BORN TO FUNNY
WORLD IS A TURNABOUT BIG TOP
West Clownadelphia 2006
I am Moe Curls
410,757,864,530 GROWN MEN ATTRACTED TO A 16 YEAR OLD

Widely considered to be the black sheep of the original Ace Attorney Trilogy, to say Justice for All is a divisive entry among AA fans would be an understatement. And, while I certainly agree that it’s the weakest out of the original trilogy, I’d still consider it an absolutely delightful romp that not only introduces a ton of memorable characters and a brand new core mechanic, but one that tells a damn compelling series of vignettes, with one in particular sticking with you long after the credits roll. But alas, I’m getting ahead of myself; it’s time to re-enter the courtroom once more and see what it is that makes JFA so damn weird. Oh and uhh…. no whips please? Thank you very much.

(WARNING: this review contains minor/vague spoilers for each of the 4 cases featured in Justice for All)

In a shift from my review of the first game, where I essentially explained what an Attorney of the Ace variety even was, I’m mainly going to be discussing what new things JFA brings to the table (since, being completely honest as someone who adores this series, if you’ve played one entry, you’ve basically played them all). In this sense, JFA is probably the biggest trend setter of the series, establishing mechanics/additions that would go on to be utilised in pretty much every single game going forward. One of the most significant new toys added to the series in JFA would have to be the Psyche-Locks: given to you just before the midpoint of the 2nd Case, this glowing magatama allows you peer into the souls of any witness who’s being particularly defensive about a given subject, functioning essentially as the Cross Examination parts of Trials but this time during the Investigation segments and only focusing on presenting the correct evidence. It’s not the deepest mechanic in the world, but it adds a nice layer of tension to Investigations that the first game lacked, connecting the two styles of gameplay together a lot more cohesively. Psyche-Locks or a variation of their general gameplay formula would stick around in every AA game after this and I’d say it was definitely for the best.

After that would be the general trends JFA would lay the groundwork for for each subsequent game in the series (there’s a lot it sets up here so buckle up). Starting off the list would be the tradition of a new composer being brought on to work for each entry (most of the time anyway), giving each new game its own musical style. In JFA’s case, Naoto Tanaka took over the reins from Masakazu Sugimori this time round, delivering some absolutely excellent new tracks throughout (particularly with his Investigation and character themes which I still hold as some of the best in the series). Next would be in how it’s structured: JFA, the original Ace Attorney and almost every game after these two follow a very similar structure: Case 1 is very much a dressed up tutorial, getting you to grips with the game’s mechanics as it throws some generally pedestrian challenges your way, Case 2 is a mix of tutorial-ness (usually through it’s introduction of Investigation segments) along with setting up the main characters/story elements that will persist throughout the entire game (or even multiple games), Case 3 is usually tied to a unique location (e.g. JFA’s is a circus) that has a few moments that tie back to the overarching narrative but mainly exists as a filler case for the devs to flex their creative muscles on what they can come up with (to….let’s just say varying degrees of success) and Case 4/5 being where shit hits the fan and a ton of loose ends and tiny things set up in previous cases all culminate in an epic climax. Not every game follows this structure (The Great Ace Attorney is a particular deviant of this) but it’s one that JFA cemented as what would be the standard going forward. Finally, and undoubtedly the biggest, would be the concept of having Phoenix (/Apollo/Athena/Ryuunosuke, take your pick really) face off against a different prosecutor each game. And who is the one to kickstart this trend you ask? None other than the offspring of the demon known as Manfred von Karma, Franziska von Karma. Franziska as a character is certainly an interesting one and, while I wouldn’t call her as multi-faceted as her predecessor Edgeworth and a certain caffeine junkie that we’ll get to in due time, she still manages to be a fascinating study of the effects of succession on the mind and how someone acts when presented with the prospect of living up to the legacy of someone revered (or in this case feared) throughout the nation. Like I said, she isn’t the deepest character compared to many of the other prosecutors seen throughout the series, but she does a great job of chastising the player and being the centrepiece of some genuinely fantastic emotional moments (the post credits scene is particularly heartwrenching). Just...don't let me near her whip, OK?

