Board 8 > Rate the Ace Attorney case: Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2)

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Rules:

1. Rate each case on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Anything above 10 gets rounded down to a 10, and anything below a 1 gets rounded up to a 1.
2. Anything beyond one decimal point will be rounded accordingly: .04 and below will be rounded down, .05 and up will be rounded up.
3. You may grade on any criteria you like.
4. You can rate cases from previous topics if you miss a topic.

Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13m5XfS5RBshTDe48UIwr52BWTBvnxq4YUuVk7aLSXvs/edit?usp=sharing

Previous Results:

Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) - 9.2 (29 votes)
Rise from the Ashes (1-5) - 8.1 (26 votes)
Turnabout Samurai (1-3) - 7.5 (26 votes)
Turnabout Sisters (1-2) - 5.7 (22 votes)
The First Turnabout (1-1) - 4.8 (23 votes)
The Lost Turnabout (2-1) - 3.2 (23 votes)

A low rating, but now as low as I expected for a case I often hear as one of the worst in the series. At least it's short and doesn't affect much long-standing characterization.

Summary:

Phoenix is reunited with Maya, only to have to defend her in another murder. And this time, it's in her own home village. Phoenix takes on another von Karma, Franziska, and it's going to be painful.

Main Characters: Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Mia Fey, Pearl Fey, Dick Gumshoe, Franziska von Karma, The Judge
Other Characters: Turner Grey, Morgan Fey, Ini Miney, Lotta Hart, Director Hotti, Mimi Miney, Ami Fey

My rating: 6/10. This always felt like the case that got the least discussion when it was just the OT. Even considering the entire series, it still feels a little easy to overlook. I like it for the murder mystery and the characterization of the Fey clan. I didn't expect the big plot twist, so it really landed for me. The Fire Carves Scars is still my favorite Reminiscence song.

7.5/10

I love locked room mysteries, so this case gets bonus points for that alone. I also feel like this is the one case where Franziska is taken seriously, particularly on Trial Day 1, where she feels like a legitimate threat.

I like the Ini/Mimi twist, too, although it's one of the few big twists in the series I saw coming ahead of time.

It's also the introduction of Pearl, and she's totes adorbs, of course.

6/10

Vibes are way off in this one. It introduces Pearls and it's unique in that the victim is totally non sympathetic and kind of villainous himself. So that's the good. Gunpowder burn is bad. It's the "updated autopsy report" moment for Franziska, but it sucks. I refuse to go into more detail since I haven't played this case in five years probably.

7/10

It's solid. I like Franziska on day 1 a lot - the thing about her being taken the most seriously here is definitely true. I generally like the mystery about the bullet hole in the screen and stuff. And obviously the twist at the end is fun. What I find less great are the pretty dry investigation sequences (I think this case unfortunately suffers a lot from locking Maya up) and the fact that really the only thing you prove to show that Ini Miney is guilty is that she didn't see Pearl in the hallway, which felt like a really lame contradiction to pin her down with. Also never really getting to confront Morgan Fey just feels wrong.

Yeah, the fact that you never get to take down Morgan directly feels like one of OT's biggest missed opportunities.

2-1: 5/10
2-2: 6/10

7.5/10. Its good!

Yeah, I think this might be the least humorous case in the OT, which is wild considering how dark some of those cases are. But Maya being gone for most of the case takes away a lot of humor and Ini/Morgan are more down-to-earth than most AA characters. Which means Hotti is the main comic relief, which...yeah.

Yeah, I think this is in contention with 3-4 for the least funny AA case.

Calling Ini down to earth is extremely funny though

8/10

Part of me wonders if they originally meant to do with Morgan what they did with Dahlia in 3-5.

The Judge's Brother alone keeps 3-4 from being the least funny case

5.6
Eh. A smidge below average, I guess. A lot of the plot twists are really easy to see coming, and it takes a really long time for Phoenix to get there on the Ini/Miney one. I will say I enjoyed this case more on replay than I thought I would.

There's a really underrated moment during the second investigation day I want to throw out there, though. You're talking to Ini, grilling her about her sister, and she very suddenly drops her schtick and frankly says it would be impossible to catch her and gives a very subdued "ha ha ha". Then, when the dialogue goes away, there's no transition to another scene and nobody comes in to tell you something new. You're just left there with Examine/Move/Talk/Present on the screen with Suspense playing in the background. I actually love that moment a lot. It really sells the weight of what just happened so well.

Mia, not you too! With the whip...and the pain...and the owww...

7.5/10

Fantastic story with several twists and turns that make it fun to play, and the "locked room sequence" murder is about as bonkers as they get. It's also great seeing Kurain up close.

