Hallo, alle miteinander! This is Wright Wednesday, the weekly blog where we recap, analyze, and review the cases of the Ace Attorney franchise. Today we are finally finishing Turnabout Goodbyes, the finale to the first game in the series. I'm Roy. I like Ace Attorney and I can't deny.
And I'm Sam, Roy's other brother who can't deny liking Ace Attorney. The final trial of the final case begins with everyone feeling really tense, and Maya apparently holding an electric charge from the day before that shocks everyone she tries to comfort.
Because this is how tazers work.
In all fairness, if anyone can actually hold a charge like that, it's Maya. Gumshoe arrives, announcing that he caught the boat shop caretaker, and the trial begins. The caretaker (who Phoenix plans to out as Yanni Yogi by his own admission) testifies that he hadn’t meant to run away, but simply left because he didn’t think he was involved with the case. He went to get food for Polly, got lost, and was on his way back to the shack when the police found him.
What a non-suspicious excuse!
There’s no clear way to prove much when the witness can blame a lack of information on amnesia, so Phoenix just tries to get the guy to say his name. The Judge eventually interrupts the cross-examination to ask what Phoenix’s questions and proclamations have to do with the case. Phoenix answers by simply showing his cards, saying that the witness’ lack of memory and lack of connection to the case are both lies, and declaring the man to be Yanni Yogi.
Phoenix is not one to bead around the bush. Except when he does so by accident because he hasn't figured out squat and is making things up as he goes along. Which is not today!
von Karma, of course, demands proof of his claim. Phoenix suggests fingerprinting, but the man has no fingerprints, supposedly due to a chemical accident. As a bit of a joke, von Karma suggests cross-examining the parrot, Polly, and since this is Ace Attorney, of course he actually does it. Which everyone thinks is crazy, but again. Ace Attorney.
Fun fact: I have a t-shirt that says "I would like to cross examine the parrot!"
That is an excellent shirt. I feel like there are lots of Ace Attorney quotes that would make excellent shirts. Polly’s first testimony is silence, then, “Hello! Hello!” Then silence again. Of course, an earlier twist in the case was when Maya asked if they had forgotten anything, and Polly responded, “Don’t forget DL-6!” But when asked that again, she merely says, “Hello,” and based on von Karma’s smug response, Phoenix wonders if he somehow retrained her not to respond that way anymore.
Less fun fact: someone online claims to have asked an animal trainer about retraining a parrot not to say a word in under 24hrs, and not only is it possible, the guy asked, without this detail coming up, if the guy doing so had a tazer, because tazing the parrot would make it easy.
...von Karma is a monster.
I mean, obviously.
Since that's not an option, Phoenix uses the DL-6 case file to demonstrate that Polly is named after Yogi’s fiancee, who committed suicide after the events of the DL-6 proceedings, and also connects the safe number Polly remembers to the case by pointing out that the four numbers, 1228, are also the date on which the incident took place. This is not definitive proof, but the Judge considers two coincidences to be a pattern, and calls the old man back to the stand.
It's a really great moment for the Judge too, as he stands up to von Karma completely.
When the man is asked his name, von Karma objects, but the man says it’s okay. He completely changes his demeanor, standing up straight and looking on with a confident, present expression, and identifies himself as Yanni Yogi. He then confesses to the crime of killing Robert Hammond and framing Edgeworth. He explains that he was innocent, but Hammond didn’t believe him, and cited brain damage to get him off the hook, forcing Yogi to live a lie for the last 15 years to keep up appearances, losing everything in the process. So when a package arrived with a pistol and a letter detailing a plan for his revenge, he acted on it.
Sure enough, Edgeworth lets out an Objection and admits to killing his father in the elevator as a child. von Karma points out that, as the statute of limitations ends that day, they can still charge Edgeworth for the crime.
Phoenix's cases always pivot into convicting someone else, but rarely do they pivot into an entirely different case like this.
