Hallo, alle miteinander, and welcome back to Wright Wednesday! This is the weekly series where we recap, analyze, and review the cases of the Ace Attorney series. This week, we're starting The Stolen Turnabout, the second case of the third game in the series, Trials and Tribulations. But who is the 'we' I keep referring to? Well, I am Roy and I love a good detective story.
And I am Sam, Ace Literary Analyst! This new case opens with Detective Gumshoe discovering a valuable item missing from a locked safe, shocked to find that it’s been replaced with the calling card of a famous thief, Mask DeMasque, who flies off into the night. Technically it’s spelled Mask✰DeMasque, but I’m not opening the “special characters” menu every time I type this guy’s name.
Don't worry, I'll fix it in post for you.
Alright, Roy is here to do the work I'm not willing to! Truly my Ace Analyst skills are inspiring!
Later, at Wright Law and Co. Law Offices, Maya and Pearl brag to Phoenix about an exhibit featuring ancient Kurain artifacts, including the vase that Pearl broke in the previous game, said to hold the spirit of Ami Fey (the creator of the Kurain Channeling Technique). The exhibit starts next week, but they’ve been given VIP passes to see it early. So they head to the exhibit hall at Lordly Taylor, the city’s fanciest department store, where the treasures of Kurain Village are on display.
Apparently this place's name is a pun on a real store that is quite fancy, Lord & Taylor I think? I'd never heard of them before.
Sounds like a name I'd see on an expensive clothing brand in The World Ends With You, but I know that's not the reference.
They go to the basement warehouse to meet the exhibit planner and security leader, who happens to be Adrian Andrews! She lost her job after the events of the second game, but turned her life around and is now doing well in her position at Lordly Taylor. She also explains that the most priceless exhibit items are still stored down here for safekeeping, and thus, security is tight. We see the truth of what she’s saying with the security camera, trained on the storeroom door and set to take a picture of anyone that comes through it, uploading the image to a computer nearby.
There's also a ladder there! We didn't do the ladder conversation last game, so we need to really do it justice this time, Sam!
Oh right. There is indeed a stepladder, and with my Ace Analytical skills I shall unravel the mysteries of its dense metaphorical significance!
Wait, but in all the previous cases, you've always called them ladders Sam, I'm the one who calls them stepladders! You can't just steal my thing, Sam!
Zvarri! My additional metacommentary has deepened the already vast meaning of this symbolic stepladder, now adding the conflict between our interpretations as an allegory for the struggle between prosecutor and defense attorney for justice to be rightly served! Truly, Ace Analyst I am.
NN...NNNNNN...NNNNGGHHHOOOOOOOOOOOH!!! *does an Ace Attorney breakdown*
My superior intellect has caused Roy's brain to explode with knowledge.
Literary knowledge.
In other news, it is interesting that this case takes place seven months after the last one. It's the biggest gap between cases in the original trilogy of games, and a big hole for fans to fill in with whatever events they'd like.
Among all the stuff in the warehouse is a large statue of Ami Fey, holding a ceremonial sword called a shichishito. It’s not sharp, simply decorative. Once everyone has had a good look around, Andrews invites them all to dinner at a fancy restaurant nearby, and they enjoy the rest of their evening. Then, the next day, the news is abuzz with a new development: the Sacred Urn has been stolen by Mask✰DeMasque! Lordly Taylor had been sent a threat days before, and last night he made good on it.
The restaurant they had dinner at was actually on another floor of the department store, it's apparently one of those huge fancy ones with other businesses inside of it.
Maya insists that Phoenix catch the thief, despite it being not remotely his job, so they go to Lordly Taylor to investigate. Gumshoe is there, and reluctantly tells them that the urn was stolen around 1:30am; they got an emergency phone call from the guard on duty in the basement warehouse. Mask✰DeMasque left his calling card days before, as is his modus operandi, and apparently the emblem on the front is kept top-secret so copycats can’t fool the police.
That is a very important detail that will be relevant throughout.
Gumshoe also talks about an “Ace Detective” who retrieved the stolen goods from Mask✰DeMasque’s previous heist. Gumshoe seems to dislike him. He’s investigating the basement warehouse at the moment, so we go down to meet him, and hooooooly wow is this guy a Phoenix Wright character. He has a shock of lightning-yellow hair, a small magnifying class for a monocle, and a prominent red ring on his hand. Oh, and his name is Luke Atmey. Try saying it aloud.
