Hallo, alle miteinander, and welcome back to Wright Wednesday. This is the weekly article series where we recap, analyze, and review the cases of the Ace Attorney series. I'm Roy, and I don't like the circus.
I'm Sam, and I am both uninterested in circus attractions and morally opposed to the mistreatment of animals...so yeah, I don't like them either.
We're starting a new case today, Turnabout Big Top, but for a change we're not going to jump into recapping it just yet. The why should soon be clear. Many franchises with large fanbases end up fixated on stories that, regardless of how any individual fan feels about them, gain the reputation as The Worst. "Love and Monsters" from Doctor Who.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
"The Great Divide" from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Devil May Cry 2.
Star Wars: Episode 1-The Phantom Menace.
Zelda II: The Legend of Link.
And when it comes to the Ace Attorney series, at least here in the United States, Turnabout Big Top from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-Justice For All stands among their ranks. Once again, if you Object to any of those examples, it's not to say any or all of them are objectively terrible, I don't believe in objective quality, but that the fandom, as a whole, has agreed on this reputation. But just because this case has a reputation as The Worst doesn't mean we're going to already see it as Guilty of being awful. I want to make clear that we're both going into this trying to put all that aside, as best we can, and see what we think of this case on its own merits. Also? Light spoiler here, but this isn't what I would call the worst case in the series.
Is the other one in a game I haven't played? Because, like...how?
We'll get to it one day, Sam. Now, let's start the recap. The case begins with Phoenix and Maya taking Pearl to the Berry Big Circus on the day after Christmas, the young girl amazed by how the group's magician, Maximillion Galactica, was able to fly through the air, as she has no clue what magic is, in the sense of stage magic. Also, that was her only scene in this case because reasons.
Wait, she doesn't even show up after this? Weird.
The next day, Phoenix is cleaning the office when Maya calls in a huff: that magician from the circus has been arrested for murder! They head to the Detention Center and find that the magical man isn't worried at all about being behind bars, flirting with Maya and treating Phoenix with disdain. He's also very quick to say bad things about the circus and everyone else who works there.
He comes across to me as very...David Bowie-esque? And very flamboyant, but I guess not gay-coded since he flirts shamelessly with Maya and makes a point of ignoring Phoenix.
Well, still gay-coded, just possibly not actually gay in-universe, there's a difference. But yeah, once again the correct option is to show off the attorney's badge, because it makes clear the issue here: he has been arrested. Max insists it's nothing that bad, since he's rich and famous. And while that would be a great case for the police looking the other way, it is hampered somewhat by the fact that his trial for first-degree murder starts 10am the next day.
Murder is a bit more of a serious charge.
Once Max realizes that this is genuinely happening, he begs Phoenix for help, his dialect changing to that of a stereotypical country bumpkin. You see, his real name is Billy Bob Johns, ruining the illusion of his persona for Maya forever. Anyway, he professes to be innocent of the murder, and Phoenix takes his case. Max says that the night of the murder, the victim being the ringmaster of the circus Russel Berry, he went to see the victim after practice in his office, where they discussed a raise. When Phoenix asks if that's all that was talked about, Psyche-Locks appear. The only other thing of note from this conversation is a mention that Max won the Magician Grand Prix, perhaps the reason his head is so big.
I do appreciate the revelation that his whole persona is an act. Makes me believe his character a bit more than if he was just the flamboyant magician.
Heading to the Berry Big Circus, the Big Top's tent is pretty abandoned, but shortly after Phoenix and Maya enter, they're accosted by a tiger. Phoenix flips out, but they're relieved when the animal's owner arrives, the circus's animal tamer Regina Berry. She's the daughter of the victim, but she doesn't seem very broken up about him dying, talking about it all while still smiling. Still, Maya seems to like her. Bringing up Max has her mildly curious to where he is, and when Phoenix tells her he's been arrested for her father's murder, she's mostly just blasé about it, though she does ask if Max is the one who did it. When asked about the murder, she says everyone was in the Big Top practicing until 10pm, when they all split up. Oh, her tiger's name is Regent, and she lets slip that before Regent she had a lion named Léon, but her dad killed him.
We'll see if the game expands on this bit of backstory, but if that's true I really don't like the victim of this one.
Well, bringing him up specifically has Regina tell them where his office is, since that's where he went after practice, the same place Max says he went as well. Heading into the office, Maya immediately steals a poster of Max because she has poor impulse control and no regard for the property of the dead. Obviously, that will not come in handy at all. Checking some papers sitting out, Phoenix sees they're for the raise Max talked about, and while his new pay isn't revealed to the player, it does boggle the minds of Phoenix and Maya. But the thing is, it's already signed, and dated a week ago. This is in spite of the fact that Max said it was the focus of the meeting the night of the murder.
