Christ, is this gonna get better?

[Schade]

As a bit of background, I typically don't play VNs, and I'm not particularly into anime or stuff like that. I absolutely loved the Phoenix Wright games though, for their great puzzles, great story writing, decent character writing, and the pathetic attempt to make the game set in Los Angeles (I mean seriously, they had it snow. In LA. Which is in a desert. Although they did get the cowboy stripper cop who patrols West Hollywood right, I'll give them credit for that).

I figured I'd give this one a go, and was instantly hooked by the intro case. So freaking good. But now that I'm partway through the second one, I can say that my initial hype has faded away, and I'm debating if it's even worth continuing.

For one, they're pulling the "being framed for murder" thing again, which kinda sucks but whatever. The investigation stuff is slow and mostly linear, which I can forgive since it's suppose to be a tutorial, but the damn thing seems like it'll never end. I've gone an hour or so through it, and I have no clue if I'm even near the end. The dialogue seems to go on for longer and has a lot more fluff in it than the last game (I could be remembering that wrong though, but I never remembered getting this bored in any of the other games). Some of the writing is good, but I can't help but feel like it's all a bit stretched out.

All of that stuff is just nitpicking, and if that was it I would be fine playing it through. But the thing that annoyed be to the point of wanting to write a long ass post just to complain about them is the Sherlock Holmes dude. I've played a good amount of narrative games, and I've had characters that I didn't like or I found annoying, and I don't think I've ever had one that was so bad it made me not even want to continue with the game. Seriously, not even something as ♥♥♥♥♥♥ as Y2K did that to me, but this game has. For one, as mentioned above, his dialogue just keeps going on and on (kind of like this post), and is mostly either nonsense or just talking about how cool he is. As someone with ADHD, playing VNs are a challenge in itself. But this guy's dialogue is just on another level of being frustratingly obtuse and masturbatory and making me space out for 5 minutes because of how dull it is. And since they were doing the whole "one character is a big fan but the protag doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥" thing, I figured he'd just end up being one of the suspects, but that doesn't seem like it'll be the case.

And then they did the deduction "minigame", and that ended up breaking me. I don't think there was any part of that that I enjoyed. For one, I hated how over the top it was. I know that's pretty subjective and something that most people will disagree with, but it genuinely took a lot of enjoyment out from me. I liked how the PW games were (mostly) subtle and kept a realistic tone. It makes things like stripper cowboy cop even funnier since it's supposed to be taken straight faced. the tutorial case in this game did it pretty well, where it all was pretty reasonable and serious, and it made the lady with a goose in her hat even better. But that deduction minigame, with them teleporting around and having spotlights randomly come down and saying dialogue like they think they're cool, removed any kind of seriousness it was building and completely ruined the tone of the game for me.

Another thing I hated about that minigame was how it's antithetical to why I enjoy these games in the first place. Roleplaying as a rookie lawyer who's in over his head is fun. Finding clues and piecing together a scenario yourself is fun. Having to sit and let some other ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ figure out 90% of the problem, and them correct them just so they can look cooler is not fun. I don't care if the puzzles use stupid adventure game logic and require me to show every npc the entire content of my backpack, let me play the damn game that I bought! This mechanic would be bad on it's own, but using it with a character as insufferable and unlikeable as Burlock Dolmes makes it unbearable. The actual reveal they did would of been neat and interesting, but the way they presented it made me not even give a ♥♥♥♥.

I also hate Derlock Kolmes' character model, and how an experienced detective looks like a 14 year old boy, but I think that's an anime thing. He also probably smells bad, is a virgin, and murders puppies on the weekends, presumably. I also hoped that he was just there for the boat case, but after that deduction ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ had a bunch of unique animations and assets involving him, I had to look up the wiki to see if he was a recurring character. I was very saddened to see his name on like 5 other cases (I think. I didn't want to spoil anything for myself so I mostly just glanced at the page). That really killed my enthusiasm to push through if he's sticking around.

