Turnabout Samurai, Day Three Trial

Hallo, alle miteinander, and welcome back to Wright Wednesday. This is the weekly blog series where we recap, analyze, and review the cases of the Ace Attorney games. Last week we reached the halfway mark of Turnabout Samurai, the third case.of the first game, and today we're ready to talk about the second day of trial. I'm Roy, blogger and bludger, and joining me is...

Sam, vlogger and... vludger. Hmm. In any case, second trial of Turnabout Samurai! Phoenix and Maya, apparently still being possessed by Mia (isn't this the next day?), go into this day of court feeling rather desperate. They have no evidence, and little reason to suspect anything went differently than the accounts given. Unless they can find something in the evidence that had previously been overlooked, they’re going to lose this trial.

I think Maya just called Mia again off screen, I don't think she stayed possessed for a full day and night or anything.

The first witness is, of course, the director Sal Manella, whose attitude is mercifully tamed by a glare from Edgeworth. Sal’s testimony is a fairly simple recap of what we already knew; rehearsal at 9am, everyone ate lunch in the employee area, Sal and the director were in a meeting in Studio 2 until 4pm, and thus could not have committed the murder at 2:30pm.

Pressing Sal’s comment about not getting to eat lets you mention the plates that were on the table at Studio 2, and he admits that the assistant brought the steak over during a break in the meeting, which contradicts his other statement that they didn’t take any breaks. So the Judge asks Sal to testify on the break they took, since this could provide an opportunity for someone in that meeting to leave and commit the murder. Edgeworth laughs menacingly though, so… probably not.

I should correct you real quick: she brought him the steaks before the meeting, and he used a break opportunity to devour it.

Unfortunately, while all this provides some important information about the availability of the other people on set, it doesn't help prove their involvement. Edgeworth tops it all off by bringing up Mr. Monkey’s severed head that was blocking the path between the studios during the time of the meeting. Sal is brought off the stand and replaced with a decisive witness: Cody Hackins.

Sadly, Cody is a child, and at first can only barely be seen on the witness stand, leading to him needing a box brought in to stand on.

I love that they bothered to show us that image of him barely peeking over the podium. Edgeworth feigns moral consideration for a second to worry that the defense may cause trauma with its inconsiderate questioning of a ten-year old boy on the details of a murder, because Edgeworth is kind of a manipulative dick. Of course this is hilariously turned around on him when he gets upset at Cody for being difficult, and Mia kindly calms him down, leading the Judge to reprimand Edgeworth for not being understanding enough of the child witness. Edgeworth also has a hilariously difficult time dumbing down his legal jargon for a child.

I will say that I don't think he's feigning: as we learn later, Edgeworth probably feels at least some sympathy for a child who witnessed a murder.

That's fair, though that sympathy doesn't come through very well in Edgeworth's accusatory, clinical tone here. Cody explains that he snuck through the woods to get in and see a Steel Samurai rehearsal, and saw the Steel Samurai strike the Evil Magistrate down. He also laments that he didn’t have his camera with him to capture the moment. When pressed on the details, however, he comes across as intentionally vague, like he’s hiding something.

Something no witness in this series has ever done, ever.

Since Cody said before the testimony that he always has his camera with him, Phoenix is able to present the camera as an objection and get Cody to admit that he did indeed have his camera, but he says he was too busy watching to take pictures.

This testimony is even vaguer than the last one, to the point where when asked to describe the fight, Cody describes as Samurai Slap. Phoenix points out how vague Cody is being, and claims the reason why is that he didn't see most of the fight. When asked what Cody would be looking at instead of the fight, Phoenix points out the witness's camera, which he just got. Being unfamiliar with how it works, Cody was too busy trying to get it working to pay attention to the fight.

Admittedly, that would be incredibly frustrating, and I feel for the kid. But it's actually kind of impressive how strongly he sticks to his story here.

Cody gives a new testimony about how he was watching the fight, but he wasn't able to get any shots. Pressing him hard on that statement leads to him admitting he took a few pictures of the final blow, but he deleted them. Phoenix presents the album Cody gave him yesterday as evidence that if he had any picture of Steel Samurai victorious over his enemy he would have kept it for his album. The question is raised then: why did he delete the pictures?

And I have to admit, this is one of the more interesting reveals of a witness' motivation I've seen. And a uniquely childish one.

