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Farewell, My Turnabout, Day Three Trial

CONTENT WARNING

This article contains discussion of mental health, suicide, and suicidal ideation. If you'd like to avoid such topics, I'd recommend skipping this case both in playing the series and reading Wright Wednesday.

Hallo, alle miteinander! This is the weekly blog where we recap, analyze, and review the cases of the Ace Attorney series. Today we're finally at the finish line, not only finishing our coverage of Farewell, My Turnabout but also of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-Justice for All in general! There's going to be a lot to discuss, but who will be doing the discussing? I'm Roy and the ending always makes me bawl my eyes out.

I'm Sam and I finally remembered why I remember this case so fondly. The night before the trial, Phoenix has the dream from the beginning of the game again; the Judge declares him unworthy and smashes him with a gavel. And on the day he stands in trial to prove a killer innocent, it resonates differently than before.

If Phoenix ever gets into Smash Bros, Giant Judge should be part of his Final Smash

Gumshoe has been put on the team chasing after de Killer, and hopes they can find Maya so Phoenix can safely get Engarde a Guilty verdict. So he tells Phoenix to elongate the trial to give them time. Mia shows up too, channeling through Pearl again and noting that Phoenix’s friends are a powerful advantage.

Yep, despite the fact Phoenix frequently treats them poorly once no longer useful.

Edgeworth kicks off the trial by admitting Andrews’ guilt in regards to framing Engarde, but presents de Killer’s calling card and claims that Engarde hired the assassin to kill Corrida. This puts Phoenix in a tough spot since everything Edgeworth has said so far, he knows to be true. So he just has to delay.

The usual tactics feel different when you know you're in the wrong.

Edgeworth calls Will Powers to the stand. Powers, it turns out, went to Engarde’s room after the ceremony to congratulate him. He saw Matt standing outside the room in his costume (sans helmet), talking to a bellboy. But when their conversation kept going, Powers went back to the dining room rather than interrupt them. Seems straightforward enough, but it is of course a trap; the bellboy had stitches from the top to bottom of his face; as did the butler who took Maya and was at Engarde’s mansion.

Not only that, but the amount of money Engarde gave him was suspiciously large as well. That or the face detail can be used as the ammo to move forward.

Mia tells Phoenix he has to play dumb about this, since exposing the fact that Engarde gave money to de Killer would end the trial in an instant. But the amount of cash is suspicious enough that Edgeworth puts forth the obvious theory that the bellboy was de Killer, and Engarde’s “tip” was payment for Corrida’s murder.

Do you think it was like an art commission, with half up front and half after?

I feel like de Killer is an "all of it up front" man. What with the whole "complete trust between assassin and client" thing we'll get to in a bit.

Probably.

Edgeworth's theory sparks Powers’ memory, and he testifies that he saw the same “bellboy” coming out of Corrida’s room when he went to the bathroom later. The cross-examination is something of a back-and-forth between Phoenix and Edgeworth over the details of his account, but Phoenix sees his chance when Powers notes that the bellboy had earlier been holding a tray with a bottle of tomato juice and a wine glass. Since much of Powers’ argument rests on the bellboy being suspicious, and much of that suspicion rides on his empty-handedness coming out of Corrida’s room, Mia figures they can dodge a bullet for now if they give a plausible reason for him to leave empty-handed.

This bit feels like fluffy logic, but that works since Phoenix is well aware he's on bad ground, and just trying to stretch out the trial.

Of course, there was a bottle of tomato juice in Corrida’s room; the one Andrews used to pour a glass. Which explains this suspicious detail in a not-at-all suspicious way! The bellboy just left the tray and drink in Corrida’s room. But Powers also has one more detail to share; the bellboy was wearing black leather gloves. This is apparently also suspicious.

I mean, Powers is in a state of mind where he's ready to think anything is suspicious.

Not that Phoenix's weird tirades about suspicious sports balls is helping at all. Powers testifies again that, after leaving Corrida’s room, the bellboy went straight to Engarde’s door and knocked. He gave something to the person inside, then left. Powers didn’t see the person inside Engarde’s room, nor did he see the small object the bellboy passed to him. But this does indicate that something was removed from the crime scene. When Pressed, Powers says it looked like a small wooden statue, and Phoenix Presents the small bear with cuts all over it. He apparently knows this is a bad idea, since this bear was later found in Engarde’s mansion, but it’s the only thing he has to do right now.

This part of the trial is made to feel like typical flailing around for info, like many trials have had. The difference is we already know nearly everything, which changes the feeling completely.

The way this trial recontextualizes familiar tropes for the series and builds tension will be a major topic of discussion in the analysis, for sure.

Edgeworth does indeed use this to strongly indicate that Engarde is de Killer’s client. A desperate Phoenix reasons that Engarde was arrested that night, and thus would not have had the chance to take this bear home from the hotel. But Edgeworth shuts him down, noting that the butler was also at Engarde’s mansion and probably brought the bear himself so it wouldn’t further implicate Engarde when the police searched his room.

I really enjoy this whole back and forth.

The way we keep circling back to the same three objections really hammers in how desperate and obvious our stalling is. 

So Phoenix takes issue with the unclear identity of the person who took the bear, but Powers then remembers that the arm was the mechanical arm of the Nickel Samurai; in other words, Matt Engarde. This is obviously not good for Phoenix, and as the Judge prepares to hand down his verdict, Edgeworth tells him he could not win against the truth. Phoenix is painfully aware of this, and the fact that he’s not on the side of justice in this instance. But he has to continue dragging the trial out, so he pulls out one last dirty trick; once again accusing Adrian Andrews of being the killer. Since we already know she donned the costume earlier, it’s plausible enough that Edgeworth disdainfully admits that he cannot fully discount it. So he says he is willing to play along. As the court buzzes about how absurd this is, and how clear Engarde’s guilt is, Phoenix repeats to himself that this is to save Maya.

The audience is just vicious throughout this segment.

Which leads to one of my favorite moments of the case, actually, which I'll get to later. 

Edgeworth bring up the bear, and the strangeness of its immediate delivery to Matt Engarde. He once again calls Andrews to the stand, and the Judge calls a recess to allow preparation. 

During the recess, Mia is called away, and when she comes back she says Maya woke up and channeled her. She saw a circus tent out the window, and Phoenix passes this information on to Gumshoe in hopes they can find her. He realizes that he’s only been able to do this so far because he’s stalling, and he still has hope that Maya might be found and he can eventually turn on Engarde. And if that hope is dashed, he doesn’t know what he’ll do.

I am 90% sure I know which moment you said is your favorite, but we can definitely discuss that later.

When court reconvenes, Edgeworth explains that Andrews has been accused of evidence tampering and obstruction of justice, but is now here to ascertain the Guilty party. She calmly explains that the bear figurine is an elaborate puzzle that can be taken apart one piece at a time, with enough space in the center to store a small item. She was the one who bought it for Juan, and only she and him knew how to solve it; what’s more, it’s a handmade souvenir from Switzerland, so it’s unlikely that others nearby would know how to open it. 

Always nice to get a reminder that this takes place before the internet made such plot points obsolete.

I mean, even in today's age some stuff is impossible to find on the internet, either due to websites being lost or the subject being obscure.

