case by case: 5-4: terran up the courtroom
It's another Monday night, and that means it's time to continue our long voyage through the world of Ace Attorney. Last week we discussed consequentialist ethics; this week we're launching into part one of our big two-part finale to Dual Destinies! Spoilers, after the cut.
This is the first time we have had a proper two-part case (that is, the whole murder isn't resolved in a single episode); I'd remembered 3-2 as a two-part but it is presented in a single episode. From a pacing standpoint this is quite nice; this one is fairly short (usually they take me about six hours and this one took me about four), and this allows the final case to be considerably shorter while still benefiting from the added knowledge, complexity, and context that a longer case gets us. (At least in theory, I'm not there yet and I don't remember it well enough to comment.) They accomplish this shortening by skipping the first segment; where the usual format is "investigation -> trial -> investigation -> trial", this one does away with the first investigation segment. It's a nice trick, and I think having the case leading into the finale being a little shorter is a good idea, pacing-wise.
As a result of its shortness, this one is a little simpler than usual; notably, we really only have to prove our client innocent. Imagine that, right? I like this one. It's fun, it's got great characters, it leaves you with the right amount of questions at the end so you'll be thinking about those going into the next case. A solid lead-in!
We're finally getting a look into Blackquill's whole deal, and also Athena's whole deal. There's a big twist at the end where the big piece of evidence that proves our client innocent has Athena's prints on it; Apollo has decided to leave the Wright Anything Agency to pursue vigilante justice for his BFF's killer; lots of narrative pieces left unsolved. And since I'm doing these, ahem case by case, I don't have a particularly fresh memory of how those resolutions all work out. So, not much to say this week (except that I'm grateful this is a short one because I got a late start and I'm still done before midnight). I will see you all next week for the exciting conclusion.
(Note: there's a DLC case after this next one, which I think chronologically takes place earlier than these cases. Consider it a victory lap, I guess.)