#aeonfrodo

To begin with, as I said in my AA6 post, there are still two plot threads left over from AA4 that have yet to be addressed: Kristoph Gavin’s black psyche-locks, and Apollo and Trucy’s shared parentage. They can’t start a new trilogy—which would start a new story set—without completely finishing all the lingering plot threads from the last trilogy, and they simply haven’t done that with the post-timeskip games yet. It was fine to start AA4 from a point seven years in the future because everything that needed to be addressed from the original trilogy was, but that’s not a claim they can make with the post-timeskip games because of how sloppily they’ve handled them.

And, to be honest, that is what the post-timeskip games have been in terms of a smooth narrative—sloppy. I love them, but whereas the original trilogy was pretty solidly Phoenix’s story with Maya serving as a deuteragonist beginning in AA2, the second trilogy started off with Apollo as the supporting protagonist in AA4 while Phoenix served as the true protagonist, then shifted to a protagonist (Phoenix), deuteragonist (Athena), tritagonist (Apollo) set-up in AA5, and then to a protagonist (Phoenix) and deuteragonist (Apollo) set up in AA6 … until 6-5 came around and had them switch those roles once Apollo got done taking everyone’s shit. As a result of these constantly shifting roles and perspectives, and also of the dangling plot threads, and also of new character arcs being introduced in each game, the post-timeskip games feel a lot less like their own trilogy and a lot more like just a game series. They can’t very well start a new trilogy when they haven’t even finished this one, but at the same time it’s a bit of a mess because the biggest things that have been left unresolved in the post-timeskip games come from AA4, which was released nine years ago. AA6 was pretty much a self-contained game (in the sense that there was nothing introduced in this game that was left unresolved—every question the game introduced was answered), and that can make it feel like the post-timeskip era games have had their questions answered and their arcs completed, but they haven’t when you take AA4 and AA5 into account (especially AA4). This trilogy can’t be a trilogy because the story still hasn’t been completed.

And even if they did want to go that route—how would they mark that off? We can’t say that changing the name of the lawyer on the front of the box will do them any good, because Apollo only had his name on one box, and it went right back to Phoenix after that. They could try time skipping again, but at that point they’re going to have to once again show the characters we know and love undergoing major shifts in characterization to account for the timeskip, and I think they learned their lesson with AA4 (and the backlash received) and therefore know not to do that again. Plus, not only would that mean either having Trucy and Apollo learn the truth about their relationship off-screen during the timeskip or having Thalassa wait for X number of years before telling them for whatever reason, but it would also mean that any development Athena gets would have to happen completely off-screen, which would be a huge mistake. I don’t think even Capcom are foolish enough to try pulling that one.

So I really don’t think we’re looking another trilogy. If we do get another game, I think it’ll simply continue the series from where AA6 left off. How they’ll top AA6 I have no idea, as I said, but I can’t see them starting another trilogy. The backlash from their attempt to do that with AA4 was too great, a timeskip would be a mistake, and we still have lingering plot threads from AA4 and AA5 (especially AA4) that need to be addressed. It’s not time to move on yet. They could not pull that off.

Despite the numerous problems that existed with trying to incorporate the Kingdom of Khura’in while simultaneously focusing on a character who, prior to that point, had absolutely no ties to spirit channeling whatsoever aside, AA6 culminated in a literal reformation of an overseas legal system that was kickstarted by Apollo dethroning a queen so that he could put his younger foster sister (more or less) on the throne instead, with his foster brother serving as regent. Apollo faced down an opponent who not only had armed guards hold him at gunpoint, threatening to gun him down if he made so much as one misstep, but who could literally rewrite the laws as she saw fit. It didn’t matter what he did—she overrode him. She godmodded the trial and he still took her down, and I don’t see how they could possibly top that in terms of shock factor. I really don’t.

Of course, the argument can be made that they don’t really need to—but at the same time, they kind of do. When it comes to a narrative series, the stakes are supposed to get higher with each successive installment. Take Harry Potter, for example. Philosopher’s Stone was pretty light and basic, in that it introduced the characters, introduced Hogwarts, had a simple mystery and had everything end on a positive note. Chamber of Secrets was noticeably darker, what with students being petrified and the mystery being much more serious, but it still ended on a happy note with every single problem resolved. Prisoner of Azkaban made the tone dark in a different way, delving more into the past war against Voldemort and Harry’s past, and although things ended on a mostly positive note, they were bittersweet: Pettigrew escaped, Lupin was forced to resign, and Sirius was on the run, though alive. Then Goblet of Fire hit and all hell broke loose, and I don’t think I need to explain how the stakes grew more and more serious from then on. It was a steady increase of raised stakes, pain, and drama until the final conclusion, at which point everything evened out and the series concluded. (Cursed Child notwithstanding.) It made progressive sense.