That's fair, if it's obscure enough I could see this working. Edgeworth establishes that what’s inside must be important, and he asks Andrews to take the bear apart. Inside is Celeste Inpax’s suicide note. Apparently Andrews knew about this, and tried to find the bear when she discovered Corrida’s body, but couldn’t since de Killer had already taken it. Edgeworth asks the Judge to read the note aloud, revealing the whole sordid story of Engarde’s abuse and Corrida’s betrayal.

I'm a little miffed we don't know what it says in detail, just 'Oh boy, that letter contained a bunch of bad stuff.'

Edgeworth, of course, has no interest in slandering Engarde, but in establishing a motive for murder. Since Corrida was going to go public with the contents of the note, this gives a clear reason why Engarde would want to kill him. This turns the court even further against Phoenix, and he listens as the crowd berates not only Engarde, but Phoenix as well for defending him. But Phoenix still needs to buy time, so despite himself he presses on.

Phoenix claims that if Engarde didn’t know the bear was a jewelry box, there’s no reason he should have thought the suicide note was inside. His continued objections turn the crowd even further against him, but he pushed forward. Edgeworth reveals the camera that was hidden in the large bear in Corrida’s room, revealing that Matt Engarde was spying on Corrida and thus knew about the bear. But in a twist, it turns out this is not the camera from Corrida’s room, but one from his home that Edgeworth found in a search there. But it’s now been revealed that Phoenix knew about this detail, which further turns the crowd against him.

I feel like the whole "it's been proven the defendant was spying on the murder scene" should have been a key point in Edgeworth's case, but whatever.

Mia cryptically makes reference to a piece of evidence Edgeworth hasn’t looked into, and before the Judge is yet again ready to hand down a verdict, Phoenix objects and claims that Inpax’s suicide note requires more analysis before we can be sure it’s actually the real thing. Until they analyze the handwriting to be sure it’s hers, they can’t be certain, and it’s possible Andrews made a fake note to further frame Matt.

I love the way Phoenix Presents this too, he's so confident he's almost smug.

It makes me uncomfortable, but context aside I can see how he'd enjoy turning the "it's technically, theoretically possible this could be disproven, so we can't bank on it" move onto the prosecution considering how often he gets it from them.

The Judge is going to declare another day of investigation, but the people have turned even more violently against the defense, chanting “GUILTY, GUILTY” until Gumshoe calls Phoenix again. Apparently they found the location Mia referenced, but by the time they got there, de Killer and Maya were already gone. Meanwhile, the crowd is still chanting. Gumshoe tells Phoenix to let him talk to Edgeworth, so he tosses the phone and Gumshoe tells him to help them stall. He ignores him and hangs up. But just as the Judge declares the session over, Edgeworth Objects, saying the note can be analyzed in a mere half hour and they should continue after that.

That detail where the evidence icon for the phone spins into Edgeworth as Phoenix throws it is perfection.

During the recess, Gumshoe tells Edgeworth that de Killer left some things behind when he evacuated, and since they don’t have time for evidence processing he swiped them and is on his way now. Since he’s already fired, he’s not too worried about the consequences. But as soon as he declares his intent to drive there as soon as possible, there’s a crashing sound and the line goes dead.

This scene is a freaking gut punch.

Phoenix suggests they can contact von Karma to find him with the tracker she’s put on him, but before Edgeworth goes to find her, Phoenix says he’s lost the right to judge anyone for their methods ever again. Pinning the guilt on someone he knows to be innocent and manipulating the evidence to do it is beyond the pale, and he says it may be his own turn to say, “Defense Attorney Phoenix Wright chooses death.” But Edgeworth says it’s not like him to cry useless tears, and that his worth will be determined once the verdict is decided. He tells Phoenix to think hard about what he must do.

After a save point break, it's back into court, and as the trial reconvenes Edgeworth is looking distraught. Why? Because the results of the handwriting analysis came back, and it's clear now: the suicide note is, in fact, a forgery. They don't know with absolute certainty who did write it, but they're pretty sure it was the victim, Juan Corrida. You know, just to add some more reasons to hate the guy onto the pile. Still, Edgeworth tries to maintain that this doesn't really change anything, because there was no way for the defendant to know it was a fake. But Phoenix easily rebuts that, pointing out that Edgeworth proved Engarde spied on Corrida earlier in the trial to show how he could have known about the note's existence. Such methods would also let him see how it was actually a forgery. When Edgeworth protests that there's no proof Engarde learned that, Phoenix reminds the court it was Edgeworth who bears the burden of proof now, not Phoenix. If Edgeworth wants his case to make sense, he would need to prove Corrida wrote the note somewhere Engarde couldn't see, and he can't do that.

That, I do think Phoenix deserves to be smug about.

With that settled, Phoenix points out this removes the motive for assassination that Edgeworth had worked so hard to set up. But our maroon friend doesn't seem as put out as anyone expected. Sure, he's been backed into a corner...but he does have one option left. He wants to call a new witness, but prefaces naming him by making it clear to the Judge this will be an odd witness, a special case. He also says it's someone who can reveal, better than anyone else alive, just who it was that hired Shelly de Killer. The Judge is astonished by this claim...until Edgeworth reveals the witness is in fact Shelly de Killer himself. This is certainly odd, but neither the Judge or Phoenix object, so it's going to happen. How? Edgeworth had a transceiver delivered to him, much like the one Phoenix received, and the killer will testify through the device.

Far from the strangest witness in a final, climactic Ace Attorney case.

Well, it looks like the Judge doesn't agree with you. After all, how do they really know that's actually Shelly de Killer? But when asked for proof of his identity, he briefly passes the received over to Maya, who groans about being hungry. Phoenix jumps in to say he has no Objections and accepts the man is who he says he is, so the Judge reluctantly accepts this witness. The assassin's first testimony is about how his job works, because he wants the court to understand him before he gives out the name of his client. In brief, he values trust between himself and his client. You need to Press his statement about said trust for him to explain it, then go to where he says we need to understand the trust before he gives out the name, then Press the trust statement again before the finally adds a new statement which, when Pressed, leads to him giving out the name.

Which, considering his whole trust thing, is unsurprising to everyone. Except Edgeworth I guess.

He sure wasn't expecting him to say the name he does: Adrian Andrews. Edgeworth flips out, because that was not the name he'd been told in the recess. But no matter how much the prosecutor pushes, Shelly de Killer insists that Adrian Andrews is in fact the client. Edgeworth has no room to complain either, since he's the one who summoned the witness. The prosecution's case has been completely dismantled, and the Judge is ready to declare a Not Guilty verdict. The assassin departs, saying he wants them to contact him once more when the trial is over. Phoenix is struggling: this verdict will save Maya, but Engarde is actually Guilty, and Adrian Andrews isn't. She'd brought to the stand for some reason, and she pleads to the court that she's innocent. But the Judge makes it clear he can't believe she's innocent, after all she's admitted to. Adrian's pleas are silenced, one by one, until she turns to Phoenix, because he knows the truth. The player is given the option: to either request a verdict or continue the trial.

This is one of those great choices that matters a whole lot less than it should.