This sounds a lot more dramatic than it turns out to be, though I'm sure it will still matter in court later.
Heading back to the circus entrance, and then Moving to the other direction takes Phoenix and Maya to the scene of the crime, directly outside the lodging house. Gumshoe is there, and he's unhappy with having to work out in the cold. Franziska is going to prosecute again, and Gumshoe thinks she's going to win. The defendant's one-of-a-kind silk hat was found at the scene of the crime, and eye-witness testimony places Max at the scene. Maya also asks Gumshoe about Edgeworth, annoyed that Phoenix won't tell her anything. Gumshoe doesn't feel like it's his place to say anything either, but is somber as he tells Maya that Edgeworth is gone.
I get that the game is trying to be mysterious about what's going on with Edgeworth, but frankly at this point it just seems inconsiderate to Maya? Imagine being gone for a year or two, then coming back to everyone talking ominously about what happened to someone you knew, but refusing to actually tell you what happened. That's kind of messed up.
I mean, you're not wrong. I think Phoenix and Gumshoe's hearts are broken, they miss their Edgey.
That is the idea, yeah, it just seems more forced the longer they refuse to talk about it.
Anyway, the victim was found dead from blunt force trauma, hunched over a weird trunk that the lab techs have now to investigate it. The weirdest thing is, looking at a photo from how the body was found, is that the only marks on the freshly fallen snow are the footsteps of the now deceased ringmaster. There were no tracks at all made by the killer...almost as if...they could fly.
That certainly does seem to implicate Max if you believe his magic trick is actually the literal superpower of flight, but after the last case who knows. Maybe that's permissible in court.
This whole flying stuff is...it's a headache and a half man, but that'll be more clear with the next trial segment.
Moe is finally in his room after this, which gives us the privilege of meeting the most immediately annoying character so far. The whole schtick is that he’s incredibly not funny, laughs at his own terrible jokes, and he’s very loud. Thanks I hate it.
I'm just going to say here, that while I have a lot of issues with Moe, I don't hate this scene. I think Phoenix provides a few good laughs in it.
That's fair, but I could do with about 50% less text boxes of people going "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA." Insert misguided and unnecessarily hateful Final Fantasy X reference here.
Sorry, you're wrong, his laugh is specifically "Aha! Aha! Aha!"
Aaaaaanyway, after a protracted sequence of Maya laughing awkwardly (but apparently genuinely) at Moe’s jokes, he explains that he’s been with the circus for 20 years, trying his best to help keep it afloat in the age of television and video games. He talks about how some acts can get old, even his own, but he doesn’t appreciate Max’s showy approach and high-and-mighty attitude about how good his act is. He even expresses joy that Max has “got his,” but stops short of explaining himself.
I'd say that Maya absolutely loves Moe's humor, even if Phoenix is more on our side.
He says that Russel was a real class act, and would even use his own money to cover salaries when times got tough for the circus. He goes on to explain that he went back to his room after rehearsals and saw the murder through his window, which does indeed overlook the crime scene. This confirms that he must be the eyewitness Gumshoe mentioned. But he won’t tell them anything unless Phoenix makes a joke. After a painful joke about how he’s a good lawyer because he’s, “Wright all the time,” which is frankly better than anything Moe has done this whole time (especially considering it's definitely not true), he tells them what he saw.
In general, Phoenix spends this whole scene being exasperated with Maya and Moe, and I found that very funny.
And relatable.
But we'll get into what doesn't work with this scene in the analysis portion.
Moe says he heard an incredibly loud thump after he went to bed. When he looked out his window he saw a caped figure with a top hat facing away from him, standing over the body. He also, again, expresses joy that Max could face consequences for this, telling a story about how he apparently hit Ben over the head, an example of how awful a person Max is. He then suggests checking out the cafeteria, which finally ends this scene.
Why don't you tell the audience who this Ben guy is, Sam?
Phoenix and Maya briefly ran into Ben before; he was an extremely timid man with a stutter, who immediately tried to get out of the conversation any way he could. Phoenix remembers who he is when Moe mentions his name.
Ben...exists.
The cafeteria is a mess because no one cleaned up after the body was found. There’s a broken bottle on the floor, which carries enough implication that Phoenix suggests they need to talk to Max again. Time for some Magatama action!
