I've been thinking about this game a bit recently and while this won't be a fully fledged review of the game as a whole, I can't help but continue pondering how Dual Destinies was not only dealt a bad hand, but also used it in the worst way possible. Of course, the game follows Phoenix Wright, which is the biggest problem of this game.
After the events of Apollo Justice, you would expect an entire trilogy dedicated to Apollo. While he is the center of attention a lot of the time, a good chunk of that time is also spent on other characters. A character like Phoenix Wright absolutely does not need any of this time dedicated to him. Especially considering how, in the last game, he was a barred attorney and considered a hobo by the fanbase.
What I think a lot of people misunderstand about Phoenix in AJ:AA is that he didn't actually change much in terms of character. For the first three cases of the game, it may seem that way, but that's because this is only the second time in the series that we interact with Phoenix from someone else's point of view (and the first time was when he was barely an adult).
Everything changes when we actually play as him in the fourth case. You get to see that he hasn't changed all that much, he just chooses to put a different face out there for the public. After years of playing poker, he became so good at bluffing, he uses it to play a part that may seem different, but is inherently the same. It seems Dual Destinies saw that he was a poker player who bluffed and said "that must be his entire character." Phoenix is an attorney again, which very much undermines his hobo persona in the grand scheme of things. To clarify, Phoenix was a great character when he went from attorney to hobo, but when he went from hobo to attorney, everything fell apart.
For some reason, everyone thinks he's a bluffing master and nothing else. So much, in fact, that they even address this in one of the game's trailers. Phoenix is downright incompetent most of the time, and that's because a lot of the time, he actually DOES bluff. Even if the answer is right in front of him, even if he's hardly backed into a corner at all, he chooses to bluff instead of thinking things through.
I would like to remind everyone that the amount of times Phoenix ever absolutely RELIED on bluffing in the games prior is TWICE. Only two times did Phoenix need to bluff to get out of his current situation. The first time was when he was thinking out loud in Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) about where the bullet could've gone, and that was in part due to Mia's guidance. The second time, Phoenix simply needed to stall for time in Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) so Gumshoe could find Maya and Shelly de Killer. He already knew who the killer was, so it wasn't like he was trying to solve the mystery, he just needed to buy time.
Phoenix is presented as an incompetent dumbass and I will never forgive this game for that. He's a bit better in SOJ, but not by much. Capcom has a huge issue with giving up the spotlight for other characters. Ryu has been their Street Fighter poster boy until very recently where it seems they're trying to get Luke to fill that role, but Ryu is still there of course. Chris has been the main protagonist of the most recent Resident Evil games and he's been around since the very first ones. Dead Rising got new protagonists with the second and third games, but the director's cut of DR2 put Frank back as the protagonist and so did DR4, which completely butchered his character.
I'm thankful we have DGS and DGS2 which are completely detached from the events of every other AA game. We get to see these characters grow independently in tightly woven experiences. What happened to Phoenix is a travesty, and I don't think the character could ever recover from this kind of assassination. Visual novels require characters to be consistent, and Phoenix made one huge leap backwards with the 3D era, and unfortunately, I'm not sure if he can jump back forward.
After the events of Apollo Justice, you would expect an entire trilogy dedicated to Apollo. While he is the center of attention a lot of the time, a good chunk of that time is also spent on other characters. A character like Phoenix Wright absolutely does not need any of this time dedicated to him. Especially considering how, in the last game, he was a barred attorney and considered a hobo by the fanbase.
What I think a lot of people misunderstand about Phoenix in AJ:AA is that he didn't actually change much in terms of character. For the first three cases of the game, it may seem that way, but that's because this is only the second time in the series that we interact with Phoenix from someone else's point of view (and the first time was when he was barely an adult).
Everything changes when we actually play as him in the fourth case. You get to see that he hasn't changed all that much, he just chooses to put a different face out there for the public. After years of playing poker, he became so good at bluffing, he uses it to play a part that may seem different, but is inherently the same. It seems Dual Destinies saw that he was a poker player who bluffed and said "that must be his entire character." Phoenix is an attorney again, which very much undermines his hobo persona in the grand scheme of things. To clarify, Phoenix was a great character when he went from attorney to hobo, but when he went from hobo to attorney, everything fell apart.
For some reason, everyone thinks he's a bluffing master and nothing else. So much, in fact, that they even address this in one of the game's trailers. Phoenix is downright incompetent most of the time, and that's because a lot of the time, he actually DOES bluff. Even if the answer is right in front of him, even if he's hardly backed into a corner at all, he chooses to bluff instead of thinking things through.
I would like to remind everyone that the amount of times Phoenix ever absolutely RELIED on bluffing in the games prior is TWICE. Only two times did Phoenix need to bluff to get out of his current situation. The first time was when he was thinking out loud in Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) about where the bullet could've gone, and that was in part due to Mia's guidance. The second time, Phoenix simply needed to stall for time in Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4) so Gumshoe could find Maya and Shelly de Killer. He already knew who the killer was, so it wasn't like he was trying to solve the mystery, he just needed to buy time.
Phoenix is presented as an incompetent dumbass and I will never forgive this game for that. He's a bit better in SOJ, but not by much. Capcom has a huge issue with giving up the spotlight for other characters. Ryu has been their Street Fighter poster boy until very recently where it seems they're trying to get Luke to fill that role, but Ryu is still there of course. Chris has been the main protagonist of the most recent Resident Evil games and he's been around since the very first ones. Dead Rising got new protagonists with the second and third games, but the director's cut of DR2 put Frank back as the protagonist and so did DR4, which completely butchered his character.
I'm thankful we have DGS and DGS2 which are completely detached from the events of every other AA game. We get to see these characters grow independently in tightly woven experiences. What happened to Phoenix is a travesty, and I don't think the character could ever recover from this kind of assassination. Visual novels require characters to be consistent, and Phoenix made one huge leap backwards with the 3D era, and unfortunately, I'm not sure if he can jump back forward.
Reddish
1 year ago