Either way, Phoenix cannot bear himself to take the Not Guilty verdict, even to save Maya's life. Why? Because, Edgeworth had so many chances on that first day of trial to take the win, but he never did. Instead, he kept the trial going to find the truth. He even helped Phoenix in finding that same truth. If Phoenix took the verdict being handed to him now, it would be like betraying Edgeworth's trust. It's then that he realizes, no matter how upset he's been at his old friend, he trusts him. With that in mind, Phoenix tells the Judge he wants to cross-examine Shelly de Killer more, as his job is to expose the lies of witnesses, not to get his client a Not Guilty verdict. In his head, Phoenix hopes that this will lead to the miracle they need.

This moment is basically the climax of the whole game in terms of Phoenix's character arc (which is effectively the climax of the whole story since he's the protagonist). I have thoughts on how it's handled, but those will come later.

Shelly de Killer is very much confused about being asked to testify again, but he's told that's just how court is, and he's annoyed but just accepts it. His testimony is about why he gave out his client's name, namely in that fact that Adrian Andrews tried to frame Matt Engarde, which he found a betrayal of the contract. Pressing Shelly can lead to really funny results. In his earlier testimony,  Pressing the right statement leads to the Judge calling out the assassin for acting high and mighty, only for Shelly to casually threaten to kill the Judge. In this testimony, Pressing him about Adrian being his client makes Phoenix stumped on what to ask him on, leading Shelly to think Phoenix is interested in contracting him for future services. Immediately, the Judge thinks Phoenix is interested in assassinating him, and yells at him.

I admit the Judge thinking Phoenix would assassinate him got a chuckle out of me a few times.

Hilarity aside, the key to the testimony is Presenting the wine glass to a statement where de Killer claims that Adrian Andrews knew before she entered that Juan Corrida was dead. Phoenix claims that, if that was the case, she wouldn't have poured herself juice in the wine glass. I have a bit of an issue with this objection, as we really only have her word that her assumption that Juan was still alive was the cause for her pouring the juice, but whatever, no one really cares. Well, except for de Killer, who notices that, as Edgeworth takes up the point and claims this proves Adrian couldn't be the client, that Phoenix is failing to rebut him. Not wanting to make the assassin suspicious, Phoenix throws out a weak objection, nothing more than play acting that even the Judge finds odd.

Another one of my favorite moments, actually. For a number of reasons I'm sure we'll cover.

The newly requested testimony focuses on how Adrian Andrews hired de Killer to begin with. He claims the request came about a week ago, they met at a bar, and his memory should be very accurate regarding these events. Pressing for more details, he makes notes about how it was uncommon for clients to have a date and time planned, like in this request. You can also Press something he says about things he was hired for aside from the killing, and when Pressed further regarding it he reveals he was also hired to take a bear figurine from the room. The issue of them meeting at the bar is the real point of interest, and it's actually pretty tricky. Here too you have the option to Press which leads to de Killer clarifying once again that his bond to his client in paramount. You're given the standard "was that important?" question, but the trick is to say it wasn't, which leads to Phoenix pointing out that de Killer dodged his question for more details about actually meeting Adrian Andrews. When forced to specify, he says that when meeting the client, "It was only through talking with him face to face that I began to trust him." There, of course, is the really big contradiction.

With a weird explanation, really. Is Adrian a particularly common name for men?

I mean, yeah? It's one of the most unisex names I can think of. Off the top of my head, famous actor Adrien Brody. Spelled differently, but mostly the same name.

I guess that's true. Huh.

Once Phoenix points out that Adrian Andrews is, in fact, a woman, Shelly de Killer is thoroughly flummoxed. Now he has to admit he's never met her before, and just assumed her gender based on her name. He claims it's because he actually mixed her up with some other client, and she's one of his rare cases where they never met face to face, despite earlier saying he's never not met a client face to face. He's obviously lying, but that's what the cross-examination is for. He claims to have handled the request over mail (or if Pressed on the right statement, e-mail), but the contradiction lies elsewhere. Namely in that he claims to have handed the figurine off to Adrian Andrews, but we know that she would have burned the note inside if she ever had access to it, and as one of two people who know how to open the bear, she can't be the client.

Sadly, it seems Phoenix has gone too far. Shelly is pissed off, as he's sensed that Phoenix is pushing too hard against something advantageous for his case. He thinks Phoenix is a back-stabber, and says that he has business elsewhere, a clear hint he's about to kill Maya. Phoenix begs him to stay his hand, and Shelly gives him one more chance to get that Not Guilty, or else she's dead. Phoenix is out of hope, and Edgeworth, not wanting Maya's death on his hands, is ready to drop his case, even if that means Engarde will go free and Adrian Andrews will be tried as Corrida's killer. Engarde takes the stand, but even the Judge now knows that his image is a lie, leaving Engarde to put on the villain act while on the witness stand. It looks like things are at they're lowest, and the Judge asks Phoenix if he has anything else to say before the verdict is delivered. You, as the player, are given the choice whether Phoenix should call for a Guilty or Not Guilty verdict.

Which, again...we'll talk about how this case handles these choices later.

After Phoenix makes his choice, he's spared having to say it out loud by the immediate arrival of none of than Franziska von Karma, carrying the evidence from de Killer's hideout with her that Gumshoe stole. The Judge doesn't see any reason to look at more evidence since he's ready for a verdict, but when Edgeworth raises an objection and pulls a Phoenix by pleading to let this intervention mean something, the Judge agrees to see them, with the stipulation that if they don't raise any new points, the case will end.

Making for possibly the highest-stakes evidence Presentation in the series.

With each piece of evidence Presented, you have the choice of asking for more details from Franziska or just moving on to the next one. The first is a pistol, which is likely the one used to shoot her. She kept the bullet they removed from her shoulder, so they can prove that's the case with more time and forensics. The second is a video tape, and while no one has checked what is on the tape, Franziska does note that de Killer seems to have gone back specifically to retake that piece of evidence, injuring three policeman in the process. The third piece of evidence is a bellboy's uniform, likely the one de Killer used to commit the crime, and it seems to be missing a button. After all of that, though, the Judge still feels like none of this makes him ready to change his verdict.

It's actually kind of a nice change of pace for the series' usual logic puzzles, presenting us with three new pieces of evidence and having us consider which is relevant in the particular way we need it to be at the moment.

This entire time, Phoenix has been waiting for a miracle, but it's become clear one isn't going to just happen, he needs to make it happen. Talking with Mia, she points out exactly what he needs to do: he either needs to end Shelly de Killer's contract with Engarde, or make Engarde want to be found Guilty. Both seem like high bars, and to make things worse the Judge is just about ready to slam his gavel and call it a day. But Mia points out they can turn things around: sure, this evidence doesn't really do anything new for them, but there are other people who haven't seen this evidence. With that in mind, Phoenix gets permission from the Judge to show some of this new evidence to a witness, but the Judge is so done with all of this that he gives Phoenix one chance and one chance only. You have to pick a witness and then the evidence, and be right on both.

I have different feelings about this, mechanically speaking, depending on what version of the game I'm playing and how often I can save my game.

