.

5-1 throws a lot of swerves at you, and some of them are pretty good. Uncovering that Arme was killed before the bomb ever went off is a good one, but one I really like a lot is the fact that Arme actually DID write a message in blood pointing to her killer, which Tonate cleverly changed to make it look like "WOODS" instead. In a series where the bloody writing is NEVER written by the victim, the fact that it actually mostly was in this case is a huge swerve! You're conditioned to doubt any bloody writing at this point, and the game even gives you reason to question it when they accuse Apollo of writing "WOODS" after he was assaulted. I thought it was a really clever twist because it plays with the player's preconceived notions.

Speaking of which, Athena's reaction to seeing that bloody writing was pretty great. "The nerve of that guy! Why would he do something like that?!" Again, as the player, it's obvious to you he didn't do it, so it's kind of funny to see Athena fall for it for a minute. There are a few good jokes made at Phoenix's expense during the trial, too. There's a point where Gaspen says, "Real men don't make mountains out of molehills," to which the Judge replies, "But that's how Mr. Wright made his living for many years." There's also a moment where I'm not sure if they're making an E2-4 reference where Gaspen says if the murder weapon had been a gavel, Phoenix would've accused the Judge. Could just be a coincidence though!

I like the end where Tonate tries to bluff with the fake bomb, but you can't out-bluff the Bluff Master, son! It was a cool way to wrap up Phoenix's return. I think I like 5-1 more than most though. It's a mid-tier intro case, but it's not bad.

5-1 trial day 1 playtime: 1:01:30
5-1 in-game trial day 1 time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
5-1 trial day 2 playtime: 1:18:03
5-1 in-game trial day 2 time: 2 hours, 41 minutes
5-1 in-game trial total: 4 hours, 51 minutes
5-1 total playtime: 2:19:33

E2-5 - 9:36:06
3-5 - 9:35:46
2-4 - 9:05:21
1-5 - 8:46:43
E1-5 - 8:42:23
E2-3 - 8:09:06
E2-2 - 7:29:23
4-4 - 6:38:01
3-2 - 6:02:56
E2-4 - 6:01:14
4-3 - 5:58:33
3-3 - 5:48:31
2-3 - 5:06:33
1-4 - 4:59:52
4-2 - 4:58:35
E1-4 - 4:58:26
2-2 - 4:47:40
E1-3 - 4:02:16
1-3 - 3:49:35
E2-1 - 3:36:32
E1-2 - 3:15:49
1-2 - 2:40:40
5-1 - 2:19:33
4-1 - 2:11:44
3-4 - 1:54:15
E1-1 - 1:44:51
3-1 - 1:43:09
2-1 - 1:15:57
4-0 - 1:09:44
1-1 - 0:33:35
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I think there was also LeTouse who wrote a real dying message. Was there anyone else?
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Oh right, I forgot about LeTouse, and for good reason!

Technically Dahlia wrote the dying message in 3-5, but she was lying to frame Maya.
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I'm a little surprised that 5-1 comes out that long.

Yeah, it doesn't feel as long as 4-1 even though it's a little bit longer. The prologue and epilogue probably put 5-1 over the top there because DD introduces a lot more stuff right off the bat than AJ does, which prefers to save all that stuff for later. 4-1 gets straight to business and earns those 2+ hours, while 5-1 adds a little padding.
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Oh right, forgot to mention, but 5-1 used every piece of evidence! I stopped keeping track in AAI2 because it was just too much to try to keep straight in my head with how long every case is.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

5-1: 2:24

so far so good...!
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5-2 investigation day 1 complete! It still managed to be pretty beefy despite the lack of free investigations! I think they circumvented that by giving you a bunch of people to talk to, most of whom you have to talk to more than once. It took about 20 minutes before the murder occurred here. Quick word about the intro: I greatly dislike the fact that they showed the killer here. Normally, I don't really care, but I feel like if you're going to have a case that posits supernatural causes, even if you know it's ultimately going to be proven false, you can't show the solution right away. It kills any suspension of disbelief. To borrow terminology from Umineko, it's like opening the cat box, showing everyone what's inside, and then closing the cat box and acting like you never opened it.

All that being said, I really like 5-2! Apollo has the coolest "background image" on the bottom screen during investigations, where he's just standing there with his arms folded and the bracelet really stands out. It looks super slick. I think of this as Apollo's breakout case, too. He's really good here and comes into his own as a lawyer. Of course, that doesn't mean he gets treated with any more respect! He's still the guy who takes himself way too seriously in an attempt to look professional and winds up as the frequent butt of the joke as a result. He spends half the investigation with one of Jinxie's charms plastered to his forehead (partly because they want to show off fancy 3D effects, but still). Trucy mercilessly yanks his chain during her brief role here, as you'd expect. The one exception to this rule is...Athena, who actually respects Apollo quite a bit. I think she's a large reason why he makes THE LEAP in this case. They're really good together. Their dynamic is the one major qualm I have about the series going forward now that Apollo's left the Agency. I feel like they both benefited greatly from their partnership. There's actually one part during the investigation where Athena pays him a sincere compliment, and he genuinely can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not. The Anything Agency has taken a toll on his ego (something he makes frequent reference to)!

