u/Blazing_Aura

On apr 25th I finished the great ace attorney 2 and its taken a while to collect my thoughts compared to other Ace Attorney games. Can I just say that this was undoubtedly the hardest AA game I've played yet? There so many times I played through cases just taking in the reveals and story as I go and then all of the sudden Ryunosuke comes out and says "the defense actually has knows the evidence"- UHH NO TF I DONT LOL

Now this game is pretty much the same as the first gameplay wise so I still think its good here. The pacing is wayyy better than the first game(besides like the 2nd case) and I really like how many story beats tied up in the end. The characters were written better than the first game (and admittedly I didn't even like Sholmes in the first because he acted like an asshole).

Blossoming Attorney (B tier) - This is the case where I've gotten the least amount of penalties in the series so far (1). You know having Susato be a lawyer just this once makes it feel like a missed opportunity to have her do more of it in later cases. It just felt like a one off thing because it wouldn't make sense for Ryunosuke to relearn the things he learned from his 1st trial (except that he was disbarred for a few months but whatever). Jezaille Brett being the victim was a welcome twist that I wouldn't have saw coming, though I was a bit dissappointed that she never got to talk to our main cast again after what she said at the end of GAA1-1. Its a fine simple case with a culprit that weirdly and comedically appears out of nowhere when crosses examining Soseki. It gives a great introduction to the themes of Britain being corrupt and not letting true justice prevail for the sake of the country. I wish Rei returned- I thought there was going to be a little bit of romance with her and susato lol. Also is Ryutaro supposed to be a JOTARO REFERENCE? Maybe im looking too deep.

Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro (B ti****er)- This case really shows off its amazing camera work doesn't it? Now this case does EVERYTHING better than the Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro with its pacing, hilarious characters like Shamspeare and Soseki, and a near tragedy with the victim of the past case (I forgot her name). I will say that the case really didnt feel important towards the overall story and that the whole gas plot testimony dragged out a bit, preventing it from being A tier. It took a while to follow the whole thing but I will admit that the twist of Shamspeare being the culprit was great. He doesn’t seem like a murderous person. Quinby Altamont needs to give me sloppy and bouncy. Anyways.

Return of the Great Departed Soul (A tier) - This has a fun investigation setting with the exhibition that was hinted at in the Adventure of the runaway room. Hairbrayne is definitely my FAVORITE defendant yet and I love his mannerisms. Us having to choose whether to defend or refute his hypothesis was a neat choice but rather inconsequential in the long run since I easily chose to refute the hypothesis. The first day of the trial was pretty much eh to me. I mean the balloon boy and the balloon seller were funny I guess but that testimony went by quick. The mystery of the exploding balloon was nice though. This is the case where I started to like Sholmes because he was put in situations that seemed a bit uncomfortable for him yet pretty humorous, like posing as a statue for Madame Tusspells. The case has my FAVORITE dance of deduction despite most liking Case 5s dance. I like that both Enoch Drebber and Dr Sithe were guilty, but I had more of an attachment to Drebber than Sithe. Sithe was just eh to me. Now I had been spoiled that Kazuma returns but the game makes it obvious anyways. Still the scene is heartwarming and probably the best animated scene in the game. The reveal of the Professor also didn't have much of sn effect on me

Twisted Karma and His Last Bow (A tier) - This is like a LOW a tier because of it's part 1 of the final case BUT it also has a few issues. For one, my most BELOVED character in GAA1 was Inspector Gregson, and when I saw the scene of Gina crying I didn't believe it. I didn't believe that he died. The tears seemed convincing but I expected such a big character to have a more grandiose death rather than being killed off screen- or being showed his death in a cutscene like Mia Fey. I was dissappointed to say the least. The witnesses in this case didn't interest me either, the red haired gang were funny but thats pretty much it. Kinda wish the little Italian guy didnt rat out the French one quickly. And I expected the firecracker girl and Beppo to be important as well. Now the thing that's keeping this case in A tier is the reveal of Daley Vigil being gossip. They kept the neck thing hidden very well and I loved having to figure out who had it. The reveal of Mikotoba being the partner was nice too and I almost FLIPPED OUT when I thought Iris was Susatos sister! Kazuma being serious as a prosecutor and his theme is a delight to witness (again... I had been spoiled)

Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo (A tier) - Man...this case was SO CLOSE to being S tier. Now what brings this case a bit lower is the first halfs culprit. I feel like we didn't spend enough time getting attached to him or his past. Its cool that this case has 2 judges as the culprit but it didn’t feel satisfying cornering Jigoku when I wanted to know more about him. Later in the trial Stronghart mentions that Jigoku took the offer of becoming the Minister of Foreign Affairs if he helped bring Asogi back home. I wanted to see that side of Jigoku more- a side that is prideful of his title and is scared of having it stripped away. That easily manipulated side. We might have gotten glimpses of that in Case 1, but it just wasn't enough to satisfy me. I like being shown something rather than told. SPEAKING OF- I wanted to learn more about Klints descend into madness after seeing the unpunished aristocrats of London. We know of Van Zieks methods of trying to prosecute the right way, so it would've nice to see more backstory on his bro. We also should've seen or been hinted at the previous Lord chief Justice too before this case. In fact, most of my problems with the reveals in this case is that there should've been more build up or hints to them throughout both games rather than just cramming all of the reveals into this one case. The reveals are cool but the depth can be expanded upon.

And then...there's of course....the Sholmes scene. Now I love how absolutely ridiculous and hilarious this scene is with Ultra Instinct Sholmes teleporting here and there. And thats pretty much it. This game takes place in the 1900s and you want me to take in that the big bad is defeated by a holographic device used by Sholmes? Something that wasn't even hinted at anytime before this case? I accepted the color thing in GAA1-5 since it was shown in the investigation despite fingerprints not being used in this time period yet. And this is the same game in which we had to prove that a teleportation device wasn't possible in 2-3, so this just made be swept up with mixed emotions. I just don't like endings where its all like "HA we heard everything you said and captured it on tape"-you know those kinds of tropes. It definitely could've been handled better with the Sholmes inviting the Queen in secret to the trial due to how popular his books are. Have a character arc like that. With a case called Resolve of Ryunosuke it kind of felt like Shomes stole the show at the end

Now for the good stuff! STRONGHART HAS THE BEST BREAKDOWNS IN THE ENTIRE SERIES (I haven't played apollo trilogy yet). Stronghart is one of the most devious characters in the series man 😭. Everyones methods to eradicating crime in London is intriguing and Stronghart just takes the selfish route. Him being outed as wrong by everyone was satisfying, as well as his manipulation of the courtroom when he thinks of the security of London. Him being shocked at the audience wanting more testimony and needing their approval was also amazing. The reveal of Iris true father was astonishing and I don't really care if she doesn't know yet. The assassin exchange was a fucked up revelation, I did get spoiled that Jigoku was a culprit but having two judges be the villains was nice, Ryunosukes development coming to a close definitely makes him a contender for best character in the series, Kazuma and Van Zieks coming to terms with Ryunosuke (though I heard people don't like Kazuma in the ending, not sure what thats about). And of course the MUSIIIIIIIIC. This is also the only case in which I didn't get 5 penalties in the last trial yay!

All in all, GAA2 is Great (ha), but not my favorite sadly. Its a huge improvement on the first part but I feel as if we could've spent more time with certain characters. Its really the last 3 cases(well mostly 3 and 5) in which the meat of the game satisfies me and the reveals/build ups I mentioned should have been spread out a bit more rather than shoved in the last case IMO. Other than that, these 2 games definitely have the best plot next to AAI2 once you learn about everything that happens.

People have it as a top 3, but I dont. Overrated?(lol Im ragebaiting)

RANKING: T&T,AAI2, Phoenix Wright,PL VS PW, GAA2, JFA,GAA,AAI

Onto the Apollo Trilogy!