Before I move onto what happens with the correct choice, I want to recap the bad choice. If you submit anything but the right answer, Engarde is given a Not Guilty and you get to see a special Bad Ending. It's not very long, just a special image of Phoenix in a trenchcoat walking down a street. He narrates, assuming that Maya was let go, but he never returned to being a lawyer and wasn't able to face her for what he had to do to get her life saved. He did hear the result of Adrian Andrews's trial: Guilty. I really wish more Bad Endings like this happened in the series for climactic moments in big cases.

But what this scene is most remembered for by the fandom is one particular line. Calling back to the reoccurring 'miracle' motif, Phoenix says that, 'The miracle never happen.' This grammatical error, one of many in this particular game, makes the sentence sound so silly, and in such a dour, sad scene, that it became a meme immediately. There's a scene in the next game where they ever referenced it directly. Sadly, I don't think this fun mistake remains in any release of the game after the Nintendo DS. I've been playing on the very first port it had, the WiiWare one that kept the original graphics, and even it fixed the typo, so I'm sure the newer HD versions did as well. I'm all for smaller changes, but this one has such a huge history behind it that I'm actually sad to see it's gone.

I sure didn't notice it when I played on Switch, but I also wasn't looking for it. I get it though. Historically significant or no, this is not the scene you want a narmy typo in.

So, what is the right answer? Well, you need to Present the video tape to de Killer. He's a bit annoyed that the trial isn't over yet, but when Phoenix mentions this is about the video tape, he becomes interested. After all, his employer made it clear he was supposed to protect that tape with his life, only for de Killer to fail in that regard. The thing is, Phoenix knows what's one the tape, and de Killer doesn't. After all, the spy camera was pointed at where the murder occurred and timed for exactly when de Killer was told to commit the deed, and Engarde even told Phoenix in private that he prepared that tape as potential blackmail against his assassin, since he didn't trust him at all. This hits all of Shelly's rage buttons at once, and Phoenix asks about something he'd only implied once more: the fate of clients who betray him. Shelly makes it clear that such people are no longer his clients at all, but are in fact his next targets, to uphold his honor. Since his contract is over, he's going to return Maya now, and ends the conversation.

It's a clever out, and one that would make me feel sorry for Engarde if he wasn't such a monstrous person.

While the Judge is very confused about all of this, Engarde is brought back to the stand. For the first time, we see him sweating and scared, clearly aware of the predicament he's in. If he goes free, de Killer will find and kill him. If he goes to jail, maybe he'll be safe...but even then his image and life will be ruined. Once again, the Judge asks Phoenix about his stance on all of this, and we have the choice on how we want to plead: Not Guilty or Guilty. Only this time, the mood of the choice is completely reversed.

I've overplayed my "we'll talk about choice in this case later," card, so...yeah. Screw this guy though, seeing him agonize over exactly how his life should be ruined is a pleasure.

Either way Phoenix chooses, Engarde himself demands a Guilty verdict, scratching his face over and over again and creating similar marks to his scar, but fresh and bloody. Adrian Andrews takes the stand, ready to own up to her crimes and pay whatever debt  to society is necessary, and admits that the day before her time on the stand had been difficult. But this entire experience has helped her reflect on herself more, and seeing Phoenix and Edgeworth team up to take down Matt Engarde has been a godsend. She has hope that perhaps she'll finally be at peace with herself, and she smiles with genuine joy as she thanks both attorneys for their help. With that, court is adjourned. It's a bit odd we never got to actually see the Guilty verdict go down, but whatever, it's still pretty happy.

Though that conviction freakout is honestly kinda brutal. Dual Destinies is actually rated M and I don't remember anything that violent in it.

For sure, possibly the most violently graphic scene in the series. Back in the lobby, Mia and Phoenix talk about his choices during the trial, and what that means about who he is as an attorney. Since that choice is entirely up to the player, what that means is very open to interpretation. Edgeworth comes in and lets everyone know Maya is safe and in police custody, and Pearl (who is back to her normal self) is super excited to hear that. Franziska interrupts the happy gathering, furious that Phoenix lost but is still happy. Phoenix tells her that she'll never understand, but Edgeworth isn't sure. After all, he's changed a lot, so can she.

Edgeworth goes into things from his perspective. He'd been trained to care only for his perfect record, no matter what it took. But Phoenix appeared, defeated him, and then saved him. After everything that had happened, he couldn't take it anymore, and left his career behind him. But it was only after leaving that he realized: prosecutors and defense attorneys only appear to be on opposite sides, but both should seek to find the truth. Each approaches a case from a different angle, but by foiling each other and pushing back against the other side's theories, that is how the truth can be found. He trusted Phoenix, trusted him to work together towards that end. It was losing that trust that left Phoenix so betrayed in the wake of Edgeworth's disappearance.

I think one of this case's greatest writing successes is how well that outlook is reflected in this final trial segment. We see that push and pull, the cooperation by way of competition, all throughout this second court day, so it really helps Edgeworth's point hit home here.

Phoenix admits he did feel betrayed, though not necessarily for the same reasons Edgeworth had guessed. He had come to trust Edgeworth again because it had been Edgeworth who'd set him on the path to becoming a defense attorney in fourth grade. It had been rough when they'd first met again, but it was starting to feel like he had his friend back. But when Edgeworth suddenly disappeared like that, Phoenix decided to cut his losses, that the friend he knew was dead. Franziska chimes in, pointing out that none of this matters. Phoenix had only ever been important because he was undefeated, but now he's lost. Now he, Edgeworth, and Franziska are all tainted by defeat, and none of them are worthy of praise or happiness. She tells Edgeworth he's not worthy to be in her family anymore, and throws her whip and tracking device to the ground in defeat as she stalks off. Edgeworth knows what this means: she's saying saying she can never stand in court again.

Considering how she was raised I see how she would think this is her only option. Though she did lose twice before this trial, too.

True, but she hoped to regain any lost honor by defeating Phoenix Wright, which held such an appeal due to his perfect record and who he had defeated in the past. But by losing this trial, Phoenix has lost that special quality that made her want to face him. It's the final straw for her.

Ah. Yeah that does make sense. In her sad sort of way.

No time for sadness, though, because Maya's back! She, Phoenix, and Pearl share a really cute moment, and when she realized Edgeworth is there, he awkwardly tells her he's relieved that she's okay. It must be pretty weird for her to see him, since from her perspective it's been almost a year since they last saw each other, she missed his whole return thing. Still, she can see he's made progress on being more social and open about his feelings. That's interrupted by Maya's stomach growling. Phoenix offers to get her food, but she's still annoyed she never got to eat that huge feast at the award show. So they all head over to the Hotel again, where food has been prepared for them. Edgeworth is there, as is Powers, Lotta, and even Gumshoe. Turns out he crashed his car into a telephone pole, and while he's obviously a bit injured, he'll be okay.

Thank God for that. Also though who invited Lotta?

It's all fun character interactions from there, up until Edgeworth thanks Gumshoe again for taking those three pieces of evidence. But the ex-detective is confused: he took four pieces of evidence, not three. The last was hidden in his coat pocket, which the other evidence was wrapped in. On a completely different note, when Lotta focuses on Maya and her ordeal for a bit, Maya mentions she drew a picture to keep herself calm, but she doesn't know where it is.

I bet I know where it is. I used the genius detective skills I gained from playing Phoenix Wright.