I actually didn't get the pun for years because I always just read the name and never said it aloud. Then, the second I did, I realized the joke and couldn't stop laughing.
Oh, I uh...I knew immediately. Obviously. I'm an Ace Analyst.
He immediately guesses Maya and Phoenix’s professions, in the most overwrought way possible. He waxes on about his own greatness for a while, and when asked about the theft he says he was there, in the warehouse, the night when it took place. He didn’t alert the police, but came alone. And he swears no one entered through that door, but the urn disappeared just the same. He heads back to his “Office of Earthly Delights,” allowing our Ace Attorney and Ace Spirit Mediums to have a look for themselves.
We'll obviously get into this later in the analysis portion, but I love every aspect of Luke Atmey, don't @ me.
The box the urn was stored in is sitting empty on the floor, with pink paint stains on the bottom. The shichishisto has been dislodged from the statue and is lying on the floor, its tip bent to one side. Against the wall near the statue of Mystic Ami is a splash of pink paint, looking to be days old, outlining a right angle on the floor as though something had been set there when it spilled. The statue has also been moved; it was originally closer to the door, where the paint stain is now. Impressively, Pearl is the one who notices most of these changes, though no one connects some of the obvious dots they form.
The obvious dot connecting is for the second day of investigation...for some reason.
Hey, at least we're getting the dots. Half the cases in the last game just withheld all the relevant dots until the second half.
As soon as they’re done investigating, Phoenix gets a phone call from Gumshoe; they caught Mask✰DeMasque! Or more accurately, he surrendered himself. And he wants to talk to Phoenix Wright. So they go to the Detention Center, where they meet… possibly the most unassuming character in the entire series. Mask✰DeMasque’s real name is Ron DeLite, and he stutters his way nervously through his introduction.
Well, not really. His vocal affectation is really interesting and unique and I kind of love it. This meek little dude will exclaim loudly about something...then backtrack as his voice trails off quieter and quieter, the text actually becoming harder to read to show how quiet he sounds.
As always, Ace Attorney text styling is some of the best around.
When asked if he’s Mask✰DeMasque, he says yes, but then no, then trails off talking about how it’s complicated. When asked to give the urn back, he apologizes for stealing it, then waffles a bit before crying out that he lost it. He has no idea where. His request is that we talk to Dessie, his wife. She’s the one who told him to call Phoenix here, and he asks that they go visit her at his hideout. His secret base. His third-floor apartment. So they do.
The apartment complex is apparently called the 'Palazzo Pelpepe', which just sounds like an expensive apartment building.
They head to Ron’s hideout, which at first glance does look like the secret base of a master thief, full of different tools of the trade like disguises and a grappling hook and tons of books on various subjects. Maya and Phoenix are just thinking about how much this place looks like the thief’s hideout when Ron’s wife shows up, clearly expecting her husband and not three strangers. Her name is Desirée DeLite, and she seems to think Phoenix is there to help Ron. She saw the story on TV about the exhibit, which apparently mentioned Phoenix. When her husband started talking about turning himself in to the police, she thought he would be a good person to contact for help.
Which isn't wrong, I suppose, just a little strange.
Desirée is a motorcycle enthusiast, and she seems to love how much money Ron brings in, claiming he’s fabulously wealthy. How? She says he works as a security guard, and it’s natural for people in that profession to bring in the money because of how they put their lives on the line. She says that while the crime was happening, she was being pulled over by a policeman for speeding, but she has no clue what Ron was doing, meaning he has no alibi. If you Present Mask☆DeMasque’s profile to her, she claims that her husband isn’t the famous thief, but just a fanboy who has delusions of being the thief himself. Phoenix finds that hard to buy, but she points out that if he was the thief, he would have the urn. Desirée is sure someone framed her poor husband, and asks Phoenix to give a letter from her to Ron.
Having met Ron, I don't find it hard to believe that he lost the urn, but it certainly does Present a proof problem.