What we have here, however, is a sudden jump in stakes. AA4 and AA5 dealt with raised stakes pertaining to Phoenix’s disbarment, Blackquill’s false conviction, and The Dark Age of the Law™, but the conclusion of AA5 was nowhere near the conclusion of AA6 in terms of the Holy Shit Quotient™. We may have ended The Dark Age of the Law™ in AA5, but not only did we not really see the ramifications of that beyond how it directly affected the core cast, but it’s still not on the level of completely revolutionizing a country, overthrowing a corrupt monarch, and placing someone else on the throne instead. The stakes involved there and the sheer level of drama makes it difficult to believe that they could ever top that, and if they can’t, then that means that AA7 is bound to feel overwhelming. Worse still, if they try and it backfires, then it will be remembered as melodramatic and all around bad. At this point, AA6 was so intense that I feel as if they’ve shot themselves in the foot, and for that reason I wonder if they’ll even try.

As far as Athena goes, you are right: there is still so much they could do with her, but she was treated so horribly in this game that I wonder if, again, they’ll even try. =( It’s incredibly disappointing considering how amazingly she was handled in AA5, but I feel she really got the shaft here, and far worse than Apollo ever did in AA5 (where he didn’t get the shaft at all, but you know). I would love Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney, though, particularly if it meant we got to hear more of her badass Objection theme, because hot damn was “Courtroom Revolutionairre” amazing in this game. (And hah, look at the name of her theme song. All the more reason why she should have participated in the final case, tbh, especially since the first half of 6-5 showed how she was willing to basically pull a Riza Hawkeye with her “I will follow you into Hell” bit in deciding to stand with Apollo against Phoenix.)

I was mostly being tongue-in-cheek re: “Justicykes is officially sunk,” but on a serious note I more meant that this proves that there’s nothing between them right now, I feel, and the reason why I feel that way is because, if they were meant to be romantically involved, their goodbye was nowhere near emotional enough for that. Nowhere near. Both Phoenix and Trucy were allowed to show more emotion about Apollo leaving than Athena did (though Phoenix’s was internal, and we didn’t have the luxury of seeing Athena’s thoughts during that portion of the game), and while Trucy’s is understandable (she is his little sister, even if neither of them know it because Capcom are bastards), that doesn’t excuse the fact that all Athena got was, “Well, okay, but I’ll keep growing without you, and you won’t recognize me the next time you see me!” Like, she didn’t even get an I’ll miss you that I can recall. The closest we get is when she tells him that she’s against him staying the day before, and definitely did look sad about it, but even then it was because she wanted to still learn from him. Which is nice … but again, it’s not a substitution for an actual goodbye when he announces his decision to stay. Likewise, Apollo didn’t say anything in particular to her, either—just said, “So I guess, game on?” in response to her saying she was going to keep growing as an attorney. That being what it is, I just can’t see them as having been together at that point, and if they’re not together before he stays, I can’t really see them getting together while he’s overseas in another country and is, in his own words, terrible about keeping in contact due to how busy he is. (And even then, it’s not Athena he’s writing—it’s Phoenix.)

Don’t get me wrong, I still love their chemistry and love the idea of them together—but for me personally, while I totally loved “they hook up post AA5″ headcanons (I wrote enough fics of that very thing, didn’t I? With this one still being my favorite of all the ones I ever wrote), and while I loved toying with the idea that they were actually dating during AA6 … that ending scene completely killed that for me. They could still get together in the future, absolutely, but I can’t see them as together during AA6 at all because their goodbye didn’t remotely hint at it. Even afterward, when they’re on the plane going home, Athena asks Phoenix if he’s okay with Apollo staying, rather than remarking upon her own feelings. That just … if she was his girlfriend, or if they had romantic feelings for each other that weren’t explicitly stated, there would need to be more there, you know? For all the ship tease we got, their goodbye was terrible.

It’s not that it was a BAD one in itself, and I liked Dhurke and Apollo’s interaction with him, but it’s starting kind of a tired trope at this point, too similar to other backstories we have already seen. It would have been nice to have something different and let him and Trucy find out they’re siblings, for fuck’s sake.