Suddenly, the tracking device von Karma threw away starts beeping. The weird thing is, it's not showing where Gumshoe is, but pointing somewhere else. Edgeworth decides he's going to leave early, but before he does Phoenix wants to offer him something: Franziska's whip. That done, some things are pointed out to Phoenix: the bill for all this food is on Phoenix's name and Lotta is charging him for a new camera. He feels the need to scream, and Maya wants him to let it out, since it's been a while since she got to hear him say it. Phoenix shouts his catchphrase, and the credits start to roll.

I'm curious if things might change later if the player Presents something other than the whip to Edgeworth.

I'm not sure actually. Like last game, and every game the series proper, there are scenes with characters from across the game intersperses between the credits, where we can see what they've been up to. Relevant things include Gumshoe being reinstated as a detective out of pity and a need to keep the trilogy's status quo, Maggey Byrde is a waitress now, and Adrian Andrews is doing better...and is apparently in correspondence with Franziska, who is offering her assistance with anything Adrian needs. I see this as pretty clearly being her feeling bad for how her plan affected Adrian, but since both have more than a little queer coding, this scene has led to Adrian/Franziska being the most popular fem!ship in the Ace Attorney fandom.

Oh! I didn't know that, and now I have some googling to do.

And finally, we get to my favorite scene in this case and this game. After the credits are done, we cut to an airport, where Edgeworth has caught up to Franziska von Karma. When she wonders how he found her, he reminds her of the tracking device. She'd planted the bug on Gumshoe's coat, and it seems the coat is in her luggage. She plays it off as being a mystery how it got in there, but it's pretty clear she's just hiding her actual emotions, like usual. Edgeworth brings up the last piece of evidence Gumshoe mentioned and where it is, but Franziska just says the case is over, so that doesn't matter.

When Edgeworth asks what she's going to do now, if she's going to run away, Franziska pushes back. She claims he has no clue what she's had to go through, after all, he hasn't had to grow up as 'Manfred von Karma's daughter'. The expectations had been around her entire life. Her father was a genius. Edgeworth is a genius. But she isn't. She's always known that, but struggled and fought anyway. All Edgeworth can say to that is that even if she isn't a genius, she's still a prosecutor. When she says she's left that behind, and thrown her whip away, Edgeworth hands it back to her, telling her Phoenix is the one who gave it to him, and that she should think harder about what she strikes down with her whip.

I do look forward to seeing what this is setting up for her character. Unless I already have and just forgot, in which case I'm just looking forward to replaying it.

Franziska tells Edgeworth that she's always felt like he goes everywhere without her, leaving her behind, lonely. It's why she has so much hatred for him. Then, she finally had the chance to actually get revenge against him, to strike down the man who defeated him. But she failed. And now von Karma feels like, no matter how guilty she may feel about what she's done, it's impossible to change who she is. Edgeworth disagrees, bringing up Adrian Andrews, who was able to cast aside her past and is now trying to live for herself. He even equates Franziska's reliance on her father's methods and ideology as her own 'dependence'. He tells her that it was her choice to chase after him, no matter where he went, and that's why they're now standing side-by-side, implying that he is no longer so far beyond her reach. Franziska starts crying, letting down her mask for the first time on screen, as Edgeworth tells her he's going to continue forward, so if she isn't going to continue down the path of the prosecutor, then they'll have to part ways. Through her tears, Franziska takes control of her identity and tells Edgeworth she will strive to be better than him, so he had better prepare himself for that battle.

It's a touching scene, for sure. As is often the case with the women of Ace Attorney my feelings are somewhat mixed, but it's a good scene for sure.

It ends with Franziska flying off on her plane, and revealing she did find that fourth piece of evidence, and is holding onto it until she meets Phoenix again, so she can return it to him. It's shown what the evidence is: the shell card Maya found in the wine cellar, which she'd drawn over to make it look like Phoenix.

Plot twist: Phoenix is Shelly de Killer!! The shell was a clue the whole time!!!!!!!!!

On that silly note, our recap is done, and it's time to start the analysis. Sam, why don't you start us off wherever you'd like.

Well. This one is a doozy. 

I don't think I need to explain that this case is the culmination of everything the game has been saying so far. We've broken down the black-and-white ethics of the Ace Attorney formula, and now we've put Phoenix in a position where his approach to defense representation is not good enough, and he has to choose between the beliefs he's always believed brought justice, and an actually just result.

But it goes a bit further than that by making it astonishingly plain how abusable Phoenix's methods are. Mechanically we don't do much differently in this case than previous ones; we grasp at straws, we use accusations and conjecture to stall. It's all the same, but since we know we're fighting against the truth it feels...remarkably dirty. We've seen that these methods aren't enough to seek truth and justice, but we're now seeing how it can also be actively used to prevent it. And it's extremely uncomfortable.

Absolutely. I said last week that where this theme fails for me is how it fails to stick to Phoenix, but this segment shows the larger strength of that theme. Phoenix has always felt like he's had the moral high ground over his opponents, especially in this game where he's frequently denigrated prosecutors as being awful people on principle.

But now Phoenix can't say that anymore. Now he has had to fight on the wrong side, using his tactics for terrible ends, even as he felt justified in doing so. He says as much to Edgeworth about how he almost wants to do what Edgeworth did, and the case makes the player feel the same way. Just as Phoenix is grappling with these moral issues, we as the player are forced to do the same, and confront our own biases. It's really well done. I think I am realizing, as much as Phoenix's ethos never really changes from here on out, you can say that the effect this case did have on Phoenix was losing his sense of moral superiority, and learning not to judge prosecutors so harshly, now that he's had a chance to see what it's frequently like for them.

That makes sense. And ultimately, a failure to change Phoenix's outlook is a failure on the part of the sequels, not this case. The follow-through may be lacking, but I think this case hit that element out of the park.

One of the favorite moments I referenced earlier is when the crowd begins to jeer at Phoenix, and the game blackens out his surroundings while he just repeats to himself that he's doing this for Maya. It's clear that it's getting to him, and seeing him struggle to keep himself together while his miscarriage of justice turns the court against him is really a somber and sad moment.

How about those choice moments you kept saying you wanted to talk about later?

This last segment in particular is a masterclass in building tension. It's constantly teasing ways out, and it seriously never lets up on this. You think you have to defend Engarde, but then Gumshoe is working on finding de Killer. Then we get info from Mia about where they are, but they're gone by the time Gumshoe gets there. Then there's evidence we can get anyway, but Gumshoe crashes and we may not be able to find him. And it just keeps going like this, giving us hope for a way out of making this horrible decision, before snatching it away. 

So of course, there are also multiple points where Phoenix has to actively make the choice to continue defending Engrde rather than giving up and having him declared Guilty. Now Ace Attorney often has choices that don't actually change anything, and usually I defend that sort of thing. A good example is the way that Phoenix can choose to pursue a Guilty or Not Guilty verdict before von Karma saves the day, and Mia later says that your answer to that question is the answer to who you really are; in canon perhaps intended to mean that Wright's true nature is a seeker of justice, but depending on your answer a subtly but potently damning statement. Even though your choice didn't change anything, it absolutely has meaning.