The imprisoned security guard is incredibly happy to get a letter from his wife, but then brings up that in the letter she asks Ron to take Phoenix on as his attorney in the upcoming trial. Even though they give the appearance of a choice, either way Phoenix can’t help but take the case. This makes Maya and Pearl upset, since it was their treasure that got stolen. When it becomes clear that Phoenix will actually be doing it, Pearl flips out, yells at Phoenix, and runs away crying. Maya runs after her, but after waiting a while, she comes back without her cousin. Apparently Pearl said she was going back to the office, so they’ll have to meet her there later. Phoenix asks Maya if she is actually okay with him taking the case, and she decides to support him, which Phoenix finds quite touching. Ron makes it clear he does appreciate all the work Phoenix is doing on this case, and then it’s time to really start the investigation.
I do have to say, I appreciate adding some conflict between the party here. Not a common occurrence I feel like, at least in the series so far.
Heading back to the office does show that Pearl is there, and is clearly trying to make up for her earlier comments. She bought them a strawberry cake and made tea for Phoenix, which you may remember was her mother’s choice of ceremonial deserts. When Phoenix tries to talk to her, Pearl runs off to clean the bathroom, even though Phoenix had already done so that morning. Phoenix takes the time for a heart to heart with Maya. He thinks back to when he first met Pearl, and brings up her habit of seeing Phoenix and Maya as a romantic couple despite all their protestations.
Maya explains it’s partially due to her upbringing. Their village had very few men, because the spiritual power of the Fey family only runs through the women. With such a female-oriented culture, apparently many of the marriages don’t last, due to the men leaving due to feeling like they can’t participate in the village’s customs. Pearl’s own father left when she was very young, and nearly all of the marriages she’s seen in her life have been unhappy and unsuccessful. Thus, it’s implied that she wants Phoenix and Maya to get together in the hopes that they’d actually be really happy. The conversation also dips into reminding us of the fact that Morgan Fey is currently serving time in a maximum security prison, making Maya the only close family that Pearl has, and vice-versa. After all, Maya’s mother Misty Fey is still a missing person.
This conversation does a good job of covering some of the basics of the previous games, for the sake of new players, but it also adds some depth to both Maya and Pearl and how they relate to their families (and, really, the very concept of family). It's nice, and I appreciate it.
We'll get into my thoughts on it later. After that deep conversation, Pearl comes back and fully apologizes to Phoenix for how she acted. Then, before either Phoenix or Maya can stop her, Pearl runs out to try and investigate on her own and find some evidence. Heading back to Lordly Tailor, they run into Adrian Andrews, who is anxious as hell about what has happened. She confirms what Atmey said before about her hiring him ten days before the calling card even arrived, on the hunch something like this could happen. She blames herself for this mess by calling the things for Kurain Village treasures. Why? The Sacred Urn was appraised, and is basically worthless. She’s been incredibly thorough with security, and doesn’t have any clue on how the thief stole the urn.
Maya is sad that the urn is worthless, but it makes sense that an urn holding the spirit of Ami Fey wouldn't have much monetary value compared to it's spiritual and cultural significance. Especially when it's clearly been broken and badly reassembled.
At best it's the kind of thing maybe a local LA museum would be glad to have donated, but nothing about it shows monetary worth.
Exactly. And I can see how an exhibit on a matriarchal village of spirit mediums would absolutely draw a crowd.
From there, going to the Atmey Detective Agency shows he’s there now. (If you come there earlier, he’s absent.) He does the exact same sleuthing trick of guessing Phoenix and Maya’s professions with zero self awareness that he’d already done it earlier to them, cementing their opinion that he’s a weird dude. Examining the gramophone also reveals his theme music is literally playing in the room, Atmey confesses to composing it himself. Atmey doesn’t seem to know anything about the Urn, only seeing it as a potential target for his enemy. When they ask about how, if he was at the scene of the crime, he failed to see Mask☆DeMasque stealing anything, something must have gone wrong. This reveals the first Psyche-Lock of the game, and with it, a full explanation on how they work. Said explanation happens because apparently Maya didn’t know that’s what the Magatama did. While that seems odd, she explains that though it was once hers, it was Pearl who enchanted the thing.
Holy crap, he composed his own theme and plays it in his office? I missed that, and it makes me love this narcissistic little turd even more.
Since there’s only one Psyche-Lock, it’s pretty easy to break. Atmey claims that while he stood guard all night, no one entered the storage room, but the camera data Phoenix got from the security camera shows that isn’t true at all. Putting that info together with the fact he’s claiming not to have seen Mask☆DeMasque at all that night, and Phoenix realizes it’s because Atmey was unconscious. When the Ace Detective asks for evidence, Phoenix shows the shichishito, which was bent when Atmey was hit over the head by the famous thief. I feel like this is a pretty good Magatama tutorial...but next week we’ll talk about why it also makes absolutely no sense with how this mystery plays out.