In terms of JFA’s overall case quality, I’d say it’s pretty hit or miss. The tutorial case is pretty fun (with a delightfully hammy villain at the centre of it), the 2nd is pretty dull in my opinion, with not much of note happening past the first Investigation segment (it did introduce Pearls though so that’s definitely a positive) and Case 3, while maligned by the general AA fandom as the worst in the series, was one I found to be immensely enjoyable to go through (extremely weird and uncomfortable love triangle notwithstanding) with it’s sheer absurdity and genuinely heartbreaking villain.

And then there’s Case 4: Farewell My Turnabout.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH


Farewell My Turnabout is widely considered to be one of, if not THE best case in the entire series and for damn good reason; it sets up a highly unique scenario that hasn’t really been done in any other AA games since, is filled with tons of both new and returning faces (each with their own absolutely fascinating and deeply compelling quirks and backstories) and is fueled by one of the greatest moments in Ace Attorney history that’ll leave you reeling long after the credits roll. It’s hard to really say much about this case without giving away what makes it so damn enjoyable (as evident by how vague I’m being with the details here) but just know that it makes sitting through JFA’s admittedly wishy-washy quality so worth it in the end. All in all, it’s a fascinating crop of cases that serves to tee up stuff to come in T&T while also making for an (at the very least) extremely engaging journey throughout many different locales, helping you to slowly piece together the overall narrative as they progress before climaxing in one of the most unforgettable finales in the series.

In a way, JFA’s choice of prosecutor and what they represent feels almost emblematic of the entire game to me: a sequel that couldn’t possibly hope to match the lasting legacy of their predecessor, fumbles when it tries too hard to recapture what worked in the past before ultimately soaring to new, near insurmountable heights once it decides to carve its own path, untethered by the expectations brought about from what came before. It’s this enrapturing level of perfect imperfection that lets JFA, despite of all of it's shortcomings, sit proudly alongside it’s more generally respected siblings in my eyes. Until we meet again....Mr. Phoenix Wright.

Justice for All is a really strange entry.

The first two cases are just kind of bad and not really memorable, meanwhile Turnabout Big Top is a case you're either neutral on or absolute despise.

However, the fourth case in this game is one of the best cases in the entire series and is a welcome breath of fresh air after the rest of the cases. It's probably also the only reason this game gets 3 stars.

I quite literally owe everything in my life to Franziska. Not even fucking around in a hyperbolic way here.

It's because I played this in 2013 and said "hey, she's kinda cute. I'll use her as an icon on Twitter" that I now have a wife. She followed me there thanks to my profile icon and the rest is history. Meeting her also led me to befriend one of her friends, who helped us get our current job which allowed us to move out and live together. The butterfly effect is VERY much real and my experience with this game is proof enough for me.

Oh, and uh, game's pretty good too. I love Franziska, love the soundtrack, and case 4 is pretty intense.

🤡🤡🤡🤡🦁🦁🦁🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐 TURNABOUT BIG TOP GOATED 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🦁🦁🦁🤡🤡🤡🤡

although in reflection it may seem most of the game is trapped in kinda good territory, JFA’s sincerity still shines through in every case. while the first game was a nostalgic journey set on becoming a lawyer, JFA is more concerned with the struggles that come along with being a lawyer, for better or for worse. in its stride to distinctively continue the Phoenix Wright saga, it falters and reclaims its balance many times but it does so earnestly, and eventually reaches the apex that is Farewell, My Turnabout.

“The end justifies the means, Mr. Wright. The end justifies the means.”

SPOILERS FOR CASE 3 OF ACE ATTORNEY 2

Coming right off of my Ace Attorney 1 replay and just loving that game to death, I admittedly had some preconceived thoughts about Justice for All. I was under the impression that it was merely a subpar follow-up to the original game whose only notable addition to the series was the revered Farewell, My Turnabout case. Having heard these thoughts repeated ad infinitum, I was genuinely not looking forward to getting into this game. I even dropped it just under a year ago after getting less than halfway through the second case because my ass was just not feeling it. I will say, dropping the game was probably the best choice I could've made for maximizing my enjoyment of it, because I was in a much more receptive, accepting mindset towards it this time around. I stopped being a sheep and just played the game hoping I'd at least be entertained. And coming out of it, I can say that I was more than just entertained.

