#incomescrane

 The premise is simple: murder, hostage situation, get an aquital or one of the only friends you have is going to kick the bucket. While there might have been more shock value if Maya hadn’t constantly been at risk most of the entire game, this is, I believe, the first time that her life is actually on the line? And it is exactly Maya that gives you the hardcore motivation to get a not guilty verdict- in fact it almost seems unnecessary, since you are playing a video game, and you are Phoenix Wright, and that means that the verdict is, one way or another, a given. Right?

  Wrong.   Very, very wrong.

 You are forced into a position that will make you fight for a verdict over the truth and justice at the exact same time that prosecutor Miles Edgeworth reenters your life. Now, he has realized the error of his previous ways, and is commited to the truth above his once precious flawless record. This is the second crucial point in the narrative- you are forced to become the person that Edgeworth has just discarded, while he assumes your role as the seeker of the truth.

  Boy, do these guys love the truth.

 As the nareative progresses, you start to doubt in the innocence of your client- something which has never happened before. This is reflected in gameplay. The links between testimonies and your evidence begin to become flimsier; you struggle to find contradictions, and when you do, you stumble upon one or two short, crippled lines of reasoning. This is unlike previous cases, where one contradiction seemingly effortlessly leads to the next, in a long, twisting and winding spiral that leads to your victory. Think of it like eating a plate of spaghetti- before you could shamelessly slurp up long strands of pasta, but now you’re left with those pesky short pieces which you can barely pick up with a fork, let alone slurp. I lost almost ¾ of my penalty bar by choosing the wrong evidence at the wrong time. You can feel just how forced the courtroom proceedings are getting. And all along you are faced with Edgeworth, calm, collected, eloquently throwing down your objections almost as soon as they ring out.

 You start to get the feeling like the roles have been reversed. It certainly doesn’t get better from here.

 The game them lets you have a break from court to search for more clues, and you realize that hey, maybe Engarde really was up to something. Maybe he is guilty. Damn. Edgeworth remains obscure, helping you find leads while lecturing you on the true role of a defence attorney. By this point, my stress levels were starting to ramp up. If you couldn’t already tell by the vagueness of my writing, I don’t remember very many details, and this is all as it should be. Everything is a blur as you struggle between what you should do and what you are being forced to do.By the time you break Engarde’s monster Psyche-locke, all your doubts have been confirmed. You are defending a murderer, and what’s worse, there’s no way out of this one. You have to protect Maya at all costs. Here you confide in Edgeworth, and he assembles a team to try and rescue her. By this point, the narrative has evolved in such a way that:  1) You are constantly doubting your every action  2) You have to continue manipulating the trial, since you’ve got a life on the line  3) You realize that Edgeworth isn’t out to get you this time. If anything, he is working with you.

 Why is this important? Well, because it gets you self-aware of what you’re doing, opens up your mind to the premise of working together with a prosecutor, and freeing up the role of the antagonist for a certain manipulative bastard, who by the way, finally shows his true face once you bust through his intimidating level 5 Psyche-locke.

  That’s right.   Matt Engarde.

 By the time the second part of the trial begins, you are basically bluffing your way through everything. There was a point in which I was basically presenting evidence while cursing. You are one foot in the grave. Nothing works for more than a minute or two, and there’s certainly no hope of catching Edgeworth off guard. But here the narrative has Miles just going along for the ride. He’s confident in his case and in his evidance and most of all, in himself. And the best part is that this character is literally put just across from you, Phoenix Wright, who lacks all three of those things. By the time you object to the suicide note’s authenticity, everyone is against you. You are against you. And you can’t back away.

  And it sucks. It sucks so extremely bad.

  But the narrative isn’t done with you just yet.

 First, it gives you hope in the form of Dick Gumshoe, who just might be able to rescue Maya. Maybe, just maybe, if you can hold on for a lottle while longer, she can be saved and you can finally do your job. Court resumes and you are given the second piece of your upcoming salvation. The note was a fraud. Things start to turn in your favour. And then de Killer is put on the stand, and his testimony enables you to put an end to all your problems. Except that the narrative has now, for lack of a better term, positively manipulated you into NOT wanting to just accept an aquital.

 And this glorious moment right here is when the good old ace attorney feel starts to return to the case. Edgeworth cements the fact, informing de Killer that ‘this is how it’s usually done’. Now, the contradictions are clear and the evidence is practically screaming to be let loose of the court record and held up to the Judge’s scrutiny. Here, you and the prosecution juggle the witness between yourselves, shaking out every last bit of the truth from him. I can’t accurately describe in words just how dramatically the feel of the trial changes. However, I suspect that this is due to the pacing ramping up by having you point out contradictions one after the other in a very short period of time, as well as having Edgeworth work with you as an ally. It’s one of the best moments in the series. The dialogue is all to this effect as well- I believe the infamous line goes something like: “his trust…? I never thought about it until now… I … I trust him?”.

 And this is where the narrative puts the weight of the everything it has built up to in your hands. Guilty or not? At this point, all hope seems lost. The evidence didn’t make it, and the miracle you and Edgeworth both pushed towards didn’t happen. Guilty or not? Maya’s life or Adrien’s? The truth, or- well, you get the point. And melodrama aside, ypu choose guilty. Because everyone and everything has been set up in such a way that you can’t abide with accepting a lie as justice.

  Sorry, Maya.

 But then who should burst in but Franziska, and your heart soars because the evidence you have been stalling for all this time is finally here. The narrative was woven in such a way that you felt glad to hear her whip crack. Who would have thought? If that isn’t testament to the power of the plot we have here, then I don’t know what is.

 And now you pull off the impossible- you have de Killer release Maya, thus putting you back in a position on 100%, bona fide control of the case. And guess who is going to be the first to feel the wrath of defence attorney Phoenix Wright, completely unshackled and in full pursuit of justice?

 As if there were ever any doubt. Engarde couldn’t have possibly imagined this when he oh-so graciously filled the antagonist chair which Edgeworth abandoned. Now, as Phoenix, I chose to finally wholeheartedly push for a not guilty verdict, just to taste the sweet, sweet irony of Engarde pleading for it himself.

 The epilogue spendidly wraps up all loose ends. Maya returns, Gumshoe is OK, you reconcile with Edgeworth and you all go out for dinner. Franziska leaves on a journey of her own. Oldbag…well, Oldbag never changes. Perhaps it’s better that way.

 But justice was served, and the truth was brought to light as it always is. The narrative is now closed, and yet leaves endless opportunities for the future open. It’s hella rad, if I do say so myself.

 So, since I’ve wasted enough of you time with my weird half-baked ramblings which probably make no sense whatsoever, I’ll be off now. Farewell, My Turnabout is lodged in my personal ranking as the best case in Ace Attorney history. That is, until I give Trials and Tribulations a go. My brother tells me that the last case is somewhat of a doozy.