It's the first time so far in the series, that's for sure. The Judge accepts this, and calls for a recess before beginning this new trial. In the defense's lobby, Maya and Gumshoe are completely disheartened. Edgeworth was saved, only to admit to another crime. Phoenix, however is busy: he's going to prove Miles Edgeworth innocent, again.
I love that he doesn't even decide or announce it. He's just working on it already.
With court back in session, Edgeworth recounts his dream again: Yanni and his father arguing, Miles throwing the pistol, the shot ringing out, and the terrifying scream. But Phoenix objects: in addition to the shot that killed Gregory Edgeworth, another bullet must have been fired, as the elevator window is cracked and the case file says the weapon was fired twice.
One wonders how that was overlooked before, but I suppose they were working from a different premise as to what happened, too, so I can accept that.
Phoenix presents the theory: Edgeworth's shot hit the window, then the real killer entered the elevator from outside and killed Gregory Edgeworth. It seems good...but von Karma points out an obvious flaw: only one bullet was found at the scene, the one in Gregory's heart. If there were two shots, where is the second bullet? Especially considering the report says they combed the scene and found no other evidence.
I do have to say, I love the twist this is building up to.
With no actual evidence to support his claims, Phoenix's theory is stricken down. Maya's got nothing, and Phoenix is at his wits' end as the Judge prepares to deliver his verdict. Suddenly, Phoenix hears Mia's voice, giving him advice.
Because God forbid a major Phoenix Wright case gets solved through the characters' ingenuity and problem solving skills.
With nothing else to lose, Phoenix objects and suggests the killer took the second bullet with him. When asked why he would do something like that, Phoenix throws out that he had to, like, like, what if the bullet hit the killer? He'd have to take it then! No one disputes the idea, but it's not like a provable theory...right?
And see this part is great, because bringing back established tools and using them for different purposes to prove a point is awesome.
It is indeed, for you see, Phoenix suddenly remembers: after the DL-6 Incident, von Karma took the only vacation in his forty year career. What if that was to heal from his bullet injury? What if he was the killer in DL-6?! How to prove it? The metal detector!
And bringing this up is the first time you see von Karma sweat. It's delightful.
It's delicious. von Karma tries to avoid being tested, but the Judge won't let him avoid that, ordering him to submit to the metal detector. It goes off, but he then tries saying the bullet is unrelated. Phoenix has evidence against that, the bullet Maya managed to save, the one from Gregory Edgeworth's heart. Ballistic markings would show they're from the same gun, proving von Karma is the killer!
It's, yet again, a very exciting and satisfying series of events to work through.
Thoroughly defeated, von Karma let's out an enormous scream, the same one that's been in Edgeworth's dreams for the last fifteen years. He admits it all, having seen the opportunity to kill the man who gave him a penalty as destiny itself, then calls for the Judge to end the trial. And so it does, with an innocent Edgeworth.
I still hold that electrocuting the parrot was von Karma's most evil act, though.
Everyone celebrates Edgeworth's acquittal, including Lotta and Larry. Oh, and it turns out Larry is the one who stole Edgeworth's money in fourth grade. Phoenix is infuriated to learn that his career is built on a lie. They all have good fun, and go out for dinner together.
Paid for by Gumshoe, because he's still a precious gumdrop.
When Phoenix arrives back the office early the next morning, he finds a note from Maya: she left for her home village to train her spirit channeling. He gets to the train station as fast as possible, and finds Maya still downtrodden over how useless she is.
And this scene resolves the thing that's been bugging me for a while, so that's nice.
Phoenix shows that she's not useless without her powers, after all the final piece of evidence that saved the day is what she saved from von Karma's grasp. Maya is happy to hear that, but she's still heading back to her home, at least for now. The two part, tearfully.
I do really like that we resolve her insecurities, but that isn't some magical thing that makes her stay with Phoenix; she still wants to learn how to use her powers more effectively, and returns home because that's what's right for her right now. It's a nice way to end it.