Ah, another instance where Roy's superior memory of these events means my literary genius shall be, in part, postponed until next week.
When Phoenix brings up the possibility that the lack of an eyewitness means the thief could be someone other than Mask☆DeMasque, Atmey objects. Remember that camera data? Well Atmey actually has a print of the photo it took, and it does in fact show Mask☆DeMasque carrying out the box containing the urn. Atmey then explains that Ron DeLite had a good reason to commit all these crimes, and the reason why can be found in a green envelope somewhere in his home. The letter is there to find, and it’s a blackmail letter. It says that if ‘you don’t want your true identity revealed to the world’ $50,000 is the cost of silence and has to be brought to KB Security on the night of the crime. In fact, the meeting time is exactly when the theft is supposed to have occurred.
This is interesting for me, because I have memories of this case but they're fuzzy and scattered. I feel like I know how this plays out, but I couldn't tell you.
The apartment’s doorbell rings, and Desirée invites the person at the door inside. It’s quite the familiar face: Larry Butz! Maya is happy to see him, but Phoenix describes him in narration as ‘not exactly a close friend, but yeah, we know each other.’ The basic Butz history is exposited, and despite Phoenix’s rude words, Larry seems happy to catch up. They talk about how it’s been two years since they last saw him in Turnabout Goodbyes, and apparently that time has been full of more women trouble for Larry. Why’s he at Ron’s apartment? He found the guy’s wallet at his work and wanted to return it, though Phoenix thinks the picture of Desirée inside helped him make the decision.
He found the wallet right around when the crime was taking place, and the wallet has a keycard for the security company inside it. Showing him the blackmail letter has Larry freak out, thinking Phoenix is actually trying to blackmail him. Even after that’s cleared up, he points out what was so confusing was that the letter mentions KB Security, where he works now. When Phoenix asks where KB Security is, Larry tells him, including the detail that it’s at least a 30 minute drive from Ron’s apartment, which is close to Lordly Tailor. Thus, if Ron was at KB Security for the blackmail letter, he couldn’t have stolen the urn.
Once again, Larry is helpful, but not really on purpose.
When the conversation with Larry is done, Phoenix’s phone rings. It’s Pearl, and she got lost trying to investigate, and ended up at the Ace Detective’s office somehow. Heading there does lead to them reuniting with Pearl, and finding a black bag on Atmey’s table that wasn’t there before. At Maya’s suggestion, Phoenix reaches into the back, touching something, but is stopped from seeing what it is when Atmey suddenly arrives. He chastises Phoenix, then makes it clear he thinks the trial the next day will be a slam dunk for the prosecution. Atmey will be a witness (despite not witnessing anything), but he claims there’s an even bigger danger to Phoenix: the prosecutor.
The man is named Godot, and Atmey talks the guy up like no tomorrow. When Maya points out that Godot can’t be the best prosecutor in the country, because Edgeworth is, Atmey points out Edgeworth isn’t in the country at the moment, making the claim valid, and says it was Edgeworth himself who acknowledged Godot’s claim to greatness. Phoenix mentions having heard a little about this mysterious guy, but not a lot. With that note, the investigation segment ends. Which means it’s analysis time. Sam, where do you want to start?
Well, as usual, the first segment of a new case is more about setup than payoff, so the analysis is a little thin here. We do see the theme Roy brought up last time, of secret identities and masks people wear. We also see some setup for a theme of family, by bringing up the broken familial backgrounds of both Maya and Pearl (as well as Ron and his wife). Aside from that, there are elements of cultural heritage, blackmail, narcissism...we're mostly waiting to see where the case goes with all of this before anything particularly solidifies.
That's all true, but there are a few topics I feel like we can still discuss. First off, regarding the Fey Family stuff. I do really like that this segment was able to easily recap all that drama while tying it into something happening in the present, namely Pearl's issues. That said, I do wish those issues of hers were addressed rather than explained and commented on. Similarly, while this case is heavily tied into the overall Fey Family lore, I still don't feel like they're doing much with it. Especially with the fact Maya is supposed to be the next Master. It's referenced a few times, emphasized how odd a fit she is for the position but there's no one else who can do it, and that's it.
