AAAAAAAAAAA

go to my dual destinies review. ctrl+c -> ctrl+v. then replace every mention of “athena” with “apollo” and you’ve got the gist of my feelings on this game

ITS THE SAME FUCKING PROBLEM. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT PHOENIX WRIGHT ANYMORE. HIS STORY HAS RUN ITS COURSE, AND THATS IT. THIS GAME WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE APOLLO THE BACKSTORY HE’S NEEDED FOR 3 GAMES NOW, AND HE IS THE LEAD DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR LESS THAN HALF THE GAME. LEGITIMATELY 99% OF APOLLO’S BACKSTORY COMES WITH ONE SINGULAR CASE AT THE END OF THE GAME. AT LEAST ATHENA GOT 3 CASES.

look it’s still an ace attorney game, the characters are great, the case plots are okay (mostly due to the same struggles with subtlety that AA5 had). nahyuta is a solid prosecutor with a good emotional element thrown in, and he’s a very different vibe than the rest of the prosecutors, which is nice.

it’s not as if this game is awful. it’s fine. but i just end up thinking throughout the entire game “what if phoenix wasn’t here?” “what if apollo or athena got this case?” “why the fuck did maya get kidnapped again are they out of ideas?” it feels like pandering to capcom higher ups because they never played past the first case of AA1 and think that phoenix is the only thing that sells ace attorney games.

they learned from absolutely NONE of their mistakes from dual destinies (other than maybe a slightly more climactic ending?). this game feels like an absolute waste of some of the most likable and interesting characters in all of gaming.

you HAVE the foundation!! you HAVE apollo, and athena, and trucy, and nahyuta, and an idea of where you want to go with apollo’s backstory, and an interesting raise of stakes with the DC act, yet all of this is thrown away because phoenix needs to be here.

i don’t dislike spirit of justice. but i can’t truly say that i had a great time with it either. it’s an incredibly frustrating game because i see exactly how it could be better, but it just… isn’t. that’s how i would describe spirit of justice. it just isn’t.