Speaking of ending, this is usually where I start crying. Phoenix ruminates on this being the end of the first chapter of his career, the end of him as a novice, but he has a lot more adventures to come, with a full cast of colorful characters...only for Edgeworth to object, cutting Phoenix's ego down, with the Judge agreeing. Then the credits begin, with it regularly cutting to the various characters from the game, from every case, showing what they're up to now. It's a series tradition that I love. The last one is Lotta, who reveals the photo she took of the full group...and the ghost of Mia Fey, watching them with a smile on her face.
Yeah, seeing what everyone is up to over the credits music is a really great tradition for the series.
So, thus ends Turnabout Goodbyes! Professor, how would you like to begin our analysis?
Well for one, we return to the theme of trauma, and we really get to see the difference between how our various characters handle it. The main comparison here is between Edgeworth and von Karma; specifically, that Edgeworth responded to tragedy by blaming himself, and von Karma responded to it by blaming someone else. Both of their responses ended up hurting the people they blamed, too. And both of them are seen as strong, intimidating men, but that strength is revealed to be a facade for Edgeworth's self-loathing and von Karma's fragile ego.
The case also contributes to the game's overall theme of corruption. A prosecutor with a stellar reputation and a forty year career of nothing but convictions has been revealed as a murderer and someone genuinely capable and willing to forge evidence.
Ace Attorney, as a whole, seems to regard high status with a good deal of suspicion; I mean in this game alone, basically everyone who was particularly famous or respected turned out to be corrupt on some level. The only exception I can think of off the top of my head is Will Powers, but he hid from his fame and wasn't all that well-known. Between Dee, Karma, White, even Edgeworth, corruption tends to be the logical conclusion to high status in this game.
At the same time, if we're going to move into talking about characters, they take the time to humanize even von Karma. The man does some truly awful things, but he mentions a granddaughter and he accepts his defeat with more grace than most Ace Attorney villains. He also benefits from this not being his last appearance, and he gets more shades of dimension as time goes on.
That is true. Humanizing him doesn't make him particularly sympathetic--I mean he used a taser on an innocent bird, and also killed a man or something but seriously, poor birb--but it does show that the game considers him more than just a villain.
We can discuss his finer points later on in the series when they come up, but there's something else Karma related to discuss: his exact plan is left open to interpretation, and as such I have seen a lot of fans get the impression that everything that happened, short of him getting caught was all his plan from the beginning. Like, from the time he adopted Edgeworth, he was already planning to frame him for a murder just before the limitations ran out and then have him plead guilty for his father's murder. I think that is stupid and definitely not what happened
I could honestly see both possibilities here, but only because they both have reasons they do and don't make sense. Like there are plenty reasons von Karma couldn't have effectively planned this entire thing out, but I'm also unsure why he would have taken Edgeworth as a student without some kind of ulterior motive. In fact now that I think about it, I really don't understand why he would have taken the son of his rival, who he murdered, as an apprentice.
Allow me to explain, at least how I see it. von Karma took on Edgeworth as a last stab at his father. Killing the man didn't end his hatred, so he made it a goal to turn his son into a prosecutor, the opposite of his father. It was going great...until Phoenix Wright appeared and ended Edgeworth's winning streak, twice. Suddenly, von Karma had connected his reputation to someone who was very much imperfect. I think it's then that this entire scheme took form.
Ah, taking on Edgeworth as a final insult to his father actually makes a lot of sense. And I'm sure the fact that he would then have someone he could easily throw under the bus in a pinch was a nice bonus.
Along the same lines, von Karma was playing an "all roads lead to victory" game with this trial. He was genuinely trying to get Edgeworth found Guilty every day of the trial, but he knew that if by some miracle Phoenix pulled an acquittal, that it was likely Edgeworth would admit his guilt, which would still give him some sort of satisfaction and ensure he wouldn't be caught for his own crime. Phoenix managing both Not Guilty's one after the other took a ghost whispering hints into his ear, so it's clear how difficult getting the only possible good ending was.