That is true. I appreciate the game going there, but I do wish it did so with more detail and subtlety. Making it a conversation is better than making it a monologue, but further centering it in a case would have given it much more room for exploration.
Right away, this case does set itself apart from the Establishing Cases that came before it. Turnabout Sisters was a game-shaking event, with the death of the protagonist's mentor, Maya on trial, and a seemingly untouchable enemy. It was incredibly high drama. Reunion and Turnabout wasn't quite as momentous, but it also featured Maya as the defendant, that time seemingly convinced she had really committed the crime. While this case echoes them in its ties to the Fey Family, in other ways it's incredibly low stakes. It's not a murder trial, and while Ron seems nice, the game isn't trying to really pull our heartstrings or go for deep pathos. At the same time, the case already feels unique thanks to its non-murder status, and the fact it's the first with two Assistant's at the same time, with Maya and Pearl tagging along for most of the segment.
It sets itself apart without being quite as high stakes and dramatic as previous cases in this position. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I don't hate it.
Part of how it's able to do that fits in with how different the last case was as well. The first two Tutorial Cases we had were fairly small stories, while Turnabout Memories hits like a freight train, immediately drawing attention for being a flashback and one where we defend a young Phoenix. Shifting the big story from the second case to the first was an experiment they tried in this game, one that yielded strong enough dividends that it was repeated many times in later games. It would be fair to say that, of the first two cases of any Ace Attorney game, one should be a big attention-grabbing case, but both isn't required.
The format is definitely different compared to the previous two games, and I do think it works. It definitely feels different, but three games in that's probably a good thing.
I mentioned it in the main recap, and we're too early to really go into it, but I freaking love Luke Atmey. He might have the silliest hair of any Ace Attorney character, which is really saying something, and his design from top to bottom is just the silliest in the best way possible. But in addition to that, the writing on his dialogue is so fantastic. He weaves his sentences with occasional alliteration and always uses the biggest words possible, clearly attempting to show off how much he knows at every available opportunity.
Oh he's an absolute delight. Thus my shtick for this entry, which I promise will not extend into future ones. He's just so enjoyably full of himself. He's a completely absurd character in the best sort of way, and I love him a lot. He's a top tier Phoenix Wright antagonist, and considering his main competition includes the likes of Wendy Oldbag and Lotta Hart, possibly the best so far.
Oh, he's definitely up there for me too. Speaking of him, I did want to touch on an interesting aspect of this case, namely what it's clearly ribbing on. Luke Atmey is the easier for most people to see: he's clearly a parody of the Great Detective archetype, and especially of the most famous example, Sherlock Holmes. (I am well aware that this archetype predates Holmes, but he's still the most worldly renowned example of the trope.)
His seeming ability to deduce things about those he meets, his cultured affectations, his fancy dress sense, the lab in his office, and his interest in music all connect him to the popular perception of the famous hero. Now, I do want to say that I'm well aware that some of those traits don't apply to the actual Sherlock Holmes of the original stories, but Holmes has become a lot more than just those stories in the century-plus following his publication. Atmey is clearly based on the Holmes of pop-culture at large, rather than the character from Arthur Conan Doyle's writings.
Absolutely, with the basic twist being that he's neither all that talented nor that charismatic, just obviously and obnoxiously faking it until he makes it. Exactly how deep that deception goes will be revealed in time, I'm sure, but the base concept of the character has been established, and established strongly.
On the flip side is a tie to a literary character most people aren't aware of. Mask☆DeMasque is just as strongly tied to the archetype of the Phantom Thief as Atmey is to the Great Detective. More specifically, one can draw a line from our thief to who many consider the Trope Codifier, Arsène Lupin. As he's not as famous as Mr. Holmes, at least here in the United States, I'm happy to share a little of what I know of the character. Lupin was a French gentleman thief character created in 1905 by Maurice Leblanc, and he set himself apart with the fact that he sent calling cards to his targets in advance, informing them he'd be taking something precious they owned. He was also a master of disguise, and the fun of each Lupin story was knowing someone in the story was really Lupin, but you never knew who. He could be the butler, the investigator, or even the target themselves.
This character is generally considered responsible for the entire idea of the Phantom Thief, fictional criminals who send calling cards in advance and are uber-skilled in their trade in the same way that Sherlock Holmes is at his own. (Hence why Joker's Persona is named after Lupin in Persona 5.) Another, less relevant, influence Lupin had was with his fictional grandson, the famous manga/anime character of Lupin III, who is in that canon the half-Japanese grandson of the French thief.