Anyway, despite my gripes about the intro, I love the atmosphere of Nine-Tails Vale. This is the one case where I lament my inability to investigate everything. The locations look really cool (The giant Tenma Taro statue in the Forbidden Chamber is incredible. I love that thing), and I like all the supernatural elements they mixed in, like the photo of the flying Tenma Taro, as well as the feathers and bloody claw marks at the crime scene. Plus, it's a locked room mystery, which I always enjoy. That's the one part of knowing L'Belle did it that doesn't get ruined, because you've still got to figure out how he did it.

Speaking of L'Belle, he's barely in day 1, but his intro is great. He sprays Apollo in the face and says the cologne is called "Bonjour," so it's his way of saying "Hello." In his head, Apollo wonders where his bottle of "Adieu" is so he can return the favor. Such a great line. I love the running gag of Filch saying something he shouldn't have and L'Belle spraying him for it. His reactions to it are great. "Right up the schnozola!"

I'm running out of space here, so let me hit on our defendant, Damian Tenma. He's probably the guy I underrated the most on my list. I love the running gag of him insisting that he break out of prison in order to right some egregious wrong, usually in regard to Jinxie, and Apollo desperately insisting that he wait until he's been declared not guilty first.

Oh right, one last thing. My first time through, I was very impressed that Apollo quickly put 2 and 2 together and deduced that Rex Kyubi was the Amazing Nine-Tails based on the white hair in the mask. That's usually one of those obvious things they don't solve until really late. Then the game throws a major swerve at you later, which I also loved.
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also the English dub of the Steins;Gate movie came out today

if you're a fan of the anime, I highly recommend it because it's very good
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Yeah, this case really does feel like the one where Apollo comes into his own. It's funny, since he spends all of his own game basically being in Phoenix's shadow, but this case I fully associate with Apollo, and his personality makes it more memorable. He shows more open disdain for nonsense and bullshit than Phoenix does, which is great here, with Nine-Tails Vale, L'Belle, and later, Blackquill. His cynicism really shines.

Damian Tenma, yeah, I pretty much rave about this guy every time we talk about him, but he's probably my favorite defendant ever. He's great the first time you meet him, and then he only gets more amazing.

I do agree that the intro showing L'Belle as the killer seems completely unnecessary. I mean, of course, it would have been obvious regardless as soon as you meet L'Belle that he's the killer, but you could have at least left some mystery instead of just outright showing him stabbing the guy. Not many AA cases actually do tell you who the killer is at the start - 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, E1-1, 5-1, 5-2, 6-1 - and 5-2 seems like a really weird outlier in this list. I get that AA games like to establish from the very outset that the mysteries aren't necessarily whodunnits, but howdunnits, but yeah, it took away from the mystique of this case to just see him stabbing the victim.

LeonhartFour posted...

Oh right, one last thing. My first time through, I was very impressed that Apollo quickly put 2 and 2 together and deduced that Rex Kyubi was the Amazing Nine-Tails based on the white hair in the mask. That's usually one of those obvious things they don't solve until really late. Then the game throws a major swerve at you later, which I also loved.

yeah, this was the single twist that put the case over the top for me. apollo vs simon takes the limelight, and i like jinxie and damian, but damian being the amazing nine-tails was honestly a better twist (with full execution and followthrough) than the phantom one imo

(edit)

oh, and trucy is amazing in her short timespan, athena is awful using her judo on the cop but otherwise becomes quite fun, and the amazing nine-tails theme music is the best single-case theme that i wish would return!
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Yeah, the twist of Damian Tenma being the Amazing Nine-Tails is pretty much flawlessly executed, and the way they weave that into the mystery is really genius. (We'll get into that more later I'm sure.) They do an incredibly good job at the double bluff, too - they make it seem like just enough of a clever solution to the mystery that Rex Kyubi must be the Amazing Nine-Tails to make it seem like that's the whole explanation, and that there isn't going to be anything more there. It's a brilliant job of leading the player.

Yeah, Apollo's deadpan cynicism is pretty good in AJ, but I feel like he hits a new level here and SoJ. He feels like the defense attorney version of Edgeworth, although not quite as intense and a little more willing to play along with a joke. He's also different in the sense that he's not an established attorney yet, while Edgeworth is considered the best in his profession. Apollo often desperately wants to be taken seriously but rarely is, but Edgeworth often commands respect and authority (although he gets the props knocked out from under him fairly regularly as well).
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5-2 day 1 complete! This was quite a day! Five testimonies in all: Two from Fulbright, two from Filch, and a Mood Matrix from Jinxie, which is the worst one in the game. Having to point out that the yokai she thought she saw in the room were common household items was dumb. Fulbright says a few "interesting in hindsight" things here. The big one is, "I swear my investigation was flawless and foolproof, or my name's not Bobby Fulbright!" And it's not! When Blackquill is introduced and Fulbright seems to be impervious to his mind games, Apollo and Athena chalk it up to him just being too oblivious to know what Simon's trying to do, when it's really because, well, he's the Phantom.

