Cantaim
Shriekbat
It was certainly an interesting ride. It's also a title I'd been dying to play for years now. As I've played literally every Ace Attorney game except the two GAA titles (please don't talk about the second game I've yet to start it). I went into the game blind and new almost nothing about it outside of it taking place in Britain and you getting to hang out with the great Sherlock Holmes Herlock Shlomes. Which needless to say got me really curious for years. I was dying to know was he friend or foe? Would he adventure with you or against you? Would be an ace detective or a fraud you have to uncover? Well as anyone would know based on my title I finally got my answer after all these years! To make this thread an easier read I'll break my topics down into points.
1. Music:
Thankfully this game is like every other AA game in that is has a really great soundtrack! I don't know if I'd say it had one of the best tracks in the series but there were multiple tracks that I thought were standout greats in the game for evoking my emotions. my first example is a good 1-2 punch the game does with two specific tracks which are done so well I think some players may never even notice they are two different scores.
The first of the two is actually the title screen song. I'm a fan of this one and it's build up. It's a great little tune to hear as you start the game up. It gives you the heads up that the adventure you are going to have is one that is going to be filled with suspense! In fact the suspense and build up is so good this song pulls double duty and it is also the song that plays when you turn the tables on someone in court! Which is really important because you have all of this momentum just building and building until both narratively and musically something comes out. Something powerful, something almost nostalgic, something that has to be said when contradictions present themselves! That's right this song is called "prelude to adventure" not only because it's the first track you hear. But also because it's usually the track you hear right before.
The objection track hits! As I said the build up with Prelude is what makes this one hit quite well in bigger cases. I don't have much to say about this piece as well... What else is there to say? The Objection theme is usually the most popular theme in any AA game and GAA is no different in this case!
For one last piece I'd like to highlight (as this stuck out to me) is a bit of a more innocuous bit of music that foreshadows rather well I believe.
Yup it's the music box! specifically this track plays early on in case 5 when Herlock is explaining to our MC how music boxes work. A lovely small little piece that is equal parts beautiful and slightly twisted. As if the music box knows that as the case continues these devices that are supposed to bring joy. Will be revealed to be the center point of a tragedy.
2. Setting:
I may not have as much to say on this as I do on the music but what I will say is I loved the setting of GAA! The city of London was a breath of fresh air for me and I was having a blast every time the game showed off a new part of the city. My only wish is that we saw more! The game did a fantastic job at contrasting (even if it didn't do it a lot)/ How miserable it is to not be well off in London vs being well off (almost like this is a theme...). But ah I have to cut this section short or else I just start posting screen shots of all the areas haha. Old time London is a jam of mine with the horse drawn carriages in the middle of winter. So needless to say I was in hog heaven when I found out there was even a case based on that premise!
3. Story
Here we are the final stretch! I'll try not to get into too much detail about it as I could type thousands of words about the story recapping it if I wanted. Instead I'd like to talk about what the story did that I thought was fascinating. The first thing that I loved about the story and never saw coming. Was just how hard the game went to bat for immigrants and the downtrodden of society. While scorning the privileged and rich. An example of this is viewable in the very first case. We have multiple parties trying to cover up the existence of a mysterious British woman who killed a man in broad daylight. And even your fellow country men tricked you into defending yourself in order to ensure you would not drag down your destined to be more successful best friend into oblivion with you.
it's a fun twist on the story formula imo. With one exception you are always defending people society deems lesser and has no problems abusing to achieve their own ends (yes this happens in all AA games but in GAA I felt like this was far more prevalent as a major theme). With one notable exception you by and large defend the people society wants nothing to do with I.E. Immigrants and the poor. Which was a great way to play into the general idea of justice in Britain being off. With the weakest and most vulnerable members of society being the ones that have to go into trials with 0 chance of a fair trial.
This leads into my second point which is the final trial. I gotta say I think this might be my favorite "twist" of a fifth trial in the entire series. But it might not be for the reasons you think. It's because I loved the fact that it was a flipped version of your first trial in Britain. Just like in the first trial the second the actual killer takes the stand. Things start shifting weirdly. The killer knows things they shouldn't know and the police seem to be unusually uncooperative. Just spiraling out of control until you realize you're being played with a rigged trial. The reason I love this? Because the game oh so subtly put you in the exact shoes of this games prosecutor Barok Van Zieks! The anger and frustration you felt as you knew you were being played and cheated must have been the exact way he felt during the first trail against him. That feeling of knowing that no matter how much you pin the killer down. Some new crooked explanation or evidence will pop up to undo it all.
Loved it so much. Really made me understand why he had such a hatred for us. After all why wouldn't he? He saw us trick and cheat our way to a not guilty verdict in our very first trial. I wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed in the second game that he believed for a time that we cheated our way out of the second trial against him too.