Tying all of that back to Mask☆DeMasque, it's clear to see where his lineage comes from. From his calling cards, to his masterful thefts, to his design and theme music, which both have a very French aesthetic to them. An added layer to all of this is how many people in the last hundred years have written stories (basically fan fiction) of Lupin and Sherlock going head-to-head, even though canonically the two never interacted. Here in this case, we get characters based on them duking it out...sort of.
It certainly sets up something of a rivalry, here; the archetype of the Phantom Thief vs. the archetype of the Great Detective. With a goofball lawyer thrown in, because why not.
But both characters have the same problem; they're not really who they say they are. The exact nature and extent of this fact is yet to be seen, but it's already clear to some degree. Luke Atmey is full of himself, and clearly oversells his genius for the sake of his own ego, while his apparent detective skills clash rather strangely with the reports of his success.
Meanwhile, Ron Delite is even more clearly not what he pretends to be, despite (again) his apparent success at it. Not only does he lack the confidence, he lacks the flair. He spends most of his speaking time awkwardly failing to form complete sentences, trailing off or losing his meaning partway through. He clearly doesn't want to be the center of attention, and when he needs to be--even for so simple a purpose as getting Phoenix's attention to tell him something--he completely loses his cool, awkwardly yelling and immediately retreating back to his demure, unassuming posture.
Perhaps it's appropriate, in a sense, that the Phantom Thief avoids the spotlight, but he's not doing it by design; after all, he turned himself in. He's just awkward and uncomfortable with being noticed.
He's also just a lovely cinnamon roll in general. Also, before we switch topics: fun fact! Thanks to a certain game in the series that has yet to be, and most likely never will be, localized, Sherlock Holmes is actually a legit real historical figure in the Gyakuten Saiban, likely the Ace Attorney, universe.
I completely forgot about that! Hopefully there's a fan translation in the works.
There is! But it's a 3DS game, and I haven't been able to get the darn thing to work, which is why it's not on our chopping block for Wright Wednesday
Ah, that's fair. Hopefully emulation gets easier, and Nintendo doesn't shut it all down as they are wont to do.
Switching gears a little, I really love watching people experience stories I'm familiar with. Whether that's through reactions or after the fact posts, it's something I'm always ready to devour. A lot of the time, part of my prep work for Wright Wednesday is going through several different Let's Players I like going through that particular segment. This time, it made me think about something really interesting about this case.
Without spoiling anything about this case, the story does a great job of leading the player to certain conclusions. From the moment we meet Luke Atmey, we're suspicious of him, and that only gets worse when we go and see Ron at the Detention Center. Many people I've seen play through this case for the first time, including people in real life playing it with me, immediately jump to the conclusion that Ron is definitely deluded, as his wife claims, and that Luke Atmey is the real Mask☆DeMasque. I'm not going to say whether that's right or wrong at all, but I think it's really interesting how the pacing and scenes naturally draw players to that conclusion. I've also never seen anyone notice one really important clue you can Examine in Ron's hideout that throws a wrench in it: the balloon. It had a certain symbol on it, and Phoenix and Maya talk about how the police have made sure the public doesn't know it exists, so only the real Mask☆DeMasque should be able to have a balloon like that.
Oh, that is interesting. Honestly I don't ever remember thinking that Ron wasn't Mask DeMasque, just that there was clearly something weird going on. Interesting to see that's such a common theory.
I feel like we've both been very complimentary thus far. It might be time to talk about a Mr. Larry Butz.
Ah. Right. If something smells, and all that.
I'm pretty sure I've never alluded to it before, but this case begins one of the things I dislike the most about this series: the Flanderization of Larry Butz. For those not in the know, Flanderization in a trope in which a character starts off being portrayed one way, usually as a more rounded and three-dimensional character, and then with every new appearance certain traits are emphasized and others are dropped, until by the end they're not recognizable in the least to they started with. Like all tropes, that's not exactly a bad thing. I'd argue a good example of Flanderization is Caboose from Red vs Blue, who went from being a normal guy, if kind of dumb and naive, to a black hole of stupidity and innocence.