Generally speaking, you want the final challenge of a game to be something like a test. Like you want a final boss to use all the techniques and skills you've learned over the course of the game. So from a typical game design perspective, the final challenge of the court session--choosing who to present evidence to and what to present--makes sense. It's a uniquely complex decision since it has two layers of reasoning and it's uniquely pressured since it's your only chance (which is simultaneously far more bearable in later versions, where you can save more often, and significantly less intense). It makes sense as the final challenge for the series' logic puzzle gameplay.

Buuuuuuut I would argue that the gameplay challenge of this case is not where its true tension lies. That's in the story, and in Phoenix's agonizing choice between defending a murderer and saving Maya's life. The most intense choice of this case is not whether we can present the right thing to the right person, but whether Phoenix will choose to protect his principles or his friend. 

And yet the case gives us an absurd amount of chances to make that choice... and none of them actually stick. Not a single one of Phoenix's decisions to defend or convict Engarde actually changes a single thing. The only thing that actually affects the (if I'm not mistaken) only branching ending in the entire series is not based on this agonizing question that the entire case masterfully builds into a black hole of tension, but whether you can figure out what to show and who to show it to. 

And I think that's a pretty huge missed opportunity. I think it misidentifies what actually makes this case so great, and reduces some of the most impressive storytelling in the series to just another series of inconsequential choices and another logic puzzle. This story rests entirely on the ethical dilemma Phoenix faces; the ending should too.

I completely agree. When I was playing this case through with my partner, I was so excited for the Bad Ending, and I falsely remembered it as being connected to one of the ethical decisions. But no, it turned out to be that final logic puzzle. I was so flummoxed by this, because my brain had completely remembered this part incorrectly. Now, I realize it was trying to make the story make more sense.

That said, I do really like the choice near the end, where there is no real in-game consequence, it just says something about you the player and about who you want Phoenix to be. When the cards come down, would he rather stand for saving Maya's life or for the truth? That was a pretty brilliant piece of writing that I really enjoy. It reminds me of something you've said in your YouTube series a few times: giving the players choices that have no longterm effects isn't pointless, as so many people sometimes say. Just because there's no tangible effect on the game, you as a person still know what you chose, and that affects how you experienced the story and see the characters.

You're not going to get any arguments from me on where this case fails, because I agree. I love this case, I think it's great, but it's also very flawed. As much as I like that moment just before the evidence shows up, I think that the ethical choice being the branch for the Bad End would be 1000% a better idea than what they went with.

I had that exact same misrememberance, and was very disappointed to remember how it actually went. It's unfortunate considering pretty much every other element of this case's tension building is pretty much perfect.

One thing I loved about this trial segment is that, on the surface, it's using a lot of tricks that are common in this series, and in this game in particular. The first half of the trial period feels like there's not really anything going on, it's just trying to get through a series of testimonies that don't have a lot of weight behind them, they're very fluffy.

But thanks to the positioning of everything, that we know everything and that we're defending a monster, it doesn't feel like fluff. We know that Powers is testifying to the truth, and the more we Press and look for holes, the more we're forced to face the fact that we're trying to undermine the truth to get what we want.

There's a part in one of Powers's testimonies where Phoenix asks about something innocuous and he gets really scared, talking about how he's seen how Phoenix starts off asking normal questions, but by the end the person he's talking to seems to be the bad guy. Will Powers, someone Phoenix likes and trusts, someone he's saved before...is scared of the very tactics Phoenix uses to accomplish those things, and worries about Phoenix using them to make someone innocent, like him, take the fall for his client.

That actually hit me really hard because I knew I would probably have to accuse someone else before this trial was over, and having not remembered the case very well I was afraid it would be him. It turned out to be Adrian, but that didn't really make me feel any better considering everything we had already put her though.

Switching to characters, I will say this segment really disappointed me with Mia. I know that's been the common thread with her for us for a while now, but the first trial segment showed her being very distrustful of Edgeworth, and unsure as to why he would even give the pretense of helping them. I mentioned I thought they were trying to show her influence on Phoenix as one against prosecutors, while Edgeworth tried to pull Phoenix towards his new ideology.

But that dynamic was completely gone in this segment. Mia completely trusts Edgeworth now, and just gives Phoenix good advice all day when he gets stuck. You know, the same thing she always does. Awesome.

It would have worked so much better if Mia was more hesitant to trust Edgeworth, and pushed Phoenix towards saving Maya even if it meant letting Engarde off the hook. That would have created a scenario where Phoenix choosing the truth over winning felt more justified and earned, at least from my perspective.

I mean really she plays the role she always does; the deus ex machina machine. I still think using her to get information from Maya was a clever touch, but aside from that she has no character arc, no strong influence on Phoenix...I continue to wonder why they keep having her show up to begin with. Especially since this trial didn't even rely as much on deus ex machina, and when it did it was someone else who did it.

Similarly, I'm honestly really sad that Mia monopolized Pearl's time in this segment. This is the last case of her introductory game, and she has no arc to it, at all. She helps Phoenix out while Maya is kidnapped, but the game really has nothing for her to do. I think that sucks, I wish they had given her even the semblance of some kind of arc or development, but instead we just get a touching scene when Maya is back. That's nice, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing outside Pearl's normal wheelhouse.

Agreed. They have a functional framework to give other characters the spotlight, but they keep bringing Mia back where she's not needed. That kinda sucks.

Now that I think of it, it almost feels like Pearl as a character only exists so they can bring in Mia via channeling when Maya is in distress for plot reasons.

...oh no I hate that. I like Pearl, in concept, but it's true the game gave her pretty much nothing to do except serve as an opportunity for Mia to show up.

Similarly, Maya doesn't get a lot to do in this segment, or this case really. She was damseled to serve as Phoenix's motivation, and is hungry at the end, so feast.

I'm still a little mad her segments didn't really amount to anything. Even showing her using Mia to communicate with Phoenix or something could have given her more of a sense of agency, but they just...don't.

Since we're talking about Maya, I want to switch topics a little bit to Franziska. As I gushed about in the recap portion, I love that closing scene, because I see it as the cipher key to her entire character. Namely, in how she's a fascinating blend of Maya and Phoenix.

On the one hand, Maya and Franziska are the same age, as has been noted a few times in this game. They both stand under the pressure of a destiny forced upon them. Maya is the future Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique, despite the fact her personality clashed heavily with her very traditional village, and her substandard skills as a medium. Franziska is the daughter of Manfred von Karma, the God of Prosecutors, but didn't inherit his natural genius as a lawyer, and only seems to have chosen the profession because it was expected of her. Despite all of that, both choose to continue under their profession anyway, no matter their hardships.

On the other hand, Phoenix and Franziska are attorneys who struggle far more than others, like Edgeworth. They're great investigators, and fight with everything they have to win their cases, completely believing themselves to be in the right in doing so. They each cling to the teachings of their mentors, and only loosen their grips on those ideals after a lot of stress and difficulties. Phoenix doesn't hide his frustration well, everyone can see that he's making up his case as he goes along. Franziska hides behind her prep work, but the second things stop going her way, she goes to pieces, and struggles to regain control. I get the sense that every time Phoenix or the Judge calls her out on a bad move she made, and she acts all smug, that's covering the same kind of fear and anxiety that Phoenix gets when he's caught in his bluff or investigating by breaking into somewhere illegally. Like Acro said, they're more alike than either would care to admit.