As the folks at Video Games Awesome like to say, "Magatomahawk!"
Max insists that he only went to talk to the ringmaster about a raise, but he caves when Phoenix shows him the paper suggesting he got a raise a week before. So Max relents, saying the ringmaster called him to his office, but that the reasons are private. Phoenix shows him the broken bottle, but after a visceral reaction he says it just fell and broke. But Phoenix suggests he attacked Ben with it, which is why he got called to the Ringmaster’s Room that night, and Max gives up.
With the Psyche-Locks broken, Max explains he and Ben had a fight over Regina, describing Ben as “ill-bred,” much to Maya’s surprise. After that, Max went to the ringmaster’s office to ask if he could marry Regina, to which the headmaster apparently said yes. Max then decided to shut Ben up for good by hiding his puppet, Trilo Quist, because speaking through him is apparently the only way Ben can speak normally. He hid him in the Ringmaster’s Room, so Phoenix and Maya head off to find him.
We can talk about it more during analysis, but I should mention now that Regina is 16, Max is 21, and Ben is 31.
Oh. Well...huh, okay. Hmm.
They recover Trilo and return him to Ben, after which Ben is about to leave when a loud, extremely rude voice interrupts. Trilo, Ben’s puppet, who insults Phoenix and Maya and reaches up to punch Ben in the face when he tries to correct him. The difference in personality between Ben and Trilo is shocking, but having Trilo to speak through allows him to talk about what he knows.
Trilo is...a lot. He's twelve pounds of annoying stuffed in a one pound wooden doll.
Trilo, contrary to Moe’s admiration for the ringmaster, says he paid them all peanuts, despite Ben’s objections. He also hates Moe, for which I cannot blame him. Trilo also talks of his love for Regina, and declares his intent to marry her. He apparently sang to her as a grand gesture, as he’s apparently a renowned tenor. He then says that the ringmaster got knocked on the head by Max, who Trilo calls a “flying fraud.” But that’s all he says, as he’s apparently very ready for Max to go to jail and has no interest in helping out the defense.
The annoying characters in this case just keep on coming.
Then a monkey steals Phoenix’s attorney's badge.
Not just any monkey, either.
What a random, out-of-nowhere occurrence, though. Regina shows up to explain that Money the Monkey takes anything shiny back to his home, and she isn’t on good enough terms with him to get Phoenix’s badge back. But she suggests Moe might know, which is great since I really wanted to see the clown again.
I mean, Money the Monkey will be plot important later.
When asked about Ben and Trilo, Regina describes Ben as “that guy who always hangs around with Trilo,” as she’s in love with Trilo and apparently doesn’t think Ben has anything to do with that. She also says she hasn’t been proposed to, indicating that neither Trilo nor Max got around to actually asking her. When asked directly if she knows Trilo is a puppet, she just says she doesn’t mind that he’s a bit stiff.
*ba-dum-tish*
If the player Presents Moe's profile, she says he was very good friends with her father, and he had expressed interest in entrusting the circus to him at some point. Which means it’s time to see Moe again. He portrays Regina as very sheltered, having lived all her life in the circus and never really leaving. She sees fantastical things every day and thinks of them as the norm, having no real world experience to keep her grounded.
In regards to Money, Moe says he isn’t part of Regina’s entourage, and takes Phoenix and Maya to his owner’s place. The place in question is Acro the Acrobat’s room. There’s a huge pile of shiny objects in the corner, even a tuba that I do not know how Money managed to carry. In the pile is Phoenix’s badge, but also another shiny object: a diamond ring with the words, “From T to R” engraved on it. And on that strangely anticlimactic note, the investigation ends.
So, Sam, where do you want to start the analysis?
Okay so...I have problems with this case so far. But I guess that's for the review portion. As for analysis, since this is the first segment of a new case there's not a ton of analysis to do, but there are, as usual, familiar thematic elements being introduced. Namely, while the victim of the previous case was kind of a jerk, subverting the series' tendency to idolize the dead, it's the defendant this time who seems to be kind of stuck-up and conceited. So we're continuing to avert the black-and-white norm of the series. Unfortunately, everything about this case is annoying.
Yeah...while opinions on character likability vary from person to person, I would find it hard to argue against Max being the defendant that the creators don't want us to like the most, so far at least. He's rude, dismissive of others, and assaulted a coworker. His brief moment of dropping the act and being his true, hillbilly self was pretty funny, but it's something that rarely comes up after the fact. Regardless of if he's posh or a redneck, Maximilian Galactica is kind of an awful human being. As you said, the case is further twisting the black and white morality of the series. What do you have to do say about Moe the Clown?