And wow, it even further emphasizes how horrible von Karma is. If he has this much of an awareness of Edgeworth's weaknesses and internal struggles, he had to have noticed them back when he was teaching him. That makes it seem like he spent Edgeworth's entire apprenticeship ignoring, or maybe even fostering Edgeworth's insecurities and fears so he could one day exploit them if necessary. I mean murder and parrot-electrocuting are pretty bad, but that's just despicable.
It is indeed, but it also leads into a weird narrative issue I have with the case, one that will crop up later on as well: even if Edgeworth had killed his father, it wasn't a murder! It would be accidental manslaughter caused by an eight year old, which I don't think is even punishable!
I don't imagine so, yeah. I might think, even if Edgeworth wouldn't be punished for it, the court coming to that conclusion would benefit von Karma since it would effectively end the case so they wouldn't look into it anymore and find him out, but the statute of limitations was over the next day anyway.
True, but in the moment no one is thinking that, they're all like "Oh no he'll be found guilty of MURDER!" This is not the last time this happens, and while I'll want to talk about it more later, Phoenix's faith has a tendency to go so far that it seems like he can't believe a friend of his would accidentally cause someone's death. Again, here it's more reasonable thanks to the evidence of the photo and the case file, but it's still like...Phoenix...awful stuff can happen...you know that, right?
Yeah, it certainly comes across as a misunderstanding of what happened and what it means on the part of... well basically everyone, including Phoenix.
Speaking of Phoenix, we should talk about the game's overarching character arcs! But let's start with Maya.
Well like I mentioned before, I've been sort of frustrated at how little resolution her arc was getting, and while I do still think it could have been handled a little better over all, I also see now that it was pulling a long con to resolve later on, and that resolution works alright. She proved herself, even if the specific way has little to do with any of her unique traits as a character, and her part in the end of the game felt like a really good ending for her story. For now, at least.
I definitely appreciate more than ever how they slowly built up her reliance on spirit channeling and how it impacts her self esteem, and I...kinda like the resolution? I think the self-esteem positive message is nice, but at the same time Phoenix basically said, "Hey, don't base your self esteem on spirit channeling, base it on your work as my assistant!" and she was like "Okay, but I seriously need to get better spirit channeling to be a better assistant."
Oh yeah, that part I love. It came across kind of like her stepping back and, for the first time, actually choosing her path as a medium. It had sort of been foisted on her, and it was clear she was both convinced that it was her primary source of value, and unconvinced she could actually deliver on that part of her life. So to affirm her helpfulness with Phoenix, but still choose to go back home, seems like positive growth for her.
I do kind of think "she held onto a thing when she got electrocuted" is kiiiiinda a weak proof of her helpfulness; it might have been more effective if her contribution to the case had literally anything to do with her strengths or personality or identity or anything. But the overall arc works fine, and resolves really nicely.
I wish I saw it that way. Maybe it's just my knowledge of how this arc goes, but I don't feel like Maya is choosing being a medium, I feel like she's still pressured into it, and that's only going to get worse with time. Without major spoilers, the way the writers ultimately resolve her struggles with self esteem and having her life planned for her is basically "she becomes a strong medium" and that's treated like it solves everything. The idea that maybe she shouldn't be forced into this career that she clearly struggles with is never seriously brought up, and that irks me.
That's fair. Most of what we're talking about here is kind of inferred, after all; Maya doesn't get much in the way of explicit character development in this game, just a simple arc about her self-esteem. We don't even find out much of anything about her profession or family until the next game. And I think that all makes a lot of this analysis kind of... speculative. I think the way it was framed in the game sets it up to be a matter of her choice. But I agree the game doesn't give us enough information for that reading to be particularly concrete.
For a more substantial character arc, ho boy let's dig into Edgeworth. He confesses the guilt that's been eating him alive for his entire adult life, is redeemed, and comes out of it stunned but seemingly ready to try and move forward, reintegrating himself with old friends and stepping outside his comfort zone.