I am not one for writing great wrap ups to my LLTP threads. So I guess I shall end it here. I'm curious to hear everyone else thoughts on this game. Did y'all like it or did you find it to be just alright?
1. Music:
Thankfully this game is like every other AA game in that is has a really great soundtrack! I don't know if I'd say it had one of the best tracks in the series but there were multiple tracks that I thought were standout greats in the game for evoking my emotions. my first example is a good 1-2 punch the game does with two specific tracks which are done so well I think some players may never even notice they are two different scores.
The first of the two is actually the title screen song. I'm a fan of this one and it's build up. It's a great little tune to hear as you start the game up. It gives you the heads up that the adventure you are going to have is one that is going to be filled with suspense! In fact the suspense and build up is so good this song pulls double duty and it is also the song that plays when you turn the tables on someone in court! Which is really important because you have all of this momentum just building and building until both narratively and musically something comes out. Something powerful, something almost nostalgic, something that has to be said when contradictions present themselves! That's right this song is called "prelude to adventure" not only because it's the first track you hear. But also because it's usually the track you hear right before.
The objection track hits! As I said the build up with Prelude is what makes this one hit quite well in bigger cases. I don't have much to say about this piece as well... What else is there to say? The Objection theme is usually the most popular theme in any AA game and GAA is no different in this case!
For one last piece I'd like to highlight (as this stuck out to me) is a bit of a more innocuous bit of music that foreshadows rather well I believe.
Yup it's the music box! specifically this track plays early on in case 5 when Herlock is explaining to our MC how music boxes work. A lovely small little piece that is equal parts beautiful and slightly twisted. As if the music box knows that as the case continues these devices that are supposed to bring joy. Will be revealed to be the center point of a tragedy.
2. Setting:
I may not have as much to say on this as I do on the music but what I will say is I loved the setting of GAA! The city of London was a breath of fresh air for me and I was having a blast every time the game showed off a new part of the city. My only wish is that we saw more! The game did a fantastic job at contrasting (even if it didn't do it a lot)/ How miserable it is to not be well off in London vs being well off (almost like this is a theme...). But ah I have to cut this section short or else I just start posting screen shots of all the areas haha. Old time London is a jam of mine with the horse drawn carriages in the middle of winter. So needless to say I was in hog heaven when I found out there was even a case based on that premise!
3. Story
Here we are the final stretch! I'll try not to get into too much detail about it as I could type thousands of words about the story recapping it if I wanted. Instead I'd like to talk about what the story did that I thought was fascinating. The first thing that I loved about the story and never saw coming. Was just how hard the game went to bat for immigrants and the downtrodden of society. While scorning the privileged and rich. An example of this is viewable in the very first case. We have multiple parties trying to cover up the existence of a mysterious British woman who killed a man in broad daylight. And even your fellow country men tricked you into defending yourself in order to ensure you would not drag down your destined to be more successful best friend into oblivion with you.
it's a fun twist on the story formula imo. With one exception you are always defending people society deems lesser and has no problems abusing to achieve their own ends (yes this happens in all AA games but in GAA I felt like this was far more prevalent as a major theme). With one notable exception you by and large defend the people society wants nothing to do with I.E. Immigrants and the poor. Which was a great way to play into the general idea of justice in Britain being off. With the weakest and most vulnerable members of society being the ones that have to go into trials with 0 chance of a fair trial.
This leads into my second point which is the final trial. I gotta say I think this might be my favorite "twist" of a fifth trial in the entire series. But it might not be for the reasons you think. It's because I loved the fact that it was a flipped version of your first trial in Britain. Just like in the first trial the second the actual killer takes the stand. Things start shifting weirdly. The killer knows things they shouldn't know and the police seem to be unusually uncooperative. Just spiraling out of control until you realize you're being played with a rigged trial. The reason I love this? Because the game oh so subtly put you in the exact shoes of this games prosecutor Barok Van Zieks! The anger and frustration you felt as you knew you were being played and cheated must have been the exact way he felt during the first trail against him. That feeling of knowing that no matter how much you pin the killer down. Some new crooked explanation or evidence will pop up to undo it all.
Loved it so much. Really made me understand why he had such a hatred for us. After all why wouldn't he? He saw us trick and cheat our way to a not guilty verdict in our very first trial. I wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed in the second game that he believed for a time that we cheated our way out of the second trial against him too.
I am not one for writing great wrap ups to my LLTP threads. So I guess I shall end it here. I'm curious to hear everyone else thoughts on this game. Did y'all like it or did you find it to be just alright?
(Regardless, more people should play FDC!)