I don't know what I can add to that. It's a super interesting dynamic. I am still annoyed, on a larger level, that every single woman in this game is either annoying, useless, or seems strong but is secretly just lost and sad, but I can't deny that von Karma is an interesting character with a lot of depth and connection to the game's heart.

I can understand that frustration. It is very annoying that the masculine prosecutors get to have tragic backstories and be really awesome, while the lone feminine prosecutor is more flawed and portrayed at as worse at her job. I will say that, at least far as main rival prosecutors, all of them have a sad past and lots of trauma, but it definitely hits differently with Franziska.

I hate these situations, because it's hard to talk about how a specific thing can be good but the prevalence of its type of thing is not. I think this stuff with von Karma was done well, and I think she's an interesting character. I just wish she wasn't part of a tradition that, when you zoom out, looks pretty sexist.

Why don't we talk a little about her little brother, Edgeworth?

Yes! Basically this is the most satisfying arc in the series so far, Edgey is my perfect grompy boi, and also I still think he was way out of line last court session. But at this point, Edgeworth embodies one of this game's primary ideological assumptions; that debate brings understanding and truth. It's something I used to believe and have had trouble with in recent years (when the abundance of misinformation has been weaponized to drastically terrible ends), but this series is at its best when it believes that, and believes it strongly. What we see here is, for the first time in the series, a relationship between the defense and the prosecution that utilizes a friendly rivalry to get at truth, rather than an adversarial relationship that seeks differing outcomes. This is partially because Edgeworth has come to realize this is the truth ideal for all attorneys, but also because he used the situation to help Phoenix realize this as well. This case is not only the apotheosis of Edgeworth's arc, but the game uses him to bring about that same realization in Phoenix and fully realize the series' ideals.

What I like is that, as Maya said at the end, he's also growing more empathetic and social as well. His concern towards Maya is naked and heartfelt throughout this segment and the one before it, he's grown to truly care about her as a friend, even if once they meet in person he fumbles around a bit. Edgeworth's journey towards his new ideology has made him more fierce and focused, but also begun to bring him out of his shell in ways that feel very healthy for him, mentally speaking. He'll still be grumpy, antisocial, and all-around kind of a dick, but he's a much lighter shade of gray now.

That's certainly true. I love the moments when Phoenix and Edgeworth are obviously working together, because while he still doesn't show it much, he clearly cares about the outcome of this case. There's a great moment when Gumshoe tells him to hold off a bit longer and he just curtly says they're in trial and hangs up, but proposes something that will take more time. And another one where Phoenix has to object to keep up appearances, and Edgeworth just says, "Oh, sorry," in what the Judge notices is the most half-hearted interaction the two have ever had. 

The quote that I think really gets the idea across is when Phoenix thinks to himself that he can object with whatever evidence he wants, no matter how powerful, because however strong a punch he throws, Edgeworth will block it. Where there was once frustration, there is now trust, because Edgeworth understands the importance of what's going on and the two can work together to protect what they care about.

It's a pretty great dynamic. On the subject of less great things...maybe we should talk about Adrian Andrews once more. Not a ton happens with her in this segment, with the big exception being her story's ending: Phoenix and Edgeworth taking down Engarde and saving her from being branded the Guilty party makes her smile for the first time in a while, and she feels like she can move forward and past her trauma.

Before I say anything else, I do want to make clear I do think it's a really emotional moment, and it feels really nice. I want Adrian to be able to move on and recover, that's a great message to send rather than the continuous slog of mentally ill characters who are characterized as evil and chaos incarnate, or sad broken people with no hope.

That said, while closure can be powerful, I don't like the implication that someone's mental health can be completely made right by one good thing happening. Honestly, it kind of trivializes what I liked about her character to begin with, especially considering she'd mentioned in the first segment that she'd been seeing a therapist and working on managing her disorder. That should be the goal, seeking help and finding relief, not chasing some magical moment of closure that fixes everything.

I agree, and frankly that makes me feel more like I always have about her character. I really want to like her, but I feel like her whole arc is disempowering in the worst ways, especially considering the series' tendencies with women, and the fact that it doesn't really stick the landing from the mental health angle doesn't help.

In the first day of investigation, I teased there was something I actually liked about having so many reoccurring characters. Now that all the spoiler-chains are gone, I can better talk about it.

As a mystery story, one thing every case needs to play with are Red Herrings. For those not in the know, those are characters in a murder mystery who are not the culprit, but are suspicious enough to draw the audience's focus towards them. They help make it more unclear what the real solution is. If done well, Red Herrings are a great element to mysteries, though if done poorly it's still pretty obvious who the killer is or everyone is so equally suspicious that actually finding the real culprit is impossible.

Ace Attorney cases often have Red Herrings. In Turnabout Samurai, for example, there was Oldbag, Penny, Cody, and Sal. By having a larger pool of characters, that case gave more options for predicting where the story was going to unfold.

What I love about what Farewell, My Turnabout does is how they reverse this. The only new characters in this case (not counting de Killer) are Engarde, who is our client, and Adrian Andrews. The rest of the possible suspect pool is full of repeats like Lotta, Oldbag, and Powers. Most players are savvy enough to know that none of them is going to be the real killer, since they're beloved reoccurring characters. That leaves only our client and one other person, leaving us to quickly suspect Adrian of being the real killer. By effectively having no Red Herrings, the game forces the player to only think of the potential killers as either Engarde or Adrian, no one else.

I've been thinking more and more about this topic because, in a later game in the series, there's a chronic issue of the suspect pool being far too shallow, making it far too easy to guess who the killers are.

Ah, that's an excellent point. It effectively makes it so our only options are Andrews and Engarde, which both makes it easy to suspect Andrews before we realize what the case is doing, and hard to deflect blame from Engarde once the creeping realization starts. That's cool.

We've already discussed the ending credits a little, but I feel like it's worth repeating that I love that reoccurring element in the series. Also, while it's not my favorite, I think the actual music behind the credits in this one is really fantastic. It has an almost nostalgic, melancholy tone in it that really fits the overall darker atmosphere of this last trial.

That's certainly true. This soundtrack in general has grown on me, and the end credits music did its job well.

I touched on it a bit during the recap, but this segment was also really funny. From the assassin on the stand and the jokes that come from that, to Powers being a bit of a goof, there were a lot of laughs to cut the tension when needed. The exception being that ending bit, where everyone piles stuff on Phoenix so he says the thing. Like...I feel like that was supposed to be funny? But it really wasn't? At least to me?

I feel like it was more supposed to be cute, which...eh it was fine.

Another thing on my mind was the nature of the mystery in this case, or rather, the lack of it. Traditionally, Finale Cases are usually the toughest mysteries of their games. There's a ton going on, and even the final day of court is full of surprising revelations and difficult puzzles to solve. But this is one of two times off the top of my head where that isn't the case.