With all that setup in mind, how does the game actually stack up? Well, in many places, this game has both the best and worst shit I've seen in the series up until this point. A game of highs and lows, if you will. And frankly, no case in the entire game exemplifies this idea to such an extreme extent and my experience with JFA as a whole, better than the notorious Turnabout Big Top case, which is why I want to focus in on it specifically, as opposed to going in chronological order of each case.

I had heard so much bad stuff about this case before starting it that I was honestly a little nervous that this would be another point where I might consider dropping the game for almost a year again. I had thoroughly enjoyed the previous case and was hoping I wouldn’t share the complaints I had heard other people have for this next one. And for the first half of the case? Most of the complaints I had heard rang absolutely true and THEN SOME. Turnabout Big Top starts off with an unbearably long low point that lasts all the way throughout the first trial day. Now, Ace Attorney is known for having wacky, zany, over-the-top characters, and I’ve always considered that to be one of its strengths that makes it infinitely charming to me. However, this case officially takes it all much too far. The client for this case, Maximillion Galactica has a neat design, but good God, after more than a few minutes of interacting with him, I just wanted him to shut up. He attempts to feel “flashy”, but all of that flash just burned my eyes out in frustration at how flat of a character he actually was. You could replace him with a stock image of a lamppost and I genuinely think the case would greatly benefit from it. And don’t even get me started with how he (and one other character) is lusting after an actual SIXTEEN-YEAR OLD. Like holy shit, how was I expected to want this guy to be anywhere other than prison? Need an alternate ending where Phoenix, after finding this out, purposefully helps put him in jail where he belongs tbh!!!!!!

Anyways, Max is ass but the next character I want to focus on is Ben the Ventriloquist. He is an equally worthless character who tries too hard to have some charming gimmick with his puppet and ends up being yet another uncomfortable personality in how he’s a grown-ass, 31 year old MAN trying to marry a fucking 16 year old girl. And honestly, I generally try to look past shit like this in stories if there’s at least decent writing behind it, but the whole love triangle between him, Max, and Regina feels so out of left field, unnecessary, and crammed in your face that it’s impossible for me not to ignore. His whole puppet schtick was extremely unbearable as well. I never found him funny or entertaining in the slightest. These two characters are possibly my least favorite in the series by a wide margin. They’re an attempt at charming, wacky characters, but they both fall flat on their faces by being so genuinely unlikable and irritating.

Those two are at the core of most of my issues with this case because the entirety of the plot surrounding them was inherently brought down by their mere association. The actual mystery at this point in the story wasn’t doing me any favors either as most of the first day dragged its feet, feeling less like a mystery and more like a washed up, unfunny circus routine (which I suppose is fitting).
My enjoyment of the series had never been lower, and I even considered skimming through dialogue just to get past this tedious, unbearable case.
But then something really strange happened.

Turnabout Big Top

Got good.

The difference in quality between the first and second days cannot be understated. For the most part, the terrible characters I mentioned before have very, very little screentime. And the characters that actually DO get focus are not only compelling, but genuinely emotionally gripping, incredibly charming, and actually likable. Moe the Clown, a character that initially caused me the same level of irritation as Max and Ben due to his eye-burning design and unfunny gimmick, became a surprisingly touching character when all he wanted was to help Regina come to terms with her father’s death, rather than allow her to stay in blissful ignorance. It was a turn for his character that I didn’t expect at all, but it helped elevate my emotional engagement with the case and him as a character, so I’m all for it. And speaking of Regina, she was pretty much the only character introduced in the first day of the case that I actually liked. She was a bit of a brat, yeah, but I could tell that she meant well and she was absolutely adorable. It was abundantly clear that she lived a spoiled, sheltered life, but I couldn’t help but feel for the poor girl in spite of that. Her father had just been killed, but she hardly seemed to really comprehend the gravity of that fact. While she was undoubtedly a very “cute” character, it’s the juxtaposition of that and this undercurrent of somberness that was prevalent in most of her scenes that really helped me connect with her. And finally, we have Acro the Acrobat.