To end me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about Perlock Bones and to get to the actual point of this post, I want to know if it's worth me pushing through to where the game gets good again or if it's just gonna be more of this stupid ♥♥♥♥. I don't even know why I'm writing this, since I know what most people's answer is gonna be. I even know myself that I should just keep with it. I can't even count the amount of games I started out not liking but ended up really enjoying. The Dark Souls conundrum. But no joke, I've been spending the past few evening constantly dying to the Demon Prince and Nameless King with my SL1 build (finally got NK though. ♥♥♥♥ yeah me!), and THAT seems more preferable to me than continuing on with this game.

[backshots enjoyer]

You'll be doing a disservice for yourself if you decide to drop the game when you're 2/10 cases in to the game. The game was supposed to be a standalone title but was split into two games due to it being so long, that's why it can feel like the earlier cases are slow or feel like a tutorial. Some people find the first game to be mediocre which is understandable because it's focusing more on character and world building, which directly sets up for the second game.

As for your hate for Herlock, I feel like you're just overreacting. He becomes extremely funny and likeable later in the game and actually does a lot of things to help you along the way. I personally love the dance of deduction and most if not everyone in the community loves it because it's so cinematic and stylish, but I guess it's just not your cup of tea then. Overall if you still don't find the game engaging after case 3, feel free to drop it I suppose and go back to playing the original trilogy.

[giasof]

As for me, I personally enjoy every seconds of this game. I am at the beginning of the 9th case Trial and the further I go, the more I feel we are uncovering something very big little by little.

[Lieutenant Lawn-Darts]

I can totally get being sick of [S]Herlock. It took me a while to warm up to him at all at first, and his whole thing of accusing you of the murder and immediately gaslighting you about it once he decides you're innocent after all is very bad starting point as far as I'm concerned. If you can accept the fact that he's just completely insane and take him as the joke that he is, it's a lot more fun. I'd totally get if that's a tall order though.

As for the dance of deduction, I personally love the aesthetic because it takes advantage of being in 3d more than the main series 3d games have, and because it reminds me of Ghost Trick (which was also made by Takumi). The first half of them definitely does take a while before you can actually do anything, but if it helps you can think of it as how [S]Herlock sees himself when he's making deductions, since he's definitely the kind of guy to see everything as a stage show starring himself.

[Breastmilk is my staplefood]

I ain't reading all of that.
I'm happy for you though
or sorry it happened

[Blue_Glasses]

Originally posted by Breastmilk is my staple food:

I ain't reading all of that.
I'm happy for you though
or sorry it happened

ah yes, the i-don't-care-inator

[oAlmalik Alsaghir7]

It doesnt OP, it doesnt.

Im on the last case of 1st game... and it honestly doesnt. People say the 2nd game is better, but i just cant imagine it getting better after this sloggy, non-interesting slop of a 1st game

Read my review on my page if you wanna check out my opinion on this game and why to me PW was way better, would love your feedback, Also, dont care if CAPCOM made it, this game is a step back to me.

Long live the Phoenix.

[Seb | セビ]

Originally posted by highRyRY!:

It doesnt OP, it doesnt.

Im on the last case of 1st game... and it honestly doesnt. People say the 2nd game is better, but i just cant imagine it getting better after this sloggy, non-interesting slop of a 1st game

Read my review on my page if you wanna check out my opinion on this game and why to me PW was way better, would love your feedback, Also, dont care if CAPCOM made it, this game is a step back to me.

Long live the Phoenix.

why would you post a review when you havent even finished half of the game?

[oAlmalik Alsaghir7]

Originally posted by Seb | セビ:

Originally posted by highRyRY!:

It doesnt OP, it doesnt.

Im on the last case of 1st game... and it honestly doesnt. People say the 2nd game is better, but i just cant imagine it getting better after this sloggy, non-interesting slop of a 1st game

Read my review on my page if you wanna check out my opinion on this game and why to me PW was way better, would love your feedback, Also, dont care if CAPCOM made it, this game is a step back to me.

Long live the Phoenix.

why would you post a review when you havent even finished half of the game?

If i eat 1/2 of a burger that tastes like sh*t, I can logically assume that the other 1/2 will taste like sh*t, as well.