When we first meet Larry in The First Turnabout, Phoenix describes him as "my best friend since grade school" in his personal narration. Throughout the first game, Larry is shown to be emotionally erratic, disaster prone, and constantly going from girlfriend to girlfriend. But he was also shown to be creative, kind, a good friend, and devoted to whoever he was in a relationship with at that time.
This case is what starts the change. How does Phoenix describe Larry again? "Not exactly a close friend, but yeah, we know each other." That might be the closest thing to a compliment he gets from Phoenix from now until the end of time. From now on, Phoenix and Edgeworth will not consider Larry a friend, but a nuisance. They will do nothing but insult him, degrade him, and make it clear he is not welcome in their lives. Larry's behavior itself also changes. His redeemable qualities are shown less often, and he's picked up some new bad habits, such as clearly wanting to get into Mrs. DeLite's pants, despite her being married to Ron. Worse than that, the game makes several jokes about him seeing or hearing Pearls and talking about how cute she is, making it a joke about how he's too stupid to know she's a kid, giving him almost a pedophile vibe at times. If it isn't clear, I can't really see this as anything besides outright character assassination, and the change is already visible in just this segment alone.
I feel like Larry wasn't a highly developed character to begin with, so taking him in a bit of a different direction isn't necessarily a bad idea. But the direction they took him is weirdly inconsistent with how he was characterized before, not to mention kind of creepy. You're right, it's like they took his most annoying or negative qualities, dialed them up to 11, and ignored everything else so thoroughly that even Phoenix no longer sees him the same way.
I'm not sure Larry Butz is a huge loss, really, but I am annoyed that they decided to bring him back and did this to him. I say leave him in the past or put the minimum effort into making his character work.
You're definitely correct that Larry wasn't the most developed character in that first game, but a lot of other characters weren't either. I'd argue he had comparable development to Gumshoe, and more development than most of the other characters in that game. Personally, I really vibe with the first game's Larry. He's a beautiful himbo, but without the muscles. A himbim, if you will.
I don't think never using him again would have been a good move, considering how tied in he is to Phoenix and Edgeworth's shared past. But the damage done with how they chose to bring him back has a huge impact because of how often he appears. Throughout the main series and Investigation spin-offs, Larry appears in five of the eight games. That is more times than Franziska von Karma, Pearl, and Maya Fey. I'm not about to claim all of those characters were used well, but at least they didn't get the Larry treatment either.
I also just don't like how these changes affect his dynamic with others. He goes from genuine friend who sometimes messes up to everyone's punching bag, a character all the others near-outright hate, and verbally abuse. I really do not like the (hopefully unintended) message that it's okay to talk down to and insult your friends as much as you want, as long as you think they're a loser.
Frankly the way he's characterized sort of removes whatever likability he may have had? To go from "unlucky with women" to "constantly trying to have an affair with a married woman" is...not great. It makes him less likable at the same time as all the characters treat him badly, so it really does kind of feel like the creators just didn't like him and decided to mess with his character to reflect that.
Part of me wonders if all of this is also true in Gyakuten Saiban with that game's equivalent of Larry, or if it's something that happened during localization.
Ah, you think the localization team might have Stannis'd him?
S-Sam...why would you do that? Why would you remind me of how one of my favorite book characters of all time was ruined by a pair of morons?
Because your pain invigorates me. Also that was some bullcrap.
Another thing I think we should talk about is the flashback scene. Do you know the one I'm referring to?
Um...I'm not sure? I feel like this case had a few brief ones, mostly to explain Maya and Pearl so first-time players won't get confused.
That's not the one I'm referring to. After Pearl's anger and running away scene at the Detention Center, technically the player can go wherever they want, and because of that when you do go to the office to see her, there's a full flashback to the entire event that made her run away. This isn't technically the first time something like this has happened, but it's the most major of these so far, and they'll become more prevalent going forward.
The issue is, obviously, that some players are going to immediately want to go check on Pearl. In so doing, you're quickly put through the same scene you already saw, again. It feels like padding, in that same way some anime have frequent several minute flashbacks to things from the same or previous episodes. I get why it's here, and why it'll be a thing going forward, it's because the player has freedom to do things in whatever order they want, and they might take a break between scenes. But for those powering through a whole segment of the game, it feels weird to be given flashbacks to something you just went through, at least for me and more than a few other people I know.