Edgeworth is a favorite for a reason; he's super hot. But also he's the game's most complex character, hands down. His arc is satisfying, detailed, and legitimately interesting. You come out of the game with a completely different understanding of this character than you had when you come into it, and that's pretty great.
He has, hands down, the best arc of any prosecutor, and they never quite nailed it a second time as well as they did here. He has slow but genuine feeling development, and it's not even really done yet! That leads us to Phoenix, whose closing remarks perfectly sum up his arc: he's finished his first chapter and proven his mettle, but he has a long way still to go. Him being able to hear Mia felt less like outside help and more like he was resonating with her, living up to her legacy, fully, for the first time.
I guess I can see that. But that reading doesn't work super well for me in a world where we know speaking to the dead is a thing, and it's happened multiple times already. I feel like if that was Phoenix "channeling Mia" in a more metaphorical way, that could have been established a little better, because it came across to me like another deus ex machina; Mia coming in to explain something we would have otherwise had absolutely no way of figuring out.
I can understand that. I feel like it was mostly earned, but I think it would have worked better if it was Mia's last ghostly act. Without next game spoilers, Mia returns and her disappearance for this case is never remarked upon. I feel that this game, as well as the trilogy as a whole and the characters of Maya and Phoenix would have benefited from this being the only game with her help, that last call to Phoenix her parting gift. Maya would have had to forge her own identity without just being the person who calls the mentor and Phoenix would have to grow on his own without her guidance. I honestly can't see a downside, but instead Mia's appearance here is just... something never mentioned again. A dropped thematic element.
Maya blamed herself for it, and much as I hate to say it, that seems to be the only explanation? Like she could only handle so much of Mia forcing herself like that? But yeah, I agree in the long term it would have been better to have that kind of resolution here.
What else can you think of for the the analysis? What haven't we touched on, for this segment and the trial as a whole?
The part where Edgeworth tries to express his excitement as visibly as Gumshoe. The result is the most awkward and adorable thing I've ever seen.
I completely agree. I'd like to reiterate that I think that this game's ending is literally perfect. The music is so fantastic! It's tied for my favorite in the series.
Yeah, just overall it wrapped up incredibly well. Tied up all the important loose ends, brought satisfying resolutions to its character arcs, and the twist that Larry was the one behind the class that inspired Phoenix to become a lawyer was a great little capstone on the story of these three friends. It's just a great ending.
I think that takes us to the review portion. The fourth case in an Ace Attorney game is the Finale Case. It has the highest stakes of the game, whether that be emotionally or in terms of possible fallout, and it needs to tie up character arcs, resolve the game's prosecutor in some way, cap off the thematic message the game is going for, be an interesting story in and of itself, and leave the player off at a high note.
Which, I think we've established, this case did really well. I do have the occasional problem with the case, as I'm sure I've voiced in previous entries, but the highs of this case are good enough to cover a lot of lows. And there aren't a ton to begin with; it's just a fairly solid case with a really good third act that elevates it way farther.
I agree completely. The case has pacing issues, largely caused by the three day structure, that we've discussed before, as well as plot elements that feel odd, areas where the themes could have been better applied and character arcs could have been more solidly presented. Despite that, it tells a fascinating story that keeps the player interested, ties everything together very well, and sticks as one of the most iconic cases in the series. On the whole, I give it a 9/10, the same score I gave Turnabout Sisters. (Though if you want to get technical, this case is a low 9 where Sisters is a high 9.)
I'm going to give it the same 9 out of 10, actually putting it slightly above Turnabout Sisters. It's not as strong overall, but for me, a few particularly powerful moments, and especially a great conclusion, can overcome a lot of that. Turnabout Goodbyes has easily the most intense and engrossing case of the first game, and that forgives a lot of its other, already kind of insignificant issues in my book.
Now then, just because this was the climax doesn't mean we're done. Join us next time for the beginning of the bonus case, Rise From the Ashes. Auf wiedersehen.
See you then!
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