What a phenomenal killer.

Like no other killer before or after him, Acro stands tall as possibly THE MOST tragic and sympathetic character in the series up until this point. In contrast to the previously over-the-top characters, Acro instantly stands out from the moment we first meet him. He’s not some loudmouthed, unfunny CLOD like most of the others, he’s gentle and soft-spoken, with birds sitting with him on his wheelchair highlighting the tranquil, calming energy that his personality gives off. Despite this, there’s this general feeling of sadness that pervades all of his scenes, much like Regina. This gives the two of them a sort of connective tissue, as their role in the story would become more pronounced as it reached its climax.

Acro brings a lot of emotional depth to this case that I haven’t really felt with other killers in this series, even the best ones. He’s possibly the most unique killer the series has seen yet, thanks to his heartbreaking circumstances and understandable motives. He’s just a broken man who lost everything because of one girl’s naïveté, but he understandably cannot bring himself to forgive her for it, despite knowing deep down that what he wants to do is wrong, without doubt. It is a very mature idea for this series to tackle and I think it’s an incredibly “human” concept.

Even if it’s not on the scale of outright murder, there do come times where someone wrongs us in ways that we simply cannot reconcile with, even if it was unintentional on their part. Sometimes we’re hurt so profoundly by someone that it can make us someone we’re not, we lose the ability to understand, to empathize. Blinded by hatred, Acro ended up accidentally killing the man that meant the most to him. The man that gave him and his, now comatose, brother a chance when everyone had abandoned him before. He not only hurt himself in doing this, but wrongfully took the father of an innocent young girl who could barely even comprehend what had happened.

And when it’s finally time to corner him in the trial, and Phoenix exposes his crimes, there’s no twist “unmasking” where he reveals that he was actually crazy the whole time and laughs maniacally while cursing Phoenix for foiling his plan.

All we get are tears.

A sea of tears from a broken man who couldn’t let go of his hatred and heartbreak. Tears from a broken man who couldn’t find it in himself to understand the person who hurt him so much. And in his sadness and newfound self-hatred, he’s taken away, forced to think about what he did for the foreseeable future, with the audience never knowing for sure if he’ll find peace.

What a special, special character.

THAT is how you write a compelling, layered, and emotionally-investing antagonist. He has a sympathetic, sufficiently-explored backstory that informs his motive, and we may not agree with what he does, but we can certainly understand his actions as a result. These certainly aren’t the only way to effectively write an antagonist, but I cannot sing Acro’s praises enough, he almost single-handedly flipped my view on this case.

After the dust settles, Regina, after watching all of this unfold, is unable to continue with the blissful ignorance that had defined her character at the beginning of this case. She weeps, she shouts, she blames herself for what happened, and still has trouble wrapping her head around it, but she can finally begin to accept what happened to her father. And with that, the process of healing can begin, and she can grow as a person as she plans to right her wrong, and this most intriguing case can finally end on a hopeful note.

When all is said and done, Turnabout Big Top ended up being the biggest surprise in the game by far. A difficult case to truly explain my thoughts on. One I vehemently hate and undeniably love in equal regards. It truly had some abysmal lows that I absolutely cannot forgive. The characters in the first half, the mystery being nonsensical for the most part throughout (even in the second half), and don’t even get me started on the annoying ass cross-exam where you lose health JUST FOR PRESSING MOE. I can 100% understand why someone would look at this shit and say this is the worst case in the whole trilogy.

But at the same time. I respect and appreciate so much of what that second half manages to accomplish that I can’t, in good faith, agree with the majority of people here.

And that’s kind of how I feel about this game as a whole (just to a much less extreme extent). There were times during some of the cases early on that felt a bit padded or aimless. The music of the game is a noticeable downgrade from Ace Attorney 1’s soundtrack, I feel. But similarly to how I feel about TBT, I really do believe that the highs of this game are more than enough to make up for its unfortunate missteps.