Speaking of Blackquill, I love this guy (Preemptive SILENCE! before SD attempts to interject his lame opinions here). Fantastic animations, excellent theme, great opponent, especially here in 5-2. I've said it many times before, but Apollo was the perfect guy to have Blackquill debut against in DD. Blackquill stays one step ahead of him almost the entire trial day, has an answer to every objection, and it's only by Apollo proposing a theory that turns out to be 100% wrong that they can't debunk at that point that he escapes alive. From the moment Blackquill steps into the courtroom, Apollo is clearly rattled, and it only gets worse. First, he sics Taka on Apollo to stop him from Perceiving because he considers it to fall into the category of trickery and fraud. Then Simon breaks the shackles, and everyone freaks out.

Blackquill's perceived greatest weapon is his power of suggestion, where he can manipulate and guide people into thinking what he wants them to think. He shows it off early by coaxing the Judge into giving the opening statement. However, I think Blackquill's greatest skill is how crazily adaptable he is to any situation. Apollo proves that Filch at least heard Tenma Taro, and Blackquill accuses Jinxie of wearing the costume to goad a confession out of Damian Tenma. When Damian starts putting on the Tenma Taro act, Blackquill doesn't miss a beat and plays right along with it, saying he must have been possessed after the murder and that was the Tenma Taro everyone saw. When Apollo tries to challenge how absurd that is, Blackquill says if it's not Damian, then it's Jinxie, so which one is it? Of course, it's secret option number three in the end, but he puts Apollo right on the horns of a seemingly lose-lose dilemma like it was nothing.

I like Filch as a witness. He's got a wide array of good animations, and his reactions to everything are great because he's a jittery little pickpocket. It's interesting that Blackquill gets furious at Filch for lying, even when that lie was beneficial to his case, to the point that he sics Taka on him, so it shows that he does have some semblance of a moral code. Another neat moment is when Jinxie sees the bags under Blackquill's eyes and gives him a charm to help him sleep better. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Simon is so disarmed by her gesture that all he can do is accept it and thank her for it.

Some other fun moments: I love it when Blackquill tells silly stories about fellow inmates. Makes him very Godot-like. There was one moment when Filch calls Apollo a shyster, and his reply is, "Being called a shyster by a lying thief is definitely the low point of my fledgling career so far." Also, I love that Damian pretending to be Tenma Taro gets his own unique speech sound effect. The fact that he can put on an act so well should've been our biggest hint that he was actually the Amazing Nine-Tails all along!
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I somehow missed the intro of 5-2 and thought I was really smart when I figured out the murderer almost instantly. then I replayed it and oh.
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L'Belle is a pretty obvious suspect because there's no way it's Jinxie or Filch. He wins by process of elimination even without that intro. He's like Atmey in that way (in addition to their resemblance to Batman villains). There's just no one else it could be.
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The thing I think I enjoy about Blackquill so much is that he seems to be the one having the most fun being a prosecutor. Edgeworth does it out of a sense of duty, the von Karmas do it out of pride, Godot doesn't really seem to care and acts kind of sullen most of the time, Nahyuta seems to care too much and acts kind of sullen most of the time, and nobody cares about Klavier. But Blackquill seems like he actually thrives off the sort of adversarial debate that occurs in the courtroom, and that makes him a really fun opponent. He comes across as tenacious and willing to throw his best punches without seeming like he actually puts "winning" above all else - he's just there to make a really good case for the prosecution and cut the defense down a little while he's at it, while pursuing his own goals in the background but very much in the background, so it doesn't get in the way of the case here. He's honestly my favorite prosecutor, even above Edgeworth (though Edgeworth obviously has an overall body of work he can't match).

LeonhartFour posted...

Speaking of Blackquill, I love this guy (Preemptive SILENCE! before SD attempts to interject his lame opinions here). Fantastic animations, excellent theme, great opponent, especially here in 5-2. I've said it many times before, but Apollo was the perfect guy to have Blackquill debut against in DD. Blackquill stays one step ahead of him almost the entire trial day, has an answer to every objection, and it's only by Apollo proposing a theory that turns out to be 100% wrong that they can't debunk at that point that he escapes alive. From the moment Blackquill steps into the courtroom, Apollo is clearly rattled, and it only gets worse. First, he sics Taka on Apollo to stop him from Perceiving because he considers it to fall into the category of trickery and fraud. Then Simon breaks the shackles, and everyone freaks out.

Hey now, I do like Blackquill. And in fairness, 5-2 Day 1 is by far his best appearance. I agree with basically everything here. Part of the Simon experience is the fact that he's just not nearly as good when he's not uo against Apollo, though. And that he appears in several too many trials.

Paratroopa1 posted...

The thing I think I enjoy about Blackquill so much is that he seems to be the one having the most fun being a prosecutor.

Fair. It's interesting how he isn't malicious at all. Klavier done right, in a sense.
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