Ah, actually, um, I didn't go straight there. I kept investigating. I somehow missed the implication that she would just be waiting at the office for me, so I didn't go straight there. Which might be why that didn't even really register with me, honestly, but I agree. It's the kind of thing that could be useful in later segments of the case, but feels a little redundant here.
That's the thing: the series has often done flashbacks to previous segments, and that's okay! If you're in a trial, and something from the investigation is relevant, doing a quick flashback is a good idea! But this is a point in the series where they start doing flashbacks to stuff from the same segment, and that just feels odd. The flashbacks also feel longer, though I don't have data to back that supposition up. This actually also happened in that last case, with how many times they flashed back to Phoenix talking about the necklace.
This series does have room for abnormal flashbacks since statements from earlier in a case are sometimes brought up in court, and I can understand flashing back for a line or three when they're being referenced. But these kinds of flashbacks, to remind you of something you've already seen rather than presenting the statement as evidence, are supposed to be for the sake of refreshing memory. Which just feels unnecessary when it's recent enough to be in the same segment of a case.
There are lots of fun things to find when Presenting to people in this case. For one thing, it's the first case in the series where Phoenix is in the profiles! I use it as my marker for this blogs, obviously, but I actually don't like how he looks with it. It's clear that Phoenix's design was meant to look cool at an angle, and them trying to draw him front-facing just doesn't look right, at least to me. Presenting your own profile to characters does lead to some funny stuff though, with Maya asking several times why Phoenix is carrying a picture of himself. (The reason being that we need to Present it later on in the case for something, and they didn't want it added to the Court Record out of nowhere.)
It makes sense, but I agree the image has always looked a bit off to me. I don't have the art know-how to understand why.
Neither do I. Another "fun" thing you can do is Present Mia's profile to Gumshoe. He actually gets really sad, and reveals that he and many others in his department considered Mia their good friend. He even starts crying a little.
Aw, really? He's such a cinnamon roll.
Presenting basically anyone's profile to Atmey is worth a laugh, though the one for Mia is actually kind of skeevy. He basically asks Phoenix if he can introduce him to her but that "my interest is strictly professional!" Maya calls him a creep, and he responds by saying he's a gentleman. It feels very...incel-y?
Oh. Oof. I mean in all fairness, that would not surprise me in the slightest.
Did you have anything to talk about with this segment, or can we move on to the Wright and Co. Examinables?
Let's examine some 'ables!
Examining Charley reveals that Mia actually made him the mascot for their company before she died, she loved the plant that much. Phoenix also considers how nice it must be, to be able to just sit and photosynthesize all day.
See when you put it like that, that does sound quite pleasant.
We envy Charley. Looking at the window at the Gatewater Hotel, Phoenix reveals that in the half a year since the last case, they bought a huge chunk of a nearby town and are turning it into a theme park, Gatewater Land. Phoenix marvels at how in two years they've grown from a small hotel for businessmen into...that. Fun fact: We will get to visit Gatewater Land in a future game.
Oh! I don't think I've played that one. Neat!
That's kind of what I was referring to last game when you questioned why Gatewater came up again. It's because they're a growing corporation with more plot relevance in the future!
Ah, well that does make sense if it's just playing a long game.
Examining the poster of the wall reveals it's back to being the one Mia had there, the Nickel Samurai one is down. That's because Maya apparently finally watched the movie in question, and it made her cry the same way it did with Mia. Phoenix considers that he should probably see it someday too.
Phoenix really could stand to work on his nerd cred.
Honestly? I think we just have to admit Phoenix is not a nerd. He doesn't like Steel Samurai, or seeing movies, we have no evidence of any personal passions in storytelling. Unlike a certain other attorney we'll see a lot more of in the next game.
I meant that more in a teasing way. Obviously Phoenix can like or not like what he wants. Though that does make me realize we never get much of a sense for what he cares about besides his friends and justice, which does seem somewhat strange.
I feel like from what we do know, Phoenix is definitely on the Jock end of the Jock/Nerd axis.
That's fair, but he doesn't seem to have any jock-like interests either.
I dunno, he knocked down a door. Anyway, the last examinable is the bookshelf, where all the legal books are so unused that a thick layer of dust has settled on them.
So he's clearly not studying law. Must be hitting the gym. Someone draw me swole Phoenix.
Well, that about raps it all up for this week. Next time, it's a day in court with the mysterious prosecutor Godot. Auf wiedersehen!
We'll be waiting!
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