Franziska might not have the complexity that Edgeworth did in the first game, but she’s still a damn entertaining prosecutor with a great design that I thoroughly enjoyed arguing against. Speaking of Edgeworth, his return in this game was everything I could’ve hoped it would be. Picking up right from where he left off in the first game, it truly felt like he’s grown and matured as a person, cultivating an ideology that shakes Phoenix to his core. And how could I forget that last case that everyone RIGHTFULLY hypes up so much? It is quite confidently one of the finest stories this series has produced yet. Boasting a deliciously devilish villain that caused my jaw to hit the floor on multiple occasions, the most urgency, tension and suspense in an AA case so far with how it was a constant race against time, and an unbelievably satisfying finale that had me out of my seat and on the brink of tears at every step (while also giving Franziska some much-appreciated development).

So all in all, I left Justice for All incredibly satisfied and impressed, thankful to have stuck with it through to the end. Because I don’t care what anybody says, this is a good ass game and a worthy sequel to the first.

this game is a wild ride i cannot believe how much of it is dedicated to a bunch of obnoxious yayhoos trying to fuck a sixteen year old and i ESPECIALLY cannot believe that that is also the case that solidified this game’s theme of the law and its systems being designed to enforce the law and prop up the social order it protects rather than see justice done, which is good shit that gets explored throughout a bunch of cases that i simply did not have nearly as much fun with as the first game.

i was baffled by the choices of returning supporting characters; generally hated all of the new characters (bar Pearl who is fine but also mostly a blank slate here and clearly only exists because Maya is written out of the aide role for two cases); find Franzisca Von Karma to be a very shallow replacement for Edgeworth with an obnoxious gimmick whose ultimate development that could have been is denied when she’s unceremoniously ejected from most of the last third of the game with little fanfare; and to top everything off the music is notably worse which is highlighted whenever a banger from the original game gets reused back to back with a new track.

AND YET the part where you PLAY IT is much improved! The trials are as fun as ever even when their subject matter sucks ass, which is a blessing; the investigation sections are better paced in general even though a few of them still feel obnoxiously aimless and drawn out with too much walking around and a lot of arbitrary triggers; no case goes for more than a couple days which doesn’t actually lead to shorter cases because instead everything is just structured to flow a little better.

So it’s a real mixed bag. Some absolutely dogpiss writing in this one, and three of the four cases are mediocre to “wow this better be the worst thing this series ever does because holy shit” but that fourth one?? Pretty good. Preeeeeetty good. And I just enjoy the moment to moment play of this game, and I like Phoenix and Maya they’re just fun to hang out with. I hope the next game is more consistent and generally better.

no matter what though this will always be the game where Maya said “that monkey doesn’t fake the funk on a nasty dunk.” and that’s maybe the funniest sentence i’ve ever read, so i’ll always have that

Justice for All is one half a bad continuous slog, a quarter decent legitimately ok story writing, and a last quarter that's just entirely amazing. It's a mixed sequel to the first game to say the least, it keeps most of the charm of the first game although a considerably weaker soundtrack at the same time. It keeps up character writing and introduces a couple mainstay characters that are fine and then one really irritating and excruciatingly underwritten character that takes up way too much screentime.

The casewriting is pretty much the same, with two cases that are bad with trash characters and a complete waste of time both in a writing sense and a structural sense, but also contains easily the best case I've read so far from this series by a very very significant margin that not only characterizes the personalities of the people involved but also has such an excellent motive, logical reasoning for how the case happened, and fantastic thematic storytelling. Had it not been for the rest of the game, I honestly would have called AA2 really good. Unfortunately the poor sides of the game manage to be lower than the first game and it's hard to look at this game as a cohesive whole.