Unless they go back to just straight up investigating people and moving around and asking questions and presenting evidence and getting their reactions, this game definitely gets a 5/10 from me. The Herlock Sholmes minigame is creative, but obnoxious and kills the tension and mystery of the game, IMO, of course;.... others may beg to differ, but the beauty of life is we can all have different opinions.

[Seb | セビ]

Originally posted by highRyRY!:

Originally posted by Seb | セビ:

why would you post a review when you havent even finished half of the game?

If i eat 1/2 of a burger that tastes like sh*t, I can logically assume that the other 1/2 will taste like sh*t, as well.

Unless they go back to just straight up investigating people and moving around and asking questions and presenting evidence and getting their reactions, this game definitely gets a 5/10 from me. The Herlock Sholmes minigame is creative, but obnoxious and kills the tension and mystery of the game, IMO, of course;.... others may beg to differ, but the beauty of life is we can all have different opinions.

a burger is a linear experience that tastes the same if its the first or last bite. a video game isnt, especially this one where people are already telling you that the second half is a lot better

[oAlmalik Alsaghir7]

Originally posted by Seb | セビ:

Originally posted by highRyRY!:

If i eat 1/2 of a burger that tastes like sh*t, I can logically assume that the other 1/2 will taste like sh*t, as well.

Unless they go back to just straight up investigating people and moving around and asking questions and presenting evidence and getting their reactions, this game definitely gets a 5/10 from me. The Herlock Sholmes minigame is creative, but obnoxious and kills the tension and mystery of the game, IMO, of course;.... others may beg to differ, but the beauty of life is we can all have different opinions.

a burger is a linear experience that tastes the same if its the first or last bite. a video game isnt, especially this one where people are already telling you that the second half is a lot better

I hear ya, I hear ya... And thats why im trudging through this....this..... THING.

PW (a good-burger) had me on the edge of my seat pretty much all the time. The only case that got me a little excited in GAAC (sh*t-burger) was the 1st case; everything else has been an absolute bore.
But im chugging along... If it gets "better" as you all say, I will happily eat my words, no question. But til then, my opinion still stands. "PW is lightyears above GAAC"

[Tankfriend]

Currently going through 2nd game 4th case. A few friends I'm streaming to and myself are pretty much on the edges of our seats since 1st game 4th/5th case or so, and especially now that the overarching storyline is coming to a head.
Cases 1-3 of the first game are all pretty much tutorial cases that won't challenge seasoned veterans in any real way, but they do a good job building the setting, imho.

[Skub lite]

Originally posted by Tankfriend:

Currently going through 2nd game 4th case. A few friends I'm streaming to and myself are pretty much on the edges of our seats since 1st game 4th/5th case or so, and especially now that the overarching storyline is coming to a head.
Cases 1-3 of the first game are all pretty much tutorial cases that won't challenge seasoned veterans in any real way, but they do a good job building the setting, imho.

Would cases 1-3 (or Ace Attorney games in general) provide a serious challenge to any player (seasoned veteran, newbie, otherwise)? There's some degree of learning what kinds of logic puzzles and contrivances these games like to set up, but it's nothing huge, and the difficulty curve you need to pick up for these games is really minimal, all things considered

I don't even mean this in a bad way. I think that the games' mainstream accessibility due to their low difficulty are one of their greatest strengths and appeals

[Done25]

For anyone else who comes across this, the 2nd case (the one on the ship) is ass, and can safely be skipped as it contains very little of plot significance.

The 3rd case is *much* better.

[Blue_Glasses]

Originally posted by Done25:

For anyone else who comes across this, the 2nd case is ass, and can safely be skipped as it contains very little of plot significance.

The 3rd case is *much* better.

2nd case first or second game?
Cuz to my recollection, both contains major plot significance especially for the last case, 2nd game

[Done25]

Originally posted by Blue_Glasses:

Originally posted by Done25:

For anyone else who comes across this, the 2nd case is ass, and can safely be skipped as it contains very little of plot significance.

The 3rd case is *much* better.

2nd case first or second game?
Cuz to my recollection, both contains major plot significance especially for the last case, 2nd game

The one he's talking about, case 1-2 on the ship.