One thing I am curious about... how did the authorities arrest Maya, when it was Mimi dressed as her waving the gun around? I don't recall it being explained how Morgan and Mimi managed to make that switch with an unconscious Maya without Gumshoe or the other cops noticing.

Morgan and Mimi made the switch while Phoenix and Lotta were calling the police

Morgan rushes Phoenix out of the scene, and there was plenty of time after that.

4/10

It was okay at times, but I didn't like most of what it was doing.

8/10. I thought it was great the first time playing. The second time, not so much. Good twist at the end of the case, even if I felt dumb for not seeing that coming ahead of time.... Also, bonus points for how disturbing the crime scene was when Phoenix and Lotta first entered.

"That man... ...murdered me... ...so I killed... him..."

7/10

8/10

Really solid case although I might overrank it slightly because of what's on either side of it.

6/10

Alright so... there are a lot of things from this case that don't really hold up, especially the nightmare psyche lock maze, and I really think it suffers from not having a true showdown with Morgan. I don't think it's all bad, and it gets points for introducing a lot of the stuff that'd become critical to the series going forward, but I think it's definitely rough.

4

i recognize there's lots of stuff good about 2-2 but it also feels clearly like a case i "don't like" as much. the lack of humor, the tedium in defending maya, franziska, hotti, morgan, the heavy involvement of channeling...

love pearly though and the magatama does make for a cool way to beef up investigations (though getting it wrong sucks and the music is a pretty bad track). ini is also great.

8/10

Ini shenanigans are so fun.
"A murder is that thing where, like, one person kills another, right?"

7.5/10

maybe im underrating this one a little bit. my feelings for this case are mostly positive but there's a lot of small things that keep me from giving it a higher rating.

i liked actually knowing the victim before he dies. upon replaying the case, i kind of forgot that grey was the victim for like thirty seconds because im not used to them .... like, being alive. i also like that he's a dick, but not one that makes me feel uncomfortable.

the fey politics was nice. i like the conflicted feelings maya and mia feel towards morgan, and how duplicitous morgan is. i don't think i expected her to be an accomplice until her villain cutscene moment but its been a while since i first played the case. i agree that it was a letdown that she wasn't confronted directly at the end. maya clearly loves her as an aunt. i need that conversation, damn it. and i need the catharsis of taking her down too!!

hotti and lotta were less annoying than i remembered them being. hotti is still the Worst, but i guess the comedy of him being just some patient landed better this time.

imo is mostly good, but the overuse of "like" in her dialogue really got on my nerves lol

also damn, the fire carves scars and the psyche-lock/kurain motifs are bangers.

The anime gives you that conversation. 2-2 might have been the best anime adapted case.

i ought to give the anime a look. i also remember someone saying that one of my least favourite parts of turnabout big top wasn't included which is ... also promising

2-3 is also adapted well!

4.5/10.

It focuses heavily on the aspect of Ace Attorney I don't really like as much (the Fey spiritual stuff) which hurts it for me, but I can at least appreciate the world building it does for that part of the setting-- I would say this case adds to the series, most truly bad cases don't really.

I also agree with the payoff with respect to Morgan Fey being unsatisfying.

8/10. I love this case, always found it particularly underrated, even if I understand the reasons. It does require a fair amount of suspension of disbelief to buy into the twist, but it still works. Love the mostly all-female cast here as well, makes it feel unique.

The Fire Carves Scars is one of my favorite reminiscence themes too.

I will say I could absolutely believe the anime makes the spiritual stuff in Ace Attorney better and this is the first time I've been tempted to check it out

Maybe I should actually play stuff from the series after Edgeworth 1 first though lol

I don't know what you specifically hate about the spiritual summoning you think even could be fixed, but the anime really changes nothing about the concept.

Yeah, the anime doesn't really do anything different with spirit channeling

Other than trying to obscure Mia's cleavage whenever possible

You're...You're Mystic Maya's..."special someone"...

Turner Grey is still eternally adjusting his glasses

Also it's kinda wild to think he might have been named after Grey's Anatomy and that show is still on the air

7/10

Would be higher, but I feel like taking down Mimi ends up too easy.

I think maybe just dwelling on how it works less and it having better visual effects would help. It seems like something that would anime better than visual novel

The AA anime doesn't have super high production values, unfortunately

4/10

kevwaffles posted...

4/10

Did you mean this for 2-3? You already rated 2-2 a 8/10 on post 11.

I sure did. Swear I was reading that topic when I posted. I'll fix it