From the beginning, the actual murder mystery is simple, almost boring. By the time this day of trial began, we already knew everything, with a few small exceptions. The tension came not from the mystery of what really happened, or the difficulty in proving what we had learned. Instead, it came from the difficulties presented by the situation we were in, and the thematic drive of Phoenix learning how to get out of this case without permanently staining his ethics or getting Maya killed.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing, in fact I think it was quite effective. I just think it's interesting that this is one of the few big cases of the series without much actual mystery-solving to it at the end.

That's true! The tension in this case came primarily front the fear that Phoenix is defending a murderer, and later, the ethical conflict of defending him with Maya's life on the line. So it was smart for them to make it less puzzling than usual; that tension is served well by enough ambiguity to let us hope it's alright, but it would be severely undercut by making it so mysterious we're just not sure what's actually going on.

We've dawdled too long, it's time to move onto the review portion. As the fourth case of the game, this is the Finale Case, as I mentioned before. In the same way a Tutorial Case has to give the player a taste of what's to love about Ace Attorney to get them to keep playing, the Finale Case needs to end on a high note, so the player leaves feeling satisfied. It needs to end any character arcs for the game on a nice bow, bring finality to the themes and overarching plot elements the game has been playing up, give you a new antagonist worthy of a final battle, have larger than usual stakes (whether personal or societal), and of course be just a really fun and entertaining story on its own. How do you feel this case succeeded on those metrics, Sam?

Assuming the good ending, and not the bad? This case meets those criteria better than most. A good high note for the ending, the most personal stakes of arguably any case in the series, and a resounding success on bringing the game's main themes to a conclusion. Whatever the case's problems, they sure don't lie in your stated criteria. It's a standout case in all these respects.

Well, I think any of our issues would probably lie in that last category, namely how it feels as a story on its own. Personally, I agree it fits the metrics really well, perhaps just as well as Turnabout Goodbyes did, but just in different ways. I'd say that case handled its character arcs a bit better, since Phoenix is mostly dragged along by the plot and I wouldn't say he developed much during this case, aside from learning to trust Edgeworth again. The fact it used Maya as a damsel and Pearl not at all also hurts it a bit in that regard for me. As a story, it works very well, but we've talked a lot over the course of our coverage on areas where it could be better. Its depiction of female characters, its slow first day, its use of Lotta Hart, and how it kind of mangled mixing its thematic elements with its gameplay in the last trial segment.

See I disagree on Phoenix, because his arc here is essentially a mirror arc to Edgeworth in the first game. This is where he realizes that his methods aren't a sure-fire way to get to the truth, and that his assumptions aren't good enough to justify them. That's why he's dragged along; he basically spends the whole time relying on trust instead of being proactive because he's always believed that works, and he's perhaps afraid of what he'll find if he digs deeper; but eventually he realizes he has to actively seek out truth, not just assume it's on his side. You've mentioned that future games fail to carry that development forward, but that's not the fault of this case, so I don't think it's fair to judge it based on that.

But yes, I take issue with its poor use of the women in the story, and I wish the final decision was a narrative one instead of a gameplay one. 

Thing is, I also find myself blown away at how it handles its tension. This case hooked me with the stakes (the life of one of my favorite characters), then held on fast by constantly giving me hope that someone else would bail me out of needing to solve the problem myself, and constantly dashing that hope against the rocks. It kept me on the edge of my seat like nothing else in this series has. And while it was at it, it delivered possibly the most coherent and important thematic content of the series so far. So while I absolutely have problems with the case, it also has a lot going for it that I really, really love.

I'm not going to argue with you there. This case is just a blast to play every time, no matter what quibbles I have with it. After all, one of my favorite cases in the series is one I am always happy to discuss how it could have been far better if certain tweaks were made. The fact this case has its issues doesn't mean it doesn't deserve its reputation as one of the best in the series.

We rate cases on a scale from 1 to 10, but they aren't any kind of attempt to qualify objective quality. They're our subjective thoughts, with the score being relative to how we feel about other cases in the series. 1's are the ones we find least fun to play, 5's and 6's are what's average for an Ace Attorney case, and 10's are among our favorites. We also, as I revealed last time, have the special ability to rate one case and one case only with each an 11 and a 0, for our picks for best and worst cases in the series in general.

For any faults I find in it, Farewell, My Turnabout is a masterwork for the Ace Attorney series. It bucked all expectations and delivered an experience unlike anything before, or after, it in the series. For those reasons, I give it a 9. The only reason it isn't higher is there are just a few cases in the series that hit a little harder for me. I've previously also given a 9 to Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Goodbyes, and this case is sandwiched between them for me. I do find it's a better Finale Case than the last one, but Turnabout Sisters holds a slightly loftier position for me. This also means I've used up all my 9's. Not that we have a limit on how many of any one score we can use, but I've mapped all my scores already to a bell curve because I'm a math nerd.

Well my English degree dictates that I hold a seething hatred for math, so I'm just gonna have to slightly one-up myself and give this one a 9.5. I have a good few problems with it, but honestly that last segment makes up for a lot of it in my mind. It's the height of my emotional investment in the series, as far as I remember, and despite its shortcomings it certainly does earn that distinction.

With this being the end of the second game in the series, I'm going to recap for everyone our current rankings.

For me, it goes Turnabout Sisters>Farewell, My Turnabout>Turnabout Goodbyes>Rise from the Ashes>Turnabout Samurai>The First Turnabout>Reunion and Turnabout>The Lost Turnabout>Turnabout Big Top.

For Sam, it goes Farewell, My Turnabout>Turnabout Goodbyes>Turnabout Sisters>The First Turnabout>Rise from the Ashes>Turnabout Samurai>Reunion and Turnabout>The Lost Turnabout>Turnabout Big Top.

Like last time, this is also where we can kind of look back on this game as a whole. Justice for All has a bit of a rough place in a lot of peoples hearts, and for good reason honestly. The first three cases are rough, both in similar and unique ways, all to different extents. The last case is great, but one good case doesn't a great Ace Attorney game make. Still, I do feel it deserves more credit than some give it. It had one of the strongest running themes in the series, present in nearly every case of the game, which a lot of the games don't have. It also overhauled the penalty system, added the ability to Present profiles, and introduced the Magatama mechanic, all of which became pretty large reoccuring aspects of the series.

There's a reason every case in this game (aside from Farewell) is lower than every case in the last game in my rankings. This game has the weakest cases in the series, from what I've played of it (which is not all of it, but way more than these first two).

Buuuuuuut I do have to acknowledge its value. Not only because of this one fantastic case, but because it introduces mechanics that significantly expand and improve the Ace Attorney experience, and as Roy said, it's very thematically cohesive. That was pretty much the one consistent bright spot across these four cases.

So overall, my feelings are mixed, but it has enough of that Phoenix Wright charm and enough positive qualities that I do think the game is overall worth it.

Oh, for sure. Personally, I have no reservations saying it's not as good as the first game, but it's also not the worst game of the series, in my estimation. Instead, I place it as the seventh best of the eight games. (The first game is my fourth favorite.)

Well thus far from what I've played in Wright Wednesday, my ranking goes Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney > Justice for All. Unsurprisingly. We'll see if the others stack up in the ways I remember.

Speaking of, next time you see us, we'll be starting the next game in the series: Trials and Tribulations! Auf wiedersehen!

See you all then!