That being said, it did manage to keep my attention and interest a little bit more than the first game, and I think the highs equalize with the lows to where I can say AA2 is still alright and worth reading alongside the first, maybe even a pinch more. It's a sidestep forward instead of a genuinely competent sequel, but I had my fun where I could. (6.5/10)

justice for all is most often seen as the worst of the original ace attorney trilogy and i mean it is but i think a lot of people dismiss this game which kinda sucks because it has some great moments that are some of my favorite in the series

the opening case is shit and i wont try to redeem it. they used amnesia in one of the worst ways they could and also do the thing i didn't like about the first game where they show you the killer in the opening.

reunion and turnabout however is a great second case and i feel like a lot of people overlook it. i think that the worldbuilding it gives to the fey clan as a whole as well as making me care about maya more was really well done

turnabout big top is definitely the most clowned on case in the entire franchise (pun not intended i swear) and while a lot of the witnesses are extremely annoying and the whole regina subplot is just wrong in so many ways,..... acro is a great character and i wish he could've been in a better case

last is farewell my turnabout which is such a fun ride. the drama in this case is some of the best you will find in the entire series and i think anyone who has played this game will agree with me that it is easily a top 3 all time ace attorney case

overall justice for all is a mixed bag but its highs are extremely high and farewell my turnabout is my favorite case in the entire trilogy so i have to give it points for that

This game is pretty good, even if its not as strong as the first! The first trial is quite frankly not very good, the second trial is really good, the third trial is a bit over-hated but still not great and the last trial is really good if a little too long. So where does that leave us? Fortunately, even when Ace Attorney is at its worst its quite entertaining. Franziska is nowhere near as compelling as Edgeworth, but she's still a pretty good antagonist (and also pretty) and Pearl is a great addition to the Maya and Phoenix duo, even if she should've been in it a little more. The strong character development shown in the first one is mostly absent here until the final chapter where Edgeworth shines once again and Phoenix gets a little arc of his own where in the end it ties itself together pretty nicely. Although I still have some more complaints. The presenting/investigating felt a lot more obtuse in this game, especially in the third case where you're supposed to guess something based on the lower portion of a character in a series where you are only shown half sprites. Things like that were really frustrating and made the game feel a lot less intuitive than the first. That being said, despite the complaints it was still another enjoyable chapter in the series. I'd like to point out that the character animations were very creative and had me laughing (or horrified) on several occasions. Anyways, Maya is cute.

Nancymeter - 85/100

this game is good ... like really good even as a follow up to the first game. i do think the quality of cases is pretty inconsistent comparatively to aa1 but it's pretty charming in how justice for all is a nice refinement of the aa1 formula while also adding a few new things like psychelocks basically acting as additional cross examinations during investigations to help spice things up a bit although they do tend to drag out investigation phases at times. this review is a bit shorter given how i think there's really not much here to talk about compared to what i've already said in my aa1 review since a lot of it carries over anyways. if there's one thing i'd like to emphasize it's the fact i really don't understand how some people seem to hate this game compared to other titles when it's really not that bad and if anything it's more of what aa1 had to offer so unless you really disliked that game then 1. i have no clue why you're bothering playing this one as if it would change your mind and 2. i don't see how this could be considered a MASSIVE downgrade quite a few people are chalking it up to be. at the end of the day, justice for all is a pretty fun follow up to an already really solid game!

" big top BIG KINO " /10

Esse jogo não muda muito de seu antecessor, a linha entre o sério e o ridículo continua presente e até algumas vezes pende um pouco demais para o ridículo...(cof cof caso 3...)
Brincadeiras a parte, esse jogo é sim uma continuação digna, ele apresenta personagens incríveis, como a Franziska, que é minha 2ª personagem favorita da série, e a Margarida Sato/Pearl Fey. Mas esse jogo não é nada demais, somente um punhado de casos diveritdinhos de se jogar.
HOLD IT
Até, o caso 3.
O quarto caso, ou Adeus, Minha Reviravolta/Farewell, My Turnabout, é simplesmente INCRÍVEL, o segundo melhor caso da trilogia, infelizmente não irei me aprofundar muito nele pois quero evitar spoilers, mas lembra daquela linha entre o sério e o ridículo e como ela pendeu mais para o ridículo no caso 3? Bom, aqui ela pendeu, E MUITO, para o lado sério da coisa, são tantas reviravoltas, personagens, e até alguns dilemas morais presentes nesse caso que o deixam tão perfeito, sem palavras.