Phoenix realizes then the only reason Cody would have deleted a picture: the Steel Samurai didn't win. He lost. That's why Cody deleted the pictures, and that is why he gave Phoenix his album in the first place. Unable to take it anymore, Cody bursts into tears and tells the court that yes, the Steel Samurai lost that fatal fight.

See that's a great twist. Throws our understanding of the case on its head, and all based on deciphering the psychology of a child who was disappointed to see his hero fall to the villain.

This sends Edgeworth and the Judge into hysterics. How can this be true? Isn't the victim Jack Hammer? Phoenix reveals the shocking truth: Jack Hammer was the one in the Steel Samurai costume, the one who lost the fight, the one who died. When asked for proof of this theory, Phoenix presents the empty bottle of sleeping pills, evidence that Jack Hammer drugged the defendant, Will Powers, and stole his costume. How to prove that? It's covered in his fingerprints.

And finally this case actually moves forward in a meaningful way.

Not only that, but Cody reveals he did save one picture he took, though it's from before the fight. Thing is though, the picture shows the Steel Samurai at Studio 2, not Studio 1. The very alibi that saved those in the trailer now makes them the prime suspects.

I do love that, once Cody realized he was actually helping make things right, he enthusiastically contributed to further investigation of his own free will. And boy does his contribution change the game even more.

With all this unveiled, the Judge closes the proceeding, asking for more investigation to be done, and especially for Edgeworth to reconsider their charges against Will Powers. In the lobby, Mia and Phoenix allow themselves to relax, while making it clear to Powers that they were sure of their defeat for a while there. That ends the recap, so let's talk about the analysis. Sam, what do you think about Cody Hackins?

I mean he's kind of a brat, but I enjoy the character, and as I said I really like the way he plays into this court session. It becomes less about pointing out facts and more about understanding this kid well enough to call out the contradictions between his character and his testimony, and it all leads up to a twist I really like. So I like him.

There are definitely worse kid characters out there. Honestly, in contrast to the last several segments, I think this whole trial day was a slam dunk. The pacing is quick and the excitement mounts higher and higher as Phoenix struggles to win the day.

I agree entirely; I was really cynical about this case last Wright Wednesday, and I still stand by all my complaints, but this trial day was a huge improvement. Still sucks that it's the first time I've felt particularly invested in this case, but it's a big step.

I definitely agree that the case is far too slow and thin early on, but I like the large cast and when the mystery actually starts trying it's...okay it's not the best but the series will do worse. This particular reveal, or rather the one two punch of reveals, is also the first case-shaking giant leap of logic shake up in the series, something we will come to love and hate over the course of the series.

While we're on the subject, maybe we should talk about what we will call Ace Attorney's Turnabout Moments. These are the times in Ace Attorney cases where the Turnabout titles come into play. Major base information of the case is called into question or completely reversed. These can be done very well, where you piece it together logically with Phoenix...or poorly, where the case railroads you into the twist while leaving you confused and grasping for logic.

Both definitely happen a lot in the series, for sure. It's a difficult thing for a game to get right, since different minds approach these situations in different ways and logical conclusions may or may not follow for a given person from the evidence the game gives. This one does include a pretty big leap--that Cody's testimony is not just flawed but intentionally misrepresented to preserve the image of his childhood hero--but I feel like the game led me to it alright. That said, this was my second or third playthrough. I don't remember whether it was more confusing my first time through.

I'd say the benefit here is that there is both testimony and evidence that clearly points to it, and it fits the players needs very well. As opposed to some later Turnabout Moments, where the turn feels very forced, there's less to back it up in the moment, or you're actively proving something that hurts your case.

It always helps when the game has someone ask Phoenix a question, and the player is given a multiple choice question, as happened in this trial. That at least gives us an opportunity to logically consider multiple options, rather than being expected to connect all the dots on their own.

Especially when they're like "Can't possibly be this" "Probably not this" "Possible but HOLY SMOKES IS THIS IT?!"

Exactly. A nice way to nudge the player toward a difficult revelation while still allowing them the opportunity to figure it out.

With all that said, next week we'll be uncovering more of the truth behind this case's Turnabout Moment. Just why was Jack Hammer wearing the Steel Samurai suit? Who killed him? With next week, the last day of investigation, we hope to find out. Auf wiedersehen.

See you all next time!