Ugh no, no. No Moe, no.
Okay, so...My in-depth thoughts on Moe are pretty much the same as my in-depth thoughts on all these characters, so I'll get to that later. For now...he's annoying. The entire character centers around the fact that he's an unfunny clown, which is funny for like half a minute, then just gets old. There's an indication we'll get more depth from him later, so I'll reserve judgment, but I doubt I'll end up actually liking him regardless.
I'm not about to disagree with you, but I will say that I think the idea of Moe has promise. I actually like parts of his introductory scene, because there is good humor in him and Maya cracking up and Phoenix dying inside. I also like it when he switched body language completely, going from silly clown to dead serious, if only because it's very fun, voicing the character, to go from super silly to deadpan.
That said, the scene doesn't work, and neither does Moe. The problem is his bad jokes aren't groan-inducing jokes that are still kind of funny. Most of his jokes are such ridiculous stretches, so removed from normal logic, that they're just boring. Puns would have been better, maybe mixed with classic old jokes. The other major issue I have with Moe is that, while his antipathy for Max is understandable considering what a dickbag he is, the glee he has at the idea of Max getting "what he deserves" casts Moe as just as cruel of a person. Maybe that was the point, to make him a suspect, but combined with his aggressively unfunny and in-your-face personality, he's a pain to talk to.
Oh, I will get back to the idea of him potentially working in concept, don't you worry. But yeah, his execution leaves a lot to be desired.
How do you feel about the Ben and Trilo double-act?
Okay, you know how Moe could work, but doesn't? I feel the same way about Ben and Trilo, because I have experience with ventriloquism. My mom was a ventriloquist for a long time; she traveled the country speaking at various events and summer camps before I was born, and did plenty of it during my lifetime as well. And let me tell you: the whole "meek person takes on new personality with a puppet in hand" thing is 100% on point.
My mom is a ridiculously kind and meek lady, but when Otis was onstage she was suddenly way more fiery. She's even talked about stuff coming out of his mouth that would never come out of hers. Like, this dynamic is a very real thing. And, like Moe, it could be a lot of fun if the game didn't make it so annoying.
That's a really fascinating perspective. Personally, I found a lot less salvageable with these characters. I get what you're saying about how a ventriloquist can radically change in personality, but here it feels more like "split personality disorder", which is more correctly known as "dissociative identity disorder" and a major controversy in psychology. And...I've seen this before. Several times. It's kind of boring. Trilo, like many puppet characters I've seen, is extremely aggravating, overly aggressive, and physically abusive. The only positive I have for the character(s) is that, once again, they're actually really fun to voice. I really loved how they were done on Video Games Awesome, for example, where Frasier and Ben each played one of the two, making the double act more interesting.
See for me, this pattern is already becoming common so I'm just going to come out and say it; I really like a lot of these concepts. The introverted, awkward person who can only express himself openly by inhabiting a different personality. The clown who's bad at being funny but can be genuinely serious and good-hearted. The young girl who's lived her life surrounded by such fantastic things that she doesn't have a good sense of reality. These are all potentially super interesting character ideas, especially when we explore how they've all been brought together into this family under one roof. Or tent, or whatever.
But they're all just weird or annoying or otherwise not very interesting so far. Even actively unpleasant. The wasted potential continues to be a pet peeve of mine in this game.
Since you mentioned her outright, I'll just say that Regina Berry has, I suppose, an interesting idea behind her, but she's a pretty nothing character. In fact, I can say pretty definitively that, for the most part, she's a character who acts as a motivation for male characters, as a love interest for Trilo and Max, and in other ways later on. She's, well, objectified, and has little to no actual agency. She's one of the least annoying characters introduced, but there's also less substance with her, I would argue.
That's a hard agree from me. I've yet to see how the rest of the case will utilize her character (I have shockingly little memory of how this one goes), but she certainly doesn't seem to do much at this point aside from being fought over. Which is kind of absurd since she's the daughter of the victim and, I definitely do think, a character concept this series in particular could do a lot of fun and interesting things with.
Hey, did you notice a few similarities to the first game? Sure, last case had Maya as the defendant and a victim who we knew before they died, but this time...The case starts with Maya enjoying entertainment, then the performer is arrested for murder, she calls Phoenix while she's not at the office, they go meet them, take the case, and there's a lot of drama at the place of work for the entertainers. This case and Turnabout Samurai use a lot of the same plot beats.
That is true. Really there are a lot of parallels, at least in a broad sense. Which is...I don't know, it's just weird. I feel like they're treading old ground on this one in a lot of ways, and it's pretty definitely going to end up being the low point of this game just like Turnabout Samurai was of the first one.
I mean, I didn't feel that Samurai was the weakest link of the first game, but whatever. Now, one thing they do share is awful investigation segment design. Sam, why did this feel so terrible to actually play?
Oh man. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons. The first that comes to mind for me is just poor telegraphing of what I should be doing. There were multiple instances where I wandered around for a while unsure of how to proceed, or just presented people with random things in hopes I would trigger something, because the game didn't communicate my next steps very well.
In one instance I actually had to look up a walkthrough, only to realize that a conversation with Regina ended with her giggling mildly at a question Maya asked, and that was supposed to indicate that I have a new discussion topic I should ask her about. I don't need the game to hold my hand and walk me through everything, but giving clear indication of what is going on so I can make decisions about what to do next is pretty much the least I can expect of any game.
It would be nice if they telegraphed when new things like that opened. There's also a lot of required Presenting of evidence and profiles, which bars your progress until you realize that was what you missed. The running around, looking for flags you never set off, is made worse by the design of the circus, which is basically a branching tree path that makes getting around a nightmare.
Later on in the series, they solve that issue by making it so you can basically teleport from any location to any other location, and while that does make playing the case easier to stomach, there is a cost to that trade-off. Having to traverse the length of the circus gives it more mental space, better allows you to envision how these desperate parts mesh together. Still, less running around would have been amazing.
This investigation segment was just not fun to play. Which honestly isn't abnormal for the franchise, in many ways, but it's usually made up for with interesting characters and fun dialogue, but as previously stated this case is too lacking in that department to manage that. So it's just frustrating and annoying.
I may be too harsh on it, like I wasn't hating every second of playing this segment. It wasn't a miserable experience, just a significantly less entertaining and satisfying one than I've come to expect from this series.
You know what time it is now, though, Sam? It's Wright and Co examinables time!
Ooh, drop those examinables on me!
With Charley the Plant, Phoenix wishes the plant was able to help out in his cleaning of the office.
If only he was that useful.
Charley is a hero you monster. Nothing new looking out the window at the Gatewater Hotel, which is weird considering the next case. Looking at the bookshelf, Phoenix reveals he has actually begun considering dumping all the legal books at a used book store, but he has to admit it's a bad idea.
You think? I feel like a lawyer should maybe have those resources on hand, especially one as tech-illiterate as Phoenix.
Perhaps the most interesting is the movie poster, which is a new poster of the newest addition to the Steel Samurai franchise. Phoenix mentions this new character is possibly getting his own film, and if he does, Phoenix will be forced to go see it in theaters with Maya.
New character, huh?
Yes. Perhaps a new character who will take center stage in a future case.
I feel like, since you brought it up earlier, we should talk a little bit about Regina's age? Which, with Japanese media, is...kind of a hard discussion to have.
So, here's the thing: yes, age of consent and social norms regarding late teenagers and young adults in relationships are different depending on the country, and a Japanese fan might see nothing wrong with those characters in possible relationships. The thing is though? We aren't covering Gyakuten Saiban. We are covering Ace Attorney. The localizers changed a lot, it's basically a separate series. They could have easily changed the ages of the characters, just as they changed the names, but they didn't. So any kind of free pass some people might want to give the game shouldn't apply, in my opinion.
That's my issue too. I feel like if the age of a character is going to be relevant in this way, it would make sense for localization to change it to reflect the culture it's being released in. If two adult men trying to marry a 16-year old in Japan wouldn't be incredibly squicky there the way it is here, it seems like changing Regina's age to 18 when bringing it over here would have just made sense. But they didn't, and that kind of baffles me.
I really hate to do this to you, but her age thing? It's only going to get worse.
Ugh. Okay.
Did you have anything else to talk about with this segment?
Oh, just a couple little observations. Regina mentions Maya's "costume," and Maya gets confused, saying they're just her clothes. To my point in the last case about "costume" being kind of a disrespectful term in regards to Kurain tradition.
Phoenix's inner monologue also is kind of a dick about Ben's stuttering, which I was willing to pass off as not intentionally ableist until Phoenix literally thinks "the ventriloquist with the speech impediment" later. So like... ugh. I do not like this case so far.
Fun fact: this was not its worst segment. Auf wiedersehen!
...